GasLand: Unit 5 Essential Questions

GasLand. Dir. Josh Fox. Perf. Josh Fox. New Video Group, 2010. DVD.

One of filmmaker Josh Fox's claims in his documentary GasLand is that American corporations and politicians are so fueled by their lust of profits that they are ignorant of the fact that they are causing the polluting of thousands of Americans' drinking water, leading to serious health issues. Fox is absolutely correct in questioning the policies of oil and gas companies toward the health of the citizens near gas rigs.

Weston Wilson, the whistleblower working at EPA that Fox interviewed, is very insightful when stating "all science and data stopped" after Bush passed his energy policy act in 2005. Also, he claims that the responsibility is on the gas industries to prove to the government that their drilling policies are not harmful to the environment or especially to the people living there. Wilson often brings up the point that these agreements of buying land and injecting chemicals are in complete secrecy and without consulting with the EPA, thanks to exploiting the Halliburton loophole back in 2005. Therefore, oil and gas companies have continuously passed the buck or completely ignored the obvious link between fracking and intermingling of fracking fluids and drinking water, as well as the air pollutants from the gas rigs. However, wouldn't it be up to the government to regulate these business practices through heavy investigation and the closing of loopholes? 

"What [Fox has] been picking up from these citizens is what we should be investigating, but we're not.  We're still asleep at the wheel... [The citizens] don't deserve to be exposed to secret chemicals. It's un-American...this may be a pattern repeating itself, but so far, we're on duty" 

--Weston Wilson, EPA employee

Unit 5 Essential Questions:

How do modern modes of communication affect the rhetorical devices individuals have at their disposal?

The modern documentary has allowed filmmakers to take action on issues that they see are crucial. In addition, it opens up a new world of rhetorical possibilities to use on their audience. For example, Josh Fox changes the mood in GasLand through transitional segments within the documentary, including cartoons back by cheerful music, stock footage, and analysis of government documents. This sets the mood away from one argument (or way of portraying an argument) to another without confusing the audience. This possibility is only available through the modern form of documentary.

How have modern modes of communication been perceived and received by the global community?

The modern documentary has reached out to millions of people, seeing that the message can now be shared through TV, movies, the Internet, and other forms of communication, all around the world. It is perceived in many ways, based on the individual's existing knowledge, location, or bias on the subject. For example, Fox shows maps of the potential drilling areas in GasLand, leading people who live in those large areas to feel concerned, and therefore receiving the idea more efficiently. Also, Fox paints a picture of Dick Cheney as a heartless, ignorant politician who only cares about cheap energy, even if it makes citizens' drinking water unhealthy. Some of the audience who already have bias toward Cheney might feel more comfortable with the message.

GasLand: Rhetorical Analysis

GasLand. Dir. Josh Fox. Perf. Josh Fox. New Video Group, 2010. DVD.
This documentary is an exploration into the harmful effects of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the United States. Josh Fox, a rural Pennsylvania resident, was appalled when looking in to the activities of various oil and gas companies all throughout the countries and decided to research the potential environmental disasters in Pennsylvania by traveling all around Colorado, Wyoming, Arkansas, Texas, and other states in which the dangers of fracking have appeared. He discovers many loopholes in government documents such as the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act that companies have greatly exploited in the past 10 years.

Fox's structure of his documentary is by far the most effective strategy used in GasLand. He starts by describing his home in Pennsylvania, which is on land that oil and gas companies want for gas production. After Fox first becomes active on the issue of fracking, he moves to a wider lens, exploring the closest drilling sites to his home and interviewing residents with contaminated water. Next, he travels to the west, where fracking first began, examining the long-term effects of drilling through powerful interviews with residents and research into studies, statistics and documents. Later, he has (or tries to have) interviews with company representatives, local officials, and community leaders. Finally, Fox ends with a blatant call to action from the public to rise against the dangers of oil and gas companies' fracking by asking questions on the outcomes of potential fracking in his home state and community.

