TOW #29: Letter to a Future APELC Student

Dear Future APELC Student, 

It’s going to be a good year for you. Actually, I can’t tell you that, because I don’t know your life, but APELC won’t be that bad. I’m sure people have told you that this class is hard, or that it’s impossible to get an A. That is not strictly true. I am here to myth-bust (or prove true) the rumors of L08.

Firstly, something that is true: you will have to work hard this year. Unless you are a timed-writing natural, you will have to put in the time and the hand/forearm strength to improve your writing. Additionally, you will give your brain a workout improving your reading skills. You will be digesting a lot of complex texts this year, but if you take it seriously in the beginning, you hopefully will struggle a lot less by the end of the year. You will have the opportunity to synthesize your new reading and writing skills in your weekly TOW blog post, which will really help you to keep your abilities sharp and applicable. If you work hard and take your assignments seriously, there is no reason to think you cannot get an A, or at the very least become a better writer.

Now for a rumor that is absolutely false. Word got around last year that Mr. Yost (supposedly) told the kids in gifted that if they worked hard they could get an A, whereas if someone who came from honors English worked hard, they would likely end with a B. Whether or not Mr. Yost actually made such an offensive statement (though I very much doubt a teacher like Mr. Yost would ever say something like that), do not let it go to your ego, gifted kids, nor should you honors kids let it give you low expectations for yourself. You all have to work hard in APELC to succeed, regardless of your backgrounds in English. You all have a chance to do well if you take hold of your resources. Ms. Pronko is often around to offer writing advice and feedback, as well as interesting NPR stories. Mr. Yost also offers office hours once a week after school, and is critical but insightful with his feedback. With the guidance of two talented teachers and your own dedication, you can get an A, no matter who you are.

Another rumor I shall bust is the idea that your summer essay destroys your grade for the year. While it may seem that way for a while if you do poorly, which many people do, it will all balance out. The first marking period tends to be the hardest, given the transition, so your grades should only rise! Additionally, Mr. Yost opened the option this year for students to rewrite an essay of their choice at the end of the year, which should hopefully alleviate some of your new-to-APELC anxiety.

A final rumor I shall bust is the one that in APELC you write a lot timed essays that kill your grade. While you do write a lot of timed essays, only a few are “for realsies” (count for your grade), so do not worry yourself too much over that.

On that note, I wish you good luck. Though I do not agree with Mr. Yost’s famed “Relax, it’s only school” mantra, I would agree that you should not sweat the small stuff or take criticism personally, and know that no matter what, you can be something awesome in life, no matter how junior year goes for you.

Good Luck!

Grace McStravock

TOW #28: TOW Reflection

    As I look through my TOWs, I do not notice much change in my analysis at first glance. I have maintained much the same style over the course of the year. The primary change at first glance is that I stopped caring about word limits and wrote as much as I felt like writing (always over the limit). However, upon inspection, I think it is clear that my writing has improved over the course of the year.

Whether or not the TOWs themselves shaped my rhetorical analysis writing skills, or whether that could be attributed more heavily to writing we did in class and for take-home essays, I do not know. I believe that especially by the end of the year, the TOWs had become a showcase for what I had learned over the course of the year, not so much practice, as they became a chore and I stopped caring how deeply I analyzed the texts I chose. Thus, as I analyze my progress, I am keeping in mind that the first half of the year displays my rigorous effort to write good rhetorical analyses, whereas the second half of the year displays what I came to be able to do with very little effort.

Taking a look at my TOWs from the beginning of the year, I generally stated the obvious, such as in this summer reading TOW: “James bolsters his thesis with historical and literary evidence, allowing him achieve his purpose.” Looking back, I can say that of course he was using evidence to achieve his purpose, but how was he using it? Another problem with my early TOWs was that I blatantly use terms relating to rhetoric simply for the sake of proving I knew them. Now I know that is not always necessary, and if more time is spent on determining the effect than the specific term name, the rhetorical analysis will be much better.

