Once Brothers Part 2 (Option 2)

A personal tragedy preluded by political mayhem.  Once Brothers contains a story that can teach its viewers not only about its own contents, but reflect upon human nature.  As a relatively modern tool of communication, the documentary has the ability to communicate Vlade Divac's message in a unique way because it can show the viewer incontrovertible evidence of the war's turmoil and capture the raw emotion of the people involved.  When mass produced, the documentary can reach a large enough audience to bring awareness to the truth of a historical situation.

Once Brothers, mainly through the use of archival footage and interviewing, is able to accurately reflect  society at the time of the Yugoslavian Civil War.  The director chooses to include archival footage of both the war's destruction and of the basketball games Divac and Petrovic were involved in.  This tells a tale of two worlds constantly tugging on both players' minds.  The footage shows the devastation and horror of the war from a historical standpoint by showing tapings of attacks, pictures of aftermath, and footage of the people involved.  This shows the literal events that resulted in Croatia's modern situation: a historical standpoint.  A map is also included to help the viewer follow the path of the battles practically.  To reflect the feelings of society at the time the documentary uses the more personal medium of interviews.  The interviews provide a reflection on the situation by people who lived through it.  In a way, the documentary is archiving their thoughts and story.  The interviews uncover that Petrovic's "break up" with Divac was actually due to an accidental political statement that Divac made by grabbing a Croatian flag and throwing it after Yugoslavia won the world championships.  Petrovic took it as an insult to Croatia; Divac, who was Slovenian, stated that he only threw the flag because he wanted a united Yugoslavia.  Through further interviews, the documentary uncovers that people in Croatia hated Divac so much that he didn't even attend Petrovic's funeral, held after he died suddenly in a car crash, because Divac was scared of the reception Croatia would give him.  Later, when Divac makes his return trip to Croatia, a dialogue is captured where Divac asks a man who greets him, "Are you the only one to recognize me?" and the man responds, "No, I'm just the only one brave enough to say hello."  This modern form of documentation allows for a unique portrayal of history and society.  Documentaries also allow individuals to change the rhetoric to better suit their purpose.

Rhetoric that comes with the documentary allows the filmaker to elicit various emotional responses that would not be available in traditional written or visual texts.  A major rhetorical device used is the presentation of sound, both in dialogue and in music.  A language barrier is present due to the fact that many of the important characters only speak Russian.  The documentary, having both picture and sound, allows the filmaker to play the original recording and provide English translation in the form of captions.  By doing this, the film captures the original emotion of the interview and gives an understanding of the content, allowing for a more wholesome experience.  Also, the addition and change of music became an effective tool to change the mood of the documentary.  For example, suspense was built when sad music started before the car crash because the viewer became aware that there was going to be a disappointing twist.  The music started off softly and progressed to a more aggressive and loud presence as the event neared.  Music was also used as a transition, with one set of music being assigned to the basketball portion of the story and another to the war and political side.  Another rhetorical device used was the juxtaposition of past and present.  Due to the modern technology, filmakers are able to arrange their pieces so that comparisons could be made between two images from completely separate times.  This modern technology includes the means to gather the visuals as well as the programs to combine them.  This was done when places that Divac visited in his trip to Croatia were shown currently and then before the war.  By comparing the images right after each other, the viewer can further understand the effects of the war and how horrible it was to the Yugoslavian society.  Rhetoric has changed with the introduction of new forms of communication such as the documentary, and filmakers incorporate them to convey their message.

Documentaries serve as an entertaining medium for stories to be shared.  Through 30 for 30, Once Brothers was able to inform and move an audience that can now reflect on the message.  The documentary has proved to be an effective mode of communication as shown by the responses they have drawn.  While Once Brothers was a chronicle of a friendship, it also presented the historical context in ways that would not have been available in the recent past.   