Also, the director established his credibility at the beginning of the film by introducing himself as a selfless citizen who wants to protect his community as well as everyone's homes from fracking through various methods. Many of the shots of the camera pointing through a window give the audience something to relate to, since almost everyone in the country has looked out of a window of a car rolling down the road before. In addition, the scenes that include Josh attempting to call oil companies and constantly being transferred further connect with the audience. Out of all, one powerful line in the film drew my attention specifically: when Josh was asking for an interview with a company executive, someone on the phone asked who the documentary would be for. When Josh answered "the general public," he made it seem like the companies were completely turned off, leading into one failed attempt at an interview after another.

TOW Reflection: Two Presidents, Bill Clinton Speech (re-write), Calvin Hobbes

    Over this long, challenging year, I have learned about my personal writing style, identified several points of improvement, and followed through improving many of them very well. I remember Mr. Yost saying some time during the year that the primary purpose of this course is to develop the real-life skills of advanced reading and writing, which has been the purpose of numerous in-class assignments, group projects, the AP exam, and, of course, these TOW analyses. Therefore, I would like to take some time to observe my beneficial development in these posts to track my progress that will forever contribute to my talents as a reader and writer.
    My three TOW assignments that I will be analyzing are each from a consecutive marking period: Two Presidents, Smoking and Scheming; Bill Clinton's Speech at Montco; and the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, "You Need a Lobotomy." Each of these posts highlighted a spotlight of development, taught me something about my writing, and show improvement from earlier posts. Overall, the lesson that Smoking and Scheming taught me was to pick a topic that I want to write about, especially when you have the freedom to do so. This was the first time I used that freedom in these essays. Next, Bill Clinton's Speech at Montco was more of a traditional way of improving my writing in the middle of the year. My editor, Dave K, helped me mold arguments into my writing and introduced me to new ways of organizing my ideas and improving my writing. This is easily seen in my re-write, which is by far my most in-depth and advanced TOW of the year. Lastly, I dug deeper into my childhood by using these TOWs as a time trip with Calvin and Hobbes. This was my favorite TOW out of all to write because I had a personal connection with the topic, which made my argument stronger through extensive articulation of my memories into the TOW.
     With the help of these TOWs, I have undoubtedly mastered "putting myself" into the essay and making this evident to the reader, further establishing my credibility. Now I can read almost any piece of writing and somehow build a connection and analyze the piece. Even though I have made drastic strides in organizing my ideas in an effective way, I still find myself trying to fit them into a traditional manner. Therefore, the greatest aspect of my writing to work on in the future is to work the structure and organization of my argument to make it more effective and less "boring."
   

NY Times: The Idled Young Americans

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/sunday-review/the-idled-young-americans.html?ref=opinion

This article highlights the little discussed fact that over the past 10 years, the United States has become the highest unemployment rate for citizens between the ages of 25-34 among the top economic countries. It starts off with a meaningful cartoon depicting college students leaving their campus and going straight to the unemployment office. Next, it elaborates on to the discrepancy between the county's modest economic recovery -- even better than most European countries -- and our weak growth in jobs for young adults. However, the article does add that that statistic does include post-bachelor education and young adults caring for children. Nonetheless, they are still a significantly poor numbers. The article ends with a few suggestions toward this recovery, most of them involving government support in fields that seem "unprofitable" and not monetarily useful, and a word of optimism.

Strangely enough, the author's credibility is established immediately after the article itself, stating "David Leonhardt is the Washington bureau chief of The New York Times." Leonhardt's successful strategies to reach his ideas out to the audience include his use of statistic contrast and an objective view of the problem and solution. For example, two graphs on the side show how America has lost its lead in employment among young adults and forms a connection to what other countries have done on this issue. Also, Leonhardt offers suggestions for fixing this situation without bashing someone else's opinion as well as speculates how this problem arose in the first place.

HuffPost: Senators Lose Support After Gun Control Vote

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/29/gun-background-checks-poll_n_3177865.html

After the recent voting down of background checks in Washington this week, many Americans were aggravated with Congress's supposed representation of the American people. After all, when 90% of Americans support an idea, yet it is not made into law, one could expect this aggravation. This Huffington Post article and video reinforces this concept, headlining that five senators have had their approval ratings slide significantly after voting against the large majority of Americans.

The tone of the article and video is very clear and almost condescending toward the senators and lawmakers that disagree with the American public. While listening to the newswoman's voice and reading the article, one can easily picture a chiding finger pointed at these Republican senators. Also, to balance out this tone, the video in particular brings up a counterargument claiming that one senator's approval ratings in particular might have dropped because of other policies, such as immigration policy. 

The Fuel of the Future -- The Economist April 2013

This article, published in The Economist for the week of 4/6/13, discusses a "new, carbon-neutral" fuel called biomass, though some might refer to the source as its more-common name, wood. Although wood may not be widely known as a carbon-neutral source of energy, it certainly is possible with proper reforestation policies in place. In fact, many European countries -- including Germany, one of the most prominent countries in terms of energy reform -- are making moves toward a heavier reliance on biomass with new subsidies and importing measures. After further analysis, the article finally claims that wood is inefficient in fighting the carbon battle for 100 years, even surpassing coal as the dirtiest resource for several years of its first applications as fuel.

The author of this article is clever at first grabbing the attention of its audience flipping through the pages of The Economist through the irony of a picture of a caveman lighting a fire and the headline: The Fuel of the Future. In addition, the article's first paragraph asks a couple questions about renewable energy, leaving the reader wanting to know the answer. Furthermore, it answers the question with wood, a source that is rarely ever thought as a "future-like" energy source.

The article continues by detailing countries' advancement of their "biomass" subsidies and importation of "biomass", clearly a more dependable word than "wood." Also, the author builds up to the underlying question in the reader's mind: "But is it efficient?" The article answers the question directly: no. This climax finally resolves the reader's newly opened mind on the subject of using wood as a major carbon-neutral source.

Calvin and Hobbes: "You Need a Lobotomy"

http://www.progressiveboink.com/2012/4/21/2912173/calvinhobbes

   This is one of the most satirical and classic Calvin and Hobbes strips I remember growing up with. In this cartoon, Calvin and Susie are playing a game involving a doctor and a patient when they start getting in an argument about where the game is going. Then the pretending starts to collapse when the two finally march away from each other in anger. It is a beautiful expression of youth and brings upon a  thoroughly accurate representation of childhood while reading and looking at the cartoon. On top of it all is a great sense of nostalgic humor.
   The first prominent rhetorical device that the author uses is the mood of the drawings. As mentioned in the brief quote from author Bill Waterson below, the dramatic angles and pictures alluding to soap operas are funny enough when they're real, so there was not much effort needed to parody the concept. More specifically, the timing of the drawings shifting from unfamiliar faces to the classical C&H style is so perfect because one can picture two children fighting while reading the dialogue beforehand, yet the pictures are still of adults and include those "dramatic angles" mentioned earlier. Next, the cartoonist uses the classic, witty ending by Calvin when he says, "the Surgeon General should issue a warning about playing with girls." Like almost all other C&H strips, it shows off his sophisticated, humorous vocabulary for his age as well as uses Hobbes as Calvin's more mature yet clever counterpart.  

iWoz: Chapters 5-7

This section of the autobiography highlights three main, consecutive events in Steve Wozniak's life: building his first computer, meeting Steve Jobs, and his adventures with the "Blue Box". These pivotal moments of his life all happened while he was in college and his later business partner, Steve Jobs, was in high school (coincidentally the same high school as the one Wozniak went to). The author states that his first computer, the Cream Soda Computer, was the greatest milestone to date; his meeting Steve Jobs started a great friendship, and soon a successful professional career; and his "Blue Box", a machine which allows the user to override the telephone lines and make free long-distance calls, was the creation he is still most proud of today.

