TOW #13 China lands Jade Rabbit robot rover on Moon by Paul Rincon

            It has been 37 years since the last soft moon landing, and right now YUTU, more commonly known as the Jade Rabbit, is roaming around on the moon. In the article China lands Jade Rabbit robot rover on Moon by Paul Rincon details the success of Chinese. Rincon is the Science editor at BBC News Website. The purpose of the article was to detail the latest moon landing, but also speculate what this event means for the Chinese. In order to give information about the landing and show what the possible outcomes are for the Chinese Rincon pulled quotes from multiple diverse reliable sources. Rincon got a quote from one of the space engineers for the lunar program that stated that the mission “is an important component to mankind’s activities to explore the peaceful use of space” which gives the audience a view as to how the Chinese view the landing. Later in the article Rincon pulls a quote from an American professor at the US Naval War College that states “with the US exploration moribund at best, that opens a window for China to be perceived as the global technology leader” this quotes contrasts to what the Chinese have said the landing means, which allows the audience to make their own analysis as to what will come in the future. The audience of the piece would be people who have less of an interest in the actual moon landing, but more of an interest as to what this historic event means for the future. I believe that the author did accomplish his purpose, I was able to get a brief understanding as to what actually happened with the moon landing, while getting a greater knowledge as what this moon landing really means in terms of global powers. I enjoyed that this article wasn't to obviously biased either, he did not just write about what other people who are not Chinese believe the moon landing means, but also let the actual people who designed the mission, the Chinese, give their own words as to what it all means. 

TOW #12 IRB Post 1: Bossypants by Tina Fey

            For my IRB this marking period I decided to read Tina Fey’s autobiography Bossypant, and I am enjoying immensely. This book has only increased my admiration for Tina Fey. In the introduction of the book Fey writes that in writing “this book has been a simple task of retracing my steps to figure out what

factors contributed to this person” (5). I think that this book is not defined by one single purpose. The best way to encompass the book into one purpose is to educate the audiences as to how Tina Fey got to where she is today. There are many different audiences as to who this book appeals to, Fey even took the time in the book to address the different groups of people who would drawn to her book including woman, parents, haters and even people of the future. Different people will be able to get different messages from this book. To achieve her many purposes to her different readers Fey uses humor, which makes sense seeing as how she is a famous comedian writer. The use of her humor makes the whole book seem so much more relatable and genuine, which is essential since she is writing to some many different audiences. A large part of the book so far has been Fey’s experiences in a theater program, which provided her many friends who were gay. Fey is able to put in her own views as to how gay people should be viewed in a way that is is not abrasive, but rather light-hearted humor. “Gay people don’t try to convert people. That’s Jehovah’s Witnesses you’re thinking of” (32). I do believe that Fey is on her way to achieving her purpose in this book. I look forward to finishing her story, because so far she has only written about her experiences growing up being a slashed victim, awkward, boy-repellent girl who had grown gay best friends for her companions. It is a truly captivating book that so far matches the person I thought she was.

TOW #11 A List Of Reasons Why Our Brains Love Lists

      The brain is a complicated part of the body, and I have a feeling that we the human race will never get a complete grasp as to how our minds really work. Maria Konnikova’s wrote an article for the New Yorker that was all about why our brains love lists, with the appropriate title A List of Reasons Why Our Brains Love List. The purpose of the article is to educate the audience about an elementary theory in psychology in order to further the understanding of the brain. Konnikova wrote this article for the people who had minimal if any knowledge about how the brain deals with lists. It can be seen in the article where Konnikova uses a strategy that works well for her audience that also goes to prove the purpose. In the article Konnikova describes how the brain can categorize lists then puts it into simple relatable terms, which allows the audience to get a better understanding as to what she is trying to proves. To be specific Konnikova writes about how the brain works better when it has bulleted lists and then relates it to a topic that nearly every person does: making a grocery shopping list. I do think that the purpose was achieved in some sense in the article. It really only works for the people who have no real knowledge of psychology. I personally am taking a semester psychology at school so some of the stuff in the article was already that I knew. The article works it is just a very elementary article. Konnikova has Ph.D in Psychology and has several specialized books about psychology so she definitely could have written at a much higher level, but she really wrote it for a specific audience. It was meant as an article that would be a quick entertaining reader where the audience could leave some little bits of fun facts about psychology.