Once Brothers

Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic were teammates and best friends on Yugoslavia's national basketball team and helped to pave the way for European stars to journey to the NBA.  Both were heroes in their native countries and helped each other to deal with the fame they achieved.  However, with Divac experiencing immediate success as the starting center for the Lakers and Petrovic riding the bench his rookie season, the two started to grow apart.  The relationship was then ultimately severed by the political tension back home.  Civil war broke out in Yugoslavia in 1991.  Petrovic was Croatian and Divac was Serbian, leaving the former friends on separate sides of the war and causing contempt to grow between them.  The two grew in skill in popularity in the NBA separately, Divac waiting for the right moment to come for the two to reconcile.  That moment never came.  Petrovic died in a fatal car crash on the way to a national game back in Croatia.  Michael Tolajian directed the documentary Once Brothers, chronicling this moving story.  Vlade Divac himself narrates the film and gives a first hand perspective to the film.  The documentary was distributed by ESPN as part of their 30 for 30 documentary series.

In order to draw the emotional response from the audience that was desired, the film first decides to introduce the main characters of the film to the audience.  The chronological order that the film was presented in was effective because it helped the film make sense logically and allowed the viewer to experience the players’ lives from the beginning.  The setting of the film was mainly in modern day Serbia and Croatia, where Divac recounts the events.  This makes the film much more personal by showing the roots of the characters and also allowing Divac to visit families and people who lived through the Civil War.  Much of the story was told from a coffee shop or homes of the players, establishing a sense of friendliness in the film.  Since the speakers in the film commonly used a foreign language, text was used to translate.  The choice to not dub the voices enabled raw emotion to show in the speakers. The documentary also does a good job of keeping both the basketball context and the political context consistent and paralleled throughout the film.  This is very important because the eventual break up of the friends occurs because of the political division.  This is done subtly and mostly through comments that the cast makes, foreshadowing the events of the film without giving them away.  Background knowledge is provided both about the Yugoslavian team and the state of Yugoslavia after World War II. 

When retelling the story of the careers of Divac and Petrovic, a lot of archival footage is used both of interviews and of games.  Old interviews are the only way to incorporate Petrovic’s input into the film, and the old games give the viewers a sense of how sensational the Yugoslavians actually were.  Later, to tell the story of the Civil War, archival footage was used to show the devastation.  The Yugoslavian Civil War was the worst fighting in Europe since WWII, and the documentary uses images to show the viewers how horrible it actually was.  Injured babies and crying mothers were shown, establishing pathos.  Explosions and aftermath were shown to further the effect.  For a technical understanding, maps were added that explained the war.  With all of this devastation, however, the mood needed to be lightened.  This was done mostly by the characters in the film and their dialogue.  For example, Magic Johnson opened his conversation by stating, “All I want is a Coke and a burger.”  In addition, the change in mood was cued by the music playing in the background.  Ultimately, all of the rhetorical choices were made to focus on the relationship of the players.  Basketball wasn’t the main focus of the text, just the background.  Divac and Tolajian created the documentary to recount the loss of a friendship and the hatred that arose from sectionalism in the divided Yugoslavia of the ‘90’s. 

Once Brothers. Dir. Michael Tolajian. Perf. Vlade Divac. ESPN, 2010. Online Film. 

TOW Reflection

Back in September, when I sat down with the syllabus for my first taste of an AP English course, I was honestly skeptical about how the TOWs would benefit me and help me become a more effective writer.  It seemed back then a trivial task that would make my Sundays longer.  However, I realize now that through the hard work that I put into the TOWs throughout the year, I gained vital knowledge for my success in the course.  I first realized how beneficial the TOWs were when we started writing argument essays in class, and both of my examples for one of the essays came from the assignments from the last two weekends.  I noticed that I wasn’t only going on a website and choosing an article at random to try to find examples of parallelism.  For the first time in my life, I was spending an hour each weekend reading the news and becoming an informed citizen.  When added to the practice that the TOWs gave me in argument and analysis, it is evident that this assignment slowly, but surely, improved my writing. 

            This improvement is shown throughout the progression of my posts.  Rereading the first TOW I wrote was painful; it really shows how much my writing has changed.  A common theme throughout the first marking period was that my entries read like a list.  I was following the assignment sheet to a point and made my writing seem robotic.  I was summarizing the articles I read or the videos I watched more than I was analyzing them.  In addition, I didn’t have a full understanding of the various forms that rhetoric could appear in and was relentlessly sifting through the texts looking for specific rhetorical devices, even if they were insignificant to the purpose.  The lack of awareness I had pertaining to the assignment itself was also evident because my choice of texts was narrow and did not encompass a variety of topics.  However, the first marking period did serve as a foundation to my ability to analyze texts effectively in the future.

