TWO #30 Letter to Future Student

Dear future APELC student,
       You are in for a challenging year. This course is not designed to be easy because the curriculum is designed to push you to the next level. This year is meant to challenge you but it is not meant to break you, so don't get too overwhelmed.
     There are things you have to understand before you try to tackle this class. You are in a class with the best of the best. There won't be many kids in the class who shouldn't be there; more than likely you will be surrounded by the best your grade has to offer. I know that I struggled with trying to feel up to par with my classmates, but just remember everyone is struggling just as much as you are. The way essays are scored in this class is probably not something that you are used to. There are going to be papers that you turn feeling fully confident only to get a grade that you are not used to. I know that for my first essay I received a grade on a paper that I had never gotten on an English paper before. I'm not going to lie it sucks to get an inadequate grade on a paper, but the thing you have to keep in mind is that it's okay to do poorly as long as you take the right steps to improve. The most important thing, and the thing that I wished I had known during my time in APELC, is that when you get that bad grade don't hide that paper in the away in an effort to conceal your defeat. When you get a bad grade just accept it for how it is, and try everything in your power to improve on the mistakes that you made. In the long run getting a bad grade on a paper will not hurt your overall grade, but the thing that will hurt you the most is not fixing your errors.
     Just another little reminder if you are a person who worries about their grade, which is perfectly normal, it's okay to get a bad grade; because everyone gets a bad grade once in a while. You may finish the year with B, like I did, but you have to keep in mind that the information that you are gaining from taking this course will help you for the rest of your life.
     You got this!
Best Wishes,
Kaitlyn Gallagher

TOW #29 Blackfish Argument

        Whenever there is an argument on animals it usually boils down to whether animals have the same emotional capacity to that of humans. In the documentary Blackfish the argument arose that the whales that were kept in captivity were going mentally insane, which was to root cause to them attacking their trainers. I believe the captivity of animals causes mental problems similar to those that they would find in the human mind.
       In the documentary there is the main Orca Whale named Tilikum who wound up killing multiple of his trainers, while in captivity. Whales have gotten the bad rap now that swimming with them could lead to death, and the documentary even mentioned the fact that SeaWorld now has the rule that trainers are not allowed in the water with the killer whales anymore. The reputation that the whales are getting is similar to that of Pit Bulls, the breed of dog has almost become synonymous with fighting. There are people who believe that Pitbulls are a terrible breed of dog, and they should not be family pets. Pitbulls are not bad dogs they are simply trained to be bad by their owners, some may have some attack instincts, but it is the actions of the owners that lead to them becoming vicious animals . It was not choice of Tilikum to kill his trainer, he may have had the tendency but it was a direct cause of their actions that he killed. The whales should not be given a bad rap just because there have been some instances of attacks.
      In in documentary the intelligence of the whales was displayed through numerous examples. The animals display characteristics that are similar to humans. The whales have their own means of communications, and can form intimate relationships with one another. While being held in captivity the whales will gang up o one another and will even attack the other whales when they feel threatened. With this logic it only makes sense that an animal with the mental capacity can also break while in captivity. I can only draw the conclusion that these animals are capable of going insane while being held in such confined locations.
     Tilikum was not responsible for the deaths of his trainers. He was the reason that they died, but he had no control over the fact that he would lose his mind while being kept in a space that did not hold up to the standard that would keep him from killing people,
     

