IRB Intro Post- Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

For this marking period, I am going to read  Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. This book was recommended to me by Christy, who claims it is her favorite book, so I thought it would be an enjoyable book to read. By hearing/reading brief summaries, it is my understanding that the book is a story of a person in World War II. I enjoy reading stories from World War II (I read Night for the first marking period, as well as many other WWII books over the years), so I think and hope I will enjoy reading Unbroken this marking period.

TOW #17- I Have A Dream by Martin Luther King (written text)

Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech is one of the most famous American speeches in history. What makes it famous is not only King’s powerful words, but also the effectiveness of this speech for the Civil Right’s Movement. King uses allusions and anaphora in an attempt to inspire change in the unfair treatment of black Americans in his “I Have A Dream” speech. King uses allusions in the beginning of his speech when he references the documents on which the country was built. He first references Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation speech, writing “Five score years ago...” in a reference to the beginning of Lincoln’s speech (“Four score and seven years ago...”) (2). In doing this, King draws the connection to the freedom granted upon the black Americans after the Civil War and the freedom they deserve to have now. Additionally, King references the famous “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” line of the Declaration of Independence in order to help emphasize the point that the black Americans deserve the same “inalienable rights” as the other Americans, as granted to them in the Declaration of Independence (4). King also references the Bible through allusions in order to show the support of religion for his cause, and provide additional ethos for his point. However, King uses anaphora to also emphasize his point, most famously in his repetition of “I have a dream” (17). By doing this, King emphasizes all of the goals and changes he wants made for the black Americans. He also repeats “one hundred years later...” in the beginning of his speech in order to emphasize the lack of change that has come about after the Emancipation Proclamation and the hardships faced by the black Americans (3). This helps King gain the support of his fellow black Americans, as well as appeal to pathos in an attempt to gain the support of the white Americans. King’s use of the pronoun “we” throughout the speech establishes his connection to the black Americans, as well as to all Americans in general, which helps King in an attempt to gain the support of all Americans as he promotes change. Overall, as seen through history, King’s speech was successful at inspiring this change amongst Americans. 

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm 

TOW #16- Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks (IRB post 2)

My IRB for this marking period was Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. Oliver Sacks is a well-known, reputable neurologist, which provides him with automatic ethos when he writes the book. The purpose of the book is to inform people about the research he has done connecting music and the brain. In order to do this, Sacks relies heavily on the use of examples of patients with whom he has dealt. In addition to helping the reader better understand the idea that Sacks is trying to portray, the examples also provide a personal touch to the book, creating the idea of “real people” to whom the reader can connect. For example, Sacks writes, “This was very clear with Rosalie B., a post-encephalitic lady who tending to remain transfixed for hours each day...” (256). Sacks then proceeds to explain how music managed to awaken Rosalie from this frozen state, providing the reader with a clear understanding, and connection and/or sympathy, about Rosalie’s situation. Although in my first post about this book I thought that the book was written for the general public, upon further reading, I think this book is written for people who are more learned about brain issues and other medical terms. For example, in the example above with Rosalie, I do not know what “post-encephalitic” means without having to look it up. Although this may be just because I am a high school student, I am going to make the assumption that this is not a word that the general public would understand. However, I do not think you have to be a neurologist either to read this book, since I still was able to understand the main idea about the problem with Rosalie, as well as the other main ideas throughout the book, just not the specific issue. Finally, Sacks also provides himself with ethos on the topic by writing about his personal experiences, using personal anecdotes. For example, Sacks writes, “Though I was born into a musical household and music has been important to me personally from my earliest years, I did not really encounter music in a clinical context until 1966...” (248). These little comments about his personal life and experiences help not only provide Sacks with ethos, but also help him to form a better connection with the reader.

TOW #15- The reason Ebola isn't being stopped by Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield (written text)

This article was published by CNN. As a result, is receives automatic ethos since CNN is a well-known, reputable news source. In the beginning of the article, titled, “The reason Ebola isn't being stopped,” the authors, Elizabeth Cohen and John Bonifield, introduce the main subject, Rebecca Levine. Before they even state her name, they provide the reader with some background information about Levine that contributes to Levine’s ethos, stating that Levine went to Princeton University and that the topic of contact tracing has been something that has interested her for many years. This provides the authors of the article with a reputable expert who they can follow and from whom they can share the concept of Ebola tracking and why there are still continuing Ebola cases. The hook of the article is very effective.  It begins by alluding to books that are fantasy instances of widespread diseases, such as The Hot Zone and Virus Hunters, similar to the real-life situation the world is currently facing with Ebola. This draws the readers in to the article by forcing them to wonder what connection an Ivy League graduate and these pandemic books have to the world news. Additionally, the title adds to this by answering a frequently asked question amongst the general population about when the Ebola pandemic will end, and why hasn’t it stopped yet. The purpose of the article is to portray to the readers the answers to these questions. The article does this by referencing the expert from Princeton University who has spent her whole life (practically) studying issues like this. The article ends by showing Rebecca Levine’s contributions to ending the Ebola outbreak, and how her contributions have impacted the African cities that had previously not been taking action, either because of cultural fears (such as thinking of being taken under quarantine for safety as a death sentence) or because of lack of resources (such as the contract tracers not being able to complete their jobs because of the lack of addresses and the mismatched streets that make it difficult to track carriers of Ebola). 

 http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/11/health/ebola-contact-tracing/index.html

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.