            After the shock of the first marking period, things started to click for me, including the TOWs.  I started to develop arguments in each post and spend the majority of my time focusing on the analysis.  In addition, the skills I learned from the class appeared in my entries.  The posts read less like bulleted lists and contained more sophisticated diction and sentence structure.  The major criticism of these TOWs is that they weren’t very sophisticated in terms of creativity.  The hooks weren’t very good and each one was in the same format from week to week.  However, I was covering a wide array of topics from numerous sources and reaped the benefits from that.  By the end of the year, the level of my TOWs peaked.  The structure of each one varied and they were written like concise essays.  However, as the AP exam approached, the TOWs were at a comparable length with those from the beginning of the year.  This worked though, because the space was being used effectively.  The best qualities of the latest TOWs included an assessment of the author’s rhetoric pertaining to the purpose of the paper and connections between the current topic and other events.  I felt as if I was able to master forming an argument and analyzing a text during these TOWs, which made writing the graded class essays easier.

            Even with all of the improvements, there are still areas where I can approve.  I think the leading category would be to make sure that I fully elaborate the argument that I am developing.  At times I skimmed that and just focus on the analysis.  Also, I need to make my writing more creative and interesting for success in the future.  Ultimately, the TOW assignments proved to be extremely helpful throughout the school year.  Not only did I have a weekly tool to help develop my writing ability, I was also given a medium to push me to inform myself about the world around me.

Geico Lord Stanley

Known for its witty advertising campaign, Geico maximizes its commercial's effects by producing a wide variety of them and matching them with specific target audiences.  This particular commercial was geared towards hockey fans.  It features Niklas Backstrom, a sensational goal scorer for the Washington Capitals, and the ghost that comes to visit him, Lord Stanley.  With the subject completely separate from car insurance, Geico relies on its brand name for results.  Part of the effectiveness of this commercial comes from the humor that is used.  When Lord Stanley shows up in the locker room, he says that he has a secret to tell.  According to the setting, viewers would infer that it is hockey related, but when Lord Stanley recites Geico's slogan, humor is added and the commercial is effective.  Another pun is made when the commercial makes a play on words.  Lord Stanley enters holding a silver cup, making it Stanley's cup, which shares the name with hockey's coveted trophy the Stanley Cup.  Because this commercial was shown on NBC during a Stanley Cup playoff game, the audience will be able to relate to the humor and the celebrity endorsement, making this commercial an effective marketing tool.

Link to Commercial

Fracking in America

A relatively new development in energy production, fracking for natural gas has offered an alternative to the traditional fossil fuels that are infamous for extreme pollution. However, fracking has not proved to be the environment-saving hybrid that it was marketed as.  While natural gas is better for the environment then coal, the actual process of fracking destroys areas of land, contributes significantly to global warming, and pollutes water supply.  Phil Radford argues in his article that fracking for natural gas only provides a "bridge" and a tool for procrastination, an excuse for not developing permanent alternative and safe options.  This article speaks to the majority of Americans, even referencing polls of Americans on the topic that provide insight on the issue.  The text serves as a medium for the masses to express their ideas with the author channeling the most popular opinions.  The major argument is that not enough is being done to research and move to a new energy source that would actually benefit Americans and the environment, which is what the public is calling for.  Using outside sources in his argument aids to provide a stronger argument because he establishes his point as a popular one and a credible stance.  The author also calls people to action by stating that the more people that speak out, the closer America will be to clean energy production.

