TOW #20 - After Shootings, Indians are Wary of Coming to U.S.

On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem called Defense of Fort M’Henry. These words were soon turned into “The Star-Spangled Banner” and known as the national anthem for the United States of America. People from all over the world would travel to America to obtain a better life. However recently in America, people have felt very unsafe and uncomfortable living in the country that used to be known for its freedom. On February 22, 2017, a devastating shooting took place that took the lives of two Indian engineers in a Kansas bar by a drunk man questioned their immigration status. Someone asked “Why do you even need to go to the States? Why do you need to go to a country that doesn’t want you?” (Sharma). People all over the country are experiencing this doubt of whether it is worth staying in the States. They have become very aware after this shooting how unsafe it is for Indians to live their lives throughout America. Ever since Donald Trump has become president people have become more observant of the races that are not white. They question whether they are officially citizens of the United States and do anything in their power to try and prove they are not citizens, even by killing them.  

The rhetorical devices used in this New York Times article After Shootings, Indians Are Wary of Coming to U.S. by Ellen Barry and Nida Najar, are the appeal to pathos and the appeal to ethos. The author uses a lot of true examples from people all around the world to help show the audience how the views of Americans has deeply affected the lives of every single person on this earth. People are scared to live in the United States and it is Trump’s beliefs that have created an increase in violence in the United States. The author also uses these examples to make themselves credible as they use real life examples of how the shooting affected the lives of many people throughout the world.

            I believe that the authors proved their purpose because they effectively proved the effects the shooting in the Kansas bar had on people all over the world. People have become afraid to live in the United States, and honestly after Trump became president, I am too.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/26/world/asia/after-shootings-indians-are-wary-of-move-to-us-in-age-of-trump.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

TOW #19 - Trump Pursues His Attack on Sweden, With Scant Evidence

In the New York Times article Trump Pursues His Attack on Sweden, With Scant Evidence by Sewell Chan and Christina Anderson, the authors inform the United States of America about how Trump attacks Sweden based of unreliable news from television. Ever since Donald Trump became president, he has been very involved in social media news and what is being said about him by the American citizens. President Donald Trump tweeted out, “Give the public a break – The FAKE NEWS media is trying to say that large scale immigration in Sweden is working out just beautifully. NOT!” Some of Trump’s reactions clearly display his opinions on the topic and how he is unwilling to view different perspectives. This attack on Sweden clearly shows how he will act on what he believes in, even if it is not right for America. This article shows the audience how Trump relies on television news even if it is not accurate.

            The rhetorical devices used in this article are the appeal to logos and ethos. By appealing to logos and ethos, the authors are able to provide the audience with accurate information involving the Sweden attack by President Donald Trump and inform America the reasons for this attack occurring on Sweden. This article also provides the audience with an immense amount of reliable sources to add on to both of the authors credibility. They include many people who have a lot of insight on this devastating event that was caused by President Donald Trump. By using these two rhetorical devices, the authors effