TOW #28 - When Breath Becomes Air

Paul Kalanithi is the author of this book, an extremely accomplished neurosurgeon who later dies from stage IV lung cancer. Kalanithi graduated with a masters in English literature and also with a bachelor's degree in human biology from Stanford. He then went to graduate at the Yale School of Medicine. When Breath Becomes Air reaches a huge variety of audience types, but also is able to personally touch readers who have been directly or indirectly affected by cancer. Kalanithi had a strong interest in both literature and medicine, using both to articulate in his book about his experiences turning from a medical student into a neurosurgeon resident while facing death. So far Kalanithi utilizes anecdotes that symbolize and foreshadow events that will occur later in his life. These specific anecdotes help to support his exact purpose, which essentially helps readers to learn how to cope with death and all of the thoughts surrounding it.

One of Kalanithi’s anecdotes describes his adventures into the desert in his newly relocated home of Kingman, Arizona. Kalanithi begins to describe some rules that they follow in this desert and one of them he mentions, “Always check your shoes for scorpions, for example, seemed plain good sense” (Kalanithi 23). This anecdote of a memory in his childhood could be used to symbolize death, and foreshadow how it will come and take him away at a young time in his life. Symbolically if you were to put your feet in your shoes without knowing there was a scorpion, you would initially be alarmed and scared and then face the later effects of a possible wound, which is very similar to Kalanithi’s experience with lung cancer later in his life. Although he was currently writing about times when he did not know he was going to die, the purpose in the beginning was more related towards getting to know Kalanithi as a person, and then this purpose transformed into teaching readers how to cope with death. Either way, the use of such symbolic anecdotes and the information that readers know prior to reading the book, gives his purpose an enthralling emotional side to it, seeing how just one person can have such a positive outlook on life, even when death is so near.  

In my opinion, I believe Kalanithi is successfully achieving his purpose.  I am really enjoying the book, and it is really making me think about life in general, and death as well.  This book really does make one think, and I enjoy doing that!

TOW #27 - Onward and Upward

This political cartoon is titled Onward and Upward which was illustrated by Bill Crawford.  This cartoon was created in 1967, at a time of great conflict during the Vietnam War.  Lyndon B. Johnson was president at the time, where he introduced the idea of the Great Society, which followed the pattern of the New Deal by FDR.  This “great society” was a set of domestic programs which aimed at eliminating poverty and racial injustice. But, these domestic required lots of spending, but the US had also gotten themselves involved in the Vietnam War which required lots of spending as well. LBJ was judged by not keeping in mind the required balance spending for both domestic and foreign affairs. So in this cartoon, the author utilizes colloquialism, and symbolism in order to portray the very conflict that LBJ was facing.

The use of symbolism is very prevalent in this piece. There are two Lyndon B. Johnsons, one titled the great society, and the other titled foreign policy.  The foreign policy is attached to the great society by rope, but the foreign policy is falling off a cliff, almost dragging the great society down the cliff too. This shows LBJ’s plan for the Great Society is being pulled and greatly affected by foreign policy, in reference the spending. This can conclude that maybe the United States is not able to support both the Vietnam War and the Great Society. The face on the foreign policy character is very sad and distraught, but the face on the great society is much more happier and more positive.  This reveals that President Johnson is clearly happier with the Great Society than he is with his own foreign policy.

The use of colloquialism is evident in the title of the cartoon, “Onward and Upward”.  This phrase or common saying is used to usually encourage someone to forget an unpleasant experience or failure and to think about the future instead.  This meaning is quite important to add to the meaning of this cartoon. This shows the author is trying to make a statement about how President Johnson dealt with this issue of foreign affairs versus domestic affairs.  Clearly Johnson cares more about the Great Society (domestic) which represents the future, while he is upset and frustrated with his failure of foreign policy.  

I believe that the author, Bill Crawford, successfully proved a point about a major point in Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency. Although I felt positively about LBJ as a president, I do agree with this author of the cartoon.  This point of his presidency was probably the weakest point for him, and some could say what caused him to be disliked by many politicians and Americans.

