TOW #16- Time doesn't exist!

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/biocentrism/201202/does-time-really-exist

Robert Lanza is the Chief Scientific Officer at the Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Adjunct Professor at Wake Forest University. In this article, he attempts to convince the reader that time does not exist. Although we as humans are led to believe for so long that it does, Lanza uses scientific experiments and efforts to dissuade readers otherwise. In the article, he uses facts and allusions to relate to the reader and to convince them to see his point of view.

In the article, instead of diving head first into such a difficult topic, Lanza first attempts to relate to readers. He does this by referring to everyday life, "For example, find yourself short of either time or space, or both—late for work, standing in a stalled subway car packed with riders". This is a typical situation that most people can relate to. By incorporating this, Lanza successfully hooks in the reader by making the topic of time and space relevant to their everyday life. In addition to alluding to the reader, Lanza also uses ethos in facts that he provides throughout the article that help support his point. For example, he writes, "The results of quantum physics, such as the two-slit experiment, tell us that not a single one of its subatomic particles actually has any physical properties until we observe it". By incorporating proven chemistry knowledge in the article, the author successfully validates his logic to readers. It is very important to have rational science in such an article to prove to readers the nonexistance of time.

Thus, the reader is left to ponder the validity of Lanza's words. It is difficult for them to blindly believe him at first, but readers will slowly take in his words and then will they choose to validate them or cast them aside. 

TOW #14- Generations DON'T exist!

https://aeon.co/essays/generational-labels-are-lazy-useless-and-just-plain-wrong

In this article concerning the idea of "generational thinking", the author, Ross Anderson, attempts to understand and debunk this myth. He first starts with marginalizing and time-lining the events that led to this type of thinking, such as Hollywood or grandparents. Since generations do not exist, what does? Well, there exists a group of people who are alive at the same time, which is a rough constitution of a generation, but at the same time, isn't.

In order to break the reader's already made mindset, the author must use logic and credibility to support his claim. In the article, Anderson states, "Strauss and Howe are futurists; they predict that a major crisis will occur once every 80 years, restarting the generational cycle". By going into further detail about Strauss and Howe, Anderson must first establish the researcher's credibility. In addition to establishing credibility, Anderson also must provide logical evidence to support his claim, such as, "It encourages us to focus on vague ‘generational personalities’, rather than looking at the confusing diversity of social life.". Anderson entwines his personal thoughts with the one he is arguing, appealing to readers thinking process because he can relate to them.

Thus, Anderson is able to successfully navigate the reader through the maze also known as the debate of "generationalism". 

TOW #13 - Fitbit Ad

This ad is for the Fitbit bracelet that helps people track their everyday footsteps and get in shape. As depicted in the picture, the subject is doing an impressive back flip whilst wearing his Fitbit in order to appeal to the reader’s emotions. By doing so, the Fitbit company achieves their purpose of “wowing” the audience into buying a watch, just because it looks cool here but gives the customer no surplus ability to do a backflip whatsoever.

The Fitbit Company prides itself in getting people into shape. By buying the watch, customers also install an app which will help them track their everyday performances through an app. The customer can then set goals for him or herself to reach, such as walking a certain number of steps a day or drinking an amount of water. Nonetheless, the sole purpose is to help people reach their full health potency.

The creators of this ad also use alliteration to appeal to viewer’s minds. The effect of the alliteration is that it makes the words sound more harmonious, thus more appealing and abler to sell, achieving the country’s goals. These ads are typically very well planned and thought out in order to achieve the company’s goals. 

TOW #12- How to Be Polite by Paul Ford

Like any known society, there must be norms that people operate by on a day-to-day basis. Politeness - something that can be considered a universal norm, is used on everyday occasion, but as author Paul Ford points out, can sometimes not be utilized enough, or in the wrong way. Ford is a Medium Adviser, writer and programmer based in NYC. Everyday he deals with people, and his experiences lead him to writing this short essay in which he hopes in helping the reader understand and perfect their social etiquette. 

