Tow #30 Letter to a New APELC Student

Dear new APELC Student,

Congratulations on choosing to be a part of one of the most interesting yet intellectually challenging classes! To be perfectly honest, APELC is probably one of the hardest classes to get an A in. Throughout the year, you'll probably submit a couple papers you've scrutinized for hours and thought were perfect only to get a C (the summer essay) and stress over countless presentations, timed in-class essays and symposiums. However, the pay off is so worth it. Not only will your writing improve tremendously with all the practice you get throughout the year, you will also notice a change in your perspective, attitude and approach towards harder assignments and life in general. APELC is truly an AP class because it pushes you to your limits and then pushes you some more.Though it may seem a little intimidating at first, don't be scared!  Be prepared to be a little stressed in the beginning of the year. Expect to be challenged. But also expect to see a huge growth in your analytical and writing skills after you put in all your effort. You can do it! Below are some tips that I hope will clear up some misconceptions about the class and help you start off the year on the right track.

Throughout the year every week, you will be assigned TOWs which are basically posts on your blog that you write after rhetorically analyzing an article or book. Though the weekly assignments are only 10 points they add up and every point helps in APELC so don't forget to do them! Also, find a wide variety of articles and actually spend some time rhetorically analyzing them because this practice actually helps so much on your essays. I have used the knowledge I gained from my TOW articles as examples multiple times in my in-class essays as well as the mock and AP exam.

In addition, in-class essays and take home essays are great practice and grade boosters! Time management may be a struggle when you first start writing your in-class essays but it'll get better throughout the year so don't stress. Just try to write as efficiently and concisely as you can. As for take home essays, never give up the opportunity to conference with Mr. Yost or Mrs. Pronko about a paper before submitting it. It always helps to have the people who are grading your essays look over them and give you a few suggestions before submission. It can save you quite a few points!

Lastly, when you're asked to take notes on a reading for class, always be prepared! Instead of taking pages of notes on a 20 page chapter, just print it out and highlight/ take notes on it. It's a lot easier. Also, there is almost always a discussion the next day. You want to be actively involved so make sure you know what you're talking about so you can contribute to the class discussion!

I hope this letter was beneficial and helped you understand APELC a little better. Just remember, you get out what you put into the class so do your best and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Good Luck!


From, 

Past APELC Student







      

Tow #29 World's Scariest Drug

Bank account bone dry? Woke up on a park bench disoriented and beaten? Have the sneaking suspicion that you spent the night in a zombie-like state emptying your bank accounts and home for Colombian drug lords? Or maybe, you don't remember anything at all.

Chances are, you may have been the unwitting victim of "the Devil's Breath", also known as Scopolamine. This is the scenario that the documentary, The World's Scariest Drug recounts this increasingly popular drug, that is sneakily sweeping the streets of Columbia. Known as one of the most dangerous drugs in the world, hence the title, Scopolamine has a reputation of being something like a "zombie drug" and is most often used to "rob, rape, or kill". The documentary follows Ryan Duffy's journey to Columbia to inform viewers about the deadliest drug in existence.

In the documentary, Ryan Duffy interviews multiple victims of Scopolamine who have had to live with the horrible aftermath. Each of the victims has still been profoundly affected today. One woman interviewed explains that what makes Scopolamine so scary is that recipients are completely conscious after being drugged but become completely at the will of their attacker and will do anything that they are told. After being drugged, she willingly lead her drugger to her apartment and gave him all her money and expensive camera items that he requested. It was not until the next day that she realized what had happened. Even so, the woman considered herself lucky as she was only administered a small dosage so could still recall some events. Often, the victims are not only robbed but raped and killed. Most victims are unable to remember anything that happened to them and have to live with the fact of not knowing for the rest of their lives.

Later, Ryan Duffy interviews a local drug dealer who specializes in Scopolamine to learn about how it is taken and where it is found. Turns out, the drug grows on a tree called Boracherro, a plant that populates much of the city and in the area where Duffy was staying, many grow right outside children's preschools. The plant once synthesized is made into a powder so potent that just briefly smelling it will allow the victim to fall under its spell. Drug lords easily use this to their advantage by administering it on small packets of paper that they slip to victims.

