Tow #13: Visual Text: Mandela Political Cartoon by Jack Ohman



When I was searching through political cartoons this week I found many that were in tribute to Nelson Mandela because of his death the week before. Of all the cartoons I saw, this one by Jack Ohman, the editorial cartoonist at The Sacramento Bee, stood out to me the most.  Ohman is a professional cartoonist whose work has been syndicated throughout the country to over three hundred newspapers including The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and the New York Times. One of his most recent cartoons is the cartoon pictured above that sums up Nelson Mandela's life. Ohman uses powerful imagery and a quote from Mandela to show the American people that anything is possible and to pay tribute to Mandela. The picture in the cartoon that goes with the quote is a locked cuff and an unlocked one with a man, presumably Mandela, walking away from being freed. The image shows that Mandela was able to do the impossible and was freed from jail after being force to wrongfully serve twenty seven years in prison. By including this image, it shows that even if something seems impossible it still may be possible, because it seemed impossible that Mandela would be released from prison, but he ended up being released. Another reason why this political cartoon is powerful is because of the quote Ohman decided to use. It is short and simple, but pictured the largest because it is the most important part of the cartoon. The words came from Mandela himself, but it is the perfect quote for his tribute because it sums up his life. It seemed impossible that Mandela would be freed, but he was. It seemed impossible that South Africa would have a black president, but it happened. I think that Ohman successfully paid tribute to Mandela simply because this quote was such a smart one to use and the picture went perfectly with that quote.

Tow #12: Article: "Shameful Profiling of the Mentally Ill" by Andrew Solomon

Since the Progressive Era, the mentally ill have been discriminated against less and less due to reforms created by the government. However one problem still remains: border control of the mentally ill. Currently there is a law against allowing mentally ill people into America called the Immigration and Nationality Act, Section 212. It states that anyone with a mental or physical disorder that threatens the safety of Americans will be denied entry into the country. However, this law is too strict because people with a disorder as common and harmless as depression are getting denied entry into America. Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity, used the story of a woman who was hospitalized after attempting suicide in June of 2012 to argue against Section 212. Ellen Richardson, a Canadian, was not allowed to go to America because of her hospitalization from the year before. Because of this her Christmas vacation was ruined. Solomon mainly uses irrefutable facts and comparisons to prove to the American people that mentally ill people are still being discriminated against today. Solomon appeals to logos when he states the fact that people with a mental illness do not have have a higher rate of violence than people without a mental illness. This fact proves that Ms. Richardson should not have been denied entry. Also, this fact and many others Solomon included cannot be argued with because they are easily verifiable, therefore Solomon was able to successfully show that Section 212 may not be completely just. Solomon also compares this incident to when the United States denied entry into the country to people who were HIV positive. During the twenty years HIV positive people weren't allowed into America, potentially HIV positive people were not getting tested, so the country actually became sicker. Solomon claims that the same thing will happen if the President does not speak out against the Immigration and Nationality Act now. By comparing the current issue to an older one, Solomon attempted to show Americans that they cannot allow the country to make the same mistake again, therefore he successfully achieved his purpose.

Tow #11 IRB: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (Part 1)

Mary Roach is a naturally curious woman that has written six books about different areas of nature, whether it was about the living or the dead. Stiff is the first book Roach wrote and it is about human bodies and what is done with them once they are dead. Although the book mainly addresses donation of the body to science, Roach also explains cremation and embalming all in graphic detail.  Roach is able to inform people interested in the subject with humor and comparisons of body parts to familiar items, most commonly food. For example, when describing what a brain looks like after three weeks of death, she says it "becomes like soup in there...chicken soup. It's yellow." Although comparing the cadavers to food may ruin that food for her audience, at least they can picture exactly what Roach was seeing at the time. The comparisons help the reader know exactly what the dead looks like, smells like, and even what the meat-eating bugs on the dead bodies sound like (Rice Krispies). In the first half of the book along with using humor, Roach is also uses a more serious tone. She makes it clear that dying is not funny and it is hard to deal with, yet it does not have to be boring. She acknowledges that her book may be controversial and that it is okay to disagree with her point of views. However, Roach makes her claim very clear by stating that it is "a shame to waste these powers, to not use them for the betterment of humankind" to not donate your body to science. By having a clear point of view, she is able to successfully support it in an unconventional way, which is through the use of humor. Overall I think she was successful in convincing people that her point of view is valid. She does not approach the subject of cadavers in a boring way, therefore I think that her audience will stay interested throughout the entire book and realize that they can do the amazing things that cadavers do once they are dead.