By the end of the year I was generally spending fifteen to twenty minutes on a TOW, as opposed to the hour or more I spent per TOW at the beginning of the year. Yet, my rhetorical analysis was still better, which I think shows my progress as a result of the writing we have done this year (TOWs and otherwise). While at the beginning of the year I stated the obvious, by March I was identifying that the writer of a memoir I read uses a stream-of-consciousness approach to writing to show the public his humanity in order to hold their respect for being both the idealist American “common man” and an American war hero.

I see this change in analysis as profound. While before I struggled to even identify rhetorical strategies, by the end of the year I could pick out much better ones - with less effort on top of that! One thing I obviously could still work on is being concise. In general, everything I write uses too many unnecessary words, this reflection included. I guess I will have to tackle that obstacle in the coming years, though believe it or not, I have improved significantly since the start of high school!

I would like to say thank you to Mr. Yost and Ms. Pronko for helping me to improve my writing. As much as I dreaded Sundays, the time just might have been well spent (though I do not really want to admit it).

TOW #27: Give Blood (Visual Text)

With a student-council-sponsored blood drive coming up soon at Wissahickon, I decided to look at some Red Cross “give blood” posters for my TOW. Also, I am entirely out of good TOW ideas. The Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that provides assistance in the case of disaster or emergency. They often hold blood drives in which average American citizens can help the American Red Cross to help others through the donation of blood. Naturally, the idea of giving blood is not extremely appealing to most people, so the Red Cross must make their mission clear in posters, and use persuasive methods to get people to donate.

In this particular poster, the focal point is two band-aids, crossed over the center padded part to make a cross, similar in shape to the red cross symbol. The image shows that something very simple can make a big difference. In other words, the donor gets a band-aid, a fix to a small injury, and that small injury can help the Red Cross fix a much bigger injury in a person who really needs the help. The image is powerful in this sense. To accompany this image are two italicized words: “Give blood.” The short sentence emphasizes the power of the image, as its simplicity implies that all that needs to be said has been said already. The emotional appeal of the image in combination with the two words below make it effective. If one requires more information, there is a short paragraph below the image and the two words that describes the aim of blood donation. Using pronouns likes “we,” the American Red Cross includes the potential blood donors in one unit of people, creating a sense of togetherness that works for emotional persuasion. The paragraph also addresses the impact that the blood will have: “When we come together, we can become part of something bigger than us all.” Most people ultimately strive to be part of something bigger, whether that is some advancement of mankind, or a community, or a club, people love to feel they have a greater purpose. The idea that giving blood can make a person part of something larger makes it more appealing even to the queasy, like me. Thus, I believe, the poster was rather effective.

(for poster, see 2007 APELC synthesis question)

TOW #26: Letter from a Previous APELC Student (Written Text)

I was too stressed about mocks to look for a good TOW article (because a rhetorical analysis of an AP chemistry textbook does not quite sound like my idea of a good time. Also, I’ve already done a TOW on an AP chemistry prep book, and I wouldn’t want to be too repetitive!). I decided to Google “TOW AP English Blog,” figuring I would find someone else’s blog, choose one of their TOWs, find the article about which they were writing, and write my own TOW about it. Yes, as I’m writing this, I am realizing that if I were more of a dishonest person, I could quite easily have just copied someone else’s TOW instead of writing my own, but I wouldn’t do that, and did not even think about that as an option until just now. Anyway, I found something to write about! It seems that at the end of last year, students were assigned to write a letter on their blogs to future APELC students. I read one of the letters (why didn’t we get to read these at the beginning of the year?) and decided I would rhetorically analyze it.
The writer of this particular letter is Kayleigh Y. Kayleigh (woah, I can use her first name because I know her personally!) seems to be writing not so much to inform future students about what the year will entail as to quell the fears she had at the beginning of the year. She establishes a laid-back tone from the beginning, addressing a “Future APELC-er.” Her use of the fabricated word, “APELC-er,” as opposed to “AP English Language and Composition student,” makes her writing feel much less formal, and much more like a conversation between peers. Making her audience comfortable with her as a friendly speaker is essential to her achievement of her purpose, as a relaxed former student shows future students that APELC is for anyone with motivation, not just pretentious, but articulate writers, who are proud to be called “AP English Elitist Snobs” (that’s the Euro kids). Another strategy Kayleigh employs is the use of personal anecdotes. For example, she introduces herself as a student who had never, before junior year, taken any AP courses. Many juniors are in the same position she was in, so having a personal testimony from a student they know is much like them could help the “future APELC-er[s]” relax about the year ahead. Kayleigh closes her letter with the words “Most importantly though, don't be scared. You will be fine. :)” At the beginning of her letter, a future APELC student might not have believed that he or she would be “fine,” but by the end of Kayleigh’s description of the course, I think he or she would be much more inclined to believe her words. Overall, I not only think she achieved her purpose, but also, being an APELC student close to the end of junior year myself, agree with her.

TOW #25: Four Basic Rights (Written Text)

Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt were generally forward-thinking for their time. The First Couple has a legacy of remembering the “forgotten man.” Even when FDR, afflicted with polio, became too disabled to travel around the country, his wife Eleanor became his eyes and ears, advising him in his role as President, while also taking up social issues of her own. Eleanor Roosevelt was a lifelong advocate of equal rights, and used her position as First Lady to further that idea. However, she was always faced with some opposition along the way. When she received a letter from a white American woman expressing concern about sharing public restrooms with African Americans, she responded with the four basic rights she believes every American should have. Her tone, as well as her very logical argument helped her to be quite persuasive.

Throughout her letter to Miss Frizielle, the woman who had expressed her concerns about desegregation, Eleanor Roosevelt holds a polite, yet matter-of-fact tone. She uses rather brief sentences with minimal artistic additions, all ending in periods. This contributes to the creation of her matter-of-fact tone, as can be seen to be established in the first paragraph: “I have not advocated social equality between colored and white people. That is a personal thing which nobody can advocate.” She is short and to the point, but never strays into disrespect. She evenly counters Miss Frizielle’s argument throughout, but does not attack the woman for her beliefs. In fact, as shown in the first paragraph, she expresses that one cannot force another to change his or her beliefs, and would never advocate for such a thing.

Additionally, Eleanor Roosevelt bases her argument strongly on logic. Though she has no facts to prove her point, she uses inductive reasoning to reach her conclusion. “I am sure it is true that here in Washington you have found some discourteous colored people,” she writes. “I have found colored people who were discourteous, and I have also found white people who were discourteous.” She aims for Miss Frizielle to see that if there are some discourteous white people and there are some discourteous colored people, it is fair to say that skin color is not a good indicator of one’s personality, thus invalidating that part of Miss Frizielle’s argument. She makes a similar inductive argument at the end: “If you have to use the same toilets and wash basins where you work, then all of you must have to take physical examinations.” She is thus saying that if your restrooms are desegregated, you must also have equal health requirements, and therefore you are not any less safe than if you shared your restrooms with only other white women. 

Eleanor Roosevelt’s use of a polite, but even tone, as well as a logical argument, helps her to effectively convey her message to Miss Frizielle.

http://ap.gilderlehrman.org/resources/eleanor-roosevelt%25E2%2580%2599s-four-basic-rights-1944?period=7

TOW #24: Let's Pretend This Never Happened (IRB #3, Part 2)

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened is a “mostly true” memoir by Jenny Lawson, which presents her life as a series of humorous, albeit disturbing stories. Her funny stories are designed to help her reader realize that “... you are defined not by life’s imperfect moments, but by your reaction to them” (Dedication). 

Having finished the book, I can now examine her rhetorical strategies on a large scale. One of the most important things Lawson does is arrange her book chronologically. Lawson begins at the beginning of her life and works through her years growing up, and then her years as an adult. While this might sound rather basic, it is crucial to her work due to the fact that Lawson clearly (as discussed in the previous blog post) wants her audience to feel a connection to her as a person. Thus, as Lawson shares the funny, happy, and devastating moments of her life from as far back as she can remember, it is as if Lawson’s story becomes part of the reader’s story, as a close family friend, or even as a family member. Therefore, when she later references earlier times, the reader can think humorously to him or herself “I remember when Jenny did that!” just as two friends recounting tales from childhood would do. This closeness between author and audience is key to Lawson’s achievement of her goal to embrace the imperfections of life, because Lawson is a clear example of someone who has, and who is, to the reader, very likeable. 