The documentary makes it clear the Scopolamine is one of the most dangerous drugs found in the world today due to its potency and chilling effect it has on the victim.

Tow #28 "Children of Rage: A Story of Abuse"

Beth wiggles around on the sofa with the energy of a six and a half year old girl who is forced to talk to an adult. She holds her head in her hands, rubs her nose, and pushes her brown locks of hair out of her eyes. Her sparkling blue eyes wander around the room as the interviewer questions her.
When the adult asks about the knife missing from the kitchen, Beth answers, "a big sharp one."
"What were you going to do with the knife Beth?"
"Kill John and Mommy and Daddy."

Representing one of the most traumatized cases of neglect and abuse, the adorable young girl, Beth stars in the TV documentary "Children of Rage: A Story of Abuse". The documentary introduces her as a child who has gone through much trauma at a young age, primarily because of the child sexual abuse and neglect she had to endure by her biological father. Because Beth was left so traumatized from this during the first five years of her life, the time crucial to learning affection and love, she was left with the inability to develop bonds with anyone and described as "without a conscience... capable of hurting or even killing someone without any remorse. Her adoptive family found her and her younger brother in this state and have to deal with severe complications to say the least. Beth regularly injures her younger brother and family pets and openly states that she wants to kill her family. Her family is forced to lock her in her room at night to protect themselves.

In contrast to other documentaries, this documentary is mainly organized as one lengthy interview conducted between the psychologist and Beth before treatment and then after treatment when Beth is moved to a house for kids like her. By interviewing the subject instead of taking pictures of home environment and narrating voice overs of her life, the documentary is able to allow the audience see Beth for themselves. The camera is focused on Beth the whole entire time, never the psychologist, sometimes even zooming into her face when she is answering a question, making it feel like Beth is staring directly at the audience. This perspective really gives the audience the full disturbing effect as the fetching little girl missing her two front teeth, looks deadpan into the camera and nonchalantly describes her plans to murder her family, lacking complete concern or remorse over her actions.

The message of the documentary finally becomes clear when the psychologist interviews Beth for the last time, years later after treatment at a facility for traumatized children like herself. As he asks Beth who she hurt the most, Beth replies "My parents. My brother. Me. It hurt me the most because when I hurt other people I hurt my good self"and dissolves into tears when asks how she feels about it. This appeals to the pathos of the viewers as the documentary captures the transformation that has occurred within Beth, who has turned into a caring and conscientious child. Beth represents the beacon of hope that other traumatized children similar to her, can find a better life through treatment, dedication and love.

Today Beth Thomas is a Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse.

Tow #27 TOW Reflection

In the beginning of the year I'll admit that I didn't find the weekly TOWs very beneficial to me. However, I've come to realize that doing TOW posts throughout the year has been really valuable to me in the long run. I can see improvement in not only my analytical skills but the arrangement and composition of my writing as a whole.

 In the beginning of the year I feel like I was more summarizing the author's purpose rather than analyzing how the author presented his/her purpose or the effectiveness of the rhetorical devices on the readers. In addition, as the year progressed, it gradually became easier for me to pinpoint the author's purpose and the rhetorical devices/strategies used to achieve the purpose as well as integrate better transitions throughout my writing. The articles that I chose to write about also changed from being from a narrow area to broader spectrum. This ultimately helped me a lot because by the end of the year, during in-class timed essays and the mock, I was able to recall multiple specific examples to use for the prompts. The practice I got from quickly skimming the articles I chose every week also benefitted me during the actual AP test. I was able to save a lot of time by efficiently skimming through each of the passages to catch the main purposes.

One thing that I could probably still work on is writing about the most effective rhetorical strategies. Sometimes I still find myself picking the easiest or the most obvious devices used in the writing but I know that the ones I see first in the article may not necessarily prove the author's purpose the best.

Overall, the TOWs were a great source of practice for me to hone my analytical skills and prepare for the in-class essays and AP exam. 