Link to Article

Venezuela's Polarized Society

The election in Venezuela is one of the more controversial ones in recent history.  With such a close vote dividing the two candidates, a complete recount was ordered by the loser, Henrique Capriles.  The electorate, Nicolas Maduro, is the socialist candidate and son-in-law of former president Hugo Chavez. The reason the controversy is so large is Maduro does not want the recount to happen and the followers of the candidates have resorted to violence to settle disputes.  It got so bad that South American leaders all met to discuss the issue. After a recount was eventually ordered, the tensions got worse.  This article analyzes the situation in Venezuela and proposes a reason for the intense division in Venezuela.  the author argues that Venezuela's economic state is what polarizes its people.  Even though it is the most oil-rich nation in the Americas, staples of everyday life are running short.  In order to illustrate this, the author develops pathos by using a first-hand account.  He visited a baker in Venezuela running scarcely short on flour.  The baker had to put a limit on people's orders because he only had 6% of the flour he usually has.  This helps the reader infer why people not only want a change from the Chavez-Maduro government, but also why socialism is so powerful in Venezuela.  Also, the author cites statistics about the election to help the reader understand the controversy.  It was so close that with Venezuela being as corrupt as it is, people immediately assumed an infraction in the counting system.  The author did not try to bias the reader, which further helped the understanding of a foreign situation by the reader.

Link to Article

Fast Food Nation Pt 2

Fast Food Nation, a book by Eric Schlosser detailing the business and culture of the fast food industry, is able to effectively portray all of the elements of the industry, from production and raising of the livestock to the marketing aspect.  This establishes ethos because the author can demonstrate advanced knowledge in every element of his text and shows evidence of complete research.  In addition, the book doesn't just say that fast food is bad for you, but unbiasedly presents the information.  This avoids presenting the industry as fat-filled and worthless, a necessary position to keep the readers interested in the book, even if this idea would be eventually proven.  In the second part of the book, much of the book is focused on the increased efficiency, standardization, and mechanization of fast food, showing the transformation into what we are now familiar with.  This does include the chemical enhancement of products that made the 20th century fast food taste so good before a health-conscious America promoted change.  From there, it is noted how working conditions have lowered and health risks are rising exponentially.  At this point in the story, readers are completely turned off from the fast food industry, a contrast for the reader from the humble beginning.  Because of this huge difference, the reader is able to feel the food service grow into a monster.  This fact is illustrated by the rising obesity rates across the globe after the Cold War, an indication of the export of American fast food.  Overall, the informative text was effective in painting a picture of the horrifying fast food industry.

The Myth of the Student Loan Crisis

In the midst of several long, plain-looking articles in The Atlantic, the info-graphic portraying the panic surrounding college expenses stands out like a sore thumb.  It logically and convincingly disputes the panic sweeping across the nation using powerful statistics and a coherent structure of information.  The info-graphic argues that not going to college is actually much more expensive than taking the risk and investing in yourself.  The magazine draws attention to the info-graphic right away by placing it on a black background with brightly colored graphs, charts, and text boxes.  Then, once the reader sees the chart, a snippet of background information is included to qualify the argument of millions of Americans afraid of the 150% increase in college costs over the past 18 years.  At the end of the introduction (plain white text against the black background, which also influences the reader because this is less "flashy" than the author's argument) is a rhetorical question that serves to progress the information to the author's argument.  The author chooses to present his information in a flow chart so that his logical reasoning is shown.  He starts out showing how costs are actually lower than expected, using the slightly sarcastic statement, "One year at Harvard costs $57,950.  But most students don't go to Harvard."  A graph is used to portray the distribution of debt students are in after exiting college.  This further portrays how it is rare for students to be drowned in debt, and encourages the reader to reconsider their view towards college expenses.  After the author shows the relatively low cost of schooling, he then progresses his argument to show the return on investment that a college degree has.  By using graphs to portray the information, the author is able to effectively convince the reader that college is a beneficial endeavor.

The Sports Name that Will Never Be

American sports teams exist under a variety of sports names, from the Bears, to the Cornhuskers, to the Heat.  However, as one CNN contributor argues, the name Senators, the former title of Washington's baseball team and the current crest for Ottawa's hockey squad, will never appear again in American sports.  Bob Greene argues that the rating for Congress is so low that fans would not be able to rally around a team named the Senators, and that the name would be an excuse for player scrutiny.  Greene argues that it wouldn't be economically feasible for a team to be named this way.  In a larger sense, the author uses the sports team name argument, a rather random one, to express his disappointment with the government.