TOW #28 Blackfish

      There was a SeaWorld commercial on TV today and after having recently watched Blackfish I couldn't help but to feel a wave of emotions as the screen flashed with images of the different exhibits. Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director of the film, felt motivated to make this documentary after hearing about the unclear death of one of the trainers that involved the killer whale Tilikum. The documentary compiles the life story of Tilikum beginning with his abduction from the wild and all the way through his attack of the trainer and his life that followed. The presentation of Tilikum including strongly suggested material that points towards his involvement in other trainer deaths is directed towards making the audience aware that SeaWorld is providing an environment that is unfit for these animals to live, and suggest that the captivity leads to mental illness. The team behind this documentary had people who feel compassion towards animals as a general audience in mind, for if someone doesn't care enough about the animals than there would be no way to make the impact that Tilikum's story has on those who are willing to listen to the story of this Orca whale.
     The common expression "you have to see it to believe it" applies perfectly with a strategy that was applied throughout the film. The whole issue id that whenever an incident happens that results in trainer injury SeaWorld shifts the blame to human error, rather than a whale attacking its own trainer. The documentary combated the accusations that the only attacks that happen are because of human error with footage from actual attacks. The documentary team could have had people on to interview talking about the attacks for hours, but it would never be as effective as showing the real life footage. In the one piece of footage that stood out to me, a male trainer was in the water preforming a rehearsed routine when one of the whales sprang out of the water and collapsed onto him. watching the video myself there was no question that the whale had jumped on that angle on purpose, which meant that the whale intentionally tried to hurt the trainer. It is hard to even describe why I'm so certain that it was an intentional jump for the actual video feed just provides the viewer to be able to use their own analysis skill to understand what is happening in the situation. The video footage allowed for the documentary crew to have evidence that SeaWorld could not deny, it left it up to the viewer to interpret what was going on in the video.
       The sources that a documentary chooses to rely on are essential towards making their points valid. In Blackfish the main people who were being interviewed were previous trainers are SeaWorld. Instead of having a man in a white lab coat spewing out statistics about Seaworld the use of actual relatable people made the whole documentary more emotionally appealing. Everyone that was interviewed was so personally connected to the situations, there were even interviews with the trainer who specifically was Tilikum's trainer, which resulted in the audience feeling like they really had an inside view of how SeaWorld was being run. Some of the trainers that were interviewed actually knew the trainer who was killed by Tilikum, Dawn Branchea. All of those interviewed told the same story that she was the most professional one there who always cares about safety and protocols and the very notion that she made such a silly, fatal mistake is disrespectful to her memory. Hearing the accounts from people with first hand knowledge added to the emotional impact of the documentary as well as raise the credibility of the film.

TOW #20 Reflection

       It's strange to look back at the TOW's that I have written this year. With each one I flash back to when I wrote it, and what my mindset was while writing. Reading through my first post of the school year I put a lot of effort into it. I remember spending a large amount of time looking for the perfect article to examine and ending up choosing an op-ed piece about Syria in hopes that the controversial topic would bring up the sophistication of my writing, it didn't. I went for a formulaic approach to writing of my TOW including words such as "the purpose was..." and "for example", but it was a good starting point. In the second semester of school I started to improve, I actually included quote in my TOW about the landing of China's Jade Rabbit, but I still clung to the easy formula of writing a TOW.  The third marking period in retrospect was the most difficult for me, I was feeling the pressure to do well and there were points throughout the marking period where I just gave up on things, the aspect that suffered the most were my TOW posts. Examining my 14th TOW which fell in the third marking period I can tell that I put in minimal effort. There are simple spelling and grammatical errors throughout that I could have easily fixed if I had just read through it carefully enough. While the level of writing had improved in my third marking period writing there is no excuse for my rushed work. The fourth marking period I picked up a little spirit, and with the actual AP test looming over my head I felt that I should put a greater effort into my writings. In my 25th TOW post I used a piece form an actual exam to analyze, and while I didn't put 100% of my effort into it I felt it was adequate. It is interesting because even though I didn't put nearly as much effort into it as my first TWO it was a better post, which I believe speaks immensely for my personal growth as a writer. I have mixed feelings towards the TOW post to be honest, I feel if I had put in my best effort throughout the year it would have been better for me, but unfortunately with the stress of this year and small immediate benefits of the TOW posts I never put in the proper work level. There is always room for improvement and looking at my last TOW post I still need to work on not reverting back to the formalistic way of writing. I wouldn't say I mastered anything this year just because there is so much more room for improvement, but I have reached a point where I can write solid analysis without trying to hard, which for me is pretty awesome. Overall I believe the TOW's were an essential part of getting through APELC.

TOW #26 Godzilla Movie Trailer

     The movie industry spends millions of dollars each year to market their movies. One of the key components in marketing a movie is a movie trailer, that can showcase what the movie is all about. Godzilla is was a franchise first introduced in Japan and is now being turned into a new movie coming out this