Another overarching strategy used by Lawson is to creatively name her titles. Again, while a seemingly basic strategy, it is very effective. Though Lawson’s stories were interesting, after a few, interest might drop off. The cleverly named chapters were a constant motivation to keep reading, as they piqued curiosity. Titles like “Thanks for the Zombies, Jesus” and “Honestly, I Don’t Even Know Where I Got That Machete: A Comic Tragedy in Three Parts Days” make the reader confused enough to want to know what Jesus has to do with Zombies, and why Jenny (I feel like I can use her first name after reading this book, which means she reached her goal) has a machete! Without readers interested enough to keep consistently reading, Jenny Lawson could never attain her goal. However, with the strategies she used, I remained interested and believe that she did indeed achieve her goal.

TOW #23: Eddie Rickenbacker on Raoul Lufbery's Death (Written Text)

Raoul Lufbery is recognized as a French and as an American ace in the First World War for his 17 confirmed combat victories (and supposed numerous others). He served in an American volunteer unit to aid France before America officially entered the war called the Lafayette Escadrille. When America did enter the war in 1917, he remained as an instructor for new American pilots, one of whom was Eddie Rickenbacker. Lufbery’s plane was shot down in May of 1918 and he apparently jumped from the cockpit, after which he fell some 200 feet and landed on a garden picket, which was ultimately the cause of his death. Rickenbacker, later an ace himself, describes first hand the death of his instructor in his book of memoirs, The Flying Circus, which was intended to be read by the American public.

Rickenbacker arranges his memoir in a manner that mimics a flow of thoughts when one is telling a story. Rather than just describing the event, he explains how Lufbery’s last flight began, then adds in a bit about Lufbery, as if realizing as an afterthought that his audience might not be entirely sure who the man is, then he proceeds to describe the fateful moment, and follows that with a flashback to a few days before the event. This format, though not chronologically organized, gives the reader the impression that Rickenbacker was truly affected by the death of his instructor. It also gives the piece a much more natural feel, so that it seems as though it was spoken directly to the reader, not written with many revisions. This is likely important to Rickenbacker, as he was well-known amongst the American public, and probably wanted to maintain his image as a common American hero, not to distance himself by sounding too formal for the people.

Additionally, Rickenbacker refers to Lufbery by his nickname, “Luf.” This informal attitude towards the major builds his credibility as someone close to the man. As a friend and apparent eyewitness, the public is much more likely to accept his version of the story, though the truth is largely debated. It is interesting that Rickenbacker chooses to tell the version of the story that Lufbery’s plane burst into flames and he leapt to “certain death rather than endure the slow torture of burning to a crisp.” In fact, there has never been evidence to prove that Lufbery’s plane was aflame, and eyewitnesses much closer to the event did not describe the plane as being on fire. It is much more likely that Lufbery was standing to fix his jammed Lewis machine gun and was thrown from the plane when it flipped. Rickenbacker seems to be paying one last tribute to his mentor by telling America that Lufbery’s jump was a “hopeless but a heroic attempt to preserve his life for his country!” Given his own popularity and the perpetuation of this story of Lufbery’s death, such as in Jeff Shaara’s To the Last Man, shows that he was largely successful.

TOW #22: Information Wanted (Visual Text)

On June 4, 1898, about a month after Commodore Dewey’s stunning victory at Manila on May 1, a cartoon was published in Judge, an American satirical magazine. The cartoon depicts a rather shocked-looking Uncle Sam holding a dark-skinned baby, wearing what appears to be traditional native clothing. The cartoonist aims to show the bewilderment of America at the imperialistic position it got itself in due to the Spanish-American War.

Attached to the crying baby is a tag that says “Philippines with compliments of Dewey.” This implies that the Philippines was a territorial acquisition, a gift to America by a very capable commodore, not a land with its own people that ought to have independence. In the cartoon, Uncle Sam looks quite confused, likely because America went into the Spanish-American War with the intention of liberating Cuba from oppressive Spanish rule, but quickly became an imperialistic power of the same nature as the hated Spain. At the very bottom of the cartoon is written: “INFORMATION WANTED. Uncle Sam - ‘Now that I’ve got it, what am I going to do with it?’” The comment further supports the idea that America was unsure of its new position. America, a nation which had rejected colonization at its origin, was ending the nineteenth century a colonizing nation itself.

