TOW #14- Precision Parking by Volkswagen (visual text)

 

This advertisement was published by Volkswagen. Volkswagen is a well-known, prestigious car company with a good reputation. Therefore, the advertisement does not have to do much to establish ethos, since Volkswagen already has automatic ethos as a maker of good cars. The advertisement was made to advertise the “park assist” feature in the Volkswagen cars. It does this by humorously comparing the ability of the car to a hedgehog and bags of goldfish. This humor appeals to pathos and catches the viewer’s attention. The use specifically of the hedgehog and the bags of goldfish emphasize the importance of the feature of the car to park accurately (it is implied that if the hedgehog is the slightest bit off from where it is “parked”, then it will pop the fish bag and the fish will die). The simplicity of the white background draws attention to the hedgehog and the fish (specifically the hedgehog since it is the one different object in the advertisement). Additionally, attention is drawn to the animals with the words being very small and out of the way (they are just on the bottom right corner, as opposed to being large in the center). However, the words are also very simple, only saying “Precision Parking,” as opposed to describing thoroughly how the hedgehog needs to be in the right place or else, etc. As a result, the words contribute slightly to the humor as well as give context to the importance of the hedgehog being in the right place (for example, one might just view the image as a hedgehog and some fish and be confused about why the car company is showing this picture). Therefore, the words provide context to the ability of the car that Volkswagen is advertising. The viewer is likely to be inclined to buy the car because of its amazing parking feature, as portrayed through the animals in the advertisement.

TOW #13- The Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas (written text)

“The Lives of a Cell” was written by Lewis Thomas in 1971. Thomas was a physician, and although he just started writing “for fun,” he soon became a successful author as well. Thomas was a prominent medical researcher, and he was the dean of both NYU Medical School and Yale Medical School. He was well-known for his creative and original hypotheses and for his writings. This significant scientific research and important professions provided Thomas with automatic ethos in his writings. “The Lives of a Cell” was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. As a result, this essay was probably published for other people involved in medicine to read. Another clue that this was published for other people involved in medicine is that Thomas references specific terms, such as “mitochondria,” that the general public might not understand, unless they were involved in medicine. Therefore, Thomas’s purpose in writing this essay is to give the people involved in medicine a more uncommon view of the earth, the ecosystem, and the cells, etc. Thomas’s essay seems argumentative, and he is arguing that the earth is not nearly as fragile a place as one might imagine. Instead, it is composed of a multitude of complex parts working together, and humanity is the fragile part. In order to to argue this, Thomas begins by refuting the counterargument, and common belief, that humanity is fragile. Thomas writes, “We are told that the trouble with Modern Man is that he has been trying to detach himself from nature...In this scenario, Man comes on as a stupendous lethal force and the earth is pictured as something delicate...But it is illusion to think that there is anything fragile about the life of the earth...” (Thomas 1-2). By beginning with this common belief and then subsequently refuting it in a logical way with research, the reader is able to more easily be persuaded to believe Thomas’s opinion. After the initial counterargument rebuttal in the beginning of the essay, Thomas goes on to prove his point throughout the essay with specific examples, such as by explaining the complexity of mitochondria within us, before concluding at the end with a full circle, thought-provoking ending that the earth is in fact a living cell. In this way, Thomas draws together the title and his description of the cells, as well as his description of the earth, in order to give a final declaration of the complexity of the earth and the frailness of humanity.  

TOW #12- Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks (IRB post 1)

For my IRB, I am reading Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. Oliver Sacks is a world-renowned neurologist who is a professor of neurology at the NYU School of Medicine, as well as a physician and an author. He has written many books about neurology in addition to this book. He establishes ethos in his written by referencing the numerous patients he has treated on the topic, saying, “...I have occasionally had patients with a similar sudden onset of musical or artistic interests” (8). The first part of the book that I have read so far is about anomalies people have experienced in their brains with a connection to music. For example, some people have experienced seizures triggered by certain types and sounds of music, while other people have experienced a sudden appreciation and desire to learn certain things about music as a result of a traumatic brain experience, such as being in an accident, struck by lightning, or having a brain tumor. The book is written in order to inform the reader about these crazy, seemingly unnatural experiences. It is written for the general public, so although the topic is a highly advanced medical idea, it is written in a way that the general public has to be able to understand. As a result, the Sacks writes using a plethora of anecdotes, both personal and general, and footnotes. Sacks’ personal anecdotes refer to his personal experiences, while his general anecdotes give clear examples of people who have experienced the topics about which he is writing. As a personal anecdote, Sacks writes, “As I was dressing this morning after a swim, I was reminded, now I was on land again, of my painful, arthritic old knees-and I thought too about my friend Nick, who would be visiting that day” (36). This personal anecdotes give Sacks a personal connection to his audience, as well as to the topic about which he is speaking. The general anecdotes give examples of the experiences about which Sacks is writing in order to help the audience understand more clearly. For example, Sacks writes, “Tony Cicoria was forty-two, very fit and robust, a former college football player who had become a well-regarded orthopedic surgeon in a small city in upstate New York” (3). The footnotes, as well, help the reader understand the topic, since they provide additional information on the studies and topics referenced that the general public might not know otherwise. In this way, Sacks effectively accomplishes his purpose of informing the general public about crazy experiences relating music and the brain.