summer. Godzilla is movie that is often viewed by the public as something to laugh at and joke about.  The new movie is attempting to market Godzilla as a serious, heart pounding drama. The movie trailer for Godzilla uses timing and sound effects to convince the audience to some see the movie Godzilla. From the beginning of the trailer there are scenes of devastation all right after each other, but the audience only sees glimpses of what is causing all of the trouble. It is not until the final scene of the trailer that audience gets a full look at Godzilla followed by the big bold letters that spell out Godzilla. It was effective to do this because if they had shown the big Godzilla monster right away many would have been turned off due to their past experiences with Godzilla, but after the audience has been drawn in with the action scenes it builds up the credibility and suspense of the movie. The audience also has to build up suspense through the use of sound effects, or in this case the lack of effects. Throughout the trailer the audience hear clips of a high pitched screaming noise, also there are the sounds of devastation such as planes crashing, guns firing and people screaming. It is with these sounds that the audience can feel as if they are in the movie themselves. The sound sets the whole serious mood of the movie, which only helps people wan to go see it more. By the end of the trailer it easy to see who the movie is setting as the audience there are only action scenes without much substance. No one is going to watch this trailer and walk into the movie theater and expect to watch a light-hearted film, but everyone knows they will get non-stop action. Overall the trailer did solid job of showing what this movie is all about. Anyone who is an action movie watcher at heart will go see this movie.

TOW #25 Alfred M. Green Speech

Reading Goals
-Pick something that will help me on the exam

Writing Goals
-Solid evidence (use quotes from the text)

      With the time before our exam winding down I decided that I would focus more on the type of texts that will be on the exam. Alfred M. Green's speech, which was on the 2003 exam, was said during the first months of the civil war when African-Americans were not allowed to enlist. Green purpose of the speech was to convince fellow African-Africans to work towards and prepare to be enlisted. It is not the easiest task to convince a group of people who are being oppressed to fight alongside their oppressors, by relating to religious affiliation. Green encourages the audience to "...take up the sword, trusting in God" the way it is phrased makes it seem that he wants the people to put God above all else. He is not requesting that the people take arms with faith that the white people will have their backs, but rather that they place their faith in God, thus the focus is shifted to making this situation into a religious one. Green also offers a counter argument, he brings up the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, which both ended in no better living situations for the blacks. Green knows that the audience will be thinking about how they shouldn't get involved in this war either, because it will end with the same result. Green says that they should not "cavil over past grievances" and ends with talking about how it will dishonor their ancestors, which ultimately ends gets rid of the notion of not going to fight because if past events.  It is always so amazing to look at documents such as this , because you can really see what the people back then were living for. I believe that the speech was effective in convincing African Americans to enlist. I think that by reading this speech I will be more prepared to handle the documents on the exam.



      

IRB Intro Post #4: How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

         When I was growing up there 9 planets, and whenever asked which was my favorite I would always say Pluto. It was the smallest planet in the solar system as well as the coldest, and to make it better it was blue. It was a sad day when I learned that my favorite planet was no longer considered a planet. To be honest astronomy is not one my interests I love looking at the stars and all, but I have never studied the details of space. For my last IRB I have decided to read the book How I Killed Pluto and Why It Deserved It by Mike Brown. Brown spent years of countless years researching space only to be bombarded by angry civilians, such as myself, for discovering the cold truth about Pluto. This book is his way to explain his journey in finding one of the most important solar system fact of the 21st century. Getting to hear the story of how my favorite planet was murdered by the man who discovered it should be interesting. I have no doubt that this book will be incredibly awesome and teach me things about space that I could have never known before hand.

TOW #24 FDR's "Day in Infamy" speech

 Reading Goal
        - A text with substance

Writing Goals
        - A solid thesis
        - Flow


         Telling a nation they're going to war is not a message one can send lightly. After the attack on Pearl Harbor it was the duty of the president, Franklin D. Roosevelt to address the people of The United States about the impeding situation. The famous "Day in Infamy" speech was given in order to lead Congress as well as the American people into war. When giving a speech as important as this one was it was necessary that words be chosen carefully, which is why repetition was used throughout the piece. The word deliberately shows up frequently, when explaining the United States was "deliberately" attacked, or that the Japanese "deliberately" planned its actions. Roosevelt also utilized a technique similar to repetition which is an anaphora by repeating the phrase "last night the Japanese attacked..." several times. The words he uses are leading the American people towards his conclusion at the end that he has declared war on the Japanese. He empathizes how the Japanese deliberately attacked not only the United States, but other locations as well, which overall makes his declaration seem warranted. The whole speech was quite short , but left an impact on the American people forever and results in one of the most famous lines of the 20th century "a day which will live in infamy" When FDR addressed Congress with these words he spoke both calm and collected, but with a strong tone, which assisted with giving people the trust that he knew what he was doing and that he was someone who could be trusted. Although FDR did have credibility coming into this situation, declaring war on another nation requires a new level of trust. We are learning about WWII in history right now, but we did not spend much time on this speech in particular. The speech in and of itself gives a clear insight into the war on the American front. While FDR did not specifically mention the war going on in Europe at the time it was almost assumed that he also meant that the United States would finally be entering into WWII. After the attacks on Pearl Harbor there was not much resistance about going to war, but this speech was needed in order to reassure Congress and the United States that The United States had to take the measures needed.

TWO #23 Political Cartoon by Chan Lowe

     

Visual Goals

-Pick a visual that requires thought 

-Pick a topic outside of my comfort zone

Writing goals

-Strong thesis

-Direct evidence from text  

       Political Cartoonists have the power to point out problems in the world, which many others would never dare to say out loud. In a political cartoon in the Tribune of Two nameless company bosses done by Chan Lowe is a powerful statement on religion in cooperate America. Chan Lowe has been the only editorial cartoonist at the Sun Sentimental for the past 24 years, and he was won numerous awards for his political cartoons. In this particular cartoon there is a newspaper in the background with the headline “Can corporations have religious beliefs?” The cartoon aims to answer this question through the depiction of two nonreligious bosses. Lowe uses an allusion to bible to assist in proving the purpose. The two bosses in the cartoon each have a speech bubble that split up the quote “blessed are the under compensated for we shall inherit the earth!” The dialogue is a manipulation of the many bible verses that begin with “blessed are the...” only in this cartoon it is obvious they are going against the common structure of the verse. It shows that the men hold their cutthroat business philosophy as their religion. The people who can really understand the article are those who have the background knowledge that these two men are speaking in a distorted form of religious exchange. Lowe supports his own opinion on the topic with exactly how the two men are depicted in his cartoon. These two men are both the stereotypical image of large corporate bosses. Both of the men appear to be white, middle aged, smiley blokes who are in a high rise office building overlooking a city. The unnamed men in this cartoon do not look like the most trust worthy of fellows, even the way Lowe drew their curling mouths resembles the way an evil Disney character would be drawn. Although Lowe never writes anywhere on the actual cartoon Corporations do not hold religious beliefs he makes it very obvious where he stands on the situation. He made an allusion to a text that a majority of people would be able to be able to pick up on and depicted the men as bad guys. I believe that Lowe was able to capture the message he was going for, and achieved what most political cartoonist aim to do: make the audience think about the situation. 

TWO #22 Crying Wolf on Religious Liberty by The Editorial Board of the New York Times

              The decisions that the Supreme Court makes has a large effect on our American Society, and there have been cases in history where the Court has made some poor decisions. Recently two owners of large companies  have come forward with cases to not follow the newly implanted Health Care Laws for they

feel that that the laws infringe their established religious rights. These large companies, with no-religious affiliations, feel as if they should not have to cover their employees for their birth control medication. The Editorial Board from the New York Times took on this situation to argue why the Supreme Court should knock down the case. The combination of these 18 well-respected journalists, who represent the Editorial Board, all speaking through one voice creates a powerful argument. The purpose of this collective article is to argue why the Supreme Court should strike down the new case that is going before them. The structure of this article was incredibly effective in the way that it was simple. The introduction includes background knowledge that informs the audience as to what the situation was then is followed by a firm thesis that the Supreme Court should not allow this case. All of the evidence is strong and located in the body of the article, much like is commonly taught in schools. The writers source out the actual laws that the two companies are trying to work in their favor and present them in a different way then the companies are trying to. The conclusion leaves the audience thinking about the effects that this verdict will have on society including future cases that may come down the line. While the article has a simple structure it still manages to be a sophisticated article that effectively argues their opinions. The actual argument for this article was deductive, it started with the argument and then had evidence to support the claim. I found this article to be exquisite. Even though there were 18 authors it really felt that there was only one voice. The article was informative without going to overboard. The audience would have to be people who knew enough about how the Supreme Court worked, but had little to no knowledge on the particular case the article was discussing. By the end of the article I was convinced that if the Supreme Court made this decision America would be in a whole lot of trouble. 