The cartoon is set up so that Uncle Sam and the baby are in the forefront. The depiction of America as the strong, old, white man, and the Philippines as a screaming baby of a darker skin tone, depicts America’s perceived relationship to the Filipinos - one of superiority. Surely one could argue that America was depicted as a man and the Philippines as a small child just to show the comparative strength of each on the world scale, but ultimately the baby is still crying, making it appear not only of weaker physical strength, but also of a weaker mental strength. The traditional garb appearing on the crying baby makes it seem as though the indigenous culture is inferior to the white man’s culture. Even though the cartoon is meant to be mocking to American government to some degree, it still highlights the perceived superiority of the white man.

Finally, in the background there are ships. I cannot tell for sure whether they are supposed to be Dewey’s recently victorious forces, or the German and other European navies that crept into the Manila harbor waiting to see if America would leave so that they might fill the power vacuum left by Spain. The fact that they are in the back and that Uncle Sam is facing away from them makes them appear as yet another problem brewing on the horizon, which, when Uncle Sam notices them, will direct his decision as to what is to be done with the Filipino baby. That is, they will affect America’s decision to grant the Philippines independence or to remain in control of them.

TOW #21: The American Boy (Written Text)

In May of 1900, before taking becoming the United States’ president, Teddy Roosevelt wrote an essay in a popular youth periodical, St. Nicholas Magazine For Young Folks. His “American Boy” was one in a series of essays on boyhood, and Roosevelt wrote to inspire each young boy to develop into a “good American man.”

Roosevelt repeatedly juxtaposes opposites in his writing, beginning with the first line: “Of course, what we have a right to expect of the American boy is that he shall turn out to be a good American man.” In this case, boy and man are the figures he is contrasting. He follows this with a series of sentences that make similar juxtapositions, like “he won’t be much of a man unless he is a good deal of a boy,” or “coward” and “weakling” versus “work hard and play hard.” Ultimately, the repeated contrast of opposites is meant to highlight the importance of boyhood to the development of a good man. In the first few paragraphs Roosevelt makes clear that this is his position, but does not give much evidence to back it up. He instead relies on the audience accepting what he says as truth. The juxtaposition has much to do with why Roosevelt’s stance is so easily acceptable. When opposites are proposed, one sees two distinct options, one of which often is more preferable, and the audience can clearly follow the logic of the preferable options to the author’s intended conclusion. For Roosevelt, that is the characteristics of a good boy from which a good man can develop.

Another interesting tactic Roosevelt employs is appeal to the lower class. He writes: “Of course boys who live under such fortunate conditions that they have to do either a good deal of outdoor work or a good deal of what might be called natural outdoor play do not need this athletic development.” He is not-so-subtly stating that the lower class laborers have an advantage over the upper class in becoming real men. This is a unique approach, and to some degree an accurate one, if the characteristics of a man really are the ones he defined. However, I wonder about the effectiveness of his strategy, because while most American boys would fit the description he is giving, would most of the audience of a magazine be poor or wealthy?

TOW #20: Nicht das, was Sie Erwarten (Visual Text)

In Frau Wilson’s room there is a poster that I have found interesting since 9th grade: it shows grass and a shovel, except where the grass has been dug out, there is not soil, but rather a layered cake! The poster is for the Jewish Museum in Berlin, which I had the privilege to visit last summer. The poster’s goal is to show potential museum-goers that the museum is not what one would expect of a Jewish museum in Germany.

