TOW #13 Settlers of Catan Family Edition Game Directions

My family loves the Settlers of Catan board game and we play it a lot. This week I examined the directions for the family edition, which is slightly different than the normal version in its directions and game components. The obvious purpose of the game rules is to explain to the users how to play the game. In order to achieve this, the directions have to be straightforward, helpful, and easy to read, so delivery is very important. They also cannot be to long and complicated as this version of the game is targeted at families. The rules are organized under headings such as "Setting Up the Game", "The Turn in Detail", and "Ending the Game". These are presented in chronological order of how they occur during game play. This is the clearest way to explain the game. Important notes are in blue italics, contrasting to the black normal type, to get the reader's attention. Bullets are used to make lists to organize information more clearly for the reader. Included among the written directions are lots of pictures of the game board, all its components, and possible scenarios. These help visually illustrate how the game is played and allow the players to understand what pieces correspond with the descriptions in the written directions. Though perhaps not the primary purpose, the pictures add color and make the instructions more visually interesting, keeping the players attention and motivating them to read the directions to reach the point of understanding the game. The written directions also include possible scenarios. For example, under the heading "The Turn in Detail", the instructions state "Example: Loren rolls a '4'. Her blue city 'A' borders a fields hex marked with the number '4', so she takes two grain cards." The instructions are not just laid out but a potential scenario applying those instructions is given to help the reader understand how he or she will use the instructions to play the game. Ultimately, through strategic delivery, these game board instructions effectively achieve the goal of explaining verbally and visually how to play the game. 

TOW #12 Frozen Movie Poster Visual

Here is a movie poster for the Disney movie Frozen which came into theaters on Thanksgiving a little over a week ago. The obvious purpose of this (and any) movie poster is to get the audience to come see the movie. However, in this particular case, Disney and the designers of this poster face a challenge in that it should ideally appeal to both the audience of young children to which Disney movies are traditionally aimed, as well an older audience of teenagers and adults who also the quality of an animated Disney movie. Being the insanely successful and world famous company that it is, Disney, brings an established credibility to the advertisement, and the movie, just by having its logo on the poster. The logo is noticeably placed front and center above the title of the film where no viewer can possibly miss it. The poster also increases it's ethos by including text at the top which states "from the creators of 'Tangled' and 'Wreck-It Ralph'". This poster implicitly argues that the movie "Frozen" will be just as good as Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph because it is made by the same people. This automatically piques the interest of an audience of people who did like these two previous movies. In my own case, this is what convinces me that I want to see the movie. Because I loved the movie Tangled, I am eager to go see this movie if there is any chance that it will be as good. Also, the positioning of the characters attempts to convince the audience to come see the movie. The four human characters are up to their heads in snow, but the poster doesn't give us really any clues to why or how or really what is going on in the movie at all, so that could potentially inspire an interest to find out what happens. Then, of course, there is the snowman in the middle, holding his own head. Such prominent placement of such a goofy, unrealistic character lets the audience know right away that this is going to be a family-friendly, happy, funny movie. 

TOW #11 IRB Post

In the opening chapters of his book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell introduces the idea that when it comes to the human subconscious, a little information can go a long way. According to Gladwell, our brains use a process called "thin-slicing", in which they use limited information received over a short period of time to make judgments about a situation. These judgments, as demonstrated by the examples and studies Gladwell includes, are often remarkably accurate. The ideas Gladwell presents are interesting and supported by a variety of anecdotes and statistics. One section describes how by witnessing and analyzing samples of one conversation of a married couple, a man named John Gottman can predict whether or not their relationship will end in divorce. Then an experiment is explained in which people were able to determine certain aspects of a college student's personality simply by observing his or her dorm room. In further explaining the same idea, Gladwell writes about research that showed a doctor's likeliness to be sued could be judged based on something as simple as his or her tone of voice when talking to a patient. However, not only does Gladwell write about how unconscious judgments can help people make accurate conclusions but also how they can cause people to make mistakes. Gladwell cites examples of unconscious associations people make base on race or visual appearance that stereotype individuals. The array of stories and studies that Gladwell describes not only maintain the interest of the reader, but strengthen his idea by showing how the importance of unconscious thinking is observable and applicable in real life. They show the reader that this is not a wild idea pulled out of nowhere but a theory that has demonstrated to be be true in a variety of situations. The reader can see how these ideas make sense, and perhaps even recognize the role unconscious thinking plays in their own reactions.

