"The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell- post 1

Certain events happen in this world that seem inexplicable; most people go about their lives without ever trying to explain them. They view such phenomena as completely random and independent of each other. In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell attempts to prove that this is not the case. Many events and trends can be explained through three encompassing “rules of epidemics”: “The Law of the Few”, the “Stickiness Factor”, and the “Power of Context.” Gladwell applies these theories to a multitude of diverse things in order to increase the strength and magnitude of his overarching argument and expositions.

The use of anecdotes is extremely powerful in this novel. Short, resonating stories are recounted in every chapter. It is largely the arrangement, however, that makes the anecdotes so powerful.  Many chapters begin with a unique anecdote about some seemingly esoteric topic. This draws the reader’s attention effectively instead of boring them with broad assertions. Gladwell then analyzes these anecdotes to dissect the influence of the three encompassing theories. During the analysis, he appeals very strongly to his audience’s logos with a wide array of facts and statistics to support his evidence. This structure leaves the reader curious how the stories will be applied, and then completes their sense of anticipation with concise and all-inclusive answers.

Malcolm Gladwell has a gift. He presents an argument not of content, but of the process of thinking. He forces people to think about the trends and topics around them in a very different way. In The Tipping Point he assumes the role of a quilter. Each presented anecdote is a section, and his logical analysis using the “rules of epidemics” act as the thread that hold them together.  

"Governing Bad" Economics, Congress, and Drugs

“Breaking Bad.” You say those two words to almost any group of friends, and a conversation is bound to ensue about the dramatic, controversial television program. The fiscal cliff that America faces is also a topic of hot discussion. David Fitzimmons addresses the economic problem in his unique cartoon that spins the “Breaking Bad” theme into a shot at Congress. Using a play on words, this cartoon is entitled “Governing Bad.” It depicts a man, holding a bag of drugs, that says “I can’t stop cooking.” The man represents congress, and the illegal substances are meant to depict the national debt.

The television metaphor is used very effectively to communicate Fitzsimmons’s message by making it more relatable to its viewers. The drug dealer is shown as having an addiction to cooking the drugs. In this cartoon, congress becomes the drug dealer and the drugs are the debt. Fitzsimmons uses this analogy to show that, no matter what they try, congress simply cannot avoid raising the fiscal debt. Drug dealers have an infamous reputation in society, and this is used to instill a relatable message about Fitzsimmons’s feelings towards congress. He also uses the extremely negative connotations that are associated with cooking the drugs drugs to analogize the impact that congress has specifically had on the debt. Not everyone is engaged in politics. This cartoon relates a political theme to one that is common in pop culture discussions, ultimately making its message accessible to a wider range of audience and increasing its effectiveness. 

To view the cartoon: http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/5011763f-84e0-4b97-9bb0-7125e45f39aa.html

"Frank Ocean Can Fly"- The man behind the music

Millions of people are tuning in tonight to watch as a multitude of talented musicians compete for the prestigious Grammy awards. From country to R&B, the selection of artists is eclectic. One of these names is Frank Ocean, who has been nominated for 6 Awards pertaining to his recent album “Channel Orange.” Ocean is a unique, devoted, tenacious, and trend-setting 25 year-old who seems to be ahead of his time. His records are distinguishable from the redundant tracks often released in today’s music industry. Jeff Himmelman successfully captures the essence of the man behind the music in his interview with Frank Ocean.

Most interviews are written in a formulaic output. They simply tell an account of the conversations had between interviewer and interviewee. In this sense, they become boring quite quickly. Instead, Himmelman utilizes an anachronistic arrangement to his advantage. By telling things out of order, he becomes a storyteller rather than an interviewer. Ocean’s life and “character” is told through the persona of Himmelman, rather than a bland, chronological retelling of Ocean’s interview.

Frank Ocean has achieved fame mainly through his album “Channel Orange.” To appeal to a likely audience of Ocean fans, Himmelman uses this as a recurring theme. Multiple times throughout the piece, the record is indirectly used to relate and depict parts of Ocean’s life. For example, Himmelman writes, “Like Ocean in person, the album is challenging. It demands to be taken on its own terms, and in places it puts you to work.” The entity of the album is used to analogically describe Ocean as a person. Himmelman also uses certain songs from the album as anecdotes, relating their essential meaning to the topics that Ocean brings up in the interview.

After reading the piece, I have a completely changed view of Frank Ocean. He is no longer a superficial music-maker, but a man with a very interesting story and view of life. Through Himmelman’s anachronistic arrangement and use of “Channel Orange,” a unique reading experience is obtained through the piece that ultimately creates a resonating and impassioned impression of Frank Ocean in its readers. 

For more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/magazine/frank-ocean-can-fly.html?ref=magazine&_r=0

A Catastrophic Failure of Prediction

The recession of the late 2000’s is known as one of the worst American financial crises in history. Millions of people lost their homes, jobs, and sense of security. Everyone seems to have their own opinions pertaining to the causes of the massive incident. Nate Silver, who is known for his stellar election predictions and commentary, takes his personal stance in this excerpt from his book The Signal and the Noise.  Two weeks before the 2008 presidential election, ratings scientists were hired by the government to determine the likelihood that mortgage backed securities would default. Silver places much of the blame for the recession on their failed predictions.

