TOW #4- "The Glass Castle" (IRB)

In the first half of The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, Walls recalls her memories of traveling through United States as a kid and how this journey shaped her childhood.  She grew up with no secure home, and unreliable parents. Because of this Jeanette grew up traveling to a new town almost every work in search of an actual secure place to say. Her travels to different towns make up the content of the book. The memoir begins with a story about her life when she was 3 years old. In this story she was left alone making hot dogs by herself. This might appeal to the audience, and make them think about the idea of a young girl feeding herself. During this story, her dress catches on fire and she is in the hospital with severe burns. To most people after such a horrific incident, they would fear fire. But to Walls she became interested with the concept of fire. She writes “ I loved the scratching sound of the match against the sandpaper brown strip when I struck it” (15). She uses imagery to engage the reader, and make them feel like they were there with her in the moment.

Through her use of imagery she achieves her purpose of portraying her unusual life as a child at home. By sharing her real life experiences Wall’s immediately appeals to ethos, and proves her credibility. As a child Walls did not have a parental figure help her grow up. She had a mom and dad, but they did not give her much guidance. Her mother did not want the responsibility and her father was destructive under the influence of alcohol. She appeals to pathos except she never pities herself. She describes in detail the rough life she had, sharing how she was always on the move at such a young age. Not once does she ever say she feels bad for herself. Jeannette Walls purpose in writing this book is to show her readers a look into her abnormal upbringing. So far Walls is doing a great job of achieving her purpose through her strong use of imagery and pathos.

TOW #3- Visual "Apple iPhone 6"

We live in a world where when the word “apple” is mentioned most people automatically think of the company instead of the fruit. Today, technology has become a huge part of our lives. Apple is a world-renowned company, and the iPhones are their best-known product. Just recently the new iPhone 6 was released. When the first iPhone came out in 2007, the world of technology was changed forever. It was the newest and most unique phone, nothing could compare to it. The world threw away their old sidekicks and blackberrys, and the iPhone was the most desirable product of all. After this product came out smartphones became more popular and the phone industry was changed for good.

In the ad above apple shows the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5, above the phone reads the text “ This, yet again, changes everything again. Again.” The ad repeats the word again a total of 3 times in this sentence. It shows that the iPhone is an evolutionary product, it changes the game of technology over and over again. It shows a customer that Apple was the one “changed everything” and the competitors just followed them. If the customer has the product they will be part of the new change. The word “new” is now associated with trendy, modern, and futuristic, any tech-fanatic would agree that newer is better. The ad is targeted towards customers who want to be a part of this new change. Anyone who has the phone would believe that they are now apart of the future, and they are holding the future in their hands.

Apple is very simple with all their ads, and only focus on the phones. The background is plain black making the phones only stand out. The company uses repetition of the word “again” to emphasize that they have changed the phone market before, and they are changing it once again. Apple fanatics would fall head over heels for the iPhone 6 after seeing this ad. The ad was extremely effective and enticing.

TOW #2 Article- What It Was Like to Be an Iranian-Woman in NYC on 9/11

September 11^th, 2011 a day the whole world was in shock. A day of grief and the country filled with sorrow. Of course we know about the terrorist attacks that day, but not many of us know about the personal lives of the New Yorkers when these attacks happened. Hedia Anvar writes a post for the Huffington Post giving a reader an insight into her life during the week of September 11^th.  During this time New York simply stopped, the city that never sleeps was paused. No one was seen in the streets, police cars surrounding every major building, and families seeking protection. Each New Yorker has a different story to tell on the events that happened September 11^th, but Hedia Anvars turns out to be quite different from the rest. She was an Iranian- American woman feeling what everyone in New York felt but she was being judged for it. She was met with adversity every time she left the house. When all the New Yorkers came together to grieve she was the one left behind.

The article evoked many emotions from me I felt sorrow, anger, and confusion for Hedia.  Her purpose in writing the article was to share her life during the time of 9/11. To give an insight to the reader about what she felt, and how she was viewed. To show that one event changed her whole entire life. She targeted this piece to anyone living in New York or anyone living in the U.S who was really affected by this event. Hedias word choices, and emotion in the article showed how she used pathos in order to achieve her purpose. Her little brother who was only 4 was affected traumatically by the events on 9/11 says, “"I've been thinking, these buildings are too tall. I've noticed that planes often crash into them. I want to live in a short building." By giving the reader an insight into the mind of the 4-year-old boy and how sad he felt during this time makes the reader emotional. Although 9/11 happened 13 years ago Hedia Anvar recollects her memories and makes the reader feel like these events just happened yesterday.

IRB Intro #1- The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls is a memoir of her dysfunctional family and unique upbringing.  Being raised by alcoholic and careless parents the Walls children learn to take care of themselves independently.  They learned to protect, feed, and clothe one another until they found a better hope in New York. The author talks about the harsh realities of life and how her story unfolds. I chose this IRB because of the many recommendations I have received. I would like to read this memoir to take a look into someone else’s life and see what we take for granted in our every day lives. The story is about overcoming obstacles and remaining loyal to your family, which is an important theme to have in life. I hope to gain a new perspective on others lives. I am oblivious to the harsh struggles that some people may face. I hope by reading this I will be able to gain insight into the hardships and obstacles Jeannette Walls and other families around the world have overcome.

TOW #1 How to Say Nothing in 500 Words

In 1956, Paul Roberts wrote an essay addressing the issue most high school and college students have. This issue would be the horrifying task of completing an assignment in a certain amount of words. The most daunting thing of all is trying to limit what you have to say in a certain amount of words. Or even worse is trying to expand upon a topic you have no clue about just to reach a certain amount of words. Paul Roberts an expert on the English language does a great job of telling the reader how to overcome this obstacle and write skillful short essays. Roberts writes for many books about English, his knowledge of words helps achieve his purpose. The topic is about a student struggling to write an essay on college football in 500 words. Roberts shares important tips that every student will find helpful. His tips include avoid writing about the common topic, removing unnecessary words, and enlightening the reader by including illustrative examples. Just listing out tips would bore the reader but Roberts uses wit, and comparison and contrast to entice them. He says “What with one thing and another, its 10 Sunday night before you get out the typewriter again. You make a pot of coffee and start to fill out your views on college football.” His humor can relate to his audience of students. If you haven’t stayed up all night to complete a task the night before, (are you really a student?) Because the author is so relatable to the audience he gets his point across. His best strategy in the text is comparison and contrast. Colorful words, colored words, and colorless worlds all sound the same to an average student. But Roberts goes in-depth to explain the difference between each one. He writes about 4 paragraphs for each one including examples of those types of words. By his clear explanations and comparing and contrasting certain words Roberts achieves his purpose. As his strategic devices show, Paul Roberts does an impressive job of achieving his purpose.