TOW Post #1: Reflection

      Every Sunday since September, time has been taken out of my day to construct yet another TOW of the week. Although not my favorite part of the day, I cannot deny the fact that these TOWs have aided in the improvement of my writing as the year has progressed. Looking through my previous TOWs, I can certainly see the improvement manifested.  Although the degree of improvement from post 1 to 28 is large, I think my greatest improvement can be seen in one aspect: my analysis of rhetorical devices. Back in September, the act of rhetorically analyzing was completely foreign to me. Looking back at my first couple posts, it is hard to find a TOW that does not consist of the sentence, “The two rhetorical elements used most frequently in this article are logos and pathos,” or the infamous, “There are several rhetorical elements used in this article.” However, has the year progressed I have stepped away from the general rhetorical devices that can work with just about any piece of writing and moved towards devices that were text-specific. For example, although still not perfect, I wrote, “In order to convince parents of the negative effects of even harmless TV, Seth Mullins had to use rhetorical devices that would show his audience both the “evidence” supporting his argument as well emotions to display the horrors of television. So, throughout his article, Mullins used forms of both quantitative and qualitative exemplification to support his argument.” Again, although not perfect, it was definitely an improvement from the cookie-cutter logos and pathos that became habitual. Additionally, earlier in the year, my rhetorical analysis consisted of solely a statement of the devices and what they looked like in the text. However, as the year progressed, I began to pay more attention to why the author chose to use the device he used not just how. This looked something like, “The description that accompanies this heart-breaking story of a struggling family creates a sense of sadness that makes readers not only feel bad for this family, but realize how fortunate they are to be in their situation.” Overall, out of all the various pieces of a TOW, I feel I improved the most in the rhetorical devices portion of the assignment. However, like anything, there are still pieces I have yet to perfect.

            At the conclusion of every TOW, we are supposed to consider whether or not we think the author accomplished his or her purpose. Almost every one of my TOWS since September follows the standard format of: Through the use of (rhetorical device #1) and (rhetorical device #2) the author was able to accomplish his purpose of… I could definitely find a way to improve upon this. On the reverse, I can confidently say that I have mastered what I would call “the basics”. I am now able to pinpoint the author’s purpose without merely stating the obvious as well as determining the target audience without simply saying the “general public” or the “youth of America”. I try to be as specific as possible when it comes to both the audience and the author's purpose. And lastly, considering a TOW is supposed to be a rhetorical analysis of the text at hand, I think I have definitely mastered my summarizing abilities. Meaning, rather than summarizing an article in five or more sentences, I have managed to get the main idea across in a sentence or two in order to make room for the important piece: the rhetorical analysis.

            Although tedious at times and seemingly never ending, I cannot deny the fact that I have improved as a writer with these weekly TOWs. The purpose of the TOW assignments, in my opinion, was two fold. On the obvious note, considering practice makes perfect, the TOW assignments were meant to make us better rhetorical analyzers by practicing every week. Through the continuous look at both visual and written text, we were able to delve into various texts and look at the way they were written. Additionally, the TOW assignments were meant to make us educated and informed members of society. By reading news articles weekly I know I was able to remain in the loop despite my busy schedule. After reflecting on my TOW writing, I would definitely say that I benefitted from writing TOWs in the same ways as mentioned above. I improved my rhetorical analyzing skills while enriching my mind with articles that kept me up to date on news around the world. Most importantly, TOWs made rhetorically analyzing less intimidating and distant which helped me to conquer the crazy ride of AP English. 

Against Headphones

                 For numerous decades now, headphones have become a standard accessory for American teenagers. Whether in the north, south, east, or west, it is customary to see kids walking around with their ears plugged, oblivious to the world around them.Virginia Heffernan, a writer for the New York Times, wrote an article dictating the history of headphones. In addition, by providing her audience with a plethora of numerical exemplification partnered with a cause and effect arrangement, Heffernan persuades parents of teenagers to limit their children’s headphone use because of the detrimental consequences they will suffer.  

            Through out her article, Heffernan supports her claim by providing statistical evidence to aid in the development of her logical argument. For example, she starts her article, “One in five teenagers in America can’t hear rustles or whispers”. Although a rather odd statistic, Heffernan uses the numbers to lead into her argument and support her claim. She later continues stating, “The number of teenagers with hearing loss — from slight to severe — has jumped 33 percent since 1994”. As seen, Heffernan uses various statistics to illustrate to her audience how the consequences she is talking about are not made up in the least bit. Heffernan then transitions into a cause and effect arrangement where she rattles off several consequences of constant earphone usage. Heffernan describes how headphones create a, “private auditory experiences” which is making children extremely anti-social. Overall, both the cause and effect arrangement and exemplification shows Heffernan’s audience the logical side of her argument and forces the parents to actually listen to what she is saying.