TOW #10 British Airways #lookup Billboard

            People often look into the sky at planes passing overhead and wonder where those planes might be heading to: a beautiful beach, a tropical rain forest or maybe even just to visit some family. With British Airways new Look Up campaign the day dreaming as to where planes are going is over. In this new

marketing campaign billboards have been strategically been placed where planes fly overhead and feature a little boy actually following the plane with a little description as to what kind of plane it is and where it is heading to. Through the use of effective social media reference the purpose can be achieved. On the bottom of the screen of the billboard there is a hash tag that reads #lookup when people see this cute billboard they might feel the need to tweet about it. One audience that British Airways is probably targeting is the younger generation who more often use social media as a way to express themselves. The billboard draws the audience in, but by tweeting about the billboard the purpose is achieved by getting the company British Airways in media and ultimately getting people to fly on their planes. A campaign like this has never been undertaken before showing the innovation of the marketing team at British Airways and they obviously have enough social awareness to know that anything with a hash tag is a good way to get the message across. I believe that the purpose was achieved, because it is just an incredibly eye catching billboard that will most likely spark a lot of conversation about British Airways. It is pretty much that British Airways has to pay to have this billboard up, but because people are tweeting about it they get free advertisement without paying for it. It is incredibly innovative way to involve new technology in the old school world of billboard advertisements. 

Link to gif of billboard 
http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52910feb6bb3f738682c6b06/fast%20company.gif

TOW #9 One Conspiracy That Could Be True by Thom Patterson

            On November 22, 1963 the States of America was rocked with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The events of the shooting that took place by that grassy knoll have never been clear to the American public and has led way to many conspiracy theories ranging from realistic to all out crazy. Thom

Patterson from CNN wrote the article One Conspiracy Theory That Could Be True to review several conspiracy theories that have turned up over time with opinions from Dave Perry; 70-year-old retired man who has dedicated a large portion of his life to looking into the events surrounding the assassination. The purpose of the article is to revisit and debunk some of the most popular conspiracy theories while speculating that the CIA conspiracy theory may hold ground. Patterson wrote this article to appeal to the people who have an interest in the assassination, but have no firm belief in any theories themselves. The organization that Patterson uses assists in achieving the purpose. It has been nearly fifty years since the assassination, so it has been a while since the story has made headlines so Patterson first writes a brief explanation of what theories have come up since the shooting. Patterson introduces his main source, Dave Perry, who makes the whole article more credible since Patterson himself does not have much of a background in the assassination. The article ends with enumerating top conspiracy theories and having Perry way in on each. The last point being the CIA may have had something to do with the killing, Perry states that during his research he has not found anything to show that this conspiracy is false while supplying evidence that all the others do not have much truth to them, The whole article is easy to follow and for this reason I believe that the purpose was achieved. I fall into the intended audience for this article. I came in with background information, but have not spent much time theorizing what may have happened. After the article I was left with some new information about the assassination, but despite all the realistic points we, as an American public, still have no one answer as to what happened nearly fifty years ago. 

IRB Intro:2

     For my second Independent reading book this year I have chosen to read Tina Fey’s autobiography entitled Bossypants. Tina Fey is extremely successful with her time writing/being a cast member on SNL, and also with her creation with the popular show 30 Rock, which was one of my favorite shows. The previous book I read was a more historical genre of non-fiction so I decided to shift gears and read an autobiography. I have always been a fan of Tina Fey so reading about her life is something I look forward to. 