Steve Wozniak's continues his purpose of inspiring the reader to accomplish great feats in his or her life by telling anecdotal adventures regarding his love of computers. The reason this strategy is effective is because it shows the reader that he or she has to be interested in his or her field to be able to excel in the subject. Another way the author accomplishes his purpose is by focusing on his relationship and adventures with Steve Jobs. For example, he tells the reader his story of the unsuccessful poster flipping off the senior class at Wozniak's and Jobs's high school. Wozniak implies clearly that this was a bonding event between the two individuals because they learned much about each other that helped strengthen their friendship for many years to come.

iWoz: Chapters 2-4

This chapter of iWoz highlights Steve Wozniak's adventures throughout a good portion of his educational career, from the science projects in elementary school all the way up until his programming pranks in college. The autobiographer traces all his engineering projects, keeping up with his reoccurring theme of self-determination to become the most excelled and successful among his fellow students. Wozniak first describes his advanced intelligence while learning about transistors and other electronics in first grade, than winning awards for building outstanding devices, than finally developing these devices to play fun and sometimes costly pranks on others.

The author's purpose during these chapters is to inspire students to challenge themselves by guiding them through his journey to the top in order to help create a more intelligent and advanced world. The first way the author inspires the reader is by writing in subtle references to how poor his family was. For example, when considering where to go for college, Wozniak deeply wanted to go to the University of Boulder in Colorado. However, his dad did not want him to go there because of the high tuition rate. Therefore, they made a compromise in which he would go to Boulder for one year and then transfer to a community college. Later, the author explains how he strived to make the best of his time in Boulder. This shows the reader how one can always overcome their issues by believing in him or herself and making the best of what he or she has. Another way Wozniak inspires the reader is by making it clear when he made a mistake and how he should have learned from it. The two times this is expressed is through his TV jammer in his college dorm and his programs in the computer programming class that accidentally cost the department its budget many times over. 

NPR: When Rand Paul Ended Filibuster, He Left Drones On National Stage

http://www.npr.org/2013/03/10/173864536/when-rand-paul-ended-filibuster-he-left-drones-on-national-stage

This article discusses a topic that Senator Rand Paul touched upon during his 13-hour filibuster last week: the use of drones on U.S. citizens. The Senator claims that this hypothetical power to use drones on U.S. citizens is against the President's oath of office. Although the Senator also went into ethics of drones in general during his filibuster, this article explores it further, explaining that Democratic Senator Richard Durbin from Illinois will hold a hearing discussing legal authority on drone attacks overseas. However, this article mainly reacts to analysis from Paul's filibuster regarding domestic drone attacks, both positive and negative. For example, it highlights a conversation following the speech between Republican Senator Ted Cruz from Texas and Attorney General Eric Holder. Cruz illustrates a situation: "Suppose someone was sitting in a cafe, drinking a cup of coffee. Should the government be able to use a drone against that man?" To which Holder responds that the government cannot even arrest the man, let alone attack him.

This article and audio clip comes from National Public Radio, a large, credible news organization. It uses several rhetorical devices on its audience of adult readers in order to convey its purpose that our government needs to clear up its policy on overseas drone attacks. The most effective strategy is the article's use of cliffhanger at the end, leading the audience to become interested in this April hearing about drone ethics. Also, a subtopic the article mentions in the ineffectiveness of hypothetical situations such as the one Ted Cruz uses above.

Politizane: Wealth Inequality in America

http://www.complex.com/tech/2013/03/video-shows-shocking-imbalance-of-us-wealth-distribution

This video was an instant wake-up call to me on the issue of unequal wealth distribution in the country. It can be summarized in two sections: the first graph and the second graph. The first graph is simply a type of pie graph, only in a line instead of a circle. The second graph is a line plot, which turns out to be even more perplexing than the first.