Tow #26 "Revenge, My Lovely"

Reading goals: Skim through article quickly and understand main purpose

Writing goals: Efficiently identify author's argument

In this weeks issue of NYTimes, the author, Jo Nesbø analyzes the human's natural thirst for revenge. He states that revenge has always been portrayed as being a "barbaric, shortsighted and pointless instinct" that we are taught by society to resist. But Nesbø argues that in reality, it is actually perfectly logical behavior and shows that we have the capability for abstract thought. In the article Nesbø uses analogies and rhetorical questions to prove this point.

Nesbø introduces the concept of revenge to his audience by using an analogy to an antelope. He states that if an antelope's calves are attacked, she will fight back to protect her young, but only to a certain point - until the calf has died and it would be pointless to keep on attacking the aggressor. Nesbø  then compares the human response to the same situation. While antelopes would not consider pursuing the aggressor after they consider it futile, humans Nesbø writes, would exact revenge in hopes preventing a future attack on their offspring in the future. By using an analogy, Nesbø is able to distinguish between an animals shortsighted instinct and a human's revenge- their capacity to think about the abstract future.

In addition to the animal- human comparison, Nesbø also uses rhetorical questions throughout his article in order to suggest a new idea to the reader. The placement of rhetorical questions at the end of paragraphs offer transition to the next paragraph as they are introduced to a new perspective on the issue. Questions like "... is it the case that we go along with a legal system we don't think meets our emotional need for retribution?" also allow the author to directly address the readers. 

Nesbø effectively justifies the human nature to seek revenge through the use of simple analogies and and rhetorical questions.

Tow #25 "The Koch Attack on Solar Energy"

Reading goals: clearly identify purpose of article
Writing goals: concise thesis and strong arguments supported by article


In this weeks Sunday Review issue in NYtimes, The Editorial Board wrote an article about the Koch industries attack on the nation's shift towards renewable energy. Koch industries are heavily involved in the manufacturing and distribution of petroleum, chemicals and energy. They see the expanding solar panel businesses as a threat to them and recently have found a new tax on solar panels they support to make renewable energy less appealing to the public. Through the use of statistics and short, terse sentence structure authors clearly portray The Koch industries as a menace to an advancement that "the country needs: solar energy panels".

The Editorial Board first uses statistics to convince the public why it is important to move towards renewable energy sources. Citing the benefit of renewables for the economy as well as environmental reasons, the authors state, "more than 143,000 now work in the solar industry...43 states require utilities to buy excess power generated by consumers with solar arrays." By using relevant statistics, the article makes it obvious that we as a country are already implementing renewable energy sources and look to increase this number in the near future to the benefit of the public.

Furthermore, they demonize the Koch industries by explaining that the Koch brothers are supporting a new tax that charges advocates for the use of solar panels each month by describing their actions in terse sentences. These effective pauses allow the author to emphasize the diction and display a sense of urgency- that what the Koch industries are doing is detrimental to the environment and people. 

Through the use of statistics and terse sentence structure, The Editorial Board of NYtimes aims to call out and inform the public of the Koch industries actions and encourage them to support renewable energy in the future.

IRB #4 Gulp

After reading two books from Mary Roach's series: Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, I decided to choose chose Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal as my next IRB book. I really enjoy her spunky twist on scientific stories and dry sense of humor so I'm excited to discover the answers to these quirky questions: "How much can you eat before your stomach bursts? Why doesn't the stomach digest itself? Can wine tasters really tell a $10 bottle from a $100 bottle? Why is crunchy food so appealing? and Can constipation kill you? Did it kill Elvis?"

Tow #24 "How the media deals with victims"

The media invading people's personal privacy is a constant controversy in our country. Often the media is seen as a nuance that constantly crosses the line in our everyday lives. However, Carol Costello, a reporter for CNN argues that although this may be true in some cases, media is ultimately crucial to society because it "gives a voice to the voiceless" and allows the public to know what is going on in the world. Costello uses anecdotes and citations to prove her point.