This article was written towards an American audience that shares the author's feelings.  Greene doesn't waste time describing how Congress has been ineffective; he is not trying to persuade anyone that Congress is bad.  This may also be because Congress already has an approval rating of less than 20% and arguing against them would be unnecessary.  However, Greene does focus on the effects that a bad Congress has had on American pride.  To emphasize the negativity with which Americans perceive Congress, the author uses anaphora within a periodic sentence to emphasize all of the different sports names in America.  When this is followed by the statement that the Senators cannot be a name, it portrays the extremity with which Americans look down on the Senate.  In addition, Greene quotes sports marketing experts that establish his point.  This establishes ethos and credibility for the author.  In a creative extended metaphor, the author is effective in showing the faults of Congress in the eye of an average American.

Link to Article

American "Diplomat" to North Korea

In the midst of nuclear controversy, North Korea welcomed members of the Harlem Globetrotters to play a game with North Korean basketball stars.  Among those that visited was Dennis Rodman.  Rodman reports meeting and having a long conversation with Kim Jong Un, and even called him a friend, even though Rodman does not condone Kim Jong Un's actions.  Rodman also discussed how the North Korean leader wanted Obama to call him to talk about basketball.  With the events occurring so close to nuclear tests and rocket launches by the North, the article presents a controversy to its audience.  If Kim Jong Un welcomed Rodman in a way that was more than hospitable, should Obama and Congress negotiate or continue to treat North Korea as a terrorist country?  The author of this article aims to ask this question to the reader, having them ponder over the possible consequences.  In order to do this without portraying too much personal bias, the author uses as many quotations as possible.  This way, any outrageous statement made in the article would not reflect on the author. The article goes as far as to include a video of the interview at the top with Rodman speaking to an ESPN reporter.  Also, the article uses very straight-forward diction to deliver the factual content of the article.  This has a similar effect to that of the quotations.  The article does leave the reader contemplating the content, and to make the article more effective, a link to a video discussing the benefits and consequences of the situation is included.  By staying neutral, the author is effective in presenting a very controversial subject while letting the reader make their own decision.

Link to Article

Fast Food Nation

Fast Food Nation, a nonfiction text written by Eric Schlosser, insightfully examines the industry of fast food.  Unlike many nonfiction works presently, the book is not one dimensional and refers to the entire industry, not just its negative effects.  It actually focuses widely on the business concept of the fast food industry (the second part of the novel is set aside for actually describing the food making process).  This arrangement allows the reader to gain an understanding and appreciation for an industry that is often blamed for the corruption of America.  In order to do this, one of the chapters compares Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's to Walt Disney.  They both came from similar backgrounds and used similar marketing strategies to improve their business empires.  Using this extended comparison allows the reader to see how the fast food industry was created to maximize profits.  Also, the author decides to set the story in a city dependent on fast food restaurants for an early chapter.  This choice allows the most extreme effects of the business on everyday life.  Designed to show all sides of the fast food industry Fast Food Nation is able to demonstrate the drastic impact that fast food had on American culture, which in a way helps justify it to the reader.  Its assembly line-like processes were appropriate and fitting for the time period in which these empires began.  The choice to not just bash the industry for its lack of health allows the reader to become attached to the book and allows them to be more open to the author's ideas.  It will be interesting to see if this state of mind changes as the second part of the book gets in to the disgusting practices of the industry.

Airline Merger

Many people have become worried over the recent airline merger between US Airways and American Airlines, thinking that the result will drive airline fares up and cause one airline to hold an extremely large share of the market.  This article, written by a business professor at the University of California - Berkeley, aims to persuade the audience that the merger will actually benefit both the airline business and the normal airline consumer.  The article states that competition will actually increase because the other two major airline corporations (Southwest, Delta) will be more motivated to open up more hubs that will compete with the additional routes offered by American.  Also, the article notes that this will be the last major merger in the airline industry, which has been condensing rapidly due to deregulation. Overall, the merger is expected to both drive stock prices up for all airlines and lower airline tickets across the board.

In order to get the audience's attention on the topic of the article, the author starts out with a series of rhetorical questions appealing to the general consumer.  These questions are specifically designed to mirror the thoughts of Americans on the issue, and the readers then infer that these questions will be answered in the following paragraphs.  Following these questions, the author isolates one abrupt sentence, which serves as the article's claim.  Isolating this has the effect of explicitly stating the contents of the article in a way that cannot be mistaken.  It also answers the questions posed immediately, so at the very least readers are aware of the effect of the merger, at least in this professor's opinion.  The author then incorporates statistics that show the minimal effect on the change in competition and to show how the consumer will actually benefit from the merger.  This logical format calmly and effectively persuades the reader of the positive effect of the merger.

