Trapped

            In the novel, Trapped, Marc Aronson tells the unthinkable tale about the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped 2,000 feet below Earth’s surface for 69 days. Not only does Aronson give the scene-by-scene rescue, but he also illustrates the backstory behind this incredible event. By tracing the psychological, physical, and environmental factors surrounding the rescue, Trapped highlights the amazing technology and helping hands that made it all possible. Considering I am still in the beginning of the book, I have only been presented with the history and logistics of the aging mine. The author, Marc Aronson, is a writer, editor, publisher, speaker, and historian who believes that young people, especially pre-teens and teenagers, are smart, passionate, and capable of engaging with interesting ideas in interesting ways.

            The context that prompted the publishing of this novel is obviously the event itself, but also Aronson’s want to show the world that this rescue was not accomplished by solely the workers alongside the mine. The rescue would not have been made possible if the global community did not help. To offer an example, the Argentinean soccer players who helped raise morale, or NASA who volunteered their expertise to come up with a plan, contributed to the rescue mission just as much as the workers themselves. So the purpose of this novel is to provide the audience with a well-paced story detailing not only the heroic efforts of the trapped men, but also how the entire global community came together to rescue these 33 miners. Although this story could be told to anybody around the globe, I believe the target audience is juvenile readers because Aronson writes in a less sophisticated manner so even a younger audience can engage in the tale.

            There are several rhetorical elements used in this novel to create the tense feel present in the actual event. However, one device used frequently that I did not think would be present in a novel of this type was personification. The author frequently uses personification to give human qualities to abstract things. For instance, the author recurrently addresses hope when describing the miners. He says how the loss and gain of hope was a big factor in the rescue. For example, when talking about hope, Aronson writes that hope offers, “no plan, no schedule, just a wish, a prayer, a belief- it flickers on, and then flickers off” (Aronson 26). We all know hope is not capable of having a plan or schedule, but he describes it in this manner to help readers visualize and understand the emotion a little better. It is a lot easier to connect to hope with a description attached, rather than by itself.

            Although I am not very far in the novel, I do believe the author is accomplishing his purpose of providing the audience with a well-paced story detailing not only the heroic efforts of the trapped men, but also how the entire global community came together to rescue these 33 men. He provides many examples of the global community extending their arms to help in any way possible. Aronson includes so many details to the point where sometimes he is moving hour-by-hour. All of these factors compile together to give the audience a heart-wrenching tale of an incredible rescue.

           

The Roy Castle Lung Foundation

         

           This image is one of the many, "Stop Smoking" ads on the market today. This one particularly caught my attention for various reasons. To offer a brief overview, this ad is an image of a little girl with a woman’s hand that is holding a cigarette. This advertisement is using the minor premise of second-hand smoking to assist their claim of the popular ad focus, Stop Smoking. This advertisement was made by the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. This foundation is a British medical research charity dedicated to the prevention and cure of lung cancer. It is the only charity in the UK wholly dedicated to the defeat of lung cancer. The charity funds lung cancer research, provides support, helps people to quit smoking, and gives a voice to all those affected by lung cancer through its campaigning work.

            The context of this ad that prompts the author to develop it is the inevitable societal problem of smoking. Regardless of all the advertisements, there were still 46.6 million smokers last year and the number is growing daily. So, this advertisement was another ad made to stop this monstrous number from multiplying yet again. However, the ad is targeting the audience through a different approach. As straightforwardly seen, the purpose of this advertisement is to give smokers a reason, other than their personal health, to stop smoking. The audience of this text is any smoking individual, but specifically one with children or family members that are being affected by their unhealthy addiction. The author writes, “Second hand smoke in the home hospitalizes 17,000 UK children a year". The author addresses the audience in a unique way by focusing on the effects of second hand smoke on others rather than on the smoker themselves. By doing this, the audience is now forced to focus on the effects it is having on their family and friends rather than just their health. 

            There are several rhetorical elements used in this advertisement including appeals to logos, pathos, a syllogism, and cause and effect. The two worth expanding on are cause and effect, which in turn aids the appeal to pathos. The rhetorical device of cause and effect is used in this ad when the author is saying that smoking (the cause) has the effect of hospitalizing thousands of children every year. By setting up this emotionally haunting cause and effect, the audience understands that they are not only hurting themselves, but others as well. This in turn appeals to pathos because it taps into the audience’s emotions in a way that other ads have failed to do. The smokers realize that this is not just about them anymore.

            Overall, I do believe the author accomplished their purpose through this image. By using several rhetorical devices, the author gives smokers another reason, other than their personal health, to stop smoking. The ad makes smokers think beyond themselves and look at how their addiction is affecting the people around them. This new concept directly helps the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation to spread their popular idea of stopping smoking around the globe. 

           

                                  

Trojans Stun Top-Seeded Cougars

        On Friday, November 9, Wissahickon, the district’s No. 16 seed, had toppled not only the No. 1 seed in the district, but a team which was ranked as the sixth best team in the entire state. To say the least, it was completely unexpected. It was perhaps the upset of the year as far as local high school football is concerned. Both teams fought hard from beginning to end, but a last-second field goal by Wissahickon brought them out on top to upset top-seeded Downingtown East 38-35 in Friday's District One AAAA opener. The victory was a historical one for the Trojans, who became only the third 16 seed in District One to knock off a No. 1 seed in in the postseason since the district adopted the 16-team bracket. 

Mike Prince, a Sportswriter for Montgomery Media, wrote this article in response to the unpredictable upset by the underdog, Wissahickon to start of the District One AAAA state playoffs. The purpose of this article was to entertain the audience with a thrilling underdog story about a team who had the world against them, but came on the field with nothing to lose and walked away with a victory. The audience of this story is people of the Wissahickon area and the surrounding townships who are interesting in sports, along with other teams competing in the State playoffs. This articles was a source of entertainment for the general public, and a warning sign to teams who thought Wissahickon was a team they could beat with their eyes closed.

There are several rhetorical devices Prince uses to accomplish his purpose. Two worth focusing on are comparing and contrasting, and process analysis. Through out the article, Prince was constantly comparing and contrasting the Wissahickon football team to that of Downingtown East. This helped create Wissahickon’s position as the true underdog in the game. With the contrasting aspect, Prince made readers realize why this event was such a historical upset. Without this rhetorical device used, readers would not understand the position Wissahickon was in going into the game. Additionally, Prince uses process analysis, a pattern of writing or speaking which is characterized by it's explanation of how to do something or how something occurs, to present the sequence of steps and show how those steps lead to a the result of the game. In other words, he gave a play-by-play of the game so readers understand how Wissahickon came away with the victory. This made readers feel like they were experiencing the game first hand. The story of the game was very detailed to make sure it was illustrated effectively. This detailed process analysis assisted reader’s comprehension and brought in the emotional aspect of the article. Even though I was unable to attend this game, I feel I got the idea of the events that took place that night based on Prince’s narrative.

Overall, I do believe the author accomplished his purpose of entertaining the audience with a thrilling underdog story about a team who overcame all the odds forced upon them. Between the enthusiastic writing, detailed description, interviews, and statistics, readers got a taste of the scene and what feelings were like that night. Prince did a great job of accurately portraying this unforgettable football game. He gave us the necessary background information to understand the players in the game, and then included a nicely told story to recreate this event for readers.  

No Easy Day

        In the novel, No Easy Day, Mark Owen puts readers alongside himself and the other handpicked members of the twenty-four-man team as they train for the biggest mission of their lives; the mission to kill Osama Bin Laden. Owen also takes readers into the field of battle in America’s ongoing War on Terror, and details the selection and training process required for one of the most elite units in the military. This blow-by-blow narrative illustrates many unreported missions in addition to the daily life and work of a Navy Seal. In this novel, readers travel along side Owen from the intense training leading up to the mission straight through to the radio call confirming Bin Laden’s death. In telling the true story of the Seals whose talents, skills, experiences, and exceptional sacrifices led to one of the greatest victories in the War on Terror, Mark Owen honors the men who risk everything for our country, and he leaves readers with a deep understanding of the warriors who keep America safe. The author of this novel is Mark Owen himself. However, Mark Owen is only a pen name; his real name is Matt Bissonnette. As noticed, Matt is a Navy Seal apart of the prestigious DEVGRU team.
           The context of this story that prompted Owen to write this book is simply his want to share with the rest of the world a true, play-by-play narrative of this unforgettable moment in history, rather than a government speech that , "the JOSC (Joint Operations Support Center) had reviewed to make sure the details of the mission were kept secret." In the introduction of the novel, Mark Owen explains that his purpose in recreating this moment in history is that hopefully, “one day a young man in junior high school will read it and become a SEAL, or at least live a life bigger than him” (Owen 1). However, that stated purpose does not seem to be carried out in the novel. Therefore, I think his purpose is instead to tell people what really happened during that day which differs from the vague story that the government shares with the public. He wants you to experience the mission first-hand so you get more then just the overview. After finishing the book I have come to the conclusion that the audience is anybody who has some sort of a military background or is interested in military activity. The reason for this audience is that Owen uses a surplus of military jargon that only knowledgeable military personnel would be able to comprehend. The military background would help readers understand what is going on when Owen gets into the nitty gritty details of the mission.  

          There are several rhetorical devices used in this novel such as diction, imagery, persona, and internal monologue. To focus on a couple, diction and internal monologue and two devices worth expanding upon. The diction in this novel is very informal. Not only is the author's tone informal, but there were also several grammar mistakes that contributed to the informality. Surprisingly, this diction made me think that I could trust him because I did not feel like this information was being presented to me in a news report; instead, it felt like he was talking directly to me. Another rhetorical device used was internal monologue, also known as inner voice, internal speech, or verbal stream of consciousness. In shorter terms, it is basically when a character is talking to him or herself in their own mind. It is usually used to show what a character is thinking, even though the character isn't saying it out loud. This use of internal monologue allows readers to get into Owen's head, which further helps to create the feeling like one is experiencing the event firsthand. 

           Overall, I do believe the author achieved his purpose of illustrating to people what really happened that day. He is so detailed to the point where I could tell you the order he puts his clothes on and what he puts in each pocket. His specificity truly makes you feel like you are in the scene amongst all the chaos. Additionally, his constant use of military jargon again gives you the feeling that you are the Seal risking your life. Owen had a story to tell, and he made sure to tell it how it was experienced.