Post #8 IRB Post 2: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

            I finished the book Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. A main part of the book was attempting to answer Yali’s essential question “Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own” (15). After finishing

the book I can definitely say that Diamond answered this question and achieved his purpose of purpose to prove that history is the way it is because of differences of peoples’ environments, not because of biological differences. I think that the intended audience is people who really have a large interest in all forms of history. I learned so many interesting facts about history that I would have probably never learned without this book. While reading, it was clear a highly intelligent individual wrote it because the context demonstrated a deep understanding of many different areas of history. It makes sense that Diamond is currently a professor of geography at the University of California, but has spent his entire life as an author, physiologist and geologist. One of my favorite aspects of this book was Diamond’s use of real life examples to get a better understanding of the points he was making. In one on the most interesting chapters about how livestock was the reason for such an evolution of deadly disease the topic of how microbes evolve to live and propagate. The example of syphilis is used when it was first recorded in Europe in 1495 its victims only lived for a few months and experienced serious symptoms such as flesh falling off the face. By 1546 syphilis evolved into pretty much what it is today, which allows the victims to live longer and thus able to transmit the disease to other people. The use of the real life example makes the topic so much easier to understand. I believe that Diamond was able to achieve his purpose, because I know that for me I left this book with a whole new understanding as why history turned out the way it did. In terms of racism I now see that the people who believe this just have zero understanding of how the world works.

TOW #7 Volkswagen Commercial

     A number of people, such as myself, look forward to the super bowl not for the football, but for the guaranteed top notch commercials. Featured in the last super bowl was a commercial for a new Volkswagen car, which showed a little boy who was dressed as Darth Vader walking around attempting to use the force. The commercial was made in an effort to appeal the Volkswagen car to young families, and to ultimately make families buy the brand of cars. The commercial used the allusion to the movie franchise Star Wars to appeal to the potential audience. There are not a lot of people who have not seen any Star Wars films, and do not have an emotional connection to the franchise. When the commercial showed the little boy in a Darth Vader costume the emotions that the audience members get from seeing the movies gets translated into the Volkswagen brand. Young families were the intended targets to the commercial, because they are in the process of introducing Star Wars to their children, and are also in the process of finding a suitable car for their new lifestyle. Volkswagen is a brand of cars that has been around for a long time. In order for the company to get the particular car in the commercial on the market they had to put it through numerous safety test, which proves that the car is the best choice for young families. I personally believe that the commercial achieved its purpose. I am not the intended audience so I do not want to buy the car for myself, but I can definitely see a young family wanting to look into buying the car after this commercial aired. It caught my attention, and was probably my favorite commercial from the Super Bowl. 

TOW #6 Is True Happiness Possible without Gluten by Jeffrey Steingarten

            Gluten is a large part of the human diet, found in nearly every food all around the world. Around 1% of the populations suffer from celiac disease meaning that they cannot eat gluten for risk of serious illness, or even death. Currently around 30% of the American population avoids eating gluten in their everyday life. Jeffrey Steingarten investigates the reason for avoiding gluten and just what is in gluten in his article Is true happiness possible without gluten?. Steingarten is a food critic for Vogue magazine, and has won countless awards for his monthly articles for the magazine. The article was written for the vogue magazine audience, which is something that I found peculiar. When I think of Vogue I think of people who are incredibly into fashion and the latest trends, and one of the latest trends is to eat a gluten free diet. I found it interesting that Steingarten would write an article that primarily bashes gluten-free diets in a magazine where most of the audience is probably involves in the gluten free diets. The purpose of the article was for Steinberg to give his own opinion on the Gluten free diet culture. Steingarten attempts to achieve his purpose was through the use of a counterargument. He writes about one time when he tried a gluten free treat and admitted it was “all in all scrumptious” but he then proposes that it was most due to the fact that  “the original never contained much flour anyway” this effective counter-argument lets the reader know that some gluten free food are probably tasty, but in most cases it is because it was never a high glutinous food to begin with. I believe that Steingarten kind of missed the mark on his purpose. He failed to acknowledge all of the people who might chose a gluten free lifestyle instead he just groups them all as ‘Food phobic” this is reason enough for me to believe that he failed in really capturing the gluten free lifestyle choice.

link to article:  
http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/is-true-happiness-possible-without-gluten/#1