To conclude, I do believe Heffernan’s rhetoric succeeded in showing parents the dangers of extensive headphones use. Both her exemplification and cause and effect arrangement helped Heffernan support her claim making it not just a statement, but an argument. 

Cordaid Handbag Advertisement

          

         In the closed society we live in today, it is hard to imagine a completely different world outside of our tiny sphere. A world where grocery stores are not a five-minute drive away; where 100 stores are not in on building; or a world where education does not come free. But even though we cannot see it, we are constantly being asked to donate, and donate, and donate to these faraway lands that do not live the lives we live. However, in their advertisement, Cordaid, The Catholic Organization for Relief and Development Aid, presents an advertisement that does not only make this concept come to life, but makes donating feel like an obligation. Considering this company is based in the Netherlands, the target audience for this campaign was intended for the citizens of the Netherlands. More specifically, the ad is targeted mainly at women, which can be assumed by the use of a female model as well as the handbag, which is most commonly associated with women. The main purpose of the advertisement was to gain donations for Cordaid to go towards their work with those in poverty. The advertisement does this by exaggerating people’s reliance on materialistic fashion items to arouse feelings of guilt that people are spending money on handbags rather than helping others get food.

            In order to convey their purpose, Cordaid uses a comparison in order to evoke guilt in their audience ultimately leading to donation. The image is unlike others with a similar purpose, as it does not use crying children, or people with diseases, or starving people to make their point. Instead, it offers a simple comparison between food and a handbag. It presents facts in the form of numbers and prices making a clear comparison. The large amount of money that is spent on an unnecessary item compared to the small amount of money that it would feed this women for a week is clearly stated. Therefore, the audience sees that it is logical to spend the money on food, as it is a basic physiological need. If the target audience can afford to pay a large amount for an unnecessary item such as a handbag and other fashion items surely they could donate “€1.50” for someone who needs it. Although the advertisement is unlike other ads in this category that show sick and unhappy people, there is still an element of emotion in the face of the model. Her mouth is frowning and her eyes are squinting and the wrinkles above them makes her look stressed and unhappy. Although most charity-related advertisements use solely pathos to make their argument, I believe the logic used in this argument is just as effective.

            Overall, I do believe Cordaid accomplished their purpose by making an advertisement that does not solely use emotion, but logic to make to their point. By comparing a materialistic item against a necessity, people feel guilty that they are wasting money that could be spent feeding someone for a week. Stirring up this feeling of guilt is what makes people feel obligated to donate.

An Argument against Television for Children

The effect of television on children is an endless debate that has been going on for years. Many studies have been conducted examining the effects of violent TV shows on the minds of young children. However, Seth Mullins, an experienced writer and parent, scrutinizes the impact that even harmless programming can have upon the ways that children think and feel. With both an emotional and logical argument, Mullins is able to convince parents that television is only depleting children’s minds by substituting digital images for their own inner ones and lulling their senses to sleep.

In order to convince parents of the negative effects of even harmless TV, Seth Mullins had to use rhetorical devices that would show his audience both the “evidence” supporting his argument as well emotions to display the horrors of television. So, throughout his article, Mullins used forms of both quantitative and qualitative exemplification to support his argument. For example, when opening his articles he writes, “Studies have shown that in the past few decades, a significant number of American children spent more time in front of a television set than in a classroom. Many of them were free to watch without supervision; in fact, nearly a quarter had sets in their own rooms.” With this form of exemplification, Mullins’ audience sees the numerical side of the argument that shows the general scope of the problem. To attack his audience’s emotions as well, Mullins employs a more emotional, qualitative form of exemplification that does not use numbers to make the argument, but words. In order to show parents the possible benefits of curbing television he says that if children were to step away from the screen their, “imaginations, reasoning abilities and spontaneity will flourish.” Although not numerical, Seth Mullins still gives his audience an example of what could happen if parents pull their child away from the screen.

Overall, I do believe Mullins was able to accomplish his purpose of showing parents the negative effects of even harmless television on children. The use of both qualitative and quantitative exemplification shows his audience a two-sided argument that fulfilled both their emotional and logical needs.