IRB intro #3- "Freakonomics"

"Freakonomics" by Levitt and Dubner is a series of discussions based on dissimilar topics that share commonalities. They do this by sharing statistics and appealing to logic. The study of economics and the exposure to different ways of thinking that this nonfiction contains never fails to surprise and impress me.

TOW #16- IRB “What Do School Teachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common?”

            Although the professions of being a schoolteacher and a Japanese Sumo Wrestler seem distant, they have one thing in common and it is the beauty of incentive, a thing that motivates or encourages one to do something. The author compares the possibility of promotion that provokes teachers to inflate their students’ scores to the ways that sumo wrestlers purposely lose matches due to bribery and black mail. Not only that, but the author also mentions how factors such as guilt and pride are weak motivators when compared to money and social incentives, which has power to influence anyone and anything. Through emphasizing causes and effects of events and appealing to logos, Levitt explores and emphasizes the effect of incentives on people’s choice of actions.

            Causes and effects often have the power to reveal consequences of a decision. By revealing that posting pictures of criminals of prostitution and shaming their reputation has decreased the amount of people soliciting prostitutes and mentioning the fact that money that is awarded to teachers with high overall class grades have increased teachers cheating for their students shows the scary results that are brought by social and money incentives. Not only that, but the author mentions how the effect of making three dollar fines for late- arriving parents in day cares is less than making three hundred dollar fee in terms of influencing parents and encouraging them to pick their children on time. Not only that, but the author incorporates the use of statistics to emphasize his point. With numbers that show the decrease in homicides and the logic of teachers changing the same consecutive answers that makes cheating easy and often times what catches them red handed, the author appeals to the readers logically and strongly makes his position.

            Through the author’s use of cause and effect and appeal to logos, I was very much convinced and was amused to see the author’s view and claim that asserts that schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have many things in common because whether in a classroom or a wrestling match, most people have incentive to cheat.

TOW #15- Non fiction “Shred Alert”

             The article that I came across this week is about the increasing number of people who owns smart phones, tablets, or laptops that become victims of professional data thieves. There have been an increasing number of awareness campaigns that inform uninformed citizens of the crisis that has been on-going since technology has been advancing. While this article educates, it also criticizes the people who endlessly risks their chances of getting hacked, as people often doubt the chances that they have of exposing their identity. Through negative diction and appealing to logos, Rothman criticizes and informs the readers of professional data thieves.

            The pessimistic diction that the writer uses to describe hackers such as “destroyers”, “shredding”, and “smashing” have the effect of scaring the readers. Not only does it emphasize the dangerous consequences of not using technology properly, but it also appeals to pathos to draw out the emotion of fear out of the readers. Not only does she us negative diction to characterize the hackers, but she also uses words such as “dull –witted” and “foolish” to describe the people who don’t think about the risk of putting in personal information on unreliable websites.

            Not only does the author use negative diction to scare off the readers, but she also uses facts and statistics to appeal to the readers logically. As identity theft has increased 34% since 2011 with 150,000 victims a year, the author persuades the readers to make smart choices on their personal devices. Through the use of negative diction and appeal to logos, Rothman successfully criticizes and informs the readers of the risks of becoming the victims of internet thieves.

TOW #14- FDR's New Deal

            While delving into the causes of the Great Depression, I came across a picture of Franklin D. Roosevelt in a political cartoon as he was elected as a President after Herbert Hoover lost the election. Shown on the picture below, Roosevelt is a doctor and Uncle Sam is an old, sick man as the nurse is a congress. The medicine bottle are labeled as SCC, FDIC, SS, AAA, WPA, and other parts of the New Deal that Franklin D Roosevelt created to fix the Great Depression. Through positive connotation and appealing to ethos, the artist was able to portray his positive view towards FDR’s efforts in trying to heal the broken economics in the United States.

            One part of the cartoon that stands out the most is the character of the congress. It is hard to identify the gender of the character as it has a face of a male but has a body of a female. The body language of the character also shows respect for the doctor, implying the artist’s positive view towards FDR.

            Not only that, but Uncle Sam in this political cartoon is unlike the man who points at people on posters with bold colors of clothing and facial expression. However, we can figure out that it is uncle same by the patriotic clothes that is under his robe and the initials “US” on his slippers. In this particular cartoon, he is an old man who is sick. This portrays how Franklin Roosevelt was trying to help the poor, old, unemployed citizens through the system of New Deal and as shown on the conversation bubble in the picture, how he stopped at nothing to cure the sick economics in the America.

            The artist, by including positive connotations and appealing to pathos, successfully displays how he feels about Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal. By observing the rhetorical devices that artist incorporated in the political cartoon, I was able to understand more about the Great Depression and America’s view on FDR as well.