TOW #10 "Give the kid a holiday break"

This article is from the opinion section of today's Philadelphia Inquirer and is written by Nicolaus Mills, a professor at Sarah Lawrence College. He argues, convincingly, in my opinion, that professors should be lenient in allowing college students to miss class during Thanksgiving week. Among his reasons he explains that travel home the day before Thanksgiving is very expensive for college students and that the amount of time that they are getting to spend with their parents is decreasing. This argument may resonate with me because I am a student with a sibling in college who has taken off school to visit family in the past. I think Mills's argument is valid and convincing to those who may come from a different situation, though he does base his argument on the assumption that his audience accepts that family is one of the most important things in life. Mill's comes to the piece with an established ethos as a college professor, and he reminds his audience of his experience in the first sentence by writing "Years ago, when I began college teaching," (Mills par. 1). Then he goes on to explain how he began by expecting his students to be in class the days before the holiday, but has changed his mind because of two major reasons: the expense students must cover to travel home and the decreasing amount of time they are able to spend with their parents. This, he believes, is due to the increasing amount of education costs students are required to pay and the their need to work to pay these off and get ahead. Mills cites statistics of the cost of college to impress upon his audience with how big a task the paying off college tuition actually is. He also makes a comparison between current college conditions and the ones he encountered as a college student. In the sixties "when I was in college and grad school, my friends and I came home most summers. We got jobs, lived with our parents, and used the money we saved to help pay for our educations. We entered the job market debt-free," (Mills par. 4). Mills compares this to the situation of college students today, who may not find a job at home and must live elsewhere to work, who need to take internships to get ahead, and who finish college with thousands of dollars in debt that they must pay off. Thus Mills concludes that college students should be allowed and enabled to spend time with their parents while they can, because the demands of entering the work force and paying of education debts may inhibit that valuable time in the future.

TOW #9 "Is it right to waste helium on party balloons?" by Tim Bowler

This is an article from the BBC News Magazine by Tim Bowler. It describes the increasingly limited source of helium and presents the potential issue of one day completely running out of helium. Ultimately, Bowler asks if we should be wasting this finite resource on such trivial things as balloons when it is highly valued for such uses as superconducting magnets in MRI scanners. Bowler writes that it is important to conserve and value rare finite resources but his purpose is more to inform the audience of the issue and open up further discussion on the question. The article sites quotes from several scientists on the issue. For example Bowler quotes "'We're going to be looking back and thinking, I can't believe people just used to fill up their balloons with it, when it's so precious and unique,' says Cambridge University chemist Peter Wothers" (par. 7). By including the insight of a scientist, Bowler shows that he has examined the viewpoints of experts working with the issue and knows his topic. He also presents a factual background on the nature of helium, that it is one of the most common elements in the universe but is quite rare on earth, and that it has the lowest boiling point, which makes it a key part of superconducting magnets. Bowler also appeals to pathos in his article by presenting a rather alarming situation. He quotes chemist Andrea Sella as saying "'But helium is unique. When it's gone it is lost to us forever'" (Bowler par. 4). By presenting a potentially scary situation, the complete elimination of a valuable, finite resource, in a dramatic way, Bowler captures the attention of the audience. Finally, defining the issue in terms of a commonly known product allows the audience to understand the connection of the issue to their own lives. Most people have seen those brightly colored helium balloons floating at parties and for sale in grocery stores. By showing the importance of helium for other uses, it's scarcity, and how it is "wasted" for trivial party balloons, the issue can resonate stronger with the audience.

Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24903034

IRB Intro Post: Second Marking Period

The IRB I have chosen for this marking period is Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. Currently a huge name in nonfiction, Malcolm Gladwell has written several other books including The Tipping Point, Outliers, and most recently released this fall, David and Goliath. He is also a writer for the New Yorker, just like the author of my last IRB. Blink is about the quick thinking our brains do without our realization of it. In the first two seconds of reaction to a new subject, our brains draw conclusions and make decisions, and as Malcom Gladwell writes in the introduction "Blink is a book about those first two seconds" (8). I heard about Blink a couple years ago and have been meaning to read it. Last year I read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and really liked it, and I expect that I will enjoy Blink just as much.

TOW #8 "Malala and Nabila: worlds apart"

"Malala and Nabila: worlds apart" is an article from Al Jazeera by Murtaza Hussain. It describes the struggles a young Pakistani girl named Nabila has faced with her family. She and her siblings were injured and her grandmother was killed by a drone US drone strike on her family. When she and her family came to Washington D.C. to find out why this had happened, hardly anyone showed up to the hearing, and no one could answer why an innocent family had been attacked. Hussain then contrasts this action and response of the US government to its reaction to the struggles of Malala Yousafazai. He contends that the US and other powers praise and sympathize with Malala because she can be used as a symbol for the justness of their cause in fighting in the Middle East. However, they ignore those such as Nabila who they themselves are harming. This article greatly appears to pathos by describing the plight of Nabila and her family and how they were ignored by the US government. He writes of the tradegy "Seven children were wounded, and Nabila's grandmother was killed before her eyes, an act for which no apology, explanation or justification has ever been given," (Hussain par. 1). This image intends to make the audience sympathize with Nabila and to evoke emotions of sadness and horror. The further explanation of how this was annoyed by the government is also intended to evoke anger at the injustice and cruelty of the situation. However, this article is not only based on pathos, it also appeals to logos through a logical comparison of the reactions to Nabila and Malala. It also appeals to ethos, because of the presentation of shared values between the audience and the author, that the killing of innocents is wrong and that the government's response was unjust. Thus this article mainly appeals to pathos, but is built on a foundation of ethos and logos. Its appeals effectively target the audience to achieve its purpose of showing how the US has unjustly and immorally harmed millions of innocents in its operations.

TOW #7 IRB Post "We Just Up and Left"

This is another chapter from my IRB, My Kind of Place, called "We Just Up and Left". It describes the author, Susan Orlean 's visit to a mobile home park in Oregon called Portland Meadows Mobile Home Park. She starts out with a story of a man who used to own a hundred cats in a trailer and then recounts stories of many other people who lived in the park at one point, but then left. Orlean describes the trailer park itself, which is secluded and unnoticed from the main road. She presents an anecdote to introduce the managers of the park. Then she goes on to reflect on trailer parks in general, how they often have dreamy sounding names and seem to attract disaster, how a trailer is the cheapest form of shelter, and how it is also the most mobile. One woman Orlean talked to who used to live in a mobile home park in Colorado said "'When the wages dropped in the sixties, we just up and left... Up and left.'" Most of what makes up the chapter are anecdotes, stories of different people who Orlean met in the trailer park. She describes how they came to the park, what their life is like there, and how they are part of the community. This helps Orlean to present an unbiased view of life in a mobile home park. There is a lot of existing prejudice about mobile homes and the people who live in them, because trailers are cheaper housing. By introducing the reader to different, real people, Orlean helps to break some of these stereotypes. Anecdotes are the most effective way to achieve her purpose, to give the reader a different view of mobile home parks. This also is incorporated into the overall goal of the book itself, which I believe, again, is to show the reader the often hidden, potentially stereotyped communities of the world in an unbiased light. This widens the reader's horizons and opens their minds. She uses anecdotes in all her chapters throughout the book and by writing a different chapter on each different subculture or phenomenon. Altogether the reader is presented with varying stories of different people and events, both with each chapter and within each chapter.