In the text, the first thing Ford does is point out the importance of politeness. Politeness, he says, can help one make new friends, nail a first impression and increase ones happiness, among many others. Ford definitely appeals to pathos when writing this part; he emphasizes the importance of kindness towards others and to not judge others before understanding their full story. The emotional words that he chooses definitely gets his point across by playing on the readers feelings and compelling them to be more polite towards others. 

In addition to that, Ford uses his past personal successes to score credibility with the reader. In the article, me mentions a moment in his life when he's used his politeness to make new friends, in addition to making others feel included, "I could tell that she was disappointed to be introduced to this rumpled giant in an off-brand shirt, but when I told her that her job sounded difficult to me she brightened and spoke for 30 straight minutes about sapphires and Jessica Simpson". As Ford illustrates a moment in his life in which politeness applied to the situation, the reader will be more reliant to trust him because of his credibility and experience.

Thus, in the essay, Ford utilizes pathos and logos to appeal to the reader successfully in order to convince them to be better members of society.

TOW #11 - Ain't I a Woman?

Being alive during the 19th century was an especially trying time for African Americans and women. Sojourner Truth, who was both, was negatively impacted by racism and sexism every single day. Having to endure 13 child births, and also having to watch each of her children be sold to slavery, was just a taste of what her life was like. In Aint I A Woman, Sojourner Truth uses her words to expose and call out her oppressors in addition to motivating her audience of black women to also call for justice.
In the text, Truth juxtaposes 19th century society's views both black and white women through how they are seen and treated. In the text, she mentions how men view women as delicate and need to be helped and pampered to, however, this train of thought does apply to black women as herself, who carries out male occupations on a daily and has never been treated with as much respect as a white woman.
In addition to tackling racism, Truth also uses the white man's weapon against him: the Bible. She references Jesus and Mary along with Adam and Eve when making her argument about women. She first talks about the popular misconception that women can't have as much rights as men because Jesus was a man, but then she fires back with about how womankind gave birth to mankind. The popular analogy with the Bible and Christianity helps Truth identify her audience and use their logic against them. She then speaks directly to the women reading this by mentioning how if one woman, Eve, could turn the world upside down, then the combined effort of all women would be sufficient enough to turn the world right side up.
Thus, Truth writes in order to inform and to expose the evils of mankind. She is trying her best, as an oppressed woman and black American at the time, to shine light on the situations needed to be addressed in America.

TOW #10 - Hate Crimes on the Rise

In the recent news of Presidential elect, Donald Trump's, victory on November 8th, the nation is divided into two very distinct reactions to the news. Half of the population is rejoicing, while the other half is in a state of mourning, shock, anger, and protest. How these two very different sides will be able to live with one another for the next few years, nobody knows. However, one thing is for certain: hate crimes have been on the rise ever since November 8th. 

After Obama's victory in 2008 and 2012, conservatives rallied and protested his taking into office. They behavior was atrocious and inexcusable: calling Obama every racist slur ever imagined and making threats against him and his family. This time, the tables have turned, but unlike 2008 or 2012, protesters aren't protesting the orange-ness of Donald Trump's skin, rather they are angered and disapproving of his words and actions taken against Muslim-Americans, Jewish- Americans, blacks, the LGBTQ+ community, women, the disabled, Hispanics, and more. 

In an article punished by the Southern Poverty Law Center, they brought together and analyzed the alarming number of hate crimes that have occurred by state since November 8^th, "Incidents by type ranked by number of reports include: Anti-immigrant (206), anti-Black (151), anti-LGBT (80), swastika vandalism (60), anti-Muslim (51), and anti-woman (36)”. Overall, the trend shows the communities that Trump once targeted in his run, under attack from white supremacists, better known as Trump supporters. Coincidence? Most likely not.