TOW #21 IRB Post 2: Stiff by Mary Roach

            Stiff By Mary Roach was a fantastic read that I enjoyed immensely. She was able to capture a morbid topic and make it into a fascinating book.  It is easy to tell that Roach did extensive research before writing this book and underwent the usual journalist undercover approach in certain situations. Roach set out

to educate and entertain her audience with her knowledge of the little known world of human cadavers, and she most definitely succeeded. She was able to achieve her purpose through the use of her own anecdotes on the topics. Roach immersed herself in the world of the dead, which allowed her to tell stories about the subject ultimately making the whole topic more relatable. In one case, in her chapter about cannibalism, Roach traveled to a small town in China that reportedly had a case of brothers who were adding dead body parts into the food of a local restaurant. Roach traveled all around the town and will the help of a translator was able to debunk the article about the forced cannibalism. By including this story she was not only able to entertain the audience with her unusual trip but also educate the audience with her investigative information that she found on her journey. Another thing she was able to accomplish with the addition of this anecdote was increasing her credibility. It would have been incredibly easy to just include the article she found in the book and present it to the audience as fact, but instead she flew to a foreign nation to get to the bottom of the information. This book appealed to me for the same reason that it probably appealed to the rest of her audience, because it was different. Never before have I seen someone tackle a difficult topic such as this with the grace that Roach was able to. The book was able to satisfy the audience’s interest in the world of the dead without crossing the line of being insensitive or vulgar. I loved this book with all my pumping heart, and I firmly believe that I left this book feeling completely entertained as well as educated on a new topic. I don’t think I will ever find a book quite like this ever again

TOW #20 Thin Mints Box

                It’s Girl Scout cookie season! That means that little girls in vests dazzled with badges will be out in full force selling boxes of cookies. Girl Scouts have been around for over one hundred years, and have grown into an organization that is most famous for their cookies. In reality out of the four dollars that a box of cookies cost each troop on makes 25 cents for themselves. Thin Mints are the fan favorite that are usually guaranteed to sell out at any booth. The box itself, which protects the delicious crispy chocolate

wafers dipped in a mint chocolaty coating, has its own purposes. The Thin Mints box is designed to draw in potential customers and also encourage girls to join the Girl Scouts. It is hard to not a Thin Mints box, with its bright green that screams at people passing by a cookie booth. The color of the box itself is what really can sell people. Green is a color that evokes a calm soothing serene emotion. For the select few who are not already familiar with the Girl Scout brand it is a box that is easy to gravitate towards. Once people buy a box it is the visual images that can convince people to join the Girl Scouts. On the cover of the box there is an image of three girls doing a community service project and they are all smiling appearing to have a good time. While people are eating their delicious Thin Mints and feeling good they see the cover of the box and want to join the organization. The Girl Scouts on a whole have to rely on the Girl Scout cookie sale to market their brand.  By having happy images on the box the Girl Scouts can kill two birds with one stone they can make money on the cookies and also entice more girls to join and thus make more money. In my own opinion the Thin Mints box achieves its purpose. I feel like the Girl Scouts know what they are doing and have their strategy down. The Girl Scouts aren’t going away any time soon

TOW #19 Tao-te Ching by Lao-tzu

            Reading Goals

-Pick a text that is challenges my reading level                                                                                              -Chose a text that is outside of my comfort zone                                                                                             -Read the passage 3 times in order to get the most information out of it: the first time to get a general idea, the second time to close read/annotate and the third time to solidly the overall purpose                                                                                                                                                                                   

  Writing Goals                                                                                                                                         -Include an intro that draws in the readers attention as well as introduce the idea of the passage                                                                                                                                                             -Have a flow throughout that includes transitions from one idea to the next                                                     -Chose words carefully and make everyone count                                                                                        -Outline what I’m going to write before starting  

Rulers are not simply born with the knowledge on how to keep themselves on the proper moral path while still ruling their subjects hence why in most cases they must learn it from others who have a better understanding as to what it means to follow the proper route. Tao-te Ching is a document written in China roughly around the time of Confucius that is as much about moral behavior as it is about political guidance. Lao-tzu is the author of Tao-te Ching and it is from this piece along with his other works that it is believed that the beginning idea of Tao were formed. The passage urges the future rulers to follow the Tao, which is a term that cannot be easily translated into English but can be best summed as “the way to live.” Tao is also the center of the still prevalent belief of Taoism, The purpose of Tao-te Ching is to pass down and follow the philosophy of the Tao based

Depiction of Lao-tzu

moral and political path. Lao-tzu believed that an effective ruler should not be completely in control, but rather supply the people with what they need and let the people follow their own paths. The structure of the document is one that resembles a poem. The different parts of the passage are split up into stanzas and there is a certain rhythm to the whole piece. A poem like structure allows the audience to not only to read the words that are written, but also to follow the exact flow of breaths and rests that Lao-tzu had in mind. The structure allows Lao-tzu to control how his audience takes in his information and truly think about the ideas that he is laying forth. Within the poem like structure Lao-tzu utilizes multiple examples of anaphora throughout stanzas, which allows more emphasis to be put on Lao-tzu’s Tao ideals. One of the ideals is “The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be. The more weapons you have, the less secure people will be. The more subsides you have the less self-reliant people will be” the power that Lao is able to get by repeating the use of contrasting less and more is essential to showing the belief of Tao. Anaphoras were essential in weaving together Lao-tzu’s political and moral philosophies. I personally felt that the purpose of Tao-te Ching was achieved. The piece is an incredible piece of history and although I feel like many of his political ideas are off base in regards to present day society they are still complete ideas that could have effectively helped an early Chinese ruler guide his people. 

TOW #18 IRB Post 1 Stiff by Mary Roach

       With this year being my junior year I have not had much time for recreational reading as I would have Stiff by Mary Roach. I am well into the book and will probably finish it with the prospect of more snow days. Stiff is not the conventional book by any means, for one thing it is the first lighthearted book about dead people that I have ever seen. Mary Roach is an established journalist and author who decided to write the book Stiff after the death of her mother inspired her. The book is her compromised experiences of talking to professionals about the cadaver world. In this book Roach wants to educate and entertain the audience with her knowledge of the little-known world of dead bodies. Death is always a tough subject to talk about, but somehow Roach makes the book wildly hilarious. I never imagined that I could read one sentence about how heads are cut of before the neck begins then by the next sentence be laughing at Roach's comparison to a modest dead person wearing a turtle neck. The fact that Roach incorporates so much humor in her writing goes towards accomplishing her purpose. Stiff is far from being a dry morbid book it is a book that I enjoy with all my heart. Roach's use of humor also is key in determining her audience. There are plenty of books out there that are medical journals about cadavers, but I would never read any of the them. Her use of humor makes this topic readable and strangely entertaining. To read this book you have to go in with a open mind, a strong stomach and the ability to laugh at otherwise morbid topics. I have not finished this book, yet but I can say that so far it is one of my favorite books of all time. I have learned so much about the underground world of cadavers and each chapter in Stiff is just another opportunity to learn and laugh.
liked. Admittedly my last two IRB books were pushed off until I had absolutely had to read them. It is a different story with my most recent IRB choice

IRB Intro Post 2: Stiff by Mary Roach

     

I have always had an interest in the medical field. All throughout my life I have always been drawn to the tv shows, documentaries and other sources that delved into the medical world. However, the one thing that I have not done with my fascination with medicine is read a book that just focuses on medical topics. For the third marking period I have chosen to read the book Stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers by Mary Roach. In this book Roach writes about what happens to cadavers detailing the contributions dead bodies have made to the science and medical world. It seems like an unusual book, which is why I am so drawn to it. I have already read a historical non-fiction and an autobiography so I thought I might as well switch it up and read about some dead people. I can't wait to start reading this book so I can broaden my understanding of cadavers.

TOW #17 The Defense of Injustice by Cicero

     The battle between justice and injustice has been raging in the morals of man since the beginning of time.  A great piece of work that demonstrates the ongoing debate is the work of Cicero in the work titled The Defense of Injustice Marcus Tullius. Cicero lived through the most treacherous times at the height of Roman Empire. He was not only a writer but also a lawyer and politician. Cicero is a person in history who has been praised for his skillful rhetoric. While The Defense of Injustice was filled with marvelous strategies the one that had the most impact on proving the purpose was the structure of the essay.  The essay was set up in the dialogue with two speakers: Laelius and Philius. In the manuscript Laelius challenges Philius to make an argument against justice. Philius then goes on a whole speech that makes injustice seem like it makes sense and that we can never have a world where everyone is just to one another and follows the same rules. Laelius then comes back and shuts down the argument with some great arguments on how everyone follows the same basic rules of justice and how “there will not be different laws now and in the future” (24).  Since the essay is set up in a conversational structure it makes the ideas of the essay flow effortlessly. The structure also allows for a strong counter argument aspect that makes the whole purpose more valid. Philius’s argument is quite convincing but by having the conversation end with Laelius refuting the arguments it makes the writing solid. All of Cicero’s strategies go towards proving the purpose which is to show how the laws of justice are rooted in the laws of nature. The essay did prove its purpose in my own opinion. I find it pretty amazing how even today most of what was written still applies. It is a piece of work that should be studied for its rhetoric and ideas.  

TOW #16 IRB Post 2: Bossypants by Tina Fey

     I have just finished reading Bossypants by Tina Fey and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I find Tina Fey to be a remarkable person who I can only hope to aspire to be someday. Tina Fey has done some pretty impressive work in her career from being in one of the best improv groups in Chicago to being a writer and actress in the male dominated show in SNL and most recently working on the popular show 30 Rock. In the beginning Fey directed the book towards a lot of different groups, but by reaching the end of the book I have realized that most of her audience can just be summed up into anyone who enjoys comedy. Fey gave me such insight into the behind the scenes world of comedy that I feel like I left the book enlightened. In the book Fey included lots of little anecdotes to support her purpose. When writing about her time at SNL Fey tries to convey the change that she saw in the role of women in the writing world. To better portray the role of women Fey uses anecdotes in order to get her message across. The one story that really stood out to me was her week at SNL the guest was Sylvester Stallone and the opening monologue was based off Rocky and SNL needed to have someone play Adrian and while one of the female cast members at the time fit the part perfectly the directors decided to go with one of the male staff dressed in drag. Now there would be no doubt that one of the female cast members could take that role and play it perfectly. I learned so much about Tina Fey and in the end she accomplished her purpose, which was to entertain the audience with her life. I loved the book and would recommend it to anyone who has ever been interested in Tina Fey or even just has an interest in the comedy world.

TOW #15 Shake Shack Milkshake Cup

            One of my favorite places in the world is shake shack. The food there is delicious and I could honestly eat there everyday. Shake Shack is a fast food chain that is just starting to branch out into our area The menu there is pretty simple it is just different variations of burgers, hot dogs, fries and the best of all milkshakes. I usually go to shack shake every week, but it was only this week that I decided that I would analyze the iconic shake shack milkshake cup. The purpose of the cup is attracting more business. The design of the cup features a large milkshake that is in black and then all around the milkshake is little pictures in green of some of the other food choices at Shake Shack. The customers who see the cup have obviously already bought a milkshake, but seeing some of the other food might cause them to go back and order some of the other delicious food on the menu. Since Shake Shack is a fast food chain odds are that people are going to travel with the product, meaning that whoever interacts with a customer with a cup will also want to go to shake shack and buy some spectacular food. A key strategy that went towards proving the purpose was the design of the cup. It is a pretty plain cup, but it stands out from most of the other chains, in that it is so simple. The only words on the entire cup are Shake Shack. By using this plain design that is made to highlight the essence of the business. It is not a cup that demands attention; rather it just makes the person holding it feel comfortable, even though they are drinking a milkshake that has a lot of calories. I love Shack Shake and I love the cups the milkshakes come in. 

TOW #14 Pitching Obamacare to a Tough Crowd in Mississipi by Mark Mardell

     Since we live in the United States we usually just use news sources that are in easy acess such as news stations and newspapers. It is not very often that we, as Americans, get to see our problems through the perspectives of other nations. BBC just recently posted an article by Mark Mardell entitled Pitching

Obamacare to a Tough Crowd in Mississipi. Mark Mardell is the North American Editor for BBC, and wrote the article on Obamacare that was mainly focused on its effect in Mississippi. The purpose of the article was to educate readers about the actual effects of Obamacare. The article was directed towards an audience that was not American, because Mardell constantly defined certain facts that to Americans would be common knowledge, such as the state that Mississippi is currently in. Not to say that this article could not be beneficial to an American, such as myself. I personally learned some interesting facts about Obamacare, but that would make sense, since I have not fully followed the situation. Mardell was able to achieve his purpose by including a variety of sources to assist in getting a full picture of what the situation in Mississippi. The article had quotes from all sorts of people ranging from politicians to just average citizens. This since I have not followed Obamacare that Intently. To achieve his purpose Mardell used a strategy that was extremely effective in the portraying Obamacare, because most likely the audience of BBC are not in direct contact with anyone who has to be dealing with Obamacare. I think Mardell did achieve his purpose in some ways. I found the article to be slightly biased towards those against Obamacare, but overall I thought that for someone who is not from America it was an educational article.