The context of the video is the ongoing issue of unreasonably uneven wealth distribution in the United States, which the speaker addresses very clearly. His audience is directed more toward the liberal side, since he illustrates socialism as not such a bad idea. The speaker's purpose is to open Americans' eyes to the problem of uneven wealth in America using visual evidence and comparisons to our perception of the problem and to perhaps encourage Americans to spread the message. The number of ways the speaker is getting his point across is so many that it surprises me to no end. However, the most prominent and effective strategy in the video is undoubtedly his use of visuals mentioned earlier. For example, his second section of the video includes a line plot in which every percentile is represented as a person on the graph. Then there are stacks of money for each person respectively. Since I am a strong visual learner, I literally sat in my seat open-mouthed when the speaker said that the top one percent are at a representation ten times the size of the graph. That sort of mind-blowing proportion personally hit me hard. In addition to the real visuals, he compares them to the average American's distorted view on the situation. It is unbelievable how 5,000 Americans were no naive, and it makes his audience think of how each one of them would have answered the poll. The speaker is absolutely successful in conveying his message and consequently opening our eyes to the realistic issue of wealth inequality in the country through his use of visuals and comparisons to Americans' twisted perception of the problem.     

Time Magazine: "Stick and Stones:" Does Facebook and Twitter Give Bullying More Power?

http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/22/sticks-and-stones-does-facebook-and-twitter-give-bullying-more-power/print/

This article, written by Alexandra Sifferlin from Time Magazine, looks upon our social media world today through the lens of bullying. To begin, she highlights an argument in a book called "Sticks and Stones" claiming that the Internet has spun bullying out of control. She then continues to support this claim through a recent study at Duke University that mentions how being bullied as a child can be severe even in the future to a victim, possibly causing psychiatric issues. After analyzing some more evidence to bullying being problematic in the future and interviews with the author of "Sticks and Stones," the author leaves us with some advice on how we can protect our children against the emerging issue of cyberbullying.

Sifferlin is a graduate from Northwestern and is a current writer and producer for Time Magazine's Healthland. This article revolves around a prevalent issue in our country, emphasizing cyberbullying as a increasingly detrimental problem in society. Sifferlin's purpose is to argue that cyberbullying is not stressed enough in our culture. In order to get her claim across to her audience of adults with children, she both uses practical evidence from studies and ends with speaking directly to her audience. More importantly, Sifferlin slowly shifts from general, logical evidence to a more personal, one-on-one tone. She uses the mindset of the reader to her advantage: first, she convinces them that cyberbullying is a major problem toward young children; then she mom's perspective of bullying to connect with the audience; finally, she leaves the reader with parental advice on how to have your kids avoid this issue. This creates a very reinforced argument that is sure to have an effect on the author's audience.

iWoz: Chapters 1-3

    This book is an autobiography on Steve Wozniak, the multi-millionaire most known for being co-founder of Apple with Steve Jobs. The story has so far only described his early years and childhood, further detailed through stories about his family and lifestyle. For example, when he and his friends were eleven years old growing up in Silicon Valley, they formed a group called the Electronics Kids. Since most of the group members had fathers that were engineers or mechanics, they had background knowledge on how to build cables and microphones. Therefore, they decided to build a secret intercom system connecting six houses together in order to plan out when they would sneak out of their rooms at night. When the idea was finally brought to life, they bought toilet paper to throw at girls' houses.
   Wozniak states his purpose very plainly on the cover of the book: "How I invented the personal computer, co-founded Apple, and had fun doing it." Other than illustrating his purpose in the subtitle of the book, the straightforward wording also alludes to a rhetorical device that the author uses: simplicity. Both in terms of vocabulary and descriptive language, Wozniak's simplicity conveys to his audience of Apple users and future engineers that he is not hiding his message behind complex rhetoric or detail. In other words, the author is using a lack of rhetoric as a rhetorical strategy. With regard to accomplishing his purpose, Wozniak uses accounts from his life, such as the Electronics Kids mentioned earlier, to connect to his audience and establish ethos. Fortunately, the author does not have to work that hard to establish ethos, since anyone buying the book probably knows who Steve Wozniak is. 

