TOW #20 - Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disaster, and Survival (Anderson Cooper) Part I

In his memoir titled, Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disaster, and Survival, Anderson Cooper, a journalist having mostly worked with CNN, recounts the many times that he has been on the scene of, as the title says, war, disaster, and the struggle of people for their survival within these conditions. Writing in order to provide a new first person perspective of these major events to readers, Cooper was inspired to create his memoir after Hurricane Katrina. He is able to provide this perspective through his employment of similes and intense and emotional imagery.

Within the section of the text focusing on Hurricane Katrina, Cooper notes that, “I’ve continually volunteered to report on hurricanes. It’s not just the storm itself that I find compelling, but also the hours before and after.  There is a stillness, quietness.  Stores are shut, homes boarded up.  In many ways it feels like a war zone” (Cooper 125).” By comparing the time before and after a major storm, such as Hurricane Katrina, to that of a warzone, Cooper is able to show the reader the many ways that these events can affect a community, beyond what most people may see on a surface level. For those living within a region hit by such a powerful storm, life seems to come to a screeching halt, with everything being closed down. As a result, nothing happens, everyone takes shelter and waits. This is eerily similar to how people must react when they may find themselves in the midst of a war. Without Cooper’s writing, many people may have continued to see major storms as simply a major physically destructive force, not one that also affects the lives of many.

Continuing with this idea and Hurricane Katrina, Cooper goes on to tell the reader that. “It’s easy to get caught up in all the excitement, easy to forget that while you are talking on TV, someone is cowering in a closet with their kids, or drowning in their own living room” (Cooper 127). The words that Cooper delivers to the reader are grim in a bone chilling sense. His statement of imagining someone drowning within their own living room is horrifying and it continues to provide that sense of perspective that most people lack. For most, a storm is something that they will read about on their computer or phone in the comfort of their own home, safely. However, they will not understand the complete devastation that it offers to the people that are actually there. Cooper is able to provide this painful image to the reader in order to create this new idea, perhaps as an effort to motivate people to assist those in need in any way that they can.
Overall, I do believe that Anderson Cooper has effectively been able to accomplish his purpose in creating a new sense of perspective in his readers. I now think of events such as major storms as more than just something that can devastate the environment, but the lives of the very people living within it as well.

TOW #19 - Why Trump's Wall Won't Keep Out Heroin

On February 16th of 2017, the New York Times published an article by Sam Quinones, a writer that focuses on criminal justice and the US-opiate epidemic, that tells of the reason that Donald Trump’s proposed border wall will not be able to keep drugs like heroin from entering the country. Quinones is an expert on the many ways that drugs like heroin are able to enter the US and spread sporadically, having written many works on the subject including a book titled, Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic. In the article, Quinones is able to prove the ineffectiveness of “the wall” through the employment of personal anecdotes as well as powerful factual and statistical evidence.

Quinones opens his article by talking of an interaction that he had with a farmer living in Sinaloa, Mexico. During an interview with the farmer, he had told Quinones that “he was caught smuggling black-tar heroin in his shoes at the Tijuana-San Diego border crossing.” (Quinones). This is hugely significant as the US Mexico border is already patrolled day and night by border officers and drug enforcement officers. Despite the great amount of protection that already exists at the border, these substances are able to pass through. The plan to construct a wall at the border will not do anything to keep these drugs out. If those that smuggle them have found ways to transport them with the current level of protection, there is nothing to stop them from doing the same again.

Furthering this point, Quinones later discusses the incentives that these smugglers have to continue to their operations. In the case of the farmer that he was interviewing, “he put a little more than a pound and a half of heroin in his shoes, clearing as much as $12,000 in a single trip to the States.” (Quinones). Since people just like this farmer have the ability to make a massive amount of money without very much product, there is clearly great incentive for these people to continue their operations. A simple farmer, many of whom are poor, can gain great money from smuggling. With such an easy job at present with such a large return, the people who have been smuggling drugs across the US-Mexico border for as long as it has existed, will continue to do so and will continue to find new ways to do so, despite what Donald Trump does.

Overall, I do believe that Quinones does effectively prove that there is no way that a simple wall is going to be enough to quell the opiate drug epidemic that is growing within the United States. Afterall, it will only temporarily slow the transportation.