Tow #10: Article: "School District's Right to Divert Kids From Life of Crime"

This editorial was written in the opinion section of the Miami Herald. It tackled the subject of zero tolerance policies in public schools. The Miami Herald Editorial Board wanted to inform residents of the state of Florida about the changes to the policies in Miami-Dade and Broward County in order to hopefully create change in the rest of the state of Florida. The Miami Herald believed that by having zero tolerance policies in place, it would end up leading children into a life of crime. Prior to 2009, the Florida Legislators took a zero tolerance approach to all schools. For example, if a student threw a spitball, threw a punch, or cursed at a teacher, the school would have to call the cops. One bad decision led to a police record, making it harder for that student to get a job, a loan, or go into the military. According to the Miami Herald, if troubled students received counseling or mentoring, they would eventually learn to stay away from a life of crime. However, I disagree with the article. The Miami Herald mostly just used facts and statistics to prove their point, so I do not think it was very convincing. According to the article, Miami-Dade County and Broward County have had 30% less arrests and suspensions in their schools today due to the change in policy in 2009. However, does that fact even matter? Of course there are going to be less arrests and suspensions when the main form of punishment is counseling. Also, many of the teenagers that make minor mistakes will probably make major ones too if they do not get seriously punished. If the counterargument had been addressed and refuted more, I think that the article would have been much more effective. Before reading this article, I did not think that schools should relieve some of the zero tolerance policies, and after reading my opinion has not changed. Therefore, I do not think that the Miami Herald achieved their purpose.

Tow #9: Visual Text: Volkswagen's Amarok Print Ad

The advertisement above is from Volkswagen is advertising the fact that with one tank of gas, their car can go 620 miles. The car that they are advertising specifically in this print ad is a Volkswagen Amarok. Volkswagen is a well known car company that has been selling many cars for many years which makes them a credible company and therefore appeals to ethos. I think this ad is effective because there is a strong appeal to logos. With the fact at the bottom of the picture, it shows the logical reason for buying the car. I also like this advertisement because of its simplicity. When flipping through a magazine, there are so many colors and words that when an ad is plain grey with little words, it will make the reader stop for a second and look at the ad. In that second it is easy to understand exactly what the ad is saying because of the picture. It is clever to reshape the key into nature landscape because is illustrates that by unlocking your car, you are unlocking the ability to go on a long adventure. Then the reader will look at the bottom of the page and see that the long adventure can go on for 620 miles. The advertisement also has an appeal to pathos for anyone that loves adventure. The word adventure symbolizes a new beginning and a change that is fun. It symbolizes trying something new and enjoying it. The word had a strong positive connotation that sparks memories of someone’s own adventures or the excitement of starting a new adventure. Volkswagen seemed to be specifically targeting people that need a new car and like to go on long drives often. I think that Volkswagen successfully achieved their purpose of selling this car. The simplicity and cleverness of this ad is refreshing and hopefully it got the attention of car buyers. 

 

IRB Introduction #2: Stiff by Mary Roach

For the second marking period I am reading Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach. I chose to read this because I was looking through a list of some of the best nonfiction books ever written and I recognized the title. My English teacher last year read a section of it to us and she recommended that we all read it. It is a book about dead bodies and what scientists do with them when those people chose to donate their bodies. Apparently it is humorous even though the book involves death, so I was curious and decided to read it. Hopefully I will learn from this book about how people can be useful even after they are dead.

Tow #8 IRB: The Buried Book by David Damrosch (Part 2)

The second half of my independent reading book, The Buried Book by David Damrosch, was centered more around how the Epic of Gilgamesh was found by Hormuzd Rassam and the effect the text had on the world. The part of the book that I found most engaging was how the cuneiform tablets that the epic was written on were found. Rassam was an English citizen that was a victim of harsh racism. Because of this, Rassam recieved little credit for his discoveries and his career became a joke. The purpose of Damrosch including Rassam's story in The Buried Book was to clear Rassam's name and explain to people interested in history and literature about the truth of how the tablets were found. Damrosch, a literature professor at Harvard University, had to do an extensive amount of research in order to clear Rassam's name. I think that Damrosch achieves this purpose more effectively than some of his others throughout the book because this side story is the first one he tells that appeals to pathos. For example after "Rassam had made the discovery of his life" the British press and the British museum "increasingly failed to give him credit for his finds." By using the word "failed" it created a negative emotional reaction because the word fail has such a negative connotation. Also the fact that the word "failed" is preceded by "increasingly" shows that he didn't get credit for his work multiple times. This part of the book was effective because many people can relate to Rassam's story. Because of a negative reputation, someone may discover something amazing, but all the credit is given to someone else. In Rassam's case, his negative reputation wasn't even his fault. Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge, an upperclass collector that worked with the British Museum and a rival of Rassam, received most of the credit for the work that Rassam had done. Because of this Rassam was "long forgotten by everyone" until Damrosch wrote this book to achieve his purpose of recognizing Rassam's discovery of the tablets.