TOW #11- A Drugstore in Winter by Cynthia Ozick (written text)

“A Drugstore in Winter” was written by Cynthia Ozick in 1982. Ozick is a well-known Jewish writer about her life growing up in New York City. She often writes pieces about how she dreamed of becoming a famous writer and writing multiple successful novels when she was a child. In this essay, Ozick shares her experiences growing older and realizing she has not fulfilled her childhood dreams completely (she kind of has a realization of “what has my life come to?”). Ozick is writing to the general adult public, more specifically, to people near her age in their late 60s who would relate to the topic of realizing she has not fulfilled her childhood dreams. Ozick writes using many allusions (some of which would only be understood by an older audience, hence the older audience to whom she is writing). Ozick writes about her childhood and her connections to the innumerable books she read. She specifically explains her connection to the book Little Women that she read “ten thousand times,” saying, “I am Jo in her ‘vortex’; no Jo exactly, but some Jo-of-the-future,” which references one of the main characters from the book (6). This allusion helps the reader to understand some of the connections she had to the books she read, as well as helps the reader to better understand Ozick’s personality (for example, if she is a person who acts like Jo and has similar aspirations, etc.). Additionally, Ozick uses personal and historical anecdotes in order to create a personal connection to the piece and help to better portray her experiences of growing older and not fulfilling her dreams. Ozick writes, “Hymie, after Italy, after the Battle of the Bulge, comes back from the war with a present: From Here to Eternity” (6). Ozick also portrays her whole life throughout the essay by explaining many of the different books she read as a child and the impacts those books had on her, as well as the relationships with different people she had as a result of those books. Throughout her examples of childhood books, the reader is able to gain an insight into her childhood. Therefore, Ozick effectively portrays her experiences growing older and realizing the childhood dreams she has yet to accomplish in her “future that shrinks and darkens” (7).

TOW #10- The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday (written text)

The Way to Rainy Mountain was written by N. Scott Momaday. Momaday is an award-winning Native American author, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his fiction writing in 1969. This particular essay was published in The Reporter in 1967, which is a reputable news source for the general public. Momaday wrote this essay to inform people about his dying culture to spread awareness. Throughout the essay, and especially in the beginning, Momaday uses nature imagery. When describing the weather, Momaday describes the harsh climate and how “the grass turns brittle and brown, and it cracks beneath your feet” (1). Instead of simply saying that is was very hot and dry, Momaday gets his point across more descriptively by describing the effects of the weather on the grass as opposed to just describing the weather. This helps the reader to more clearly understand the hardships through which Momaday’s tribe, the Kiowa, lived and to feel a stronger appreciation for them, as well as more easily understand their habitat. Momaday also uses anaphora in the beginning to describe the desolate landscape, saying, “...there is no confusion of objects in the eye, but one hill or one tree or one man” (1). By doing this, Momaday is emphasizing the plain, emptiness of the prairie, which helps the reader to understand the home of his tribe and how alone they were. Finally, Momaday uses personal anecdotes about his memories of his grandmother in order to  give a more personal connection to the reader. The reader is more likely to sympathize with Momaday and his culture when they hear personal stories about it than if Momaday were to just speak in general terms. For example, Momaday writes, “Once there was a lot of sound in my grandmother’s house, a lot of coming and going, feasting and talk” (3). Throughout the description of his personal memories, the reader feels as though he/she was there, which makes him/her feel sympathy that the Kiowa tribe is dying. Therefore, Momaday successfully achieves his purpose by using nature imagery, anaphora, and personal anecdotes.

IRB Intro- Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks

This marking period, I am reading Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. It is a book that talks about the effects music has on the brain. I do not know much about this topic, but I cannot wait to learn about it since I love studying music and focusing on the effects music has on people. I have never read anything by this author before, so it will be interesting to see what his style of writing is. However, this book was recommended to me by Ms. Pronko, so hopefully it will be an enjoyable read!  

TOW #9- M&Ms Wizard of Oz Commercial (visual text)

http://youtu.be/iSp3_33NIig

This was an M&Ms commercial from 2008. The purpose of the commercial is to get people to buy M&Ms by spreading awareness about the company and catching people’s attention. This is a TV commercial, so the audience is the general public. Additionally, it is referencing the Wizard of Oz, which is a reference that the general public would get, since it is a classic, old movie. The ad uses a parody of the Wizard of Oz to appeal to humor. It starts out similarly to the actual Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy wakes up at home and explains how her family members (or in this case, M&Ms) where in Oz with her. However, when the M&M says, “I’m Aunt M,” the viewer makes the connection to the M&Ms (because the M&M’s name is Aunt M, but so is the name of Auntie Em in the movie). Additionally, the viewer’s own knowledge of the Wizard of Oz is required when Dorothy references how the M&Ms were in color in Oz (because in the movie, Dorothy does not talk about the change in color, but the viewer just sees the change in color in order to emphasize Dorothy’s dream world, while in the commercial, Dorothy talks about how all of the M&Ms were in color and were so beautiful). This mention of M&Ms being in color emphasizes the idea that M&Ms are chocolate in color, which differentiates them from other chocolates (which is one of the main advertising ideas of the M&Ms company). Finally, having Judy Garland star as Dorothy in this commercial is an allusion to the real Wizard of Oz film, where Judy Garland also stars as Dorothy. This gives the commercial credibility since it is referencing a well-known, classic movie (in which the main character is even saying that chocolate is very beautiful and wonderful when it is in color). Therefore, the purpose of the commercial to get people to buy the M&Ms and to spread awareness about the pleasure of having chocolate in color is accomplished well in this commercial.