Although Donald Trump himself has spoken up about these hate crimes, his supporters don't seem to be getting the message. The real question isn’t whether Trump secretly condones these crimes, but rather if he inspired them or if his election merely gave white supremacists a chance to show their real colors. Donald Trump is just a person, who happens to be racist, sexist, and xenophobic, and as shown through the electoral map on November 8^th, isn’t all that uncommon. However, the idea of Trump is what inspires such heinous hate crimes.

In this political cartoon by well-respected artist Robert Ariail, he depicts the contrast in ideas between the GOP and the Statue of Liberty, which is an image of the American Dream. Ariail is an editorial cartoonist for The State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina. The historical context behind this is the 2016 election in which the Republican candidate consistently makes remarks about turning a back to needy immigrants. Ariail draws this in order to show Trump supporters how they are actually being ‘un-American’ by supporting the deportation and limiting the number of immigrants admitted into the country. He does so by using allusion and juxtaposition in the cartoon. The Statue of Liberty is a commonly known icon due to its sheer size and history. The use of allusion really helps serve the author’s purpose because it helps the onlooker grasp the importance of this image and forces the reader to stimulate memories, ideas, and associations to help them put the cartoon in context. In addition to allusion, Ariail also uses juxtaposition between Lady Liberty and the GOP to show humility and acceptance versus xenophobia and denial. These two ideas help convey to the reader Ariail’s point of view against xenophobia, showing the harsh and crude stance taken on by the GOP. Throughout the picture, his point is clearly shown and conveyed: by turning away those seeking the American Dream, we as Americans are losing our sense of American-ism and our initial purpose for this country.

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TOW #8- Stronger Together

In a riveting and eye-opening article by Harvard Gazette, female soccer players address the objectification that they experience on a day-to-day basis. The women of this article are finally standing up for equality and to end the sexual profiling of everyday women. The authors are all students at Harvard and to build on their credibility, they are all women who play sports.Their specific audience are women in general. The reader can tell because the authors refer to fellow women as "us", "we", and "our". The authors also use parallelism in order to stress their point. "We want your help in combatting this. We need your help in preventing this. We cannot change the past, but we are asking you to help us now and in the future." By using this type of writing, the authors successfully convey their point across. The purpose of parallelism is for repetition to force the readers to hear and understand what the authors are saying. In addition to parallelism, the authors also use emotional syntax to convince the reader to end the objectification of women, "to the men of Harvard Soccer and any future men who may lay claim to our bodies and choose to objectify us as sexual objects, in the words of one of us, we say together: “I can offer you my forgiveness, which is—and forever will be—the only part of me that you can ever claim as yours.'". The use of phrases such as "I can offer you my forgiveness" and "forever will be" are emotional and appeal to the readers emotions. Thus, thanks to the use of parallelism and emotional syntax, the authors successfully convey their message across to the readers. 

TOW #7- Homage to Catalonia PT2

In George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, he describes his experience of the Spanish civil war in which the was much turmoil. Written during WWII, Spain was in a great divide. There was both a Fascist government and a Republic government attempting to reign over the people of Spain. Orwell is a highly renound writer and journalist, for his works are still being appreciated today. At the time, Orwell’s troops are facing shortages of many essential supplies such as clothing, He is writing for an audience at home, which in this case is the civilian population in America. The reader can tell because Orwell goes into depth explaining military diction because his audience is not expected to understand it. and In Orwell is personally dealing with an outbreak of lice. He remarks, “I think the pacifists might find it helpful to illustrate their pamphlets with enlarged photographs of lice. Glory of war, indeed!” (Orwell 54). Here, Orwell shows some of his dissatisfaction at the war. however it is for the same purpose as when he previously described the conditions the men were facing: to build up the image of the Communists. For example, he later says “Everything was running short - boots, clothes, tobacco, soap, candles, matches, olive oil. Our uniforms were dropping to pieces, and many of the men had no boots, only rope-soled sandals. You came on piles of worn-out boots everywhere. Once we kept a dug-out fire burning for two days mainly with boots, which are not bad fuel.” (Orwell 54).  Here Orwell aims to show just how poorly the Spanish were faring, and that despite that they were still attempting to fight on. This shows Orwell's general purpose of attempting to show the fighters as being good people, with good characteristics who were poorly armed but still fought on, believing in their cause - making them far more sympathetic to the reader. He is trying to show to the reader that soldiers that live and die in war have no fault in the conflict itself, for they are only puppets in the grand scheme. Orwell effectively achieves his purpose by illustrating the good, the bad, and everything in the war.

TOW #6 - While other countries turn Syrian refugees away, Canadians are taking them home

In this article published by the Washington Post, Robin Shulman illustrates the positive effects of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's new Syrian refugee admittance has on families fleeing conflict. He shows the readers how Syrian families struggling to have a normal life have flocked to Canada to escape violence and their new experiences in the face of a foreign country. Writer and reporter Robin Shulman accurately captures the struggles that these families face in order to adapt to a new environment. Shulman primarily writes for those unaccustomed to having refugees living near them, in order to illustrate that these people are not much different from everybody else. In the midst of Donald Trump's anti-Islamophobia, Trudeau's admittance of over 25,000 Syrian refugees is a slap in the face for Trump and his supporters. Shulman uses pathos to appeal to the readers emotions. For instance, in the passage, he writes, " The girls, who are wearing snow pants and bulky winter boots for the first time, are struggling to walk. They laugh and grab each other’s hands." (Shulman). Pathos is evidently shown in this quote because it portrays little girls, which evokes empathy from readers, which helps him achieve his purpose of showing how Syrians are not dissimilar to everyone else. They also have families, children to take care of, and just like everyone else, they also seek peace and a place to flourish  and live. The fact that the girls are struggling to walk show how young they are, how innocent. All these features appeal to the reader's emotions and help the author convey his message. Through pathos, Shulman actively achieves his purpose of showing the audience that Syrian refugees desire the same thing that everyone else does. 

TOW #5 - KUWTK Season 2 Poster

On October 21st, 1980, a legend was born in the name of Kim Kardashian. It wasn't until the early 2000s in which her name finally became known. As a result of her growing popularity and stardom, Kim decided to maximize her Kardashian empire and star in her own reality show, titled Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Kim is now a mega-module celebrity, proud business owner, star in over 3 reality shows in addition to making appearances in many other series, and wife to modern-day prophet, Kanye West.
In this promo poster, Kim's purpose is to attract viewers to her show. Her main target for the show are young people, most likely in the 20s, most likely because of all the partying and cursing that she, a 20 year-old, does during the show.
Being a promoter, Kim and her team come up with a catchy slogan to attract viewers. Using alliteration, which appeals to ones senses, "Keeping up with the Kardashians" and "Kicking it with the Kardashians" certainly lures viewers in. In addition to figurative language, the diction used on the slogan is put for persuasive purposes. "Crazy, Sexy, Fun" is creative diction meant to appeal to potential viewers to make them curious into what the Kardashian reality is really like. Using all these persuasive rhetoric devices to attract viewers, the Kardashian clan achieves their purpose of gaining popularity for their new TV show.

TOW #4 - The Shame of Fat-Shaming

In Gina Kolata's hard-hitting exposé titled The Shame of Fat Shaming, she explores the rejection and disapproval that obese Americans face every day. In the text, Kolata illustrates the ripples caused when high-influencing authorities make such fat-shaming remarks. Gina Kolata is a reporter at The Times, focusing primarily on science and medicine. Her primary purpose is to illustrate educate the reader on the devastating effects of fat-shaming to ultimately convince the audience to stop bullying. In recent events such as the Republican Presidential Nominee's scathing remarks about the obese, Kolata feels it important to bring the fat-shaming issue to light. Writing for the American public, she uses logos to illustrates how wide-spread the problem is among today's youth, “Dr. Puhl and her colleagues asked fat kids who was doing the bullying. It turned out that it was not just friends and classmates but also teachers and — for more than a third of the bullied — parent” (Kolata 1). By incorporating professional research into her writing, Kolata establishes credibility with her readers, which will make them take into account what she is actually saying. In addition to logos, Kolata also uses pathos to appeal to the reader's emotions in order to encourage them to end fat-shaming, “They shame and blame themselves for being fat and have the same sorts of thoughts about other people who are obese”. In showing how fat people often self-hate due to outside influences. Kolata's diction in words such as “shame” and “blame” evoke empathy from the reader, which serves her purpose in ending fat shaming. Thus, Kolata achieves her purpose of explaining and attempting to end fat shaming through using logos and pathos.

