TOW #3- How It Feels to Be Colored Me

            As an African American living in the 1900s, Zora Hurston recalls back to when she was little, living in a Negro town in Eatonville. Growing up in society where she felt belonged, Hurston mentions how she felt no different from the white people because they generously respected her existence in the South. However, when she left to Jacksonville to receive education, she felt as if she was oil floating in water, feeling the undeniably strong distinction between her and the white people. Through her use of metaphor, she depicts her positive view of her background despite living in a culture where a strong contrast between the black and whites existed. For example, Hurston says. “Among the thousand white persons, I am a dark rock surged upon, over swept by a creamy sea. I am surged upon and over swept, but through it all, I remain myself. When covered by the waters, I am; and the ebb but reveals me again” (Hurston, 10). By using this figurative language, Hurston is able to describe how she was never felt sorrow or defeated by her differences and also shows her strength as an African American woman.

            Throughout this personal anecdote, it is evident that her purpose is for all people of all races to feel pride for their culture despite the sorrows it can bring them under certain circumstances. She does this by describing the positives of being an African American. For example, Hurston writes, “It constricts the thorax and splits the heart with tempo and narcotic harmonies. This orchestra grows rambunctious, rears on its hind legs and attacks the tonal veil with primitive fury, rending it, clawing it until it breaks through the jungle beyond.” (Hurston, 11). Again, with the use of personification, she shows how she appreciates the beauty of music more compared to her white friends and shows her love for being an African American. Hurston’s strangely strong optimism leaves the readers with pride for their background and through her use of figurative language, she is able to effectively portray her message of self- worth.

TOW #2- In Search of Refuge

       Opening the eyes of those who are uninformed around the world, the columnist Simon Shuster and the photographer Yuri Kozyrev, both civilians in Leros, Greece, describes the mass migration of people from the Middle East such as Syria to Greece and Western Europe. The audiences are people in the European countries who are negatively impacted by the exodus from Syria and might be against the migration. They also include the governments of the influenced countries in convincing them to continue keeping their doors open for the Syrian escapees. This is evident through the writer’s emphasis on how desperate these Syrians are in need of help and how hopeful and excited they look when they finally arrive in a foreign land after traveling for days and possibly weeks in an overcrowded, inflatable boats. Through Shuster’s appeal to pathos, it is heart rendering for the audience to read about the poor living conditions that the immigrants live in. The descriptions of squalid places and tarps in the European Countries that provide little protection arouse the sympathetic views of the readers. 
       Through pictures that show horrified and exhausted faces of the Syrians and moms carrying their sick and dirty babies that could not be taken care of on the boat describes the emotions of these people more than words are capable of. The writer also achieves his purpose by proving his credibility. Providing quotes that are from the refugees explain the hardships they felt during the process of separating from family and escaping from the terrorist group ISIS, Shuster dramatizes the event as well as supporting his purpose. In my thoughts, the writer was effective in achieving his purpose by appealing to pathos and ethos by using not only words but pictures as well, evoking the values and beliefs of the audience.

IRB Intro Post #1

The Soloist by Steve Lopez is about a journalist who finds a mentally ill musician on the second street and his attempt in writing a column about the musician on the Los Angeles Times. I chose this book because I am a musician myself, playing the violin. I was also intrigued to hear a story of a musical genius with a mental disorder and his relationship with a man that is the polar opposite. I hope to learn to enjoy reading non-fictions through reading this memoir and be able to write one as well.

TOW #1- …And Don’t help Your Kids With Their Homework

  

            Releasing a groundbreaking story to parents across the world, the author Dana Goldstein, on behalf of the researchers Keith Robinson and Angel Harris, stated in the magazine Atlantic the effect of parental involvement in school on the improvement of their children’s education. Using the data that Robinson and Harris published in the article The Broken Compass: Parental Involvement With Children’s Education, Goldstein stated that although parental participation often serves for the purpose of increasing the student’s academic wellness, it actually doesn’t affect it and that their involvement sometimes even backfires due to the burdensome pressures that the students feel from their parents.

            Using ethos and logos to appeal to all parents, the author refers to sociologist Annette Lareau’s observation on how the socioeconomic status of the student and the choice of teacher effects the improvement in students’ grades more effectively than the parental involvement does. She continues to support her reliability through using the statistics made by the University of Texas and gives an example for her argument saying that Asian Americans, even with uninvolved parents can perform well in school.

            The author’s purpose is to let the working parents know that they shouldn’t feel guilty of not being able to make time to participate in their children’s’ school events, because it will not affect their children’s grades. She also informs the parents who endlessly put their effort into school thinking that it will influence their children, because their children’s well being in school is dependent on their children’s performance and not theirs’. However, she states that parents should engage in school activities not for the beneficiaries of their children but to have a good citizenship. In the article, the audience was evidently shown in the title being said, “don’t help your kids with their homework” and when the author asked several questions directed to parents during the article. Overall, the author successfully portrayed her purpose to her targeted audience through using the effective rhetorical devices of ethos and logos.

