TOW #19 - "Face Blindness"

Facial recognition is a skill most of us have had since birth, a skill, given its commonplace nature, that we often take for granted. However, for some, this ability would seem completely foreign. Kate Szell, a former partner in a law firm, recently won a science writing contest on the subject of prosopagnosia, a condition that makes it extremely difficult for a person to recognize faces. She aims to spread awareness and foster an environment of understanding for those suffering from the condition. As even our smartphones are learning to recognize faces, it is difficult to imagine a world without such an ability. To compound the level of understanding obtained through the analogy, Szell also offers insight from a person who suffers from the condition. A fourteen-year-old girl tells about how she once asked her best friend of many years who she was. “[S]he’d had a haircut, so how was I to know?” (paragraph 1). The testimony gives her credibility on a personal level and makes her reader feel sympathy for those suffering from prosopagnosia. A simple level of emotional connection to a real case of the condition facilitates the level of acceptance and patience Szell hopes to achieve.
Beyond personal testimony, Szell provides the logical appeal through facts she has collected and expert testimony to the reality of the issue. According to studies, she writes, around two percent of the population has prosopagnosia (paragraph 3). While the percentage seems small, it is not. Out of every fifty people, one has prosopagnosia. Such as statistic helps her audience to see how vital understanding is. Most people interact with at least fifty people in their lives, so awareness of the condition should be much more widespread than it is. Kate Szell’s contest-winning essay certainly takes the prize for helping people to, in her own words, “recognize the face of prosopagnosia."

TOW #18 - Apple vs. Africa visual

The powerful visual text juxtaposes the effect of the death of the iPhone vs. the death of the millions in Africa. The text claims that when one iPhone dies, million cry; while when millions in Africa die, no one cries. Society's attention is focused on the latest and greatest technology, rather the lives of millions in the African continent. When the first iPhone 6 in Australia was dropped on live television, it received millions of shares across social media and cringing from millions behind the screen. Society's obsession with the latest and greatest technology has people focused on all the wrong things. The simple dropping of an iPhone has witnesses waiting with worries, as the owner picks up their phone to reveal if they have or have not cracked their six hundred dollar phone. The author of this visual text brings up a very valid point, while one piece of technology dies emotions of sadness fill a person, but while millions of human lives are lost, those outside of the family don't shed a tear. Society has come to a point where it cares more about one single piece of technology, rather the human lives lost in another continent. We have become too fixated on innovative technology over the lives of those across the pond. True, it is hard to connect with people we've never met, but we've found ourselves attached to a little piece of metal. The author makes a valid point, society is focused on all the wrong things. Technology > Human Lives

TOW #17 - "Running Away with the Circus"

In “Running Away With the Circus”, Taffy Brodesser uses anaphora, and symbolism in order to share with the readers the lives of circus performers and the dying legacy of circuses. The author starts the article by introducing the different people involved with the Ringling Brothers Circus, a well-known circus that’s been around since 1884. He incorporates anaphora by beginning all the sentences in the first paragraph with “you could see (a person’s name)” and descriptions of them, such as their jobs or titles, then finish the sentence with what they do. For example, “You could see Edward Billings, the King of the High Stilts, as he confounded audience members with his height and balance” (1). With his use of anaphora, he is able to introduce his entire article with a satisfying rhythm and an interesting way of introducing the “characters”. Also in the beginning, the author tells the story of the first time people witnessed the light bulbs Thomas Edison had invented, and how amazed they were by the miraculous inventions. The light bulb, which became the symbol for the circus throughout the article, was the fresh and original idea that people were newly shocked by back then, but is now something that no one pays any attention to anymore, which is similar to the idea of circus. The author, when talking about the reasons behind the decline of popularity in circuses, states, “maybe they don’t have their new light bulb yet, but they already have a lot to work with” (20).  This shows that although they haven’t found the one thing or idea that today’s people will be amazed over yet, they are still working on developing new and improved ideas to please their audiences. With his use of anaphora and symbolism, Brodesser is able to successfully share the stories of circus performers and their dying legacies.

IRB Intro #3

The Intimation Game, a WWII movie on the team at Bletchley Park that cracked the German Enigma and won the war, became quite popular in 2015 and won multiple nominations at the Oscars and BAFTAs. But the man behind the story, Alan Turing, was only captured in a summarizing detail. I found that the movie had been adapted off of the book Alan Turing: the Enigma by Andrew Hodges. The movie had gone to share part of the childhood of Turing, focusing on his friendship with Christopher, but had mainly focused on his time surrounding Bletchley Park. The movie was quite fascinating, and in my opinion deserved more than just one Oscar, but what had truly captured my full interest was a caption that appeared at the end of the movie. Turing's machine, which had cracked the German code, paved the way for the invention of the computer. This is why I have chosen to take the challenge of reading the 700+ page novel.