TOW #3 - Homage to Catalonia (I)

While George Orwell is mainly known for being the author behind best selling novel, Animal Farm, his experiences with war and communism stem from a deep and dark past in which he vividly describes to the reader in his autobiography titled Homage to Catalonia. Prior to beginning his tale, Orwell automatically assumes that the reader is well aware of the tensions in Spain at the time. From the beginning, Orwell makes it clear to the reader of his anti-war mindset by illustrating thoroughly the poverty and spoils caused by war. He uses irony in order to convey to the reader his point. At the time, Orwell’s troops are facing shortages of many essential supplies such as clothing, and Orwell is personally dealing with an outbreak of lice. He remarks, “I think the pacifists might find it helpful to illustrate their pamphlets with enlarged photographs of lice. Glory of war, indeed!” (Orwell 54). Here, Orwell shows some of his dissatisfaction at the war. however it is for the same purpose as when he previously described the conditions the men were facing: to build up the image of the Communists. For example, he later says “Everything was running short - boots, clothes, tobacco, soap, candles, matches, olive oil. Our uniforms were dropping to pieces, and many of the men had no boots, only rope-soled sandals. You came on piles of worn-out boots everywhere. Once we kept a dug-out fire burning for two days mainly with boots, which are not bad fuel.” (Orwell 54).  Here Orwell aims to show just how poorly the Spanish were faring, and that despite that they were still attempting to fight on. This illustrates how Orwell attempted to show the fighters as being good people, with good characteristics who were poorly armed but still fought on, believing in their cause - making them far more sympathetic to the reader.

TOW #2 - For Every 10 U.S. Adults, Six Vote and Four Don’t. What Separates Them?

As the 2016 Presidential Election looms around the corner, viewers and voters come to take a look at past election turnouts in order to understand the American stigma for voting. Even though the right to vote is given to all American citizens, not everyone chooses to exercise that right. In the article, For Every 10 U.S. Adults, Six Vote and Four Don’t. What Separates Them?, journalist Alicia Parlapiano and Adam Pearce try to piece together the mystery of why some people in certain communities choose not to vote. Parlapiano is a journalist working for The Washington Post and the Pew Research Center and Pearce is a writer and illustrator for the New York Times. Parlapiano and Pearce first  separate voters into groups based on income, education, age, and race and then use rhetorical strategies such as logos, irony, and juxtaposition in order to better understand voter statistics. They establish credibility through the use of statistics and numbers in their article, such as, "African-Americans are also more reliable partisan voters — more than 90 percent voted for President Obama in 2012" (Parlapiano, Pearce 1). By employing this rhetoric device, Parlapiano and Pearce create credibility based on the facts stated. Using the facts already established, the authors use juxtaposition next to compare different groups of people based on their voter statistics, "Among voters with little education, African-Americans are 1.7 times more likely to vote than whites." (Parlapiano, Pearce 1). The purpose of juxtaposition is to contrast voter statistics to make a point and to ultimately achieve their purpose of debunking the voting myth against certain groups of Americans. Parlapiano and Pearce come to a conclusion in saying, "While young people, poor people and Hispanics are often singled out for low voting rates [...] the majority of people who didn’t vote in the 2012 presidential election were white, middle-income and middle-aged." (Parlapiano, Pearce 1). It has been previously thought that the majority of voters were middle aged and white but Parlapiano and Pearce were able to prove this assumption wrong. The authors use situational irony because statistics and research show how events turn out the opposite of what was expected or ought to happen. 

