IRB Introduction #2 The Gilded Razor (Sam Lansky)

For my second independent reading book of the school year, I have decided to read The Gilded Razor, a memoir that was written by Sam Lansky. I have chosen to read this book net because it was recommended to my by a classmate who had showed me sections of the book that I found quite interesting. It follows Lansky throughout his life full of physical abuse and severe drug abuse. I believe that it will be very moving to hear the story of someone who had struggled so much throughout so much of their life. I am very excited to begin!

TOW #9 - America Elects a Bigot

On November 10th, 2016, NY Times political writer Charles M. Blow posted an article titled, “America Elects a Bigot”. This strongly-titled article was published in response to the events of the American election in which Donald J. Trump was chosen to be the President-Elect of the United States. Writing to the people of America, Blow aims to show that if America is to remain successful, then this man must be under constant pressure from the people. Blow is able to prove this purpose through his use of strong diction and repetition of phrases. Early in the article, he writes, “It is hard to know specifically how to position yourself in a country that can elect a man with such staggering ineptitude and open animus.” (Blow Par. 5). Through the use of words like ineptitude and animus, Blow attempts to show the people just how unfavorable of a President Mr. Trump is. These words, which most would consider to be quite sophisticated, are more likely to grab the attention of the reader and they highlight his lack of skill and his open disliking of many different types of people who he has spoken out against. This is all in effort to show that Americans cannot morally let him do whatever he wants. To drive his point home, Blow tells that, “Also, let me be clear: Businessman Donald Trump was a bigot. Candidate Donald Trump was a bigot. Republican nominee Donald Trump was a bigot. And I can only assume that President Donald Trump will be a bigot.” (Blow Par. 6). By repeating phrases calling Trump a bigot, the idea becomes more likely to be ingrained in the head of the reader. Like his use of diction, this also highlights his horrible treatment of many ethnic groups. Overall, I do believe that Mr. Blow was able to effectively prove his purpose as I do not believe that a man like Trump is deserving of representing the values of our country and that Americans must carefully watch him.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/opinion/america-elects-a-bigot.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-abc-region&region=span-abc-region&WT.nav=span-abc-region&_r=0

TOW #8 - Sully (Chesley B. Sullenberger III) 2

In Chesley B. Sullenberger III’s autobiography Sully, he writes about the events of life that would eventually lead up to his emergency landing of Flight 1549 in the Hudson River and the effects of the event on his life afterwards. In the first half of the book, Sullenberger explains his lifelong interest in aviation and how he wanted more than anything else to become a pilot. Throughout the first half, it also became abundantly clear that Sully wrote his book, primarily to those that experienced the events of Flight 1549 with him, in order to help people find what really matters to themselves. This idea continues on through the remainder of Sullenberger’s account of his life. He is able to accomplish this by providing personal images and by discussing his values. After what could be considered the climax of the book when the plane is landed, Sullenberger provides a wealth of images. These images include pictures of the plane in the Hudson River, the crew at awards ceremonies, and even pictures of Sully with his wife and his kids. (Sullenberger 228). The inclusion of these pictures helps the reader to connect with Sullenberger on an emotional level as they feature those that he believes to be very important to himself. By displaying what the author finds important, a reader is more likely to begin to think of those that they love and value as well. Sullenberger continues this emotional appeal in the final pages of his book when discussing flying. He writes, “Just as I completely love Lorrie, Kate, and Kelly, I will never shake my love of flying. Never.” (Sullenberger 315). Despite having nearly faced death, Sullenberger’s passion has not faded. This is an attempt to inspire and motivate his readers that no matter what happens, you should never give up on the people and the aspects of your life that you truly value. Never. In the end, I believe that the message the Sully conveys is a very important one and he does so effectively by making his story personal. I would certainly recommend this book to others.

TOW #7 - Consider a Gap Year

On April 15th, 2011, the Huffington Post published an article written by David D. Burstein titled Consider a Gap Year. Burstein, a writer who focuses on young adults and millennials and took a gap year himself, writes to inform readers about the potential benefits that exist for those that take a gap year between high school and college. The article is clearly geared towards high school students who plan to attend college as it was published in the month of April that year, which is when many students across the country could expect to see the results of their college applications. To prove that a gap year could really be beneficial, Burstein uses personal anecdotes as well as statistics on the subject matter. Towards the middle of the text, Burstein writes, “The direction and perspective that my gap year gave me was far beyond anything my traditional educational experiences could ever provide. I made a film and started an organization dedicated to getting young people involved in politics.” (Burstein). Through his own personal example, Burstein is able to appeal to ethos and pathos as this not only displays his credibility, but it also is easy for a high school student to relate to the ideas of ‘not learning much’ from school. He goes on to talk about its profound effects for him, strengthening the emotional value. He also tells that “more than 3,000 students took gap years [in 2010]. This year that number is expected to go even higher.” (Burstein). By providing the reader with this statistic, the author is able to show his audience that taking a gap year is slowly becoming a more regular occurrence. With more and more people taking on this opportunity, the benefits will become even more apparent to the public. Overall, I do believe the author accomplished his purpose. I always thought the idea of a gap year was interesting, but this showed me that it was not simply a year off from schooling, but a year to learn more about who you are and what it really is that you want to pursue.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-d-burstein/consider-a-gap-year_b_849487.html