TOW #6 "Brown By The Numbers" College Information Brochure

This weekend I went to visit a few colleges and one of them was Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. While there I picked up a brochure called "Brown By The Numbers" offering basic information about Brown University. The brochure includes an introduction to Brown, a lot of statistics and facts about the university in several different categories, a brief description of the campus, a collection of images, and an explanation of how financial aid is managed at the school. Ultimately, the purpose of the brochure is to pique a potential student's interest and to get him or her to apply to Brown. It uses a variety of different strategies to appeal to college-searching high school students and their parents. The main appeal generated is ethos, and the brochure uses a lot of statistics and numbers to do so. For example, it provides the student to faculty ratio, the breakdown of class sizes, the racial and regional breakdown of the class of 2017, and the amount of financial aid distributed to students this year. All these numbers are facts that prospective college students and their families are considering, and it boosts Brown's ethos to show off small class sizes, a diverse student body, and it's generosity with financial aid. Some of the numbers it offers create appeals to pathos and logos as well. For example, Brown advertises that it was ranked fourth in Newsweek's survey of the happiest college students in the US. This appeals to the ethos of prospective students, because they desire a school where they are going to be happy, as well as logos because the logic dictates that if Brown's students are happy, and one attends Brown, one will have a happy college experience. Though the numbers are the main focus of the brochure, it also appeals to ethos and pathos in it's introduction by comparing college education to a journey, and then characterizing the "academic journey" at Brown versus at other schools. For example, the brochure states "students at Brown have more opportunity to define their own education than do students at any other American university," (p. 2). According to Brown, at other schools the journey is predefined and never changing, but at Brown it is open and flexible and based on students decisions. This appeals to ethos, because it argues that Brown has more opportunities for students than other colleges, and it appeals to pathos because it bases it's argument on the assumption that students desire choice and freedom. Finally, the brochure provides images to illustrate it's facts and arguments.

Here is a link I found to an online copy of the brochure: http://www.brown.edu/admission/undergraduate/sites/brown.edu.admission.undergraduate/files/uploads/BrownByNumbers.pdf

TOW #5 "100 Women: What chance does a young girl have?" Visual

This was a video made by BBC for it's "100 Woman Season", a program running for the month of October that explores the reality of life for women across the world in the twenty-first century. The video points out ways that life has improved for women and how equality has increased, and it also calls attention to the injustice and inequality that still exists. It uses bold text and simple animation to communicate information. The video begins by reminding the audience that there are 3.5 billion women on earth: half of the world. From there it represents the woman and the journey she takes in today's society with a recurring simple red figure. Despite the differences in women and their situations across countries and cultures, we are united in our triumphs and our challenges. To communicate these triumphs and challenges, the video presents statistics, accompanied by animation of graphs, maps, and other figures. The animation is simple, but makes a statement, effectively accentuating the statistics. These statistics appeal to both the ethos and pathos of an audience. They certainly build up the credibility of the video. For example, the video cites statistics from UNICEF, UNESCO, World Health Organization, and other such respected and credible organizations. The statistics show both improvements and injustices, such as the increasing rate of girls attending primary school, the high numbers of teenage mothers, the rate of sex trafficking and abuse of women, the lower wages of women than men, and the increased rate of women's presence in government. The statistics appeal to the pathos of the audience because they plainly show the dramatic injustice that still exists in our world. However, they also communicates hope because of the achievements that have been made and the changes we can continue to make in the future. Finally, slightly dramatic background music and subtle sound affects help illustrate the statistics and give the video a polished feel. This builds up the credibility of the video because it looks professional, as well as helping to illicit an emotional reaction in the viewer through music and sounds that demonstrate the statistics. Though I think the video probably appeals more to women, I think it is also designed to bring attention of these issues to male viewers. This video definitely achieves it's purpose, to shed light on both the progress that has been made as well as the injustice that still exists in the lives of women.

