TOW # 7 "2D Ebola Case Raises Urgency" - Article

In the October 16, 2014 issue of The Philadelphia Inquirer, an article named 2D Ebola Case Raises Urgency addresses the Ebola virus that has been brought to the United States. Written by three successful authors at the Washington Post, Mark Berman, Lena H. Sun, and Joel Achenbach, the article discusses the outbreak and the reactions of American citizens. Their audience being Americans specifically in the Philadelphia area, the authors attempt to inform their readers of new developments regarding Ebola and the feelings of the American public. Ethos, logos and diction are three forms of rhetoric the authors use to achieve their purpose. Throughout the article, the use of credible sources, such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Thomas Frieden and David Daigle, as well as President Obama, allows the authors to appear trustworthy and establish their credibility. These professional testimonies also allow the authors to provide the reader with factual information. They write, “Frontier Airlines and the CDC scrambled to contact the 132 passengers aboard flight 1143”. This enables the reader to comprehend the reality of the situation and understand the actions being taken to prevent further outbreak. Also, when quoting President Obama, they write about Obama’s experience at Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas, where he hugged, kissed, and shook hands with the doctors and nurses who took care of the Ebola patient. By providing this fact, the authors are trying to evoke a sense of calmness in the reader, while furthering President Obama’s message to Americans that Ebola will not become an epidemic in the U.S. Certain diction that the authors use allow them to establish the feelings of the American public with words like “Lied To”, which is the title for the third section of the article. Those two words alone portray the feelings of all Americans; they feel lied to. They feel they have been misled regarding the preparation of hospitals and prevention of the disease, when they allowed the second nurse, Amber Vinson, to board a plan. I believe Berman, Sun and Achenbach achieve their purpose throughout this piece. They effectively informed their readers on the newest developments of the disease and social reactions. 

TOW # 6 "You Owe Me" (Essay)

In this essay, You Owe Me, Miah Arnold tells her story about teaching English to the dying patients at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Miah Arnold holds a Ph.D in writing and literature from the University of Houston, as well as teaches both children and adults alike throughout Houston. In her essay, Arnold discusses some of the terminally ill students she works with. Her target audience is parents and caretakers who must suffer the horrible fait of losing their child. Keeping in mind her audience, Miah Arnold’s purpose is to provide comfort for those parents and caretakers who do have to suffer the death of their kids. Trying to achieve this, Arnold uses characterization of some of her students. “Whatever it was he saw endowed him with an overwhelming generosity of spirit and the most intense humanity I had ever witnessed” (Arnold 30). This description is of Gio, one of her students, who was given only two months to live and after he received this news his entire personality changed, but not in a bad way. He did not mope around or break things or scream at people, he became kind. She uses this to show that death does not have to be sad or scary. If it was not either for Gio why should it be for his parents? Another rhetorical device Arnold uses is anecdotes. She explains in one section of her essay about a time when one of her students’ mothers came up to her after a class and said, “I just stood outside the door and listened to Umberto laughing...” (33). This anecdote serves her purpose because it reveals a deeper meaning for her essay. Not only does this show that parents can still find some joy watching their children at the end of their very short life, but also that that child can enjoy it as well. I believe that Miah Arnold achieves her purpose very well. I became very sad yet joyous when reading this, which I believe is the feeling Arnold was trying to bring forth from her readers.     

TOW # 4 "Your Skin Color Should Not Dictate Your Future" (Visual Text)

This advertisement is called, “Your Skin Color Should Not Dictate Your Future, and it is a powerful message about the racism and stereotyping that goes on in the world today. LICRA, the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism, is the foundation that produced this advertisement. It was established in 1927by Bernard Leacache in France, and since 1999 addresses social issues such as work discrimination, citizenship, and disadvantaged youth. The organization is targeting an audience of non-Caucasian young kids and young adults. However, it can also be meant for anyone, in order to spread awareness. This advertisement shows three babies, two of whom are Caucasian and the other Hispanic. The Hispanic baby is dressed in a maid’s outfit with a rag and a duster, trying to show the stereotypes society gives people of color. This advertisement uses satire to highlight the human vices of discrimination and racism in order to reform them. By doing this it is making the audience aware of how they themselves might judge someone based on their skin color. This advertisement also uses pathos to achieve its purpose. By using babies as the subject of this picture it is invoking an emotional response from the audience that may not have been achieved if they used older subjects. It brings about sympathy from the audience making them want to do something to fix the social issue. I find this advertisement extremely successful in persuading the reader and achieving its purpose. The picture perfectly appeals to the reader’s feelings of sadness and need to do something to change this horrible societal problem.

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