Link to Article

Association Between Income and Insurance Rates

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) recently performed an experiment on the five largest car insurance companies on the market, trying to figure out whether or not there is a correlation between income and the premium offered by a car insurance company.  The CFA created to fictional car owners with the same background except for accident history, education level, and employment.  One person was created to be a wealthy executive with a master's degree and the other was a high school receptionist with only a high school education level.  The executive had been credited with causing an accident and the receptionist was accident free.  However, 66% of the time, a lower premium was granted to the accident-prone executive over the safe-driving high school receptionist.  When TIME: Business and Money published this report about a week ago, their intent was to prove to the reader the bias and "corruption" in the car insurance industry.  Theoretically, the person with a lower chance of getting in an accident should get the lower premium.  However, this is not the case.  This article may have also been written to enrage the general population and to call for a change.  The author hints at state legislature frequently throughout the article and implies that it is just for a state or county to pass laws prohibiting the use of non-driving factors in granting car insurance premiums.  The middle and lower classes were probably targeted in this report, as they would be the ones that are most frustrated with the results of the experiment.  In order to prove his point, the author cleverly includes a picture of a crashed luxury vehicle at the top of the article.  This emphasizes the point made in the article that wealthier people are not necessarily the safest drivers.  In addition, the author uses hard data and statistics to back up his assertions on car insurance companies.  Quotations are only included for the side that is doing the experiment, not for the car companies themselves.  This has the effect of only showing the side that the author wants to, thus biasing the reader towards his point of view.

Link to Article

History of the Super Bowl: By the Numbers

America's greatest spectacle, the Super Bowl, has changed drastically throughout the years as American culture has progressed.  This series of graphs shows some of the interesting and important changes of the game throughout time.  First, the graphs focus on the game itself: winning margin, passing yards vs rushing yards, and interconference games won during the regular season. The trends show that passing yards have made a surge to the top since the Super Bowl has started; at first, yards on the ground were higher than yards through the air.  Also, the games have been getting closer over the years, which may partially explain the next trend.  As time has progressed, an advertisement spot on Super Bowl Sunday has increased by 1216%, readjusting for inflation.  Likewise, the average ticket price has grown 1212% since Super Bowl I in 1967.  The last trend pointed out by the CNN study is that offensive lineman weigh 27% heavier than in 1967, which is also a 20% higher growth than that of skill players.  With the Super Bowl coming up tomorrow, these fun statistics are representative of the current trends in media.

These statistics are intended to entertain people that are already familiar with the premise of the Super Bowl, which still leaves the target audience open to many Americans.  In order to do this, the graphs are not explained in words but are simplified visually in order to offer a quick glance at the trends.  However, the colors used for the graph on a white background are yellow and orange, which makes them difficult to read.  The color scheme also changes from blue and red to the yellow and orange, which seems unnecessary.  The graphs are also crammed together, making it difficult to see when one graph starts and the next one begins.  All of this organizational clutter makes the graphs ineffective.  If they are supposed to offer a quick and interesting look at the Super Bowl, they should be designed in a way that enables the reader to understand the main ideas easily.

Link to Graphs

Freakonomics

Freakonomics, the non-fiction novel by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, dissects everyday life in order to find the reason behind the decisions that people make.  Prevalent throughout the book is the theory that the authors have about incentives and how they are the driving force behind the reason that people do certain things.  This book is written argumentatively and many experts have refuted its premise that economics is the study of incentives, along with the purpose of the novel, which is to draw connections between the everyday practices of life to economics.  Many people believe that the book is based in sociology or criminology.  However, the book is widely accepted to be successful in showing the association between incentives and daily activity.