Here is a link to the video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-24402849

TOW #4 "Tea Party Leaders Announce Support For Deal In Exchange For Malia Obama"

This week I read an article from The Onion reporting a (fake) offer from the Tea Party concerning the government shutdown. According to the article, the Tea Party said they would agree to the budget bill if they were delivered President Obama's firstborn daughter. The article, like all those published by The Onion, is obviously satirical in nature. Being a fairly liberal website, it is not surprising to see The Onion making fun of the very conservative Tea Party in the midst of political stalemate that caused the government shutdown this past week. This article appeals mainly to pathos through its use of humor. The author of this article uses extreme exaggeration; his or her characterization of the Tea Party leaders is reminiscent of the archetypal sorcerer or witch character in fairy tales. For example, the article states: "'The girl. Bring us the girl,” said Congressman Steve King (R-IA)... 'The bill may pass, but the firstborn shall be ours.' 'Heed our bidding,' added an unblinking Phil Gingrey (R-GA). 'And thy wish shall be granted'" (p. 3). The idea of a trade for the firstborn child is an allusion to such stories as Rapunzel and Rumpelstiltskin. This connects the leaders to the creepy witch antagonists and thus, as politicians, makes them seem ridiculous. However, the article is not built solely on pathos: ethos is automatically established in this case because The Onion is a well-known satirical website. Obviously no one expects their articles to be true, but they can expect a good laugh and a striking political statement. I think the purpose of this article is to point out the stubbornness of Tea Party politicians concerning the failed attempt to pass a new budget and make those politicians seem ridiculous. Through the use of exaggeration and illusion to appeal to the pathos of the audience through humor, while also maintaining it's ethos as a leading source of satire, this article easily achieves its purpose.

The article can be found at this link: http://www.theonion.com/articles/tea-party-leaders-announce-support-for-deal-in-exc,34101/?ref=auto

TOW #3 IRB Post "Madame President"

One of the chapters from my IRB, My Kind of Place, by Susan Orlean, is titled "Madame President". This chapter documents Orlean's visits to Martin Luther King Jr. High School in New York City, mainly focusing on the student body president, Tiffanie Lewis. (This would have been a while ago; the book was published in 2004). Orlean begins by recounting the story of Lewis's election, introducing the reader to Lewis herself, and describes her interactions with other members of her student government and body. She also writes about the school itself, which has been known as "Horror High" because of the incidents and issues the school has faced, but is also home to some of the highest-performing students in the area. Susan Orlean comes to the piece with some automatic ethos, being a writer for The New Yorker and already the author of other books. She further establishes her ethos by the inclusion of her interviews with the students and other related information: she clearly visited the school multiple times and knows what she is writing about. The main way that Orlean communicates her experience is through anecdotes. She tells stories of meetings on which she sat in and she records her conversations with the students. Besides establishing her ethos, as mentioned before, this helps her create an appeal to pathos, because it allows the reader to identify with the students of the school and understand them better. She also appeals to pathos by creating a contrast; she positions the lively, kindhearted, rather innocent students against the notorious, big, city school to which they belong. Orlean writes "When you are in the student affairs office... it's as if there were no metal detectors in the lobby and no school superintendent politics and nothing but the exigencies of being sixteen or seventeen," (52). We are shown these ominous aspects of the school but we are also presented with these active, animated students who manage to succeed despite their surroundings, and that connects to our emotions. This contrast is important to the purpose of this piece, which I believe is best exemplified by the last line, a quote Orlean includes from student Tiffanie Lewis. She says "Can I say this, people?... You know what? This is not a perfect world" (Orlean 53). This isn't a perfect world, and this fact has been made obvious in the previous depictions of a school that has experienced crime and tragedy and many students falling behind. However, in this piece Orlean shows that amidst all this good things can still grow. The proof is the caring students who do creative things.