Putting Daddy On

Putting Daddy On

          Tom Wolfe, graduated from Yale University and the author of 15 novels, depicts a relationship between a son and a father that live a very different lifestyle in the essay, “Putting Daddy On”. It contrasts the poor and the rich, young and the old, and right and the wrong, which causes Parker, the father and Ben, the son to lose their bond. Traveling down to the Lower East Side where only poverty exists, Parker, dressed fancily in uptown clothes brings a friend to retrieve his son, who dropped out of Columbia and chose to be a hippy. From a perspective of a frustrated and a guilty parent, “Putting Daddy On” allow all teenagers in a stage of rebellion to know what their parents might think. Although Parker speaks to Ben as if he is mocking his of life, it is revealed in the essay that he understands why Ben is acting the way he is. Parker also reveals that although he didn't speak to Ben much when they net, there were not much he could have said and that he tried the hardest he could. It shows Parker’s understanding of Ben growing up as an independent and letting go his control over him.

          Although it is not clearly stated in the novel, the audience can be assumed to be the teenagers and the parents who are under conflicting relationships. Tom Wolfe achieved his purpose through using various rhetorical devices such as colloquial language, perspective, and visualization. Using colloquial language allowed the readers to understand what type of character Parker was. Through his use of words, we were able to identify his humorous and sarcastic side. Wolfe’s interesting use of perspectives easily draws the attention of many readers, because although a lot about Parker and his visit to the lower east side is revealed, there are a lot of things about the situation that is ambiguous because of the nameless narrator. However, Wolfe’s use of visualization of the settings allowed the readers to see the big differences between the father and the son. Although the author’s purpose was rather hard to find, through many rhetorical devices, Tom Wolfe did a successful job in portraying the conflict between Parker and Ben.

Sometimes We Must Understand to Let Go

Parents can’t always believe that they can construct the lives of their children.

Work Cited

"Movie Reviews: 'The Nut Job,' 'Big Bad Wolves'" NY Daily News. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.

"Tom Wolfe." Tom Wolfe. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.

Coatesville

Coatesville

          Slavery is a topic that most people are aware of, but the information about slavery is often hard to consume and relate to. John Jay Chapman, an American poet, dramatist, critic, and an activist as an anti- slavery speaks of the cruel event that took place in Coatesville that allowed me to touch the deeper aspects of slavery. During the essay, he refers to the shock he felt when he first found out about a man that was burned alive and tortured but felt a greater shock when he learned that there were hundreds of witnesses that saw such a devastating, inhumane action and chose to do nothing about it. Chapman tells us the consequences of being silent. The silence that was present in Coatesville in 1911 not only failed to save the man that was struggling out of the pitchforks that faced him but tolerated the offenders of their unjust actions.

          Out of many purposes and lessons that were evident in Chapman’s essay, one that stood out to me the most was to never wait for someone to make the changes you want to see in the world. After the occurrence, those hundreds of witnesses blamed everyone else in the crowd except for themselves with an excuse that they were waiting for someone to stop the murderers. Chapman, after discovering the consequences of silence that effected slavery in great degree, stands for not only against slavery, but also for people of all ages to be affected by the lessons that he was able to learn through the event that occurred in Coatesville. Chapman successfully achieved his purpose by using two different but effective rhetorical moods. First one is description mood, where he visually described an event that took place to a deeper level. The second one is the exposition mood, where he analyzed the given event to a broader degree that captivated the readers visually and analytically. Overall, the author accomplished his purpose in describing the severity of silence in slavery and leaves us with a lesson to take actions for what we believe in.

Silence Exacerbates Problems

Do not avoid problems by being silent, but voice your thoughts.

Work Cited

"John Jay Chapman | Biography - American Writer." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.                   Web. 17 Aug. 2015.

The Handicapped

The Handicapped

            While delving into the topic of disability through the essay, “The Handicapped” by Randolph Bourne, I was able to learn the effects of limitation due to physical circumstances on a person’s life. Despite his physical differences, Randolph Bourne graduated from Columbia University and worked as a journalist, social critic, political activist, and an advocate. Learning from the hardships that constantly challenged him, Bourne describes that being handicapped had its advantages as much as it had its disadvantages. First, he describes his disadvantages by describing how he often neglected himself and always believed that he was not capable of achieving success and acceptance in society even with the best attitude. He also depicts a sense of discrimination he faced from the society when he was left out at social events or when he was in search for a job and found himself being given a fewer chance for acceptance compared to those without a handicap. However, he tells us the positives of having deformities as well, for he was able to understand a better perspective of the world and able to achieve self- respect and wide- ranged of intellectual achievements.

            Through Bourne’s realization that deformed can establish achievements as well, he speaks for the handicapped to have hope and to find satisfaction in their experiences no matter how hard and bitter their journey was. He encourages his readers to never judge their abilities by comparing their achievements with others and to search for those who they can rely on. He achieves this purpose by speaking through a first person narrative, allowing the readers to rely on his thoughts and to relate their experiences with his. Not only that, but he also uses pathos, heart- rendering stories to capture the attentions of the readers. Overall, Randolph Bourne successfully accomplished his purpose in indicating that the handicapped have the abilities to make changes in the world just like others through sharing the lessons he learned through his adversities.

Tony Parsons: The Handicapped Aren't Worth It

The disabled don’t want special treatment. They just want a fair treatment and a helping hand.

Works Cited

"Randolph Bourne Institute." Randolph Bourne Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Aug. 2015.

"Tony Parsons Column Disabled Go from Paralympic Winners to Humiliated as 'scroungers' in Space of a Year." Mirror.             N.p., 14 June 2013. Web. 17 Aug. 2015.