TOW #5 Upside Down by Tina Rosenburg

            I had no idea that there were other ways to run a school besides the traditional way of teaching in the classroom and doing work at home. In the article Turning Education Upside Down by Tina Rosenburg I found out about a new way to run a school called a flipped school. In a flipped school environment teachers upload videos of their lessons that students watch at home, and then in class they apply the lessons. The purpose of the article is to educate the audience about beneficial effects flipped schools. Rosenburg is an established author who has written three books, written for several magazines and is a Pulitzer Prize winner for general non-fiction. She also grew up in Lansing, Michigan; which is located near the first ever flipped school, Chiltondale High School. The audience to this particular article is older people who had no prior knowledge to the new flipped school system, but are in some way connected to the education system. To achieve her purpose Rosenburg uses statistical facts to get the further understanding from the reader. In the article Rosenburg writes the statistical finding from Chiltondale “the failure rate in English went from 52 percent to 19 percent; in math, it dropped from 44 percent to 19 percent.” The information that is provided by the statistical information furthers the understanding of the reader, which then assists in showing the beneficial factors of the new way of schooling. I personally believe that Rosenburg only partially achieves her purpose. I did learn about this new form of education that I had no idea even existed, which does support part of her purpose. Rosenburg; however, fails to fully show that the new school system is entirely beneficial. She lacks some essential facts about the school; such as how the students feel about it, ways in which the system does not work and much more information that is needed in order to see that flipped schools are beneficial.      

TOW #4 IRB Post 1 : Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

Jared Diamond

                        One day while living in New Guinea Jared Diamond was asked a question by a man named Yali, native of island, and it was “Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own” (15). Jared Diamond is currently a professor of geography at the University of California, but has spent his entire life as an author, physiologist and geologist. In the book Guns, Germs, and Steel the author makes an attempt to answer Yali’s question. Diamond’s book with the purpose to prove that history is the way it is because of differences of peoples’ environments, not because of biological differences. The audience is people who have an interest in geography, because the book is pretty dense with historical content that is not intended for those who cannot bear to read about history. When proving that differences in history are based off of environmental differences, rather than biological differences Diamond uses the rhetorical device of a counter-argument to further emphasize his point. In the beginning of the book when first introducing the topic of the book Diamond introduces a theory that pretty much supports racism Diamond then counteracts this argument by saying “The objection to such racist explanations is not just that they are loathsome, but also that they are wrong. Sound evidence for the existence of human differences in intelligence that parallel human differences in technology is lacking” (19).  The counter-argument allows the reader to see the other side of what Diamond is trying to prove but then he just shuts down the argument. I have not finished reading the book, but so far I believe that the author is doing a very good job at achieving his purpose. I think that there have been some points in the book so far that have been a little dry, but that may just be because the author is at a far more intellectual level of writing than I am used to. I was already on Diamond’s side before picking up the book, but he has provided me up some really solid arguments that answer Yali’s question.

TOW #3 The Real Reason He Picked Her Over You by Karmen Fox

     Girls’ Life Magazine features articles that are not intellectually pleasing, but rather for just mind numbing girly entertainment. In the most recent edition of the magazine The Real Reason He Picked Her Over You by Karmen Fox was one of the featured articles. The purpose of the article was to educate girl readers why boys' would not pick them and teach them what to do in the future to prevent similar situations. In the article the author lists what the girl did wrong and what can be done in the future to change the outcome. The way persona was used in the article assisted in achieving the purpose. Karmen Fox is in her thirties she is

currently an online contributing editor at GL Magazine and has a degree in both Spanish and Linguistics from the University of Maryland. Fox days in the schoolgirl love atmosphere are long over her persona in the article gave her the mask of being a young girl. The use of phrases such as “LOL-worthy T-shirt” and “crush-snagging” are words that are not fitting to women of her age and education, but was for the audience. The use of her persona in the article made it more appealing to the girls who are most likely reading it. The article is directed towards girls who read Girls’ life Magazine, which are girls who range from the ages of 8-14 years old. Fox’s article in particular was directed towards young naïve girls’ just getting into the dating scene that are looking for some guidance on why guys are not choosing them. I personally would never follow this advice but I was not the intended audience of the article so it all makes sense. The use of her persona is something that I think really made a difference in this article. Fox was able to achieve her purpose in my own opinion.