TOW #26 - The Utter Uselessness of Job Interviews

On April 8th, 2017, the New York Times published an article written by Jason Dana, an assistant professor of management and marketing at Yale, about the importance of a pre-job interview in today’s society. Having much knowledge about management and the interview process due to his profession, Dana speaks out about interviews, claiming that they are not necessary to the hiring process and should no longer be used. In order to establish this point, Dana employs bold diction and researched information from lab studies.

Towards the beginning of the article, Dana begins to outline how the interview process leaves an impression on those that are hiring. He goes on to add that “Research that my colleagues and I have conducted shows that the problem with interviews is worse than irrelevance: They can be harmful, undercutting the impact of other, more valuable information about interviewees.” (Dana 5). The powerful words that Dana uses in this section of his article supply a reaction to the reader from his very bold claim. This causes the reader be brought in more to what he has to say, ultimately causing some to be more open to the ideas of the author. This overall allows for Dana to spread his message to more readers. He continues to build strength by adding in information from studies like the one previously mentioned.

Dana speaks about one of the more recent studies that he had partaken in, in which reporters were asked to conduct interviews that were random rather than the typical rigidly structured interview that some companies stick to. He asserts the results writing, “Strikingly, not one interviewer reported noticing that he or she was conducting a random interview. More striking still, the students who conducted random interviews rated the degree to which they “got to know” the interviewee slightly higher on average than those who conducted honest interviews.” (Dana 10). With this information, the author is able to further bolster their ethos through the providing of researched information that supports the earlier bold claim of the uselessness of formulaic job interviews. This is also able to strengthen ethos since this was a study that the author himself worked on, and did not just receive the info from another source. Through this, Dana is able to create an argument that is more convincing to a reader.

Overall, I do believe that Dana was able to effectively show that job interviews, as they exist today, are more of a hassle than they are useful. They do not seem to provide interviewers with the correct information on an interviewee and often undercut the qualifications that a person may have.

IRB Intro #4 - When Breath Becomes Air

For my fourth independent reading book of the year, I have chosen the book titled When Breath Becomes Air, an autobiography written by Paul Kalanithi. This book is about his life and illness, battling stage IV metastatic lung cancer while trying to be a surgeon.  My mom is in a book club, and they actually chose this as one of their books and loved it, so it seemed interesting to me to choose this as my last IRB! Although I am not one for very sad stories, my mom highly recommended it so I hope I enjoy it!

TOW #25 - Review/Film; Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast'

As the new version of Beauty and the Beast just came out in theatres, I thought it would be quite interesting to look at review of when the original movie came out in the 90s. In the Review/Film; Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast', Janet Maslin strongly admires the movie as a step forward in the Disney company.  Janet Maslin is an American journalist that is best known for her film and literary critic for The New York Times. In this review, she aims for an audience of many ages, and specifically to convince people to go and see the magic happen.  In this article, Maslin utilizes descriptive diction in order to illustrate diction in the reader’s head, and key background knowledge of the subject, which helps establish her purpose in getting people out to go see this movie.

Throughout the article, Maslin is able use descriptive, and romantic diction which helps to paint a picture in the reader’s head.  In the beginning she says, “No live-action musical could ever match the miracles of anthropomorphism that occur here, or the fantastically sweeping scale. Nor could a live-action work achieve this mixture of elaborate, painstaking technique and perfect simplicity” (Maslin). By using words such as ‘elaborate’, ‘painstaking’ and even ‘anthropomorphism’, she is able to establish her dictions for the rest of the text, truly showing just how visually appealing and great this movie really is.  Without her diction, the article would lack any sort persuasion to get people to see the movie.  Maslin is also able to bring background knowledge about Disney as a company.  She says, “With "Beauty and the Beast," a tender, seamless and even more ambitious film than its predecessor, Disney has done something no one has done before: combine the latest computer animation techniques with the best of Broadway” (Maslin).  By including information about the past years of Disney she is proving to her audience that she truly does know what she is talking about, and has lots of experience in the subject.  This strengthens her ethos and truly qualifies her opinion as something worth listening to and taking into consideration.