The image on the poster is certainly rather surprising. Under the grass is cake? Of course, logic would say that is not so, but cake is for most people a more pleasant option than dirt. That appears to say that even if the Jewish museum is not what you would expect, it is something better. The words at the bottom of the poster below the name of the museum say “Nicht das, was Sie erwarten," which is German for “Not what you would expect.” The positioning of the words is key, as it allows the viewer to take in the image, to be confused, and then to have their eyes travel downward and realize that is the point. Ultimately, if the viewer is curious, the museum hopes that curiosity will make them decide to visit. Important also is that the shape of the building is shown on a small logo, as that is part of what makes the museum so unique: it is not only a visual experience relying on facts to carry a message, but also a spatial experience. The building is a zigzagging form with a straight line that cuts through the building, creating voids the architect says demonstrate “that which can never be exhibited when it comes to Jewish Berlin history: Humanity reduced to ashes." Not all that can be grasped from the poster, but the form on the poster gives the viewer an inkling of what they will discover when if they visit. More simply, the poster is brightly colored, using vibrant green and pink to catch the attention of someone passing by. Before anyone can even be drawn to appreciate the message and have their curiosity piqued, they must think to look at it in the first place. The bright colors serve that purpose.

Ultimately, I believe the poster achieved its goal, as when I found out we were going to the Jüdisches Museum Berlin last summer, I immediately thought of the poster and was rather excited. I was curious to see how the museum would be anything but what I expected, and I was not disappointed! Not only was the poster unique, but also accurate to the experience.

TOW #19: The Act of Rigorous Forgiving (Written Text)

David Brooks, a New York Times op-ed columnist, published a piece reacting to the Brian Williams dilemma a few days after the news broke, taking a rather surprising approach: forgiveness. I decided to read the piece because forgiveness is a word not heard too often in reference to the media - in fact, it is probably the most unforgiving element of our society, spurring twenty-first century witch hunts for wrongdoings that, when examined more closely, most of us are not in any position to judge. Brooks aims to highlight that idea, and to convince his readers that “civic fabric would be stronger if, instead of trying to sever relationships with those who have done wrong, we tried to repair them, if we tried forgiveness instead of exiling.”

Anticipating a somewhat contemptuous reaction from those who regard forgiveness as a somewhat romanticized idea, he makes sure to note that his idea of forgiveness “balances accountability with compassion.” He organizes his piece by breaking down forgiveness into four processes. In each section, he explains what must be done in that stage. By explaining the processes, he makes it easy for his readers to truly understand what it means to forgive. He also makes it seem reasonable enough to be a viable option to be chosen over the present burning at the stake with acrid words to destroy all remaining shreds of the reputation of a man who realistically cannot say or do anything to defend himself. Additionally, Brooks uses respected figures like Martin Luther King Jr. to enhance the argument for forgiveness. Brooks states that King said that forgiveness is not an act, but rather an attitude. The use of a persecuted, yet triumphant figure like King helps to Brooks to convince his audience that though forgiveness is indeed right. If one who was so much more affected by another’s wrongdoing than his audience likely is by Brian Williams spoke of forgiving, then who are we all to take an attitude of superiority? Brooks takes one more significant step to convince his audience by ending with the question “Would you rather become the sort of person who excludes, or one who offers tough but healing love?” The preferable answer is obviously the second, as the first option uses the word “exclude,” a term which usually carries a negative connotation and is associated with bullying. Though perhaps one could see it as a false dilemma, it still gives the intended effect of making the reader consider their own character and decide what kind of person they would rather be. Thus, Brooks achieved his purpose by at least making his audience consider forgiveness.

TOW #18: "After Life" (Written Text)

A few months after her husband died of cardiac arrest at the dinner table, Joan Didion wrote “After Life,” an account of the sudden death of her husband and her resultant grief. Didion, a lifelong writer in many fields, often authors essays with depressing themes or melancholy undertones. This essay, however, is perhaps more powerful than any of the others of hers that I have read in the past, because of the gripping emotion and bewilderment she aims to portray, and how this time it is clearly so real.

