TOW #27

TOWs used: TOW #2, TOW #10, & TOW #26

As I read back on my TOWs I noticed how slightly and slightly less structured by the requirements they were and more independently they answered the assignment. There became less of a fear to stray from the organization of author, purpose, audience, devices, context, and effectiveness. I was able in my most recent TOW to synthesize the reading I had done and combine it with personal style in order to create a more mature tone. When I wrote my first TOW I literally identified each element of the assignment in order to make sure I effectively covered all aspects of what was required and now I can do that by just reading a piece. If I am to identify something I have "mastered" I suppose it would be synthesizing. This is simply because I have learned how to tie things into a larger "So What?" question and forced myself to answer that within each response I write. This made it easier to tie things back to a larger picture and understand the texts I was analyzing better. I have definitely mastered questioning the "So What" of each text, I would not go as far as to say I have mastered answering that question. Something I struggled with in this class from the beginning was the identification of 3 solid rhetorical strategies in analysis texts. While I have learned that it is possible to write an essay identifying only two devices, I still sometimes struggle to cohesively cover the entire piece with only two devices. This is I am be faulting to my previous english schooling that had conditioned the idea that there must be 3 supporting body paragraphs to each essay. This was very hard to reteach myself not to do and simply write with the overall purpose in mind instead of just the strategies. This greatly improved my writing but I can definitely strive to do better with creating my own writing structure rather than follow a formula. I personally missed a lot of these assignments and was forgiven of them entirely for the third marking period so I do not have the strongest stance towards their benefits. However, it was helpful to practice with these mini essays and I do think it helped prepare me overall to do well on essays for this class and the exam as well.

TOW 26

Here's an updated tally of all the people who have died from a marijuana overdose by Nick Wang on The Huffington Post is a satircal take on the effects of marijuana. The piece itself is a response to the reaction from the satirical story stating that 37 had died from a marijuana overdose in Colorado due to its legalization. This story was to prove the point that marijuana itself is harmless and cannot result in an overdose in a plausible way but rather one that is nearly impossible to achieve. Through the use of satire, statistical evidence, and realism Wang creates an effective response showing the harmless and beneficial effects of the legalization of marijuana. The amount needed to be ingested in order to overdose is one so great there is no record of anyone using this age old "herb" over dosing. The satirical story posted by The Daily Currant is almost a mockery of the opposers to the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and America period. The Huffington Post took another shot at those confused by the piece by titling their response 'an updated tally of the people who have died from an overdose', the title being a mockery itself. The legalization of recreational marijuana use brought forth the pursuit of legalization in many other states which enraged police groups because it abandoned the current "failed war on drugs" (Wang). A letter written to the Attorney General law enforcements warned that his decision to not intervene at the legalization would lead to crime, violence, and even death. The police groups also made a number of additional controversial claims that marijuana use itself leads to violent behavior, suicidal thoughts and interest in harder drugs. Scientific studies have not been able to prove this causation conclusively, however, and research has also suggested that THC has significant therapeutic value to patients suffering from cancer, AIDS or glaucoma. None of this is to say that the nation doesn't struggle with broader issues of drug and alcohol abuse and overdose. Drug policy reformers and activists gathered around the world last year to discuss the overdose epidemic. In 2010, overdoses were responsible for 38,329 deaths. Sixty percent of those were related to prescription drugs. In the same year, a total of 25,692 persons died of alcohol-induced causes, including accidental poisoning and disease from dependent use. However, these statistics do not include marijuana, which in comparison is virtually harmless. Overall the positives of the legalization seem to outweigh the negatives and those opposed, law enforcement, are also some of the largest profiters from its illegality. This ultimately proves as a fallacy which along with the lack of evidence of this claim further deters the resistance against legalization. 

The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying Intro Post

The Tibetan Book of the Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche could be described as a western version of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Sogyal Rinpoche is a buddhist who grew up in the mountains of Tibet in a monastery who then travelled to the western world and has used his unique exposure to both cultures to create a truly amazing piece of literature. There are chapters that throughly develop the experiences from each world, the monastery life and life in the western world. Both are contrasted and compared in order to support the claims he makes of the journey of life itself. While the two are sometimes vastly different rather than showing one as the 'right' or 'wrong' way to live, he simply uses the contrast to show the various aspects of life and our environment and culture's effects. This allows for a deeper understanding not only of the world we live in, the western world, but a world which is a fascination itself, the world of the Buddhist monk. The book begins with a foreword from His Holiness himself the Dalai Lama expressing the rarity of Rinpoche's true and beautiful description of his experiences of the western and eastern philosophies. This is followed with a preface explaining the Tibetan Book of the Dead and how this pertains to it in likeness. However this book includes the aspects of living to the fullest in terms of self fulfillment and contentment. With a message so powerful one cannot help but step back and reflect on their own way of life and philosophies it is a deeply profound piece of literature. As someone developing my own path in life I find this book incredibly meaningful and helpful. I look forward to furthering the book and developing more insight into the world. This book so far has already inspired me further into pursuing a life path surrounding Buddhism and the way of the Tibetan Buddhists and I feel, greatly expanded my knowledge of the world.