TOW #2 "Stages of the Egyptian Revolution" Satirical Cartoon

This is a satirical cartoon about the Egyptian Revolution drawn by Khalid Albaih, a Sudanese cartoonist. The cartoon shows the progression of leaders who have taken power in Egypt since the revolution in 2011 while demonstrating the seeming lack of actual progress that has been made. The first face represents Mubarak, the leader of Egypt "before #Jan25" when he was overthrown. The second face, identical except for the beard, represents Morsi, who became president "after #Jan25". The third face, identical to the first two but without the beard, represents Mansour, who has been the interim president since the military ousting of Morsi on "#june30th". The hashtags are used to represent the role that social media played in precipitating the revolution. The beard is the only distinguishing feature on Morsi, representing him as an Islamist (traditionally the prophet Muhammad wore a similar beard), but otherwise, all three faces are exactly the same. This cartoon comes almost three years after the revolution in Egypt and ultimately what Albaih argues is that the situation in Egypt has hardly changed. Three leaders have come in and out of power and they have ruled pretty much the same way, the only difference is that there was first a secular leader, then an Islamist, and now a secular leader again.This cartoon definitely appeals to pathos, using humor to make fun of a not-so-humorous situation. He also uses irony to point out that despite the fact that Egypt has been experiencing a revolution, not many revolutionary changes have been made. I think Khalid Albaih has automatically established ethos, by the fact that he is a well-known cartoonist. Albaih's audience is people of the Middle East, probably specifically activists and the educated. I have browsed many other examples of Albaih's work and most of it uses Arabic text, obviously intended for Arab readers. However, some of them, such as the one analyzed here, use English text and may be intended for a wider, more global audience. The ones in a collection from BBC, where I found this cartoon, either are in English or have no text at all: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24142913. They almost all, however, deal with events and circumstances occurring in countries in the Middle East.

IRB Intro Post: First Marking Period

The IRB I have chosen for the first marking period is called My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere by Susan Orlean. She is the author of three other books as well as a writer for The New Yorker. This book is a collection of writings from many different places exploring a variety of topics, from the World Taxidermy Championships in Springfield, Illinois to climbing Mt. Fuji in Japan. I chose this book because I love to travel and I liked the idea of a collection of writings on many different subjects. I think it will be an interesting read for me, potentially giving me insight into places I wish I could go, as well as introducing me to topics I would never be inclined to explore. For example, I would never normally choose to read about taxidermy on my own. However, as part of a larger work, I am willing to give it a try. Susan Orlean's book presents places, people, and events in an unbiased light and I think this book will explore many new ideas in an interesting and engaging way.

TOW #1 "Children deserve better"

The piece "Children deserve better" was an editorial from today's edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The author is unnamed but he or she writes on a very timely topic: the budget cuts to Philadelphia's public schools. The schools opened this month, despite the inadequate resources and insufficient numbers of faculty and staff. The education budget has been cut by $304 million dollars and as a result the schools are suffering. The article states of the conditions of the schools "It is not sufficient to close school libraries because there aren't enough library assistants, or to have 40 children in a classroom, or a single guidance counselor for hundreds of students spread across several schools." Fortunately, many people in the communities helped to open the schools including parents and volunteers. However the author of this piece points out that state legislators are not doing anything to help. This article builds its argument on both ethos and pathos. The idea that children are getting inadequate education is frustrating, saddening, and angering, especially when it seems that lawmakers are doing nothing. The author appeals to his or her readers shared values: the ideas that education is important and that all children deserve a good education. Towards the end of the article the author writes "If the Corbett administration and some legislators think Philadelphia schools have sufficient resources, they should ask themselves if they would send their own children to the city's schools." In this way the author directs her ethos and pathos at her double audience. First, indirectly addressing the Pennslyvania government, she reminds them that the children suffering these budget cuts deserve the same education they would have for their own children. This also appeals to the ethos and pathos of the author's prime audience, the readers of the Inquirer, as they also desire the support of their government for good quality education for their children. In this piece, the author calls on the state government to start making decisions that help the schoolchildren of Philadelphia. Though the editorial may or may not be seen by actual legislators (probably not) the author makes a solid, strong argument that the issue of budget cuts to education needs to be addressed.