TOW #2 Campbell's Soup Can

            

       

       It is getting closer to that time of the year to start bringing out the comfy sweaters and warm bowls of soup. A can of Campbell’s Mega Noodle condensed soup is on store shelves around the world and one happens to be in my kitchen cupboard. The can itself is all about the soup: picturing a bowl of the soup, detailed nutrition facts and instructions on how to make the soup. A can of Mega Noodle is not just simply a can of chicken noodle soup, but rather a can of chicken noodle soup with three different pasta shapes! The can appeals to a younger audience the font is extremely large in an assortment of colors. The front of the can is used to draw in the children wanting to buy it but the can also appeals to another audience, which are the parents of the children. On the can there is a huge part of the label dedicated to nutritional facts all of which lean towards the suggestion that the soup is healthy, which causes parents to buy the soup. The purpose of the can of Campbell’s Mega Noodle soup is , simply, to make consumers want to buy it.  Campbell’s has been an established company since 1869 and while the label does not have a specific author on it is known that a branch of the marketing team at Campbell’s designed this specific can label. In order to achieve their purpose the team used the strategy of adding a joke onto the can. The joke appeals to the audiences’ emotions and makes them feel more comfortable which increases the likelihood that they would buy the can of soup. The purpose for the can of soup was achieved in my own opinion; because, obviously, I bought it and it is in my own kitchen cupboard. Looking at the can actually makes me want to go make myself a nice bowl of Campbell’s Mega Noodle soup.

Joke on the can: Where do Snowmen keep their money?

Answer: A Snow Bank!!!

TOW #1 Hearing You Out by Nicholas D. Kristof

            The United States is currently debating on what the best option for the current crisis in Syria is, and the outcome will impact American history forever. Opinions can be made for several viable options, but with multiple options in the air a decision is incredibly hard to agree on. The op-ed columnist Nicholas D. Kristof recently stated that he supports the use of missiles in Syria, and after receiving backlash wrote the article Hearing You Out. The author directed the article to the readers’ who disagreed with his previous opinion. Kristof’s purpose of the article was to dispel arguments against his opinion on the use of missiles in Syria. I personally believe that the author did accomplish his purpose in the piece, although I disagree with some of his points, he was able to construct supported facts that dismantled the arguments made against his opinion. The article covered a variety of different arguments ranging from financial issues to moral dilemmas. I thought that the purpose was best achieved through the author’s use of the rhetorical device of persona. Kristof’s persona in the article was strong, and appealed to the readers’ emotions. For example when disputing the argument the America could regret the decision of getting involved in Syria he referenced the issue of the genocide in Rwanda referring that to when “Western forces evacuated a dog from the French Embassy, but left behind the Rwandan staff to be slaughtered. That wasn't “restraint.” That was passivity and myopia, and it was wrong” (Kristof). The use of his own persona enabled the situation to become more emotional, and Nicholas was able to add his own opinion on the matter. Nicholas Kristof is a two time Pulitzer Prize recipient, and has been a columnist at the New York Times since 2001 where twice a week an op-ed article of his is featured (Winter). Overall, I found the article to be well written, and, although I have my own opinion on the debate, I thought the purpose of the article was achieved.

Works Cited

Kristof, Nicholas. "Hearing You Out - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., 14 Sept. 2013. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/opinion/sunday/kristof-hearing-you-out.html?ref=opinion>.

Winter, Damon. "Nicholas D. Kristof's Columns." Times Topics - The New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/nicholasdkristof/index.html>.

IRB Intro: 1

History is an area that has always intrigued me; although, I have rarely taken history farther then what is taught in the classroom. I have chosen the book Guns, Germs, and Steel The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond because it covers a theory that is not involved in the school curriculum. The book is about the environmental factors that have impacted patterns throughout history, including why certain groups of people had the power to conquer others. I know that by reading this book I will understand a new theory as to the why the world is the way it is today. I am incredibly excited to read this book and learn something new and interesting. 