In my opinion, I believe Maslin successfully conveyed her purpose in both a simplistic and sophisticated way.  It was interesting to see varying opinions as compared to the original movie and the 2017 version.  I thought that this article would be very fitting as the new version did just come out.  I actually truly enjoy Janet Maslin’s writing and plan on reading more articles by her.

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D0CE2DF1330F930A25752C1A967958260

TOW #24 - Sully

In his autobiography Sully, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III writes about his life leading up to the emergency landing of Flight 1549 in 2009. Sully discusses the ways that these events have affected his life. In the beginning pages of his book, Sully introduces that he has always had a lifelong interest in aviation. He pursued his passion and served as a member of the US Air-Force and a professional commercial pilot. As per the dedication page, “Sully” wrote this autobiography for people that were affected by Flight 1549 as a means of remaining connected, In the beginning as well, he also writes that this book serves as a method of finding what really matters, and valuing the most important things to you in your own life.  This message is continued throughout the second half of the book, when the actual climax of the story happens where the plane crashes.

To reveal this very important message and life lesson, Sullenberger is able to include actual pictures pertaining to the specific event, and passionate dictions to include emotional appeal to the readers.  The pictures he includes are of the actual plane in the Hudson River, as well as pictures of the crew members at ceremonies and even of his wife and kids (Sullenberger 228). The inclusion of these pictures helps the reader to connect on an emotional level through displaying what the author finds important, which can make a reader begin to think of people and things that they value as well. Adding to the emotional appeal, Sullenberger utilized passionate diction,  He says “Just as I completely love Lorrie, Kate, and Kelly, I will never shake my love of flying. Never” (Sullenberger 315). Even though Sullenberger was close to death, and was close killing nearly a few dozen passengers, he still holds his passion and love for flying.  That takes a lot of courage and intellectually discipline. This quote is an attempt at showing the readers that you should never give up on the people and aspects of your life that you truly care, value, and love.  Even though you face hardships in life that should never stop you from loving and caring.  This was quite a deep, and underlying lesson for a plane-crash story.  

Although I fully agree with Sullenberger’s message, I didn’t enjoy the book too much,  I felt that it was decently long for a story that didn’t really span out to be 200+ pages.  I was interested in the story at first when it came out in the news, and was very glad to learn more about it. But it was just a little bit too long and a little bit boring.

TOW #22 - Review: Ed Sheeran’s Secret Weapon on ‘Divide’? Being Unabashedly Uncool

In Jon Caramanica’s review titled, Ed Sheeran’s Secret Weapon on ‘Divide’? Being Unabashedly Uncool, he reveals his opinion of Ed Sheeran.  That very opinion is how great Ed Sheeran is by revealing the many different genres and topics he uses in his new album while still maintaining his popularity in music. This article was published a few days after Ed Sheeran’s Grammy Awards performance, which indeed was phenomenal.  Throughout the article, Caramanica utilizes diction relating to music, and similes that are very exaggerated in order to show his positive review of Ed’s new album and just Ed Sheeran as an artist.

In the beginning of the article, Caramanica says,  “This is an album which, including bonus tracks, features rapping and singing; club music and orchestras; a tin whistle and a bodhran, hallmarks of Irish folk; and a song partly in the Ghanaian dialect Twi.” Through the use of the specific words pertaining to music, he is able to establish ethos in his argument.  This then allows for his argument to be justified.  In essence, it then proves how Ed Sheeran does indeed include various genres of music in his new album. Caramanica is also able to incorporate similes in his argument.  When talking about the topics Ed Sheeran cover son his album, he says, “For someone so skilled at pop simulation, Mr. Sheeran rigorously maintains his position of outsiderdom, especially in his lyrics: He paints himself as a pinball bounced around by larger societal forces, and by women who casually slap him with a flipper.” By using the idea and exaggeration of a pinball, Caramanica is able to prove just how different Ed Sheeran is but the varying topics in his lyrics.