TOW #6 - First Look at Nintendo Switch

On October 20th, 2016, Nintendo, a Japanese technology and game company, published a short video titled First Look at Nintendo Switch. The video is quite simply the product reveal of the company’s new gaming and entertainment console that will be called the Nintendo Switch. In 1983, the company entered the video game scene with the Nintendo Entertainment System home console, however it has been quite a few years since their last major success. This video was published after many months of speculation following the release of the Wii U in 2012, which received a lukewarm critical response. Through the video, Nintendo tries to garner up interest in their new system across all ages through the use of stark repetition. Within the first 20 seconds of the video’s start, a bright red screen with the console’s logo animation appears on screen. This same animation is then repeated numerous times throughout the remainder of the advertisement. This repetition is used in order to appeal to the emotions of the audience viewing the reveal. The animation is featured after sequences where a person is disturbed during a gaming session by just everyday life occurrences, such as a dog barking to go outside. The animation then appears with two sides connecting together. The premise of the console is that it is both a home console but can be SWITCHED to be portable. By repeating this animation after seeing the a typical every day occurrence, Nintendo attempts to connect with viewers who constantly feel as though they are on the move and do not have time to relax. Not only this, but the animation also comes after segments that feature adults playing these video games, which attempts to demolish the stigma around video games ONLY being toys for children. Overall, I do believe that Nintendo was successful in their attempts to gain interest in their concept as I personally am now very intrigued. As a modern high school student, I am constantly on the run, but I love to play video games, and this seems to be an answer to this issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5uik5fgIaI

TOW #5 - There's Such Thing As Too Much Neuroscience

In his article, author John C. Markowitz discusses the current lack of funding toward mental health research in America and the importance of this research. Markowitz is a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University and is also a research psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and wrote this article in response to the election of Dr. Joshua Gordon as the new director of the National Institute of Mental Health. The former director of the organization, Dr. Thomas Insel focused much of its budget on neuroscience research. Throughout the text, Markowitz employs examples of mental health issues and provides data about the research into these issues in order to show that the funding of this research is immensely important and is a serious concern. Markowitz grabs the focus of the audience by introducing the symptoms of perhaps the most major mental health issue, depression. He states, “some criteria are low mood; wanting to die; and sleep, appetite, and energy changes. These are biological markers that neuroscience seeks to identify.” (Markowitz). By presenting these harrowing symptoms, Markowitz is able to pull at the emotions of the reader. Depression occurs in such a vast quantity of people in modern society that many readers can likely relate to the words being written. Markowitz uses these charged emotions to show that research into neuroscience could help to develop more effective treatments for these issues. After presenting how important this research is, Markowitz goes on to show how underfunded the research is writing that, “clinical research has slowed to a trickle, now accounting for only 10 percent of the institute’s budget.” (Markowitz). Through the inclusion of this statistic, Markowitz is able to show the public how underfunded this critical area of research is. Without proper funding, it will be more difficult and will take more time to find effective treatments for many mental health issues. Overall, I believe that Markowitz is able to effectively achieve his purpose. He finishes the article in a very moving way, stating that patients continue to commit suicide despite the best available treatments.

TOW #4 - Sully (Chesley B. Sullenberger III)

In his autobiography Sully, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III writes about his life leading up to the emergency landing of Flight 1549 into the Hudson River in 2009. The book continues after these events for Sully to discuss the ways that these events have affected his life. In the beginning pages of his book, Sully introduces that he has always had a lifelong interest in aviation and even began to take flying lessons as early as 16 years of age. Since then, he pursued his passion and served as a member of the US Air-Force and a professional commercial pilot with over 19,000 hours logged. As per the dedication page, he wrote this autobiography for those that were affected by Flight 1549 as a means of remaining connected. On this same page, he writes that this book serves as a method of finding what really matters. To convey this message, Sully uses repetition and moving images. Within the first chapter, Sully sees the wreckage of a plane after a crash and notes to himself, “Flying a plane meant not making mistakes. You had to maintain control of everything. You had to look out for the wires, the birds, the trees, the fog. You had to be vigilant and alert.” (Sullenberger 11). The repetition of the words ‘you had’ reveals how truly important Sully finds these ideas to be. This idea of importance is a huge part of Sully’s purpose. He wants the reader to understand what truly matters and in this case, it is personal safety. Later on, Sully includes a wealth of personal pictures. These include him at lessons, his parents’ wedding, and even his own wedding. (Sullenberger 130). The inclusion of such personal images reveals to the reader what Sullenberger values as a human being. By sharing these pictures, he is opening himself up to his audience in hopes that it will usher in feelings of what a reader values within their own life. Overall, I believe Sully has effectively achieved his purpose through the personal touches mentioned above. I cannot wait to complete the book!