Costello immediately introduces her article by addressing the counterargument with personal anecdotes, thereby establishing herself as a credible source. She disproves the stereotype that all reporters are portrayed as nosy people who will do anything to get the latest scoop, and states that in fact, "[reporters] loathe asking grieving family members to go on camera. Using the Flight 370 disappearance as an example, Costello recalls that she personally was sick to her stomach when cameras kept on filming after grieving relatives repeatedly asked reporters to leave. She admits that some reporters are exploitative and cross the line, but not all of them are.

On the other hand, Costello contends that a journalist will not know whether a victim wants to share his or her story until they are asked. Sometimes, victims who have experienced brutal conditions actually want to share there story with the world as a message to the others out there. In 1980, after turning down Phyllis Cottle's rape victim story because she thought it wasn't right, Costello later saw another interview with Cottle where she pleaded, "Catch him. Help find the man who did this." In this way, Costello shows that reporters are a crucial part in sharing the horrific stories of those who are voiceless with the world which needs to be aware.

Costello effectively convinces the audience that media plays an important role by seeking justice for those unfairly taken advantage of by advocating these events to the world through the use of anecdotes and citations.

Tow #23 "No Seconds"

The picture depicted above is the last meal of Ted Bundy, a serial murderer who was charged for brutally killing more than 36 young women and sentenced to death by the electric chair. The picture is a part of a series by Henry Hargreaves called "No Seconds". From the food down to the cutlery and tablecloth, Hargreaves recreates the last meal requests of 9 of America's most notorious death-row inmates. By using the medium of photography and the juxtaposition of the pictures, Hargreaves portrays the serial killers in a different light and humanizes them through the common denominator of food.

Hargreaves states that the main goal of his "No Seconds" series was for the audience to think of the death row inmates as people for a moment instead of being anonymous. The effect of using photography as his medium instead of painting or sketching is important to the purpose of his work. In addition each of the pieces of food and silverware in the photograph are arranged exactly like they were for the inmates the day before their execution. The use of a camera makes the food very real and tangible to the audience. Anyone could be sitting in front of the same meal. By choosing to photograph the food, Hargreaves forms a connection between the viewer and the inmate. In a way, instead of judging the prisoners' crimes, he humanizes the inmates by giving the viewer a subtle glimpse of their personalities and character through their food choices. 

In addition to the medium used in his series, the juxtaposition of the food is also crucial for Hargreaves' impact on the audience. In all of the photographs, the food on the plates look very organized and are arranged in an appealing manner that contrasts with the background. Also, Hargreaves arranges the photos in a way so that the audience appears to be directly looking down at the food, as if it is sitting right in front of them ready to be served. By giving the viewers the inmates' perspective, for moment, Hargreaves forces us to step into their shoes. 

Tow 22 "Get real, lower drinking age to 19"

Underage drinking in America has skyrocketed recently and continues to be a growing problem. It is evident that something must be done but what could the solution be? In this article, William D. Conhan argues that the answer to this problem is to lower the national drinking age from 21 to 19. Although Conhan does provide numerous stats about college drinking, his hasty generalizations and faulty reasoning leave some gaping holes in his argument.

Conhan introduces his article with an allusion to an event that occurred eight years ago at Duke University where three male students were convicted of rape, sexual assault and kidnapping at a party that was filled with alcohol. Conhan concludes that the poor decision made by these three individuals was a result of the underage drinking and therefore national law should be changed to prevent instances like this from happening again. Although alcohol may have impaired their judgement, in this situation how can it be proven that alcohol was the sole cause of their actions and the students weren't just sick individuals to start with? In addition, the author seems to portray this isolated occurrence as something that happens to most people when drinking underage. This one example is not enough to convince the audience. Perhaps it would have been more effective to include stats on how underage drinking incidences like this have resulted in crimes instead of on the percentage of college students that drink underage.

Furthermore, Conhan's claim to his argument is that lowering the drinking age will make underage drinking less enticing and students will stop "lusting after the forbidden fruit of alcohol". However, the author does not follow up with any evidence or statistics and leaves the audience doubting. This is the main hole in the author's argument, especially because he can not validate any of his other minor arguments before defending his main argument.