In essence, Parlapiano and Pearce achieve their goal of educating their readers on voter majorities in America in addition to successfully proving the prejudice against the youth, poor, and non-white wrong.

TOW #2, "It's Only Illegal When Illegal Immigrants Break the Law"

This politcal cartoon, illustrated by Lalo Alcaraz, shows the hypocracy of the American government towards regugees and immigrants currently coming to the United States to seek the same freedoms and rights that Americans take for granted. Alcaraz is an American cartoonist. He is most well-known for being the author of the comic La Cucaracha, the first nationally syndicated, politically themed Latino daily comic strip. Having a primarily Hispanic audience, Alcaraz embraces his Latino heritage and fights against the racist stereotypes against his people. For instance, in light of current events, such as Donald Trump's anti-Latino slurrs, Alcaraz uses his art to show Americans how flawed their beliefs really are. Spatially speaking, the Native Americans were the first ones to occupy the continent, therefore, Westerners are the true "immigrants". Like all political cartoons, Alcaraz uses the rhetoric device of allegory to illustrate who his characters represent. Unlike works of literature, he does not have the option to build up description of his characters, instead he uses traditional garb so readers can infer who he is talking about. One can tell through the feather head wrap, popular among tribes of Native Americans, who Alcaraz is portraying. The Western suit, typical to the white man, signifies white Americans who illegally immigrated to America. Instead of flat-out telling the reader who each character portrayed is, Alcaraz instead uses clothing popular among each ethnicities in order for the reader to themselves infer who he is referencing. Alacaraz also uses irony in this image to depict to the reader how the expression of the meaning of "immigrant" signifies the opposite for emphatic effect. When Donald Trump told the American people that he would rid America of illegal immirgants, he did not mean Westerners, even though the Natives occupied North America first. Therefore, Alcaraz deliberately illustrates immigrants contrary to what one would expect. Thus, Alcaraz achieves his purpose of calling out white Americans for their hypocracy in their belief that they are first settlers in America. 

IRB #1 Intro Post

Cathy Zhou
TOW #1- Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
IRB Intro Post #1
9/6/2016

For my first independent reading book, I have chosen the book: Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell. This text is an autobiography of Orwell's time serving in the Spanish Civil War during WWII. He recounts his accounts of his experinces and observations. I choose this book because I am very interested in history and how the events of WWII impact present day.

Gerald Early - Life With Daughters: Watching the Miss America Pagent

In Life with Daughters: Watching the Miss America Pageant, Gerald Early describes how discriminatory the ideal beauty standards in America was. Due to heavy prejudice, black girls didn’t have any public cosmetic representation and faced inferiority to whites in the beauty department. For example, the annual Miss America contest consisted of all blond hair, blue eyed girls, giving no leeway to diversity. Contextually, Early is an American culture critic and also the author of many essays on African studies. In the text, he discusses the heartbreak of being a father and watching his two black daughters discover through outside influence how their skin color was considered inferior to white skin. The author’s chief purpose in writing this essay is to call out Western-idolize cosmetic companies due to the fact that they lack African representation. Early argues against white-washed television, such as the Miss America Pageant, and cultural norms such as the African-American child picking a white doll over a black one. Throughout the text, he uses rhetorical devices and strategies such as allusion and antithesis. In the beginning of the text, Early references the well-known Miss America contest and uses it to illustrate to the reader how whitewashed the beauty world was. He uses the allusion to ultimately create an antithesis between black and white standards in the fact that there is no black representation in the cosmetic world. Early shows how life with privilege and life without were very different. Consistent with his purpose, Early shows how white privilege, was representation in nationwide contests such as the Miss America pageant and the ability to be the “ideal face” in America. Black women didn’t have such privilege, as pointed out by Early. By exposing such a social injustice, Early succeeds in achieving his purpose of combating social injustice.

