IRB #2 Introdution Post

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Boo follows the lives of people living in Mumbai slums. It evaluates their hopes, dreams, and aspirations while also telling about the hardships they face from religion, sex, and economy. The book has been recommended to me by my mother, sister, and step sister who have all read it themselves and have been deeply affected by the messages it conveys.

TOW #9—Visual text: JB by Archibald MacLeish

Over the past several months, I have worked on the crew of the production of JB in our school. Being one of the leaders in stage crew, I was given a script to follow cues and to learn about the play. JB is a tragedy, based off of the Book of Job in the Old Testament. In the play, it was modernized, based in the 1950s, when it was written. It follows a man named JB and his family. JB, a very faithful and good man, is challenged by Satan, or Nickles in the play. Mr. Zuss, the equivalent of God, allows Nickles to take away JB’s blessings. Slowly, JB’s children die and he loses his job, his money, and his health. This fear and depression and, ultimately the survival of JB’s faith, can be seen through the cover of the script itself.

                The cover consists of mainly brown tones. However, there is a large white patch in the center showcasing the title and the author. This contrast of light and dark is highly symbolic of the two main conflicting forces in the play itself. God, often represented in lighter colors (and wearing white in the play), fought with Satan, who is traditionally represented with darkness (and wore black in the play). The overpowering brown also has a symbolic element. Although God won in the end, Satan became controlling of the situation, even taking over a person’s life, much like how the brown is taking over the entire front cover.

                In addition, the brown could represent impurity, whereas the white is pure and clean. This is not only literally, due to a bomb in the play, but figuratively. Satan’s, or Nickles’s, motivations were to reveal the impurities of JB’s faithfulness to God. Though this never occurred, it does not mute the dirtiness of Nickles’s actions, or even of JB wife’s reaction to the situation. Ultimately, she agreed with her husband and stayed faithful, but during the play she comes to curse God as she is dealing with her children’s deaths.

                Simply by using contrasting colors on the cover of the script of JB, Archibald MacLeish explored the depth behind his play. 

TOW #8—“Smoke Gets in your Eyes” by Caitlyn Doughty

TOW #8—“Smoke Gets in your Eyes” by Caitlyn Doughty

                In Caitlyn Doughty’s book “Smoke Gets in your Eyes” she discussed the treatment of our dead. Doughty became a mortician after college and continues her work today. In the last half of the book, she further discusses the different cultures and traditions in regards to dealing with the dead. She often states that she finds our system to be quite detached and believes that families should have a larger part when deciding and carrying out the actions they should take in dealing with family members who have passed away. In order to do this, she utilizes a colloquial tone to make death familiar and allusions to relate death to everyday life.

                Death is often and foreign and terrifying idea to the general public. Doughty wants to reverse this belief and show that death deserves a more intimate approach. To do this, she writes with a colloquial tone. She often uses sarcasm, makes jokes, or uses interesting language to lighten the tone of her seemingly-dark memoir. For example, she says “Dead. Finito” (Doughty 176). By using a colloquial tone like this, Doughty makes death seem like a lighter idea instead of a dark and formal process. She introduces and explores the idea as if it does not deserve heightened and strong language; as if it should be a problem discussed by not only intellectuals, but of every person, regardless of intelligence, race, gender, etc. Overall, this decreases the amount of fear people have towards death and helps to show that death should be a more intimate process for their loved ones.

                Later, Doughty compared a grieving family to well-known Jane Austen novels (Doughty 179). She also mentions other books, movies, and even celebrities in her memoir. These people, books, and movies, are generally well known by the general public and have been at some time a household name or object. She compares death to a familiar idea in everyday lives, which gives the idea of death a more personal approach. Like her colloquial tone, this helps to break down the fear and emotional walls surrounding death and welcomes death into their homes. This, paired with her colloquial tone, inspires families to take a more personal approach when deciding what to do with passed loved ones. 

TOW #7—“Students Across America have Voted, and they Chose…” By Katie Wallace

TOW #7—“Students Across America have Voted, and they Chose…” By Katie Wallace

                Katie Wallace, writer for CNN news, published her article “Students Across America have Voted, and they Chose…” on November 1, 2016, recounting the events that occurred throughout high schools and colleges in the United States. She informs readers of the results of multiple mock elections and the statistics gathered by many college students, predicting the winner of the 2016 election and putting emphasis on the importance of the results. All in all, the mock elections put Hillary Clinton ahead by around 5% each time. While Clinton was predicted to be in the upper 40’s, Trump was predicted to be in the lower 40’s, percent-wise. This is a good indicator of who will win, her article says, because it has been accurate in the election of the five previous presidents. Wallace recounts these events, all while staying organized and trustworthy.

                Because there were multiple elections and sources, information was abundant in Wallace’s article. With so much information, it isn’t hard for readers to become confused. Wallace prevents this confusion by organizing her article with subtopics and then going deeper into a main point. She includes sections such as “Student mock election has perfect record” and “The prediction breakdown” (Wallace). By doing so, she allows the readers to not only understand more clearly, but to gain insight on the significance of these events. Her organization allows for a clearer interpretation and, thus, an understanding of what these mock elections mean.

                Though Wallace does not have any well-known experience in politics, she establishes her credibility by using a surplus of statistics and quotes. She includes quotes from students, teachers, officials involved in government, and statistic from trustworthy and well-known associations. She often uses the phrase, “according to the American Statistical Association” (Wallace) throughout the article after she identifies them as the organization which conducted the mock elections. These references to well-known people and organizations allow for a trust to be developed among the readers. It also aides the readers to understand the importance of what they are reading as commentary can be reported on from many intellectual and informed officials. Wallace’s inclusion of quotes and a surplus of statistics helps not only build her credibility, but helps show the importance of her writing as well. 

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/01/health/students-mock-presidential-election-results/

TOW #6— “Fit as a Jockey: How the Men and Women in the Saddle Stay in Shape” by Eoghan Macquire

             The life of a rider is a busy one, full of shows and lessons every day. Riders mount a horse multiple times a day, sometimes over 10 times, getting home around midnight and waking up at 5am to ride again, according to Eoghan Macquire. Macquire wrote “Fit as a Jockey: How the Men and Women in the Saddle Stay in Shape” on Friday, October 21. During the off season, riders have to stay in shape. It helps them to control the horse, aide in decision making, and allows them to pass the required fitness test for all jockeys. Macquire informs his audience of how these athletes keep up with these demands and how they stay fit without becoming too muscular and too heavy for their horse. He highlights even the smallest things the jockeys do for the fans of horse races, such as skipping out on alcohol. He writes a well put together essay and refers many times to the experts in the field.

                There are many schools for jockeys and, at one point in their lives, every jockey has gone to one. Macquire quotes well known jockeys as well as the owners of these schools in his article. He refers often to Hayley Turner, a successful retired jockey, and Yariv Kam, a fitness coach at one of the jockey schools. This allows Macquire to build credibility. Macquire never mentions whether or not he is a rider or even if he has any knowledge about horses. The quotes and sources he utilizes are from well-known jockeys who have automatic ethos. His audience, almost directed towards the British fans of horse races, already know the names and places he mentions, giving himself credibility. Without this key factor, utilized throughout the entire essay, Macquire’s article would not be successful. 

TOW #5 – Visual Text: “Zoo Gorilla Shot” by Dave Granlund

“Zoo Gorilla Shot” by Dave Granund is a political cartoon concerning the issue of the gorilla Harambe. Harambe was shot and killed when a young boy fell into the exhibit. An outrage followed the killing of Harambe with many saying that the gorilla was unrightfully put down. Granlund cartoon depicts a family of gorillas (an adult with two children) who are surrounding a sign that says “RIP Harambe” and seem to be very scared. One gorilla is saying “Need to redesign zoos… not to keep us in… but to keep humans out!!” By doing this, Granlund tries to show that Harambe’s killing was unjust and that it is the humans’ fault that he died, not his own.

                Granlund uses only black and white colors in his cartoon. These colors often symbolize fear or the past to many people. Scary movies or very old movies are often black and white. By using these colors, Granlund simulates fear in the audience. The audience then gains perspective as to how and why a situation like this can be fearful to the animals. This helps inspire emotion in the readers and, thus, sympathize with the gorillas. These colors also represent older times. Harambe, and possibly this family of gorillas in the future, has been left in the past when he was killed. These colors not only stimulate fear, but nostalgia as well. As nostalgia often does, it makes the audience rather sad and aids to understanding the grief this family of gorillas may be feeling. Simply by using the colors black and white, Granlund appeals to pathos in order to further his purpose.

                Garnlund’s cartoon is very simplistic, yet it sends out a powerful message. As it is mainly the younger generations that fought against the wrongdoings that fell upon Harambe, it is plausible that Granlund was reaching out to those younger people. By appealing to pathos, Granlund accomplishes just that.

http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/672D475E-9285-40CE-B17B-2B23AF427C0A.html

TOW #4—Smoke Gets in your Eyes by Caitlyn Doughty

Lindsay Klenk

TOW #4—Smoke Gets in your Eyes by Caitlyn Doughty

                Smoke Gets in your Eyes by Caitlyn Doughty is a memoir depicting Doughty’s time as a mortician in America. She shares how she found out about the job, the experiences she had, and what it taught her as a person. Now, Doughty is a licensed mortician who utilizes youtube and her novel to modernize and update the public’s view of death and the dead.

                In her memoir, Doughty talks about many heavy and dark events that took place during her time as a mortician. Much of these events are incomprehensible for the people who didn’t experience it; her audience. She helps to bridge this gap of understanding by utilizing metaphors. Doughty compares the crematory to the depths of hell (Doughty 13) while completing her first cremation. She also uses metaphors often when explaining her corpses appearance, helping the public understand the emptiness in their eyes or the lifelessness of their lips. This figurative language allows the audience to gain insight into the challenges of Doughty’s work and the seriousness of what she had to do. It also relates the corpses to familiar things, allowing the public to realize how important a mortician’s work is, aiding in Doughty’s purpose.

                Though it is imperative for Doughty to demonstrate the importance of her job, it is equally important for her to comfort and support her audience as they discover the horrors of death. She admits that her topic is often feared and shown in the wrong light. In her book, she utilizes personification as a way to redefine death. She often states that death brought her something or warns her of what she may see. As is the definition of personification, death is given human attributes and qualities, allowing her audience to view death in a more familiar, and thus comfortable, way. This allows their view to change from the horrors they had previously been taught to a natural comfort that awaits everyone when their time comes. Although this book may not seem important, Doughty uses smooth figurative language to redefine what death means.