A metaphor is used rather effectively to communicate the complex topic. Silver writes, “It was as if the weather forecast had been 86 degrees and sunny, and instead there was a blizzard.” By comparing the event to a weather forecast, Silver taps into the cultural memory of his audience and makes the complexity of mortgage backed securities predications seem austere. The logos of the American audience is also appealed to in Silver’s cause and effect description of the false predictions that caused the recession. It is ultimately due to these rhetorical devices that Silver’s false prediction notion is perceived as an intelligible and convincing theory for the cause of the recession.

TOW Rewrite: Finding Musical "Diamonds" in the Slums of Paradise City

Food, running water, and a toilet to go to the bathroom in. These are all things we consider basic necessities and often take for granted. What would life be like without them? The unfortunate reality is that more than 11 million Brazilians live in favelas (slums), and many of them do not have access to such “amenities.” Joao Carlos Martins is trying to change that through music. He recently founded a program at the Paraisopolis Cultural Center that offers intensive weekly music classes. While it offers a new hobby for many, it also opens the doors to a wide array of new job opportunities with considerably higher wages. This is exactly what children of such indigence will need to survive.

As a Brazilian Correspondent for CNN, Shasta Darlington portrays this incredible story with efficacious arrangement. She begins with a very anecdotal and specific approach by detailing the life of Yanca Leite, a teenager who has been influenced by the musical program. By doing this, Darlington easily connects and draws her audience in. She then takes a more general approach by iterating facts of Brazilian poverty from numerous credible sources. This appeals to the audience’s sense of ethos, and it makes the widespread impact that the planned expansion of the program will have intelligible. Concluding with the following quote from Leite creates a full circle ending: "I play with all my heart," she says, breaking down in tears. "If it weren't for music, I'd be a drug addict or a prostitute or out robbing. Because that's the reality here." This creates a very resonating and impactful appeal to pathos. The wealth of important information and factoids presented in the article are not nearly as powerful until the audience is able to individualize their implications.

Darlington uses parallelism to compare the up-and-coming music program in Brazil with a successful predecessor in Africa. She describes the Kliptown Youth Program, which provides support services to youth in the slums of Kliptown, South Africa. This strengthens her argument for the effectiveness of Martins’ program. Logically, if a similar program has proven beneficial to its community, then the Brazilian slums will feel similar positive outcomes. Subtle irony is also displayed when the depressing town is referred to by its nickname of "Paradise City." 

Shasta Darlington created this piece to inform her readers about the humanitarian efforts going on in Paraisopolis, Brazil. In order to do this most effectively, she engaged her readers throughout. This was achieved through her outstanding arrangement, powerful anecdotes, and logical parallelism.

"Zero Dark Thirty" trailer

Over eleven years ago, a terrorist attack took the lives of over two-thousand American lives. From that day forward, the executives of our nation have dedicated countless hours and resources to finding the man responsible: Osama Bin Laden. After years of searching, he was found in Pakistan on May 2, 2011. "Zero Dark Thirty" is a movie that depicts the grueling search process, and the events that finally led to the murder of Bin Laden. The events are factual, and have come from various sources that were involved in the events.

A very convincing trailer for the movie was created, in which numerous scenes are intensely depicted.  Tension seems to rise with each second the trailer plays. From the beginning, it is nearly impossible to take your eyes off the screen. The creator makes great use of music, with a slow piano beat that continues to increase in frequency along with loud background noise. This adds to the sense of suspense as well as the action of the events that are depicted.

There are numerous dialogues that occur throughout the trailer. Between the various mini-scenes and interactions between characters, a black screen pops up with titles and choppy phrases such as “Witness the Greatest Manhunt”, followed by “In History”. This creates a great sense of drama to the trailer, and keeps the audience guessing what will happen next. It also creates

The trailer intends to draw people so that by the end of the two-and-a-half minutes, the onlooker is excited to watch more. Americans are fascinated with the events that occurred before and during the operation, and this trailer is primarily geared towards them. It is very effective in entertaining its audience, however it does not reveal too many vital details of the movie. It ends right before the troops enter Bin Laden’s hideout, leaving the viewer in awe and needing to see more. 

"Teach men to treat women with respect"-- An article dealing with societal issues of women's rights

Contemporary society seems to have a very warped view of women’s rights. This has become evident on multiple incidents concerning sexual violence towards women. On one recent occasion, a teen in Steubenville, Ohio, posted a video of a sexual assault on a female classmate that took place during a party. Bystanders sat and watched as the horrific and demeaning event took place. When asked to come forwards, only two witnesses were willing to testify. While the people responsible are to be tried for their crimes, many feel that a more efficacious impact can be made through government. However, congress recently decided not to reauthorize The Violence Against Women Act. This document works to stop such issues by providing, among other important allocations, bystander intervention and prevention programs on high school and college campuses. Katie Hanna and Monika Johnson Hostler, both venerable representatives of women’s rights organizations, wrote this advocating and thought-provoking piece to display why this issue must be revisited in congress. The longer we wait to address the issue as a society, the more lives will be affected by senseless and heinous sexual violence. The piece uses pathos very well when describing the lives of females that are affected by sexually related crimes. Logos is also used in the rhetorical question, “As for survivors, how can they seek justice and healing if they have little support and resources available?” It is through the perspective of women and a commiserating persona towards society that makes the article a very opinionated yet convincing piece.