The Beauty of Dye // Harris S.

Edward Hoagland - Heaven and Nature

In Heaven and Nature by Edward Hoagland, he discusses the science and mindset of a person right before they take their own lives. Hoagland first states that it is against the nature of a human to end their own lives, but then after considering aspects such as marriage, jobs, responsibilities, and increased stress, he admits that the idea of suicide isn’t too far out of reach. An esteemed American traveler and writer, Edward Hoagland is best known for having published several essays regarding human behavior. His writes to understand and spread awareness of the rising numbers of people that commit suicide each year and argues against those who see suicide as an act of cowardice. Hoagland’s main audience are those in their 40s and 50s because he believes that their increased boredom and lack of excitement in their lives are what fuels suicidal thoughts primarily in this age group. In the essay, Hoagland employs the use of rhetorical devices simile and logos to add more detail to his writing. For example, he writes: “People sidle toward death, intent upon outwitting their own bodies’ defenses, or they may dramatize the chance to make one last, unambiguous, irrevocable decision, like a captain scuttling his ship - death before dishonor - leaping toward oblivion through a curtain of pain, like a frog going down the throat of a snake.” (Hoagland 509). Hoagland compares the act of committing suicide to a frog jumping down the throat of a snake with ‘like’, which is a key indicator of a simile. The purpose of the simile is for the author to connect to the reader on a personal level. In addition to similes, Hoagland also uses logos to seem more credible. For instance, in the passage, Hoagland says, “more than thirty-thousand Americans took their own lives last year [1987], men mostly, with the highest rate being among those older than sixty-five” (Hoagland 509). The speaker, Hoagland, appealed to logos, also known as reason, by offering clear, rational ideas and using specific details, which in this case are statistics, to back up his claim that suicide is a serious concern in America. Hoagland’s use of statistics and figurative language enabled him to keep the reader’s attention while advancing his argument. Through fact and figurative language, Hoagland succeeds in relating to the reader while still proving to society how big a problem suicide is. By the end of the tale, there can be no doubt in the reader’s mind that Hoagland’s thesis is accurate: suicide is not a form of cowardice, rather it is a serious matter that must be publicly addressed and ultimately stopped.

Midlife Crisis// Randy Glasbergen

Maya Angelou - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an eye-opening autobiography detailing Maya Angelou’s childhood battles with racism and segregation. In the text, she recounts struggles such as going to sleep every night wishing she could wake up with Aryan features and also about her mistreatment as an African American girl. As a black writer during the Civil Rights Movement, her writings help readers shine a light on life under segregation; there is no one more qualified to speak on the subject rather than she who has lived through it. Maya Angelou writes to spread awareness of inequality in America and to show the privileged how tough life was under the hand of racism. Writing for a white audience, she utilizes rhetoric tools such as narration, allegory, and anthesis in order to use her experiences to deploy a feeling of empathy among readers to ultimately argue against segregation. In essence, the ‘caged bird’ that Angelou uses in the title is a parallel for herself; she is trapped in the cage known as prejudice, yet her strength prevails and she continues writing and demanding for equality among all Americans, thus the caged bird singing. Angelou doesn’t flat-out tell the reader what the cage bird symbolizes, rather she uses the symbol to represent an abstraction in addition to the literal meaning. In addition to allegory, Angelou also uses narration to show the audience how black lives have suffered enough racial inequality from whites and that it is time for a change. For example, an eye-opening experience for her is when she helplessly witnessed a group of entitled white kids harassing her grandmother. This experience also shows how different black and white lives were. The difference lies in the fact that white communities were basking in their own privilege, never having to worry about physical and verbal slander, yet black communities constantly had to endure slander and prejudice. By pointing out the injustice done on a daily, Maya Angelou achieves her purpose of enlightening her readers on the true colors of segregation.

Breaking Free - High School Musical