In my opinion, I believe that Caramanica successfully proves his argument and review of Ed Sheeran’s new album and just him as an artist.  I agree with all of Caramanica’s point in the sense that it is absolutely mind blowing how someone like Ed Sheeran can incorporate so many different ideas into an album while still maintaining his popularity.  It is actually quite interesting because at least we have pop artists that are bringing some different ideas to the table.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/arts/music/ed-sheeran-divide-review.html

TOW #21 - What The United States Has Fought For

During the late 19th century leading into the early 20th century, American imperialism was on a rise. The idea of American imperialism, caused one of the largest debates in American history; the anti-imperialists versus the pro-imperialists.  Although there was lots of tension, this showed the pure and true effects of democracy by allowing a multitude of different opinions to disperse in the nation.  This cartoon titled, “What The United States Fought For”, justifies the reasons for imperializing lands like the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Isthmus of Panama.  The artist of this cartoon is clearly on the side of pro-imperialism and geared toward an audience of pro-imperialists. The use of symbolism and parallelism is quite evident in an attempt to justify American Imperialism.

The symbolism is seen as the different lands being shown as people. Each person on the top is holding some sort of ‘baggage’ or weight that is holding them down. For example, the Philippines is holding a box titled Spanish oppression, and Hawaii is holding a sack that says industrial slavery, and so on. The use of symbolism in this sense creates a dramatic effect of change that America helped in doing so.  The change from a weak, suffering, and tired person to a business person, is clearly quite huge, which is able to be seen through this symbolism.

Parallelism is also huge in this political cartoon.  Social Darwinism was very popular during this time period of American Imperialism, which played a huge role in the history of the United States of America. On the bottom half of the cartoon it shows the final stage of the lands, through the help of America.  These people (symbolic of the specific land) are changed into strong, wealthy, and proud businessmen. This is direct parallelism to the idea of Social Darwinism in the sense that America thought that the only way to really survive was to become strong and wealth and quite literally “Captains of Industry”.  The push for “survival of the fittest” played a huge part in American imperialism, and to some, justified the actions that happened during imperialism.

In my opinion I believe that the artist successfully proved their point by laying out both a sophisticated and unique argument. Although, I disagree with pro-imperialists and would probably side with anti-imperialists, this does not alter my view on the artist's effective use of rhetorical strategies in order to prove a point.

TOW #20 - Sully

In his autobiography Sully, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III writes about his life leading up to the emergency landing of Flight 1549 in 2009. Sully discusses the ways that these events have affected his life. In the beginning pages of his book, Sully introduces that he has always had a lifelong interest in aviation. He pursued his passion and served as a member of the US Air-Force and a professional commercial pilot. As per the dedication page, “Sully” wrote this autobiography for people that were affected by Flight 1549 as a means of remaining connected, In the beginning as well, he also writes that this book serves as a method of finding what really matters.

To reveal this underlying message, Sullenberger utilizes both spiritual imagery and actual pictures. In the very first chapter, he writes, “In many ways, all my mentors, heroes, and loved ones - those who taught me and encouraged me and saw the possibilities in me - were with me in the cockpit of Flight 1549.  We had lost both engines.  It was a dire situation, but there were lessons people had instilled in me that served me well.  Mr. Cook’s lessons were a part of what guided me on that five-minute flight. He was the consummate stick-and-rudder man, and that day over New York was certainly a stick-and-rudder day” (Sullenberger 15). Sully uses this spiritual connection with Mr. Cook as a way to connect with the people that were affected by Flight 1539.  He also shows just how important flying was to him. He wants the reader to understand just how hard that situation was, and just how hard he tried to save all of those people. Later in the book, Sullenberger reveals actual pictures of major events that took place in his life (Sullenberger 130). These pictures help show what Sullenberger actually values in his own life.  The inclusion of these specific pictures is an attempt at connecting with the audience by opening up in hopes that it will cause the reader to understand what they value in their own life.