Ambler Gazette: Whitpain inventor flips the horizontal game of chess to vertical

http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2013/02/10/ambler_gazette/news/doc51088d2e92133704120510.txt?viewmode=fullstory

This local article highlights a Blue Bell inventor named Steve Bailey. Based on Bailey's "stand-up" habits, he developed a new approach to the classic game of chess. Instead of using a board that sits horizontally on a table, he made a prototype that is built into the wall, stood up vertically, and magnetically attracted to the pieces. Bailey describes how it could be used in bars, possibly used similarly to a dartboard. He is currently using websites such as kickstarter.com and quirky.com to get his idea out to the public, finance his manufacturing endeavors, and further improve his idea. The invention is currently patent pending.
The source of this article was Montgomerynews.com, which is a local website dedicated to news in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. This particular article was published on this website from the Ambler Gazette. Gary Puleo, the author of the article, has written for the Times Herald and the Ambler Gazette for over 20 years. The audience of this article includes the regular Ambler Gazette readers, more specifically those who like to read pieces about unique ideas. The context is the emerging ways to start a business and get your ideas out to the public, and the purpose is to highlight and inform the readers about this phenomenon. A prominent stylistic trait in this article is the language the author uses to keep the article interesting. For example, if the reader was not very interested in chess to begin with, the author incorporated business, financial, military aspects to the story to keep it appealing to a widespread audience. It is hard to say without bias whether the author accomplished this, since I was hooked with the mention of chess in the first place. However, I believe the author did accomplish his main purpose by describing the up-and-coming new ways to conduct business through the Internet.

ABC News: School Turnarounds Prompt Community Backlash

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/school-turnarounds-prompt-community-backlash-18392068

This article adresses and analyzes the limited success of the "School Turnaround" initiative all across the country. First, it describes several complaints from African-american and Hispanic families that the Department of Education civil rights office has stepped in to investigate (Ambler, PA being one of them). Next, it delves into the question that faces many large school systems in the country: How should the problem be fixed? The two main competing arguments, with a sweeping statement, are extensive, radical change versus slight tweaking. More specifically, the advocates for large changes in the school systems argue for changes in the school structure, replacing over 50% of staff, or turning the school to a different charter; advocates for smaller changes support ideas such as developing new learning strategies and investing into new technology. President Obama's school improvement program that went into effect in 2010 includes options from the school to choose from both sides of the spectrum. Lastly, the article analyzes the "mixed" results from this renewed program.

Written by Christina Hoag from the Associated Press, this article is intended to be read by ABC News's audience because it is the top story under the "education" page. The purpose of this article is to inform the public of the ongoing education problem around the country as well as introduce the public to opinions to judge for themselves. In order to accomplish this goal, the author established her credibility in the piece by mentioning the positions of or citing quotes from various figures in the issue, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Similarly, the author stays in an objective tone because she does want to intrude the informative article with her own personal opinions. If Hoag breaks this objectivity, it would de-establish the articles credibility, ruining her goal. However, she did not, so she is very effective in bringing her point across to readers.   

Bill Clinton Speech at Montco - 11/5/12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxd8MH_9EVQ