TOW #16 - "NYC grinds to a halt amid deadly East Coast blizzard"

#Snowpocalypse Jonas touched down on the northeast coast on Friday afternoon. Starting in DC on Friday at noon, the blizzard raged through up the coast. The massive winter storm ground life to a halt, as upwards on 3 feet of snow accumulated on the grounds. Jonas even forced a vehicle travel ban in New York City. The storm also closed rail/subway service and shut down theaters as higher-than-forecast snowfall inundated the metropolitan area. USA Today writer, Kevin McCoy, reported on life in the Big Apple as the second-largest storm in city history raged on. As it raged into late Saturday night, the storm proved deadly as three had snow shovelers died of apparent heart-related injuries, according to the chief of the NYPD. New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced the travel ban during an afternoon briefing after he issued an emergency declaration for southeastern New York. The ban applied to all motor travel, except for government or medical emergency vehicles. Beginning at 2:30 pm, New Yorkers who braved the snow had to travel by foot on the vehicle-free streets. NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio warned, "If you're a citizen out driving, you will be subject to arrest." But NYC is full of rule breakers, as filmmaker Casey Neistat and friends equipped their Jeep with cables out the back; equipped for pulling snowboarders. Neistat took the opportunity of somewhat cleared streets and empty roads to snowboard while attached to the moving car. The vehicle-free streets were not free of people though, as many New Yorkers spotted Neistat boarding through Times Square and other parts of NYC. NY's unique aura shined through Neistat and friends, as nothing, not the travel ban nor the NYPD they encountered, stopped them from having the time of their lives. With the storm passed, east coasters are left to shovel their ways back to everyday life, as the first snowfall of winter brought massive piles of the white "dust."

TOW #15 - "In Plain English: Let's Make It Official"

The essay "In Plain English: Let's Make It Official" first appeared in 2006's Time magazine. In it, author Charles Krauthammer states his view on whether or not English should be deemed the official language of the United States. He argues that it should, through his personal anecdotes and acknowledgement of the other side allows him to do so effectively. In the beginning, Krauthammer introduces himself as a bilingual man who grew up in Canada, a country that, "of course, had no choice about bilingualism [...] The U.S., by contrast blessed with a single common language for two centuries, seems blithely and gratuitously to be ready to import bilingualism with all its attendant divisiveness and antagonisms". He establishes a credibility by explaining his upbringings in a country divided by language, and contrasts it to the US which is ready to tear itself apart by bringing in this bilingualism, even though they have this opportunity to be united under one language. He then goes on to explain his view completely; that it is okay to be bilingual and practice other languages, but it is not okay to demand the U.S. government adhere to that language. When immigrating to the U.S., "the immigrant, of course, has the right to speak whatever he wants. But he must understand that when he comes to the U.S., swears allegiance and accepts its bounty, he undertakes to join its civic culture. In English". He makes a compelling and logical argument by appealing to the other side. He does not say, "You need to speak English fluently, and English only", which may be the fears of many opposing the term official language in regards to the relationship between the United States and English. He basically says, "You need to understand enough English to participate in our society, where our official documents will be printed in English." Krauthammer effectively argues his opinion that English should be the official title of the United States though personal anecdotes and addressing the other side of the argument in "In Plain English: Let's Make It Official."

TOW #14 - WFP PSA

The World Food Programme has worked to aide countries with hunger problems since it was established in 1961, and with this ad they aim to draw attention to the cause. The use of several rhetorical devices, including contrasting images and an allusion, helps grab the audiences attention and sparks an interest or at least a glance towards aiding world hunger. Clearly, the elephant front and center grabs the viewer's attention. Initially, the viewer might believe this is an ad for the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), which often times uses cute animals to help their cause in aiding animals globally. However, the WFP is not specifically concerned with animals, but more malnutrition issues. The elephant stands in a enormous pile of food, which goes along with their mission of ending world hunger. The two contrasting images, ideas, and causes makes the reader wonder, "Why is an organization using something unrelated to their cause coupled with the exact reason for their cause to prove their point?" The allusion then connects the dots for the audience, in which the text states, "Stop ignoring the elephant. Join the fight against world hunger." This is an allusion to the well-known saying, "we must address the elephant in the room." It is inferable that the elephant in the room is world hunger, and the World Food Programme wants the audience's attention and concern on this important issue. Essentially, the WWP wanted the audience to address the elephant in the picture. The WWP grabs the audience's attention with an allusion to the elephant that contrasts with their purpose and effectively highlights the concern the audience should have on the issue of world hunger.