Didion structures her essay chronologically for the most part, a strategy that is helpful in leading her readers with her down the path of love and loss and shock and sorrow. She begins her outline with the death itself, contextualizing it by recounting the events of that day, namely their visit to their only daughter, Quintana, who was in the ICU after having fallen ill with pneumonia, which escalated, putting her in a coma. Despite the tough day, Didion places an emphasis on how utterly ordinary the moments before John’s death were: she was cooking dinner while he asked her something about the scotch she had poured for him, and they discussed WWI. “John was talking, then he wasn't,” she writes. Short sentences like this, which she uses after each longer, narrative paragraph, convey a sort of aloofness one wouldn’t necessarily expect to find in an essay about the death of a loved one, but which so perfectly, I am told, conveys the bewildering emptiness that follows such a loss. The idea of the “ordinary,” like the calm before the storm, while not hers specifically, is one she uses throughout this section. As a writer, she references the deaths she has experienced through others, quoting the people of Honolulu she had interviewed, saying: “ without exception, these people began their accounts of Pearl Harbor by telling me what an ‘ordinary Sunday morning’ it had been.” Such references exhibit the magnitude of her husband’s death to Didion. As a journalist, a tragedy meant a new story to Didion. However, following the death of her husband, the stories of others became her reality. By including stories she has covered in the past, Didion strengthens the message of her own account by forcing her reader to bring it to a personal level for themselves, letting them know that this is not just a story that they could leave and go back to a normal life, but that at some point, this just might be their reality. 
My reaction to this was to be somewhat taken aback and horrified. This, however, I believe was Didion’s goal. She aimed to convey death in a way that anyone could see as startlingly ordinary and natural. She solidifies this message by concluding with her decision to look up her and her husband’s old house in California, at which point she discovered that the area had been destroyed by a landslide that blocked off a cave she and her husband used to swim into: “We could have been swimming into the cave with the swell of clear water and the entire point could have slumped, slipped into the sea around us. The entire point slipping into the sea around us was the kind of conclusion I anticipated. I did not anticipate cardiac arrest at the dinner table.”

TOW #17: Let's Pretend This Never Happened (IRB #3, Part 1)

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened is a “mostly true” memoir by Jenny Lawson, which presents her life as a series of humorous, albeit disturbing stories. Lawson grew up in a very small, very poor Texas town. Most of her early stories come from incidents relating to the animals her father, a taxidermist, brought home, to keep as pets, to eat, or to use for his business. Through her series of bizarre events, she strives to help readers of all walks of life realize that “... you are defined not by life’s imperfect moments, but by your reaction to them” (Dedication).

The means Lawson uses to help her audience come to the realization to which she came, is humor. Though perhaps not everyone has the same sense of humor, it makes her story fun to read, which in turn makes the reader more likely to continue alertly through it, which of course is necessary to the delivery of her message. In one of her stories, she describes the time her father’s “quail” (actually a turkey) named Jenkins followed her to school and made a mess of turkey droppings, which her father was invited in to clean up. Though perhaps most people cannot claim to have been followed to school by their father’s semi-vicious, very loud turkey-that-he-insists-on-calling-a-quail, her concern for her reputation as a result of the unexpected event is something with which most people can identify. After that great embarrassment, she felt she could never achieve a good social standing in high school, and she became a goth drug user. Meanwhile, her sister brushed off the turkey disaster and proceeded with an air of confidence that made her rather popular. Lawson does not really present either path as better, but rather uses the humorous story to show that each of their reactions to the same embarrassing event made them into the very different people they became. Through stories like this, Lawson achieved her purpose, at least for a reader like me.

IRB Intro #3: Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir)

As a change from the history-related books I've been reading, I have chosen to read Let's Pretend  This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson. It's supposed to be a rather comical account of Lawson's life. Lawson is a journalist, author, and blogger from a small town in Texas. I chose this book because it will hopefully be an easier read than my previous IRBs and something that I will enjoy picking up.

TOW #16: The American Patriot's Handbook (IRB #2, Part 2)

For the second half of this marking period, I finished The American Patriot’s Handbook, a compilation of important American historical documents by George Grant. After reading the first half, I discussed Grant’s purpose, to inspire American patriotism, and how he achieved that through the book. For the second half, as it covers America’s history from Columbus to September 11, 2001, I will discuss the evolution of American rhetoric as it relates to God.

