TOW #3 - The Effects of Tobacco

In a cartoon from The Khaleej Times, the author Paresh demonstrates the growing problems of the tobacco industry. In this political cartoon, a healthy protestor who is against tobacco is standing in front an unhealthy tobacco smoker. This smoker is the only one against the wall that is alive in this cartoon and is telling the people next to him to “target him if you can!”. The three people on the bottom of this cartoon have died due to the growing use of tobacco. The person who is smoking in this cartoon does not even realize the danger of tobacco and how it leaves an impact on the people around him. The tobacco industry in the background is distributing smoke from the factory and starting to pollute the Earth. On the right, the clear blue sky is shown as the black smoke on the left travels towards the sky. The signs in this cartoon show how tobacco can be very dangerous but the person in front of the protestor refuses to agree with the signs. One of the signs states, “tobacco kills!” and represents that tobacco is very dangerous for human beings and people who smoke can also impact the people around them. This cartoon was intended for tobacco users or any person who is planning to start tobacco to show that using it is very harmful to a person’s body and can lead to death. The author’s purpose was to show the audience how tobacco can be very dangerous in the world and impact people’s daily lives. Imagery and pathos are rhetorical devices that are used in this cartoon to show the audience the impact of tobacco. Using imagery helps provide the audience with a vivid picture of the effects of tobacco. This cartoon also appeals to pathos to show the devastating effects on the world. In the world today, tobacco has impacted many people’s lives by causing death and diseases. This cartoon is able to spread awareness to the world by showing how tobacco can affect every person living on the Earth.

https://www.nytsyn.com/cartoons/cartoons/1424214

TOW #2 - U.S. Admits Airstrike in Syria, Meant to Hit ISIS, Killed Syrian Troops.

The United States airstrikes in Syria, that were intended to target ISIS militants, accidentally killed Syrian troops on Saturday, Sept. 17. Before Russia could intervene the airstrikes had already “killed 62 Syrian troops, wounded 100 more and opened the way for an Islamic State offensive” (Barnard and Mazzetti). The unintentional results of the airstrike have created tensions between the United States and Syria, as Syria insists that the United States purposefully attacked its troops in hopes of helping the Islamic State to advance. This misfire did in fact help the Islamic State militants, who took advantage of the U.S. mistake and seized Syria’s army base. Even though the U.S. military stopped its attack immediately after discovering that the attacks were targeting Syrian troops, dozens of casualties had already occurred. Russia and Syria continue to place heavy blame on the U.S. for its inability to separate Syria’s rebel groups, which the country supports, and members of the Islamic State. Mark Mazzetti, a correspondent for The New York Times, and Anne Barnard, who covers the Middle East region for The New York Times, addressed this airstrike and its implications in “U.S. Admits Airstrike in Syria, Meant to Hit ISIS, Killed Syrian Troops.”

Their audience includes any person who is interested in the Islamic State’s global impact. Mazzetti and Barnard utilize a rhetorical mode, the cause- and- effect format, to narrate how the U.S. mistake affects Syria’s citizens and the overall U.S.-Syria relationship. In this article, Mazzetti and Barnard attempt to inform the readers that although the U.S. was trying to attack the Islamic State, the U.S. unintentionally helped the Islamic State to take control of an army base which is important to the Syrian troops’. The authors also convey that this mistake has created tension between Syria and the U.S., as Syria continues to struggle in its battle against the Islamic State. I believe that the authors achieved their purpose because throughout the article, they inform the readers that even though the U.S. acknowledged their mistake, there has been increasing tension between the two countries.