Tow #21 "Factory meat, cruel and bad for us"

Today many people in America are advocating against factory produced meats and moving towards organic foods. In this article, Jane Velez-Mitchell, who has won three Genesis awards for reporting on animal issues argues that most of the world's most damaging problems are caused by the mistreatment of factory animals. Velez-Mitchell uses listing and stats from credible sources to persuade her audience to stop consuming these unhealthy animal products.

The article's organization makes the author's arguments easily visible to readers. By bolding and ordering her points in a list-like format, readers don't have to look for the arguments within her article and can quickly skim it to get the main idea. Velez-Mitchell declares that factory meat is responsible for the obesity crisis, the health care crisis, the country's deficit, natural disasters and hunger. By using a list, Velez-Mitchell is able to provide multiple examples because she only talks about each one briefly in a short, concise blurb. 

In addition to her superb organization, Velez-Mitchell packs each of her arguments with effective stats from credible sources. For example, she cites a study from The Journal of Economics that "the yearly costs of obesity are estimated to be as high as $190 billion a year" to emphasize the ridiculous costs that we put up with for eating obesity inducing factory meat. She also adds credibility to her argument by citing that "some of the smartest people in America from Bill Clinton to Bill Gates" are also protesting against our food system and searching for meat alternatives.

Through her use of statistics from credible sources and effective organization of the article, Velez-Mitchell convinces her audience of the detrimental side effects of factory meat and persuades them to stop buying these meats and target meat alternatives or a vegetable based diet instead.

Tow #20 General Foods' Post Toasties Ad

Breakfast serves as one of the most important meals of the day for families in America. Ready-to-eat cereal specifically ranks as one of the most popular choices for a nutritious breakfast. In this advertisement, General Foods avidly promotes their breakfast product Post-Toasties cereal as a superior cereal to other competing brands that everyone can enjoy. Through the use of symbolism and comparisons, General Foods effectively persuades consumers to buy Post-Toasties.

General Foods specifically aims to advertise Post-Toasties as a cereal that everyone in the family can enjoy, not just children to encourage adults even more to buy their product. Through symbolism, the picture in the middle represents the typical family of two parents and two children happily eating Post-Toasties cereal together in their backyard. The father holds up a spoonful of Post-Toasties cereal as the mother rings a triangles to call their children to come eat a Post-Toasties breakfast. Each of the family members has a speech bubble above their heads raving about the cereal such as “There’s a striking DIFFERENCE in corn flakes!” or “Post Toasties tops ‘em all...so fresh.... so crisp... so gland!”. One of the children exclaims that because the Post-Tens package offers 7 different types of Post-Toasties cereal, “everyone in the family can each have their particular favorite as often as they please” The image uses the bandwagon appeal by symbolizing what the “normal” American family eats for breakfast and implies that the consumer should be like the family in the picture and buy Post-Toasties cereal for their family.

To further distinguish their brand of cereal from any other brand, General Foods emphasizes that there’s actually “a real difference” in their cornflakes compared to other companies. The ad states that according to nation-wide tests, more and more people prefer their Post-Toasties corn flakes to any other corn flakes. What makes their product different, the company reiterates is their “post-toasting”, a process that easily separates them from the rest of the competing cereals. At the bottom of the ad, they even coin the phrase “Don’t say “Corn Flakes”- Say POST TOASTIES- the BETTER Corn Flakes!”

General Goods effectively advertises their Post Toasties cereal by using the bandwagon appeal to convince american families that all families eat their cereal and compares their cereal to other competing brands.

Tow #19 Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

So far in Mary Roach's book Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, she has described several of her numerous journeys with people whose ideas are most charitably described as unconventional, including  talking to a professor of obstetrics, going on a ghost hunting tape recording trip, and taking a "Fundamentals of Mediumship" course in England. Most of the people Roach talks about in Spook are more likely as she calls, "nutters". In these beginning chapters, Roach effectively communicates her journey to tackle the question of whether the afterlife exists to the audience with the use of her witty rhetorical questions, humor and dialogues of her encounters.

Roach's use of humor often integrated throughout the book with other rhetorical devices such as her wacky rhetorical questions she asks herself and the reader. In the chapter, The Large Claims of the Medium: Reaching out to the dead in a University of Arizona lab, Roach muses that dead people never seem to address the obvious things that the not-yet-dead are the most curious about such as "Hey, where are you now? What do you do all day? What's it feel like being dead? Can you see me? Even when I'm on the toilet? Would you cut that out?" With these ludicrous questions, Roach appeals to the audience by making them laugh with her absurd thought process but also connects to the readers by making them feel like she is having a personal conversation them by reflecting back to her thoughts at those exact moments.

To draw the audience even more into the experience, Roach frequently records the highlights of the dialogues that she has with interesting characters she meets. In the chapter You Again: A visit to the Reincarnation Roach records a conversation that a medium has with a ghost who asks it all sorts of bizzare questions from "What do you do every day?" to "what type of "body" do you have?"

With the amusing use of rhetorical questions and dialogues and her always present unique sense of humor, Roach is able to make her audience feel like they are participating in part of her crazy experience.

Tow #18 "Sochi Olympics TV moment: Shaun White's loss is NBC gain"

During the Winter Olympics every four years, snowboarding is without a doubt one of the most highly anticipated events. All eyes were on Shaun White yesterday as he tried to land his third consecutive gold medal in the Sochi Games. However, not only did White drop one of his snowboarding events, he failed to medal in the halfpipe and received fourth place to the disappointment of many. In this Latimes article, Steven Zeitchik writes about the events leading up to this important moment, and the effect it has on the TV channel broadcasting it, NBC. Through the use of repetition and short syntax, Zeitchik effectively recaps the events and argues that Shaun White's loss benefitted NBC's ratings.

To introduce the last nights events to the audience, Zeitchik unravels the story with anaphoras. He begins each paragraph with the phrase "even if" to suggest that yesterdays halfpipe, just like every year is always one of the most anticipated competitions of the year regardless of the unforeseeable events that occurred during it. He then contrasts this past certainty of the event, with this years twist of events- whether White would be able to win the gold medal again? This uncertainty or "doubtful ending", Zeitchik explains is what will give NBC a finale filled with anticipation and excitement, and rake in millions of watchers and ratings.

Zeitchik's writing mirrors the tension of the half pipe event that kept the audience on the edge of their seats through the use of short syntax that created a dramatic, tone. Sentences are split into short phrases through the use of commas and dashes, creating a sense of urgency. He writes, "through the disappointment, through the strained facial muscles, through the gritted teeth, he smiled". The terse pauses in between the phrases dramatizes the situation as the scene unfolds to the audience.

Zeitchik not only effectively uses repetition and short syntax to create a dramatic tone and build up the anticipation through his article, he also is able to provide a convincing argument on how NBC benefitted from White's loss. He concludes the article with a note of uncertainty mentioned in the beginning of his writing "even if", suggesting that the Olympics hype is not yet over and there is more to come.

IRB #3 Intro Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife is written by Mary Roach, a New York Times bestseller, 2003 Barnes and Nobles Discover Great Writers pick, one of Entertainment Weekly's Best Books of 2003 and other numerous awards. After reading her book Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers I realized that I really enjoyed it and wanted to read another book in her series. In Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Roach explores the topic of the afterlife and takes the readers through a scientific exploration on whether there is a soul that survives death. I'm interested to see whether she ends up proving or disproving the theory of life after death through her research.

Tow #18 "When Pedestrians Get Mixed Signals"