It is interesting to note the constant presence of “God” in American rhetoric. It would be natural to assume God would be a common topic in early America, where communities were often based around a church, particularly in New England, and in other colonies based on their specific religious tolerations. However, the use of “God” persists throughout all of American history covered in the book, showing America’s largely Christian history, particularly in positions of power. The role of the “God” card, however, has changed greatly from the early days, when He was a symbol of ethos, to the present day, where He serves largely the purpose of pathos. Beginning with Columbus, God was the ultimate source of credibility and justification. The Italian explorer noted in his “Apologia” that “[God] unlocked within me the determination to execute the idea [of navigating to the Indies]” (4). God’s Will is thus the justification for his voyage, and later the subjugation of the native peoples. Backed by this divine destiny, his rhetoric pleads that he can do no wrong. Another such early document in which God is used for credibility is John Winthrop’s “A Model of Charity” sermon. Winthrop, a Puritan preacher, opens with the statement that “God Almighty in His most holy and wide providence hath disposed of the condition of mankind, as in all times some must be rich and some poor, some high and eminent in power and dignity; others mean and in subjection” (9). In other words, the function of God in the statement is to give authority to the claim that some must be socially, politically, and economically in higher positions than others. For his Puritan audience, the use of God served to build the trust of the lowly in their superiors. However, at some point in the book, which is quite difficult to pinpoint not having finished studying US history, God transitioned from a credibility trigger word to an emotional one. The results, however, are clear in George W. Bush’s address of the nation on September 11, 2001: “We cannot know what lies ahead. Yet, we do know that God had placed us together, to serve each other and our country” (394). God, here, is no longer a symbol from which credibility is derived – Bush does not use God to justify himself or any condition of the nation, but rather uses Him to give the people hope stemming from the deity in which most Americans believe.

Though I do not yet know enough to mark this transition on a timeline, I plan to continue to explore it through my study of US history this year.

TOW #15: AP Chemistry Prep Book (Visual Text)

An AP chemistry prep book is just about the last place I would think to look for a visual text, except that there was one on my desk. Sure enough, this class has made me more aware of the subtle advertising strategies around me. The creator of the cover I do not know, as it is not listed, but it is clearly someone aimed at the promotion of a the book, targeting the obvious audience of AP students and their parents by making the book, if not visually appealing, at least attention-grabbing, clearly displaying the book’s credibility, and giving logical reasons why an AP chemistry student should choose that book.

To make a good cover, there must be something that attracts one’s eye to that particular book. For this aspect, the bright yellow color plays a role. Many of the other books are white with blue or red, so the brilliant highlighter color certainly sets this prep book apart from the crowd. Though not at all related to chemistry, there is also a pretty, smiling student that adds to visual appeal. It leads a viewer to believe that he, too, will be as happy as that girl if he purchases the prep book (and perhaps he will, but only if he gets a 5 – not while studying, as is implied). Now that the potential buyer is attracted to the book, he must know what exactly makes it credible and what it has to offer.

The cover is clearly divided into sections: the region above and below the title, Cracking the AP Chemistry exam. The top portion is taken up by the words “From America’s MOST POPULAR college prep company” and next to that “The Princeton Review.” Thus, the first thing a potential buyer sees when picking up the book is that it is the most popular in the country (highlighted in blue), making it a choice preferred over other prep books that surely line the Barnes and Noble shelves. The name “Princeton” is another strategy for automatic ethos. The Ivy League name immediately brings to mind intelligence, and perhaps even prompts one to make the connection that if he does well on the AP exam, he might be able to make it into an Ivy.

The bottom portion of the book focuses on the logical reasons why one might buy it, with the words “If it’s on the test, it’s in this book!” and “Revised and updated for the NEW EXAM,” which both share the same blue highlighting or font color as was used at the top, creating a visual balance and drawing the eyes from the top to the bottom so that a viewer notices both its credibility and the most logical reasons to buy it without needed to read the entire cover. In large font, it also brags two practice exams, but other than this, it resorts to small, out of the way, font for the details of what the book contains in terms of exam preparation, showing that the marketing strategies of appealing to authorities on the subject (Princeton) and being eye-catching over the actual value of content, which is likely to be shared with every other AP prep book. I bought it, so it must have achieved its purpose.