    On November 5th, only a day before the 2012 election, former President Bill Clinton spoke at a pro-Obama rally at Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania. In this portion of the speech, appropriately titled "the future", Clinton discussed how President Obama is the right choice in this election by describing the president's past actions and how they will positively affect students and the middle class. For example, he described a program going into effect next year that will have students pay a low, fixed student loan rate off of their income. Bill Clinton's argument throughout his speech was that President Barack Obama is the right choice for president because he is arguing the same points the President advocates for and is endorsing him continuously.
     As many Americans know right now, the United States is going through tough times. The economy is recovering at a sluggish rate, the number of Americans on food stamps or welfare is increasing, and students are graduating from college into an environment with 7.9% unemployment. Considering this situation, former President Clinton spoke for his audience of young workers and students to inspire and connect with Montgomery County citizens and to encourage them to vote for President Obama on Election Day.
     Clinton's argument was arranged in a set of enthymemes; he uses each of Obama's accomplishments as a reason for the American people to vote for him. As stated earlier, his claim is "you should vote for President Obama". Each of his minor premises would be something like "President Obama has done the following for the country and the people...". His unstated major premise is "These accomplishments are beneficial factors when deciding who to vote for President".
     Two prominent rhetorical elements President Clinton used in his speech were logos and pathos. He used logos by sharing irrefutable facts to express his point such as his investment in educational programs and small businesses. Furthermore, he used pathos by connecting his irrefutable facts and claim to his audience of Americans living in that area and by talking about the Community College itself: "What works is what works here... We have a lot of cooperation at the community college, do you like that?... [Obama] has invested in the finest student loan reform in my lifetime". Clinton uses this tactic to deeply touch his audience that is familiar with the community college. Paired with Clinton's persona as a former and accomplished President, he is successful in getting his claim to his audience and affecting each person listening to his speech.
     Former President Bill Clinton accomplished his purpose successfully through this speech because he implemented Obama's name behind each of the successes in this country over the past four years, which led the audience to respond in a very confident, pleased manner. By doing this, he made his audience energetic and enthusiastic to vote for the current President of the United States.
    The next day, President Obama won the state of Pennsylvania and the overall election, winning him another four-year term in the White House. Bill Clinton endorsed the President and rallied behind him for a very long time. By going around the country giving his speeches and inspiring his claim among citizens, there is no doubt he significantly helped President Obama win the election.

BBC News -- France Rafale jets target Gao in eastern Mali

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21002918



This article explains some information about France's recent assault against rebel troops in Mali. The old French colony has been in a state of civil war for months against an uprising demanding a radical interpretation of Islamic law. The rebels have occupied several towns in eastern and southern Mali. On Friday, France started taking action by deploying warplanes in the country. They will meet with the UN later this week. Over a hundred militants have died and civilians have crossed borders into neighboring countries.

This BBC article has been on the front page of the website for all day today, revolving around the ongoing conflict in Mali. The text's purpose is to inform BBC readers about France's military action against Malian rebels. The article hopes to share its information in an objective, neutral manner in order to not discriminate against its readers' own opinions. For example, a British citizen who reads this article might support the Malian rebels and still receive the same information in a fair manner. 

A rhetorical element that the author used in this article is his objective tone. In other words, he does not express his opinion on the issue. By doing this, the author appeals to all audiences and is unbiased on the topic. Another rhetorical element is the use of short, clear sentences. The text is set up in this way because the article's purpose is not to wow its audience with creativity and use of language. It is to be straightforward and simply state the facts, which the author successfully achieves in this article

Dreams from My Father: Chapters 2-6

"...the same thought had occurred to me... The emotions between the races could never be pure; even love was tarnished by the desire to find in the other some element that was missing in ourselves. Whether we sought out our demons or salvation, the other race would always remain just that: menacing, alien, and apart" (p. 124).

This portion of the book is focused mainly on the reoccurring obstacle of racial adversity as Barack Obama shuffles through his childhood and college life. Obama moves to Indonesia with his mother to live with her second husband. There, Obama tells stories about discrimination he remembers facing before he was even ten years old. Shortly after, the family moved back to Hawaii, and young Obama enrolled in a school from 5th grade until graduation. He was one of a small minority of black students. After graduating, Obama went to college in Las Angeles, where he lived a life full of parties and drinking. More stories are told through relatives that give more information about Obama's father's struggle in marrying a white American and having him. The chapter ends with a dream about Obama visiting his old, frail father in a cot before he died.

In this section of the story, young Obama is finding his belonging, searching for his place in the world, and ultimately learning who he is. To the reader, his or her interest is gradually rising in Obama's journey towards finding his place in the world, amid all sorts of discrimination. One tool used by the author to really grab the reader's attention was the use of vulgar language. Predominantly in his college years, Obama illustrates his experiences very thoroughly through the use of strong language because it lets the reader know that he is not clouding up any of his stories; he is opening himself up to his audience.