In the NYTimes article "When Pedestrians Get Mixed Signals" Tom Vanderbilt explores the topic of jaywalking and whether the pedestrians or drivers should take the blame for the accidents that result. He argues that the pedestrians should not be blamed for jaywalking. Instead, through the use of citations, stats, and anecdotes, Vanderbilt claims that better walking infrastructure, slower car speeds and more pedestrians will increase the safety of the pedestrian and decrease the need for jaywalking. Vanderbilt introduces his article by explaining why enforcement and education about jaywalking is not working. He presents a counterargument by citing a Los Angeles police officer who says, "We're heavily enforcing pedestrian violences because they're impending traffic and causing too many accidents and deaths". Vanderbilt refutes the idea aggressive enforcement, by pointing out that the rules for jaywalking vary greatly between states and internationally and the lack of constancy is confusing for pedestrians. Jaywalking in Canada, Spain, Poland, Singapore and Australia is considered a harsh offense but in Scandinavia and Britain is not considered a big deal. In addition, he provides a general stat that attempts at educating teenage driving films and seat belt usage awareness campaigns have barely had an impact on lowering teen accident deaths. Vanderbilt then explains that he personally jaywalks with his daughter frequently because he feels it is safer then following the pedestrian light. "..the times we came closest to being hit by cars were when we had the "Walk" signal and a driver attempted to make a turn". Finally, Vanderbilt makes a claim of policy and urges that “rather than punishing people for opting out of the system, a more effective approach is to opt in”. He argues that pedestrians are more likely to cross against the signal if lights exist to tell them how long the wait is and encourages cities to be proactive by installing these lights for pedestrians. 

Tow #17 Pampers Ad

During 2010, Pampers advertised their product to the public with this advertisement to represent their slogan, "A baby that doesn't sleep well, doesn't learn well/ Keep your baby dry". In this ad, Pampers is trying to advertise their diapers as an effective product for babies for night use through the use of compare and contrast and cause and effect. On the left side of the ad, it shows a watercolor painting of a young girl playing on a chocolate raft in a fantastical Candyland like scene. This can be assumed to be a child's dream at night. The scene contrasts with the blank white sheet on the right side as if to show the fantasies and dreams of a child melting away as she wakes up. On the bottom right of the ad it says, "Their dreams don't have to stop."Appealing to pathos, the ad evokes a sense of disappointment from the audience as the sweet dreams of a child disappear as a result of not using Pampers. Pampers suggests that, babies will be able to get a better nights sleep by sleeping dry and uninterrupted with their diapers and therefore their dreams will not have to end abruptly. I think this was pretty effective in getting its point across to the audience by triggering their emotions and representing an innocent fantasy we all have had as young children. Through its use of contrast and cause and effect it probably appealed to many parents of infants.

Tow #16 "Modifying DNA Wipe Away Our Old Memories"

This article Sciencemag article was written by Nsikan Akpan talks about a new study that suggests a possible solution for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He explains new study with mice shows that it is possible to erase painful memories by modifying molecules that attach to DNA. To test this theory, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology created traumatic memories in the mice by putting them in an unfamiliar cage and giving them an electrical shock in their feet until they became terrified and froze when returned to the cage. Once the fear memory was instilled, researchers repeatedly returned the mice to cage either 24 hours or 30 days after the shock. The mice who were given the “behavior therapy” of 24 hours eventually stopped freezing suggesting that the memory of anxiety connected with the cage had been erased. But the mice who were returned after 30 days froze and remained afraid, showing that older memories were less forgettable. After studying the hippocampus, the mice’s brain region that is responsible for learning and memory, the researchers found that an enzyme, HDAC2 controls gene activity in the mice by nitrosylating to recall memories and therefore works as an on-and-switch for memory. When HDAC2 was switched off with a drug, older traumas were wiped away. 

Askpan's primary purpose of the article is to describe a new scientific breakthrough to the readers. Although he does explain biological processes to the readers, he uses a lot of scientific vernacular so the article is most likely directed towards an audience who has some background knowledge about biology. To prove his purpose he runs through the steps of the experiment and explains the connection between the scientists' theory and their results to verify the study. However, this article was more of a scientific report than an "opinion" article. 