All in all, I believed Sullenberger successfully and effectively achieved his purpose in completely connecting with audience with both spiritual connections and picture connections.  I cannot wait to finish the book!

TOW #19 - Bulbs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROEIKn8OsGU

On November 17, 2016 Apple, an American multinational technology company, released a short advertisement video promoting their new MacBook Pro.  This ad titled Bulbs shows a multitude of very important technological advancements that have happened in our time. Apple is able to show symbolism and show advancements in consequential order just to reveal how great their new MacBook Pro is.  In between each advancement, there is a line of hundreds of light bulbs, and as one invention happens a light bulb bursts and continues an ongoing cycle.  The bulbs in this sense, symbolize that as ideas progress and new inventions are being made, it is definite that ideas will get better and better, meaning that ideas evolve off of other ideas. This helps to convey the true purpose of Apple’s ad. The use of putting things in consequential order is also crucial to Apple’s argument. In the very beginning some clips are shown of a man rubbing metal and flint together in order to create a spark, and then followed by a man pushing a stone wheel.  Then videos of the first bicycle, steam trains, and so on.  This is idea of showing things in consequential order helps to convey just how great their new product is. As seen in history, inventions have been getting better and better, which means that the MacBook Pro is the best.  By finishing with their product it really just draws attention to the audience and really makes them believe. The use of the classical music also set a great tone for the video.  By ending the video with the finale of the song it helps to bring more excitement to this new product and really grab their audience’s attention.  Without these crucial components that are in the video, Apple may have not been able to show just how great the MacBook Pro is. I believe that Apple successfully swayed my opinion, and I definitely would like to look more into that specific product. Overall it was an eye catching advertisement, something that is hard to find these days.

TOW #18 - How the Anti-Vaxxers Are Winning

In the article How the Anti-Vaxxers Are Winning, Paul J. Hotez reveals that there has been an increase in children not getting vaccinated, which will bring devastating effects.  Paul J. Hotez is a pediatrician at Baylor College of Medicine, and also a director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, which explains that his argument is very valid through his experience.

Geared toward an audience of people who are against vaccinations, Hotez is able to expose the harrowing truths about this issue in order to show that not vaccinating your children is illogical. Relating to his hometown of Texas, Hotez states that “as of last fall, more than 45,000 children here had received nonmedical exemptions for their school vaccinations.” He is able to show the true facts that this issue is increasing and becoming more prominent is places like his own hometown. He goes on to explain that many people believe that vaccinations do cause autism which is a major reason why these numbers are increasing.  Hotez refutes this idea when he says that “the American Academy of Pediatrics has produced a 21-page document listing all of the studies clearly showing there is no link between vaccines and autism, in addition to more recent epidemiological studies involving hundreds of thousands of children or pregnant women that also refute any association.” Through the use of yet another bold fact, he is able to show just how illogical “anti-vaxxers” think.  He even goes on to reveal a harrowing truth that could leave an emotional feeling to those exact readers when he says, “Today, parents in Texas have to live in fear that something as simple as a trip to the mall or the library could expose their babies to measles and that a broader outbreak could occur.”  By showing that people don’t vaccinate their own children, he is able to expose their decisions and how that directly can negatively affect other people’s families. Ending with this horrible truth can leave an emotional appeal to readers and really leave them thinking about their own opinions on vaccinations.

In my opinion, Paul J. Hotez successfully refutes “anti-vaxxers” opinions and made my opinion on vaccinations even stronger than it already was.  I believe that not vaccinating your children due to the pseudoscience of vaccinations leading to autism is extremely irrational and quite idiotic. Not only can it harm other people, but it can create an outbreak that could have been prevented from one tiny little shot.   