Post 5: The Lesbian Bride's Handbook by Ariel Levy

Ariel Levy (right) and wife
Amy Norquist (left)

Planning a wedding is not an easy task and Ariel Levy wrote about her own experience in her essay The Lesbian Bride’s Handbook. Ariel Levy has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2008. In her career she has written several books and has appeared on television programs such as The Colbert Report and Oprah (Levy). Trying to plan wedding is a struggle no matter how big or small. Although, she tried to deny that she was unlike other brides Levy had to deal with everything any bride must go through: venue, in-laws, food and most importantly the dress. What Levy wrote was deeper than just the plans; since her purpose was to inform the audience that in the end all that matters is love and happiness. The intended audience women who have been or will be getting married. Description was used in the essay and was important to achieving the purpose of the essay. Ariel went into great descriptive language of the dress that she bought for her wedding day “The skirt was tight at the top and then exploded with volume and hand-painted floral appliqués. When I put it on, I appeared to be in full bloom” (Atwan 138).  The description used made it easy for the reader to know how much Levy loved the dress and how it made her feel. Description of the dress helped add contrast to the end of the story when she had the dress just hanging in her closet and realized the only thing worth keeping was her wife, Amy. Ariel Levy did accomplish her purpose in my own opinion. I found that through her use of personal information and fabulous description in the essay, she was able to make the purpose known to the audience. I thought that the essay was well written and unique; which allowed the purpose of The Lesbian Bride's Handbook to be achieved.

Work Cited

Atwan, Robert, and Adam Gopnik. The Best American essays. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Print.

Levy, Ariel. "Ariel Levy." Ariel Levy. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2013. <http://www.ariellevy.net/news.php>.

Post 4: Cricket Fighting by Hugh Raffles

Cricket Fighting

In China the act of cricket fighting has been a part of the culture for hundreds of years and is still in practice in modern day. Hugh Raffles is the author of the essay Cricket Fighting first featured in Granta. Raffles is a professor of Anthropology at the New School liberal Arts College in New York ("Hugh Raffles"). Basics of the Cricket Fighting in China, including the five virtues and three reversals, is written about in the essay. The author in detail describes interaction between humans and crickets. Training and fighting of the crickets in the Chinese culture is also part of the essay context and is extremely informative. The purpose of the essay was to inform readers about the practice of cricket fighting in China while drawing parallels between humans and crickets. The essay was directed towards people who have no background knowledge of the Chinese cricket fighting culture and have an interest in anthropology. In the essay personification was used as a strategy by Hugh Raffles and was important to achieving his purpose in writing. Cricket Fighting had numerous facts about the actual cricket fights to inform readers about the crickets however the personification involved in the essay was the element needed in order to get the purpose across. Personification is used for the crickets giving them human qualities and making them more relatable to the reader. The personification makes the connection between humans and crickets believable. The author did accomplish his purpose in my own opinion. Hugh was able to show the connection between the crickets and the Chinese people quite well and was able to do it in entertaining manner. I had no previous knowledge of the custom of cricket fighting and after reading I was able to see the similarities between the crickets and the humans in the essay Cricket Fighting. 

Work Cited

                                                                                                                                                        "Hugh Raffles - Professor of Anthropology." The New School | A university in New York City. The New         School, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2013. <http://www.newschool.edu/lang/faculty.aspx?id=1690>.

Post 3: The Way We Age Now by Atul Gawande

In the essay The Way We Age Now by Atul Gawande the topic of elderly health is written about in detail. Atul Gawande is a surgeon, writer, Harvard professor and public health researcher. He has been a contributor for New Yorker magazine since 1998 and has written several bestselling books (Gudrais). Medical treatment that is given to the elderly is known as geriatrics medicine; the essay goes into further detail about this form of medicine. The work started off with medical facts and statistics about the elderly and then goes into specific individual lives of selected patients. The Way We Age Now surrounds the present day situation for the elderly and slightly into what the future may look like in terms of treatment available for the older population. The purpose of the essay was to inform readers about the demise of the care for the elderly and to persuade people to respect geriatrics more. This essay was targeted towards people in the world who were slightly indifferent to elderly medicine before reading the essay. Atul Gawande used pathos in The Way We Age Now which was important to achieve the purpose. The essay appealed to the readers' emotions by adding in real people alongside the medical facts involved. He told the story of the patient rather than just their medical problems making them more human. This appeals to the audience because the person in the story becomes far more easy to relate to thus evoking more emotion from the reader. I believe that the Atul did accomplish his purpose. Over the course of the essay I received more information about the elderly and geriatrics that I had no knowledge of before. I found that the author had a perfect blend of personal touches and medical background that was needed in order get his purpose across.

