TOW #27 "2016 Political Race" Visual Text

  As we all know, the 2016 political race has begun to kick into gear.  This political cartoon addresses the states of the two competing political powers.   Recently, former first lady, Democrat Hilary Clinton announced her running for the presidency.  Since the AP mock gets closer, I will practice extrapolating the main rhetorical devices, especially for the analysis essays which often use visual texts as evidence.  The argument of this political cartoon is that although the Democrats have their candidate, the Republicans have more possibilities to run for president.

The first rhetorical device is the cards themselves.  The elephant, the universal symbol for the Republican Party, holds seven cards in its hand, representing the seven competing candidates.  However, the donkey, the symbol of the Democratic Party, holds one single card which says "old maid".  this refers to Hilary Clinton, which also suggesting that the Democratic party are putting all their eggs in Hilary Clinton's basket.  Also, the overall bias is toward the Republican party.  They make the argument that because the Republican party has a choice, they have a better chance at winning, whereas the Democratic party is worse off supporting only the "old maid".

Being my last TOW post before the mock, I anxiously await Wednesday, terrified out of my mind. 

TOW #26 "The Technology Gap" Article Post

One of the most powerful parts of this article was not the words, but instead the pictures. One picture could mean as much as a thousand words they say. These pictures, or rather, collages that embellished the article were full of "It Girls" and just at a glance you could recognize that at one point every woman up there had been idealized into an it girl. Then there's the pictures of magazine covers-most notably Vouge and Vanity Fair-which have the it girls posing. Not only does this sometimes create the "maniac pixie dream girl", as 500 days of Summer aptly put it, but it expects woman to conform to the standard of that one woman. It also pits women against each other in competition to be the "it girl" when really, we are all the It girl.

Now the It girl category is diversifying, take Lupita Nyongo and Benazir Bhutto, but this image limits the woman that it holds. Now, the media expects them to be the exact mix of sexy, demure, smart, but not too smart, different, but not too different, and they take away the power of the woman to define herself. One example of this is Clara Bow, from the 1920-30's. She was the starlet of Hollywood, until she went too much out of the box and proclaimed herself a feminist, gambling, drinking, and partying too much. But of course, the it girl mantle was passed on, as it always is. Take the quick switch from Jennifer Lawrence, to Lupita Nyongo, to Rosmund Pike. The article says, “It's another to see the term-and all its insidious, objectifying power- resurface, proliferate, and thrive nearly a centuary later. Only this time, it's saddled not on one woman, but any woman who seems primed to be more than an object-an It, passive and pliable-in the narrative of their own lives.”

TOW #25 "Depression in the Workplace" Article Post

I love to learn about mental illness, as I can use knowledge from biology and psychology and apply it to the real world.  As I have applied to the CHOP neurology program over the summer, I need to continue my research on mental illness and how everyday people live with it.  To find the answer, I turned to NPR, one of my favorite news stations, because of their balanced views on world events.  And after the Germanwings plane went down on account of a man with depression.  This article, entitled "Working Through Depression: Many Stay On The Job, Despite Mental Illness" by Rachel Martin, discusses the stigma.  In this article, Martin uses current events, the testimonies of people with depression, and expert testimonials to discuss depression and how it should not affect a persons career.

Since this is a practice TOW post, I won't go into great details about each rhetorical device.  I'll do the second one in great detail to practice the analytic style of writing.  Martin talks about an oncologist, Dr. Jay Lynch, who suffers from depression, but felt like he needed to keep his condition a secret to the point where he felt ready to take his own life.  He only stopped himself by finally talking to a very trusted patient who then turned Dr. Lynch to a psychiatrist.  It was with the psychiatrist that Dr. Lynch was able to get the help he desperately needed.  If Lynch, a highly trained professional, had not feared the stigma of getting fired for his mental illness, he would have sought help earlier.  Thankfully, he was able to save himself before he took his own life, although others are not so lucky.  Part of Martin's argument was that if people can openly discuss their problems, they will be able to live fuller, healthier lives.  Martin also discusses expert testimonial from Dr. Susan Goldberg, and the Germanwings incident to show how keeping depression a secret can have devastating affects.  These are Martin's rhetorical devices.  

http://www.npr.org/2015/04/12/398811515/working-through-depression-many-stay-on-the-job-despite-mental-illness