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/08/opinion/how-the-anti-vaxxers-are-winning.html

IRB Intro #3 - Sully

For my third independent reading book of the school year, I have chosen the book titled Sully, an autobiography written by Chesley B Sullenberger III.  This book is about the crash landing of US Airways Flight 1549 into the Hudson River and the pilot's life afterwards. A classmate actually recommended this one for me, and I am quite excited to read it.  The movie for this story just came out recently and I found myself very intrigued about this event.  Hopefully I will enjoy it!

TOW #17 - A Scientists’ March on Washington Is a Bad Idea

In A Scientists’ March on Washington Is a Bad Idea, Robert S. Young is able to expose the truths about current climate issues and the solution to solving these exact issues, but specifically not marching about it.  Robert S. Young is a professor of coastal geology and the director of the study of developed shorelines at Western Carolina University.  Robert S. Young has received a BS degree in Geology from the College of William & Mary, an MS degree in Quaternary Studies from the University of Maine, and a PhD in Geology from Duke University. He is quite an experienced and studious fellow, yet a strong advocate for solving issues related to climate change, specifically raising sea levels.  His article is in response to the strong want for a march for science on Washington, just as there were marches across the country after inauguration day. Geared toward an audience of people supporting the cause of ending climate change, he indeed explains why there should not be a march for science on Washington because it would simply politicize science and “turn scientists into another group caught up in the culture wars and further drive the wedge between scientists and a certain segment of the American electorate.”  In order to show his central argument, Young utilizes the establishment of credibility and analogies.  In the beginning Young says, “I am a coastal geologist. I direct a center where our mission is to conduct scientific research and then communicate that science to elected officials, regulators, even private entities and the public.” By stating his own occupation it helps add to his credibility which in effect appeals to ethos.  This makes his argument more clear, logical, and simply correct. Young also ends the article with an analogy stating, “If tens of thousands of us show up, it will simply increase the size of the echo chamber.” An echo chamber is defined as an enclosed space for producing reverberation of sound.  By comparing this to performing a march for science, it shows that it will only make opinions loud and more prominent, but no solutions will be found by doing so.  He is able to show that this march will only make the voices loud, but not show and educate the true science behind these types of issues to people that do not understand them in order to make change.  In my opinion, I fully agree with Robert S. Young in the sense that a march for science would not make sense and not solve any issues.  The people that are skeptical about climate change need to understand that there is nothing to be skeptical about it and that is is pure science.     

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/opinion/a-scientists-march-on-washington-is-a-bad-idea.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

TOW #16 - Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disaster, and Survival

In the memoir, Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disaster, and Survival, Anderson Cooper recounts his experiences with different types of news stories in a variety of places.  Anderson Cooper is an American journalist, television personality, and author.  He is most known for his work in CNN news.  Hurricane Katrina prompted Cooper in writing this book, which was open for any type of world citizen, no matter who they were or where they came from.  In an attempt to present a new perspective on world crises and conflicts, Cooper wrote about many different events like the tsunami in Sri Lanka, war in Iraq, and the Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans. In the beginning of the section about Hurricane Katrina he says, “Since covering Hurricane Charley in 2004, however, I’ve continually volunteered to report on hurricanes. It’s not just the storm itself that I find compelling, but also the hours before and after.  There is a stillness, quietness.  Stores are shut, homes boarded up.  In many ways it feels like a war zone” (Cooper 125).  Through the use of analogy by simile, Cooper is able to explain just how scary and raw a disaster really is.  Most people that are unable to experience such a traumatic event like that, is unable to really understand what it is like.  So by comparing this terrible natural disaster, Cooper is able to put into perspective just how terrifying it really is.  Soon after this, Cooper explains his experience with Hurricane Katrina and says, “It’s easy to get caught up in all the excitement, easy to forget that while you are talking on TV, someone is cowering in a closet with their kids, or drowning in their own living room” (Cooper 127).  By presenting this harrowing imagery, readers are able to see the true reality.  Cooper extends to the audience that have just watched news about a disaster like this, but never experienced it.  Most people when watching news on TV don’t realize that while they get “caught up in all the excitement” they do indeed forget that people are struggling to survive.  He is able to connect with that audience and really show just how scary it is.  Without this perspective, I would feel less informed about crises like that.  In my opinion, I think Anderson Cooper’s memoir was staggering, and a book I had a hard time putting down.  I felt more informed after reading it, and quite really more sympathetic for people that have gone through such terrible times like the ones he talked about in his book.  I would recommend this for anyone that is interested in conflicts across the globe.