IRB Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Near the end of the book, Mary Roach explores the topics of "alternative funerals" and begins with her visit the the Colorado State University Veterinary Hospital to see how death is dealt with when relatives of the cadavers are removed as a factor. There she explains in detail the Colorado State's method of "tissue digestion" where a human corpse an be reduced to 3% its body weight through pressure heat and lye. The remnants of the corpse are then flushed down through a drain. The detailed explanation of this whole process may make her audience a bit squeamish but Roach seems to have stopped trying to defend the topic of her book whereas in the beginning she felt the need to justify it with science to persuade hesitant readers to continue.  Roach does however, still use a humor to get through heavy  material and this remains her best device throughout the book. Some of her explanations become so dramatic, they are comical and therefore somewhat balance out the extremely gruesome descriptions. In the last chapter, Roach ponders what she will do with her own remains. At first she visits the University of New Mexico Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and contemplates preserving her brain in a jar and shelving it for later students to admire and study or plastinating her body and donating it to future scientifical studies. However, at the end of the book, Roach takes a surprisingly undrastic approach and admits that although she'd love to donate her body to science, she believes it's ultimately right to let her family decide what to do with her body. For the survivors "mourning and moving are hard enough. Why add to the burden?" Through the use of humor and her moderately turned down conclusion, Roach is able to entertain the audience with her witty puns and questions and build up her credibility as a knowledgable and experienced author.

Tow #15 "Remembrance of News Past"

The NYTimes article "Remembrance of News Past" is written by Claudia Hammond, a British author, TV presenter, and BBC World Service radio presenter. Hammond is the author of the books Emotional Rollercoaster and Time Warped: Unlocking the Mysteries of Time Perception. Both books are about  human psychology and have won her British Psychological Society and Mind Media awards.

In her article, Hammond talks about how exactly people remember events. She explains that we as humans don't remember specific events due to their objective importance, we remember them depending on how we heard, where we were, and what we was happening in our lives at the time. Hammond introduces this theory by asking the readers how many details they remember from the Newtown shootings and Boston Marathon bombing and then how many they will remember in a month or a year from now. By using a significant topic that many people can connect to Hammond captures the readers attention and smoothly transitions into her argument. Next, she presents her evidence by citing statistics and experiments by other psychologists. She proves that in other experiments location and the way you get the information are signifiant in remembering certain events. She cites psychologist John Neil Bohannon's experiment, where he asked college students and alumni from 1942-1945 about Pearl Harbor and found that "if they heard it on the news or read it in a newspaper, they remembered more facts about the event". She also talks about peoples' struggle to remember the timing of an event, an issue that is probably relatable to her audience. This is in fact, a phenomenon called telescoping, where its especially difficult to figure out when events happened because we always think that they happened more recently than they did. She then provides a anecdote of an event in her own life as an example.

By using credible sources and significant events that readers are likely to connect to Hammond is able to write an interesting article that explains the psychology behind remembering the past that informs and entertains her audience.

Tow #14 "Humans Causing Jellyfish Takeover"

The highly credible author of this CNN article, Lisa-ann Gershwin is an acclaimed marine biologist that has been researching jellyfish for more than 20 years and has discovered more than 180 new species. She not only was awarded with a Fulbright Fellowship to study jellyfish blooms and fossil jellyfish, but is also the director of the Australian Marine Stinger Advisory Services and Stung! On Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean. In this article, Gershwin argues that humans are causing a vast growth in jellyfish populations from our carbon dioxide emissions that are warming as well as polluting the water. In this environment, fish and krill especially are dying but jellyfish are thriving and disrupting the whole ecosystem. Gershwin continues to warn that a small increase in jellyfish may cause no harm but a huge surge that is occurring right now is not only forcing emergency shutdowns of nuclear power plants and destroying fisheries but it has also completely flipped the food chain upside down and are now dominating the fish deprived oceans. After discussing the cause and effects of the jellyfish takeover, Gershwin brings her argument full circle and indicates that all fingers are pointing at us. We caused the problem so isn't it our responsibility to fix it? Answering her string of rhetorical questions, Gershwin reaches out to her audience and demands that we need to invest in research now and slow down the damage occurring rapidly in the world. However, despite the urgency and desperation apparent in her tone, Gershwin ends with the thought that "in all likelihood we will go down in history as the generation that could have saved the ocean but chose not to... It makes me cry, because I fear it is true".   Despite the optimistic talk of others, she gives readers a dose of reality and reflects her disappointment in today's generation itself.