Freakonomics chooses to portray its theory of incentives through very creative and unusual situations. This not only keeps the reader entertained, but it additionally allows readers to see bizarre connections that they would have otherwise missed.  For example, in sumo wrestling, a sport that is an honor to participate in Japan, is analyzed and, through the use of statistics, a strong case is made to show how the wrestlers cheat.  The book shows that in elimination bouts, the wrestler in danger beats the odds to win with a statistically significant amount.  When the two wrestlers meet again, the wrestler who was supposed to win the first time but did not, wins an overwhelmingly high number of times.  This shows the likelihood of there being corruption in sumo wrestling.  When wrestlers are facing elimination, they may bribe the other wrestler to let them win this time in exchange for a sure victory in the next meeting.  Also, the book explores in the fourth chapter the effect that legalized abortion has on crime rates.  The book argues that because the babies that are more likely to be neglected in the first place never existed, crime rates plummeted.  The connections that the book draws are clear and well-supported, which makes the authors credible to the reader.  This credibility then allows the authors to be effective in achieving their purpose because readers are willing to buy into their theory of incentives and economics in everyday life.

TOW Rewrite - Gas Prices Political Cartoon

            The rising price of gas and the nuclear development program of Iran are two of the hottest and most controversial current political issues. This political cartoon discusses these two heated topics and shows how they are problematic.  This cartoon is drawn for U.S. News by an author in San Diego.  This means that there is American bias in the cartoon and that it is from an American perspective, which would obviously be against Iran.  Currently, Iran is developing nuclear energy that is very controversial because many nations and leaders believe that their intention is to develop nuclear weapons.  These would most likely be used against Israel, which is why the Israelis are very concerned. However, Americans are interested in the situation not only because of Israel, but also because this controversy drives the gas prices up around the world. The majority of oil is exported out of the Middle East, and when there are problems in that geographic area, there gas prices become high.  The top portion of the political cartoon depicts and Israeli fighter jet that is assumed to be heading towards Iran to attack them, while on the bottom there is a regular citizen complaining about how the gas prices are rising due to tension in the Middle East.   

            The author likely drew this cartoon because they wanted to further explain, with an American point of view, the conflict with Iran and the effects it would have on Americans and on the world.  He created it for Americans and with an American eye because he didn’t focus on the potential consequences for Israel but rather shows the effect on gas prices and how Americans will struggle to keep up.  Also, it is important to note that Irani effects are not mentioned in this cartoon, showing that the cartoon is trying to portray Iran negatively.  In order to achieve his purpose, the author based his cartoon in a cause and effect format, showing how the war would hurt Americans’ wallets through the price of oil.  Also, the word choice in the Israeli speech bubble includes the phrase “pay a steep price,” which is easily converted in to a monetary context.  This clever choice of words allows for humor in the cartoon when the person in the car responds with "so am I."  The author did a good job portraying his purpose because the reader was able to take away the implications of the tension in Iran and the reader understands how America would be hit.  Also, because the author uses humor to communicate his message, it makes it easier for Americans to understand and take away from.

Christian Mingle Ad

This advertisement is marketing ChristianMingle.com, a dating website specifically targeted to single Christians.  The company plays off of religion and destiny in order to persuade potential customers to join.  This particular ad is encouraging viewers to join the website in order to "find God's match for them."  The advertisement was found on the home page of philly.com, the website corresponding to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

This advertisement makes its target audience very clear.  The words "Single and Christian?" are printed in all caps and are centered on the ad.  These are also the largest words on the advertisement, drawing the readers' attention to them.  If the reader meets these criteria, they are more likely to examine the rest of the ad.  This is very effective because in the range of the advertisement, many people are both single and Christian, making this ad appealing to many people.  In order to achieve its purpose of getting people to join the site, the advertisement employs multiple marketing techniques.  First, it computer generates a woman, designed to look as appealing to single Christians as possible, in order to draw people into the advertisement.  This further narrows the audience of the advertisement, making it more appealing to men.  Then, the ad uses both ethos and pathos in the statement "Find God's Match for You."  This demonstrates ethos because it claims to be able to use the power of God in order to find the person destined to be your soulmate.  This intrigues many people.  This establishes pathos because it makes people feel excited and curious about who God would find for them.  Then, in order to seal the deal, the advertisement puts an orange block in the bottom right hand corner with the words "Browse for Free." This shows the viewer that there is no price to just exploring, greatly increasing the chance of gaining customers from that ad.  The colors are very bright and clean, what one would expect when trying to search for love.  Because of the ingenious use of many of these marketing and rhetorical techniques, this advertisement is very effective.