Sylvia Plath Child's Park Stones

Sylvia Plath is not only one of the most influential and inspired young woman writer of the 21st century, she is one of my favorite poets. Her Pulitzer prize winning talent is undeniable and though she took her own life at 30 she had an amazing following in the literary community. Her works usually encircled deep emotion and reflected her obsession with death. In Child's Park Stones we can see the theme of death and resilience can be seen through the intensity of the description of the "park".  The stones are shown as unwavering, solid, throughout the changing seasons and carelessness of their owners. The frost and the heat have not destroyed them nor changed them. Plath describes them as immovable with the line "No man's crowbar could uproot them"(line 27), then unchanging with the lines "their beards are ever- Green. Nor do they, once in a hundred Years, go down to drink the river: No thirst disturbs a stone's bed."(28-39). The definitive statement that no thirst disturbs a stone's bed implies that the common necessity of water to all organisms does not apply here. This is a very strong subliminal reference to herself, she herself a rock, unchanging and immovable, does not need the same necessities as other creatures around her. Plath even goes so far as to almost trivialize the need or craving for something that is one of the basic requirements for life. A further allusion to herself being drawn by this piece is the format used, the use of semi colons and commas allow ideas to be stretched and allows her to add more description and depth to each element she illustrates. Plath uses subliminal personal allusions, descriptive and moving diction, and punctuation that seems to elongate and further portray the content of the poem. I found this poem to be very moving and effective when analyzed properly. 

TOW #11

Time to end Child Marriage by Jacqui Hunt CNN

The following article comes from CNN.com and is an in depth look at child marriage and its worldwide effect. Great psychological and physical strains placed on the child brides are exposed and investigated. A pattern of rape, force feeding, sex trafficking, and female genital mutilation are usually present before marriage for these child brides. A lifetime of abuse awaits child brides and as a global community we are not doing much to help. Countries such as Kenya, Morocco, and numerous Middle Eastern countries have no or no strict laws protecting children from child marriage while other countries like Egypt and Iran are lowering the marriage age. The opinions expressed in this article are those of Jacqui Hunt, London director of Equality Now, an international human rights organization, which aims to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world. Jacqui Hunt runs the London office of Equality Now.  A lawyer who trained and worked with international law firm, Linklaters, she started her professional career with Amnesty International, working in campaigning and research at the United Nations and in press and special projects.  She joined the Board of Equality Now in 1992, the year of its founding, and was later asked to start the London office, which she opened in 2004. Her article is obviously written in such a way as to convince her audience of the horrors behind child marriage and support causes like hers against it. Her audience being readers and patrons of CNN.com interested in world news and humanity news. Facts, reasoning, and a tone of responsibility allow Hunt to express the tragedy of child marriage. I enjoyed reading this piece as outlawing child marriage is one of my beliefs but I also appreciated how well it was written. 

IRB Intro Post

Bossypants by Tina Fey is an autobiography and satirical telling of the life of Tina Fey from adolescence to adulthood. One of the first chapters is titled, “All Girls Must Be Everything.”  Fey goes on to list all of the outstanding expectations of women in today's society and environment. After listing and attacking countless examples of these expectations, Fey goes on to connect many of them to specific anecdotes from her life and references to similar experiences. I was surprised to find some gaping truths beneath the funny, and often sarcastic, tone of these first few chapters. The concept of girl-on-girl sabotage really struck me—from when Tina outcasts a young dancer who stole her boyfriend to when she goes behind Donna’s back to steal her desk job. I was surprised to see Tina cross Donna, considering the main thing she learned in that job was “how to be a considerate coworker.” Throughout the text so far the style seems to be that of anecdotes linking past stories and stories from her present life in order to convey a message or theme in ever chapter. Humor, satire, and anecdotes appear to be the formula for this autobiography. For those who are fans of Tina Fey it is particularly gratifying to see the roots of many scenes from 30 Rock and other works Fey had collaboration with. I am looking forward to seeing more of these real life experience that made it into Fey's works such as Mean Girls. The overall purpose seems to be the projection of female empowerment, perseverance, acceptance of all peoples, and life lessons. It seems like a very promising read.

TOW #10

Homless Polar Bear "Need more ice not oil"

The above picture was found on Google images and is named homeless polar bear "need more ice not more oil". The growing necessity of the government's participation in the effort against Global Warming is the issue being addressed. The "polar bear"shown is a protestor dressed in a slim, dirty polar bear suit in a trench coat holding a sign that reads "Need more ice not more oil". The protestor is standing in front of the capital building in Washington D.C and is protesting for more environmental support by Congress. The polar bear is shown as dirty and homeless looking to represent the melting ice caps and vast loss of the creature's habitat. The detriment to the environment caused by pollution has a direct correlation to the fate of this species. Global Warming, or as conservatives call it, climate change, has melted thousands of miles of ice that the polar bear inhibits. Need more ice not oil is a direct shot at the priorities of Congress and the American government itself. This protestor points out that climate change is bigger than corporate greed of the oil industry or fueling a power source that is bad for the environment as well. By doing this it forces values and morality into the issue surrounding environmental conservation. It demands Congress to ask which is more important, the Earth's well being, or fuel and profit.  This is an appeal to pathos, and through allusion to a homeless person, condescending Congress' priorities, and candid sign, empathy and support of enviormental conservation is established.