Work Cited

Gudrais, Elizabeth. "Atul Gawande: surgeon, health-policy scholar, and writer | Harvard Magazine Sep-Oct   2009." Harvard Magazine | Your independent source for Harvard news since 1898. Harvard
College, n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2013. <http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/09/atul-gawande-surgeon-health-   policy-scholar-writer>.

Post 2: Buzzards by Lee Zacharias

Turkey Vulture

The topic of the essay Buzzards by Lee Zacharias is a balance between information about vultures and a glimpse into the life of Zacharias's own father. Lee Zacharias has published numerous
books, essays and short stories. In her lifetime she has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council ("Lee Zacharias"). Lee has also had a successful career as a photographer; she writes in the essay Buzzards her experience of taking pictures of vultures. The essay goes into detail about facts of vultures and how they act in the wild as well as perceived in various cultures. Lee writes about her silent father, an old-fashioned man, who never approved of Lee achieving her dreams of writing and photography. In the essay Zacharias writes her father's eventual suicide and her own insight to his tragic life and death. The two stories draw parallels between them that reveal the purpose to the essay. To persuade and inform the audience that in life being vocal about dreams is needed to avoid a lonely life and death is the purpose to this particular essay. Lee Zacharias directs Buzzards to people who are contemplating on whether to speak up and follow their dreams in life. Logos was used in the essay and was important in order to achieve the purpose. The Logic given in the essay main analysis found through the writing of the vultures. Lee writes about how in different cultures the vultures has been viewed in certain ways. In particular “Africans believe that vultures dream the location of their food...Why would we dream, if never to leave the domain of our waking world?” (Atwan 281).  The reasoning included in the statement is to express the parallels between the two stories that dreams should be followed. In my opinion the author did accomplish her purpose in this essay. By the author writing about her own experiences with her father and the vultures it was easy to see what the Lee was trying to show in her writing. I personally saw that by speaking up about dreams my life could be lived to the fullest.  

Work Cited
Atwan, Robert, and Adam Gopnik. The Best American essays. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Print.

"Lee Zacharias - UNCG | Creative Writing." UNCG MFA Homepage - UNCG | Creative Writing.                UNCG Creative Writing , n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2013. <http://mfagreensboro.org/faculty/lee-zacharias/>.

Post 1: Becoming Hitler by Rich Cohen

Rich Cohen

           Hitler’s toothbrush mustache is a symbol of pure evil. Rich Cohen decided to wear the infamous mustache and wrote about his experience in his essay entitled Becoming Adolf. Cohen has been a contributing editor at Vanity Fair since 2006. Articles written by Rich have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, Rolling Stone and The New York Times (Daneman). Rich Cohen decided to actually become Adolf in a sense and wear the notorious toothbrush mustache in public to see if he could defuse the negative connotation the mustache brings. The history of the toothbrush mustache goes farther back than the life of Adolf and is explained in detail in the essay. Rich wore his mustache in public and observed the reactions he got from strangers and friends while wearing the toothbrush mustache. The purpose of the essay was to inform readers the findings of the power of Hitler's mustache in modern day. Becoming Adolf was written to target people who have the background knowledge of the Hitler’s reign who are also intrigued by fashion. Ethos was used in the essay and was important to the purpose of the essay. The persona in the writing was little sentences expressing his personality “This is the part where I am supposed to explain just why I decided to write this story now” (Atwan 15). The addition of Cohen’s personality helped achieve his purpose by making it easier for the reader to become more engaged with his essay and view him as a credible writer. I believe that the author was able to accomplish his purpose in the essay. The actual test to see if he could defuse the power of the mustache failed, however by including ethos and history into the essay he was able to inform readers about the strength of Hitler's mustache in modern day.  

Work Cited 

Atwan, Robert, and Adam Gopnik. The Best American essays. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. Print.

 Daneman, Kathy . "Author Rich Cohen, Bio." Author-Writer Rich Cohen. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.       <http://authorrichcohen.com/bio.htm>.