TOW #18 - How We Overcame Tyranny Before

On February 11th of 2017, the New York Times published an article written by professor of literature at Duke University, Ariel Dorfman, which speaks of the revolutionary period in Chile and how the themes of this time apply to the modern world. Dorfman begins her text by first describing the movement for revolution within Chile in a depth timeline beginning February 12th of 1817. Through her employment of unifying word choice and hopeful symbolism, she is able to demonstrate the timelessness of these revolutionary ideas.

Following the recalling of the history of the Chilean revolution for independence, Dorfman uses her article to tell how the ideas of needing to stand up for one’s beliefs exists today. Most important to note in the article is her usage of the words ‘we’ and ‘us’ such as in the statement “The mountains of Chile tell us that if we are brave enough, resourceful enough, imaginative enough, then nothing in this miraculous world is impossible.” (Dorfman). The inclusion of these words is significant to the message of the text as it shows the unification that the fight for rights garners. Just as people fought against tyranny in Chile 200 years ago, thousands stand together across the globe to fight government corruption and unfair treatment in countries such as Romania and the United States. This displays the relevancy of these ideas of unification as the world moves forward.

In order to achieve her purpose, Dorfman also creates powerful symbolism, such as comparing the army that fought for Chile to the people of the world fighting against the infringement of their rights today. She writes that “a group of men crossed these very Andes, impenetrable, colossal, majestic”. (Dorfman). By telling the reader that those that crossed the Andes mountains to come fight for the people of Chile overcame fierce opposition of the ‘impenetrable’ mountains, Dorfman shows that despite obstacles, it is possible to achieve results. This serves as a message for all of those struggling throughout the world that they CAN stand up for their beliefs and be successful. It only takes determination.

Overall, I do believe that Dorfman was able to effectively achieve her purpose. I do believe that it is extremely important that people stand up for their rights and for their beliefs and do not let any outside force take away their freedoms. This is essential for the modern world moving forward.

IRB Introduction #3 - Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival (Anderson Cooper)

For my third IRB of the 2016/2017 school year, I am choosing to read Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival written by Anderson Cooper. The book follows Anderson Cooper’s vast coverage of major events around the world, and as the title suggests, these include wars and disasters. I am choosing to read this book because it was recommended to me by a classmate as an IRB selection and also because I believe it will be very interesting to read a first hand account of many of the locations Cooper has gone to and the events that he has witnessed. For this reason, I believe I will greatly enjoy it and am excited to begin reading!

TOW #17 - Donald Trump: Day 15

On the third of February, 2017, the New York Times published yet another political cartoon by artist Patrick Chappatte titled “Donald Trump: Day 15”. The cartoon created by Chappatte, a repeating political cartoonist for the New York Times that has made cartoons nearly everyday focusing on the events of the election and the presidency of Donald Trump, aims to display many of the things that Trump has done as president within his first weeks of office. Through his exhibition of clever symbolism and allusion, Chappatte is able to show the destructiveness of Trump’s first days.

Most obvious to a viewer is that the White House oval office appears to be in shambles around Donald Trump. This unorganized mess symbolizes how Trump has been essentially “tearing up” Washington and the rest of the world with shattered glass on the floor, and a telephone tipped over. On a deeper level, the items such as the NATO poster with darts through it and the tearing of a European Union flag allude to Trump’s clear disdain for NATO as well as the EU. These feelings stir fear in the minds of many millions of people across the globe who are protected in some way or another under the provisions of NATO and those within the EU fear financial backfiring from the seemingly eventually disbanding of the organization. These feelings have only become more apparent as Trump continues his leadership.

Along with the items scattered about, Trump is seen speaking into a cell phone, uttering the words “give me another order to sign.” This is done in order to highlight how active he has been with in his first days in office, signing many executive orders, such as those that have removed the US from the TPP as well as the ban of thousands of refugees from entering the country. The backlash against these decisions is visible as there are many protesters outside the window into the oval office.

Overall I do believe that Chappatte displays some of the destructiveness of Trump within just his first days of office. Clearly, both his cartoon and my writing are biased, but I believe it is not difficult to see how much Trump has been changing the US, and as a result the world, in a matter of days.