TOW #15 - Ask Alexa? No, Hear This Alexa

In Ask Alexa? No, Hear This Alexa, Alexa O’Brien reflects on Amazon’s newest technology known as echo, which includes a voice recognition and natural language platform named Alexa. Alexa O’Brien, the author, was prompted in writing this article due to the similar names between herself and the ‘robot’.  Right around the holidays was when this new technology of Amazon began to rise in popularity.  But Alexa (the author) is not very fond of this addition which is shown in her diction and hypophora.  Geared toward an audience of anyone, O’Brien attempts to show the truth of these new additions to technology, which are basically classified as ‘robots’. In the beginning of this article, O’Brien asks a question which states, “No. I ask you — this real Alexa asks you — when did possessing hands become inconvenient?” By starting off with a deeper question it allows for O’Brien to utilize the rest of the article to in fact explain her answer and show that we shouldn’t need technology like Alexa (the robot) to get through life. She simply wonders why we can’t just get through our daily tasks by ourselves, with our own hands. O’Brien’s diction also helps to show her true opinion of Alexa (the robot), which indeed isn’t too positive.  She says, “Imperturbably obedient by design, Alexa appears to offer us a new level of control and choice, always on demand. The miracle of convenience allows us to romanticize this unilateralism to operate everything from our light bulbs, security systems, thermostats, music and media with a simple voice command — even as we disengage from people and depersonalize the institutions that enable real connection and collective agency.” As O’Brien summarizes what good this new technology brings to us, she spills the truth of this very institution.  As we make more and more gadgets like Alexa, we are decreasing our very own human interaction.  By using words like disengage and depersonalize O’Brien is able to reveal the reality of this situation and how it is really going to hurt the human population in the long run. In my opinion, I believe O’Brien was able to effectively reveal her opinion of technology in a very sophisticated and simplistic way.  I agree with her opinion in the sense that as we make more technology we are losing that precious and real human connection and interaction. But I hope that it isn’t true and that we indeed do not lose that human connection.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/opinion/ask-alexa-no-hear-this-alexa.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

TOW #14 - Apple iPod Advertisement

In the mid 2000s the tech giant, Apple, released a new advertisement for their MP3 player, the iPod. This advertisement came a few years after the initial release of the iPod which made significant improvements to the way that people could listen to music on the go, as they no longer had to carry around cassette tapes or CDs. The short commercial was made by the company in an effort to persuade viewers to purchase the product through the use of music and silhouettes to appeal to their emotions. The commercial begins right away with the playing of an upbeat song with a quick, dance like tempo. Along with this music, images of silhouettes can be seen using the iPod while they dance along. The use of an upbeat song like the one that Apple chose for the commercial has great potential to cause an emotional response within a viewer. This emotional response would make it more likely that the next time a viewer of the commercial feels a similar response to music, they may connect the feeling with the iPod from the commercial that also caused these feelings. Ultimately, this makes the viewer more likely to purchase the device. On top of this, Apple’s use of the dancing silhouettes for the commercial is also hugely significant as it symbolizes that anyone can use the iPod, no matter who you are or what you look like. It also shows that people should feel free to express themselves in any way that they want, in this case through dance, no matter who you are. This is huge as viewers may feel more inclined to purchase the iPod as it could offer a sense of self expression and even of equality as the commercial for the product is not targeted at any one specific group of people. Overall, I do believe that Apple was able to effectively accomplish their goal of persuading users to purchase the iPod through their numerous emotional appeals. This is also clear due to the massive success of the iPod, selling hundreds of thousands of units across the entire globe and they are still selling today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlHUz99l-eo