"The Foul Reign of 'Self-Reliance'" by Benjamin Anastas

"The Foul Reign of 'Self-Reliance'" by Benjamin Anastas discusses the idea of "self-reliance" proposed by Ralph Waldo Emerson and how it is effecting society. The essay opens with a narrative of the author's experience in English class at his private school, and the (egotistically-portrayed) teacher who first introduced him to Emerson. This was also the beginning of Anastas's aversion to the essayist's ideas. He goes on to describe how the idea of "self-reliance" has negatively impacted American society, especially in politics and government because of the self-centered view that it presents. Anastas quotes Emerson on how one should trust themselves and not conform to society. He then makes an allusion to an advertisement for Apple that features a poem called "Here's to the Crazy Ones" which, he contests, reflects how the view that being a nonconformist has become so important in American society that the actions one actually takes have little meaning. Anastas writes "'A man is to carry himself in the presence of all opposition,' Emerson advises, 'as if every thing were titular and ephemeral but he.' If this isn't the official motto of the 112th Congress of the United States, well, it should be. The gridlock, grandstanding, rule manipulating, and inability to compromise aren't symptoms of national decline. We're simply coming into our own as Emerson's republic," (Anastas 4).  With the adoption of self-reliance, he explains, comes self-importance and self-centeredness. In our politics, it has been detrimental by preventing compromise and inhibiting anything from being done. By using illustrations from our modern society and contesting the points Emerson makes in his essays, Benjamin Anastas argues his point. There are many more current examples that he could have, and maybe should have, used, however, he still achieves his purpose of demonstrating how the idea of self-reliance as proposed by Emerson is harming our society.

Least Productive Congress in Decades: Anastas argues that the 112th Congress is quarrelsome and ineffective because of the way the politicians embody Emerson's ideas. (image from tv.msnbc.com)

"Killing My Body to Save My Mind" by Lauren Slater

Lauren Slater, the author of "Killing My Body to Save My Mind", suffers from obesity. However this obesity is actually a side affect of a psychotropic drug she takes, called Zyprexa. This essay is about how Slater chose to accept these side affects in order to heal from her depression. It starts off with a narrative of the author's experience being tested at a life insurance office. Then she goes on to describe how she began taking the medication that caused her to gain so much weight. Lauren Slater suffered from a depression so bad, she experienced psychotic hallucinations. None of the new drugs she was prescribed worked, until she was put on Zyprexa. This drug did lift her depression, but it also made her hungry for food all the time. Even after her appetite stopped growing, she kept gaining weight. This put her at risk for a variety of weight related diseases, including diabetes. However, Slater describes how she accepted the risks and the breakdown of her body in order for her mind to be free of depression and her life to be happy. She expresses this trade off in terms of Descartes's theory of dualism. He thought of "the body as one thing and the soul, or mind, as another... the mind and body were so different as to practically exist in separate realms" (Slater 259). Lauren Slater concludes that in her experience she has had to choose her mind over her body, and though it is scary, it is worth it to her. The combination of her narrative and her allusion to Descartes idea help her to demonstrate her purpose: to show how the choices in our life have consequences, and we have to make the most of them. Through both of these strategies, narrative and allusion, Slater appeals to both the emotions and the logic of the reader by presenting her own choice, and the emotions and philosophy behind it, as well as the negative and positive effects. Despite the dangers of Zyprexa, it helps make her life worth living, and that is what is important to her. Slater makes this point clear, that some things are worth sacrificing for the gaining of others.

Lauren Slater references Descartes's theory of dualism to illustrate how she chose the health of her mind over the health of her body (image from kheper.net).

"Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?" by Mark Edmundson

"Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here?" is an essay about using one's education to its fullest potential. It is definitely intended for college students or students about to enter college. Mark Edmundson, the author, starts by congratulating the reader on getting to the first day of college, and then announces that, if the reader wants a good education, he or she is going to have to fight for it. He goes on to describe how colleges have become institutions where you create your social life and pay for your degree, and where everyone, faculty, administration, and students, no longer seems to care about the courses themselves. Mark Edmundson is a professor at the University of Virginia and is the author of seven books. In this essay, he presents a small narrative of a conversation he had with his dad before he went off to college. In this conversation, Edmundson's dad, barely a high school graduate, told him he had better study what interested him and not what he thought would make him money. This begins his discussion about the importance of doing something for the fulfillment it offers instead of for the money or success it will earn. Edmundson references great authors as he writes about how the importance of reading their works is to examine and redefine one's self and adopt the ideas that one finds are truths. The essay appeals to the readers emotions; it starts out sounding rather pessimistic and makes the reader feel deprived and even guilty because of the way society has forgotten education. However, the essay is also inspirational and uplifting in its encouragement to take advantage of education. Edmundson's purpose is to remind the reader that education is learning about the world and one's self and to inspire the reader to use his or her opportunities to do what fulfills them, not necessarily what is considered successful. These ideas are connected to the reader by Edmundson's use of second person; he writes directly to the audience. Also, with his combination of narration and allusion, Edmundson succeeds in calling his readers to change their mindset and be more active in their education.

YOU! Mark Edmundson is able to better achieve his purpose by writing directly to the reader. (Image from commons.wikimedia.org)

"My Father/My Husband" by David J. Lawless

"My Father/My Husband" reads almost like a short story. It is by David J. Lawless, former president of St. Mary's University College and St. Francis Xavier University and describes his daily life with his wife, who suffers from Alzheimer's and dementia. She has severe memory loss and frequently does not recognize her husband. The piece artfully employs repetition to communicate the ongoing troubles occurring in their household. Every night while her husband is making dinner, the wife asks if her father is coming, and her husband reminds her that her father died forty-five years ago. She usually confuses her father and her husband, believing her husband to be her father at times, and projecting features of her husband's life and personality onto her memory of her father. Thus, the title. There is also repeated description of the husband being woken by his wife at four in the morning to answer questions about who he is, who their children are, and where they all live.  A lot of dialogue is used to display the couple's interactions, which is part of what makes the piece read like a story, but also what helps build the reality of the characters. This piece definitely appeals to the reader's emotions; the struggles of the couple are sad and despairing, but the end delivers a bit of hope. Despite the difficulties, their love still allows them to have a life together. At the end of the essay, the wife and husband have this conversation: "'Where is my husband?' 'I am your husband. Here, give me a kiss.' 'You are not my husband. I never had a husband.' 'Yes, I am.' He taps his cheek and leans toward her. She kisses his cheek and they both smile," (Lawless 206). That seems to be the message here: love is stronger then the disease, and allows life to go on despite the obstacles. This essay gives a very real portrayal of living day-to-day with a loved one affected by Alzheimer's and memory loss. However, it achieves the purpose of reminding the reader that life is more than it's struggles; their love makes their life possible and worthwhile.

The dialogue and its repetition creates reality and appeals to the emotions. (Image from ceartas.org.uk)

"The Crazy State of Psychiatry" by Marcia Angell

"The Crazy State of Psychiatry" is an essay discussing the increase of the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses in the US in the past decades. The author, Marcia Angell, is a medical doctor and a lecturer at Harvard Medical School and is already well written on issues including the disconcerting practices of pharmaceutical companies. Throughout the piece she raises a series of questions: why are the numbers of cases of mental illnesses increasing? Do the psychoactive drugs generally used to treat these illnesses really work? If not, why are they so prevalent? She then presents answers to these questions by laying out the opinions of three other authors. These are Irving Kirsch, a psychologist, Robert Whitaker, a journalist, and Daniel Carlat, a psychiatrist. In the past fifty years, the theory has developed that mental illnesses are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain. However, the authors quoted in this essay contest that this theory, which was developed after the creation of the first chemically-altering psychoactive drugs, is not correct. In answering her overarching questions, Angell cites data that shows that these drugs are not much more effective than simple placebos. This leads her to explore how the interests and promotions of pharmaceutical companies are what have increased the prevalence of psychoactive drugs. Angell greatly appeals to the ethics of her readers as she reveals the financial and political motivations of companies and practices behind the treatment of mental illnesses. She also presents quite an unsettling explanation of how these less-than-perfect drugs may be increasing illness symptoms. Overall the essay incites a wariness of current psychoactive drugs and their manufacturers and calls for the return to alternative methods of treatment for mental illnesses

Do psychoactive drugs really work? Studies have shown that they are not much more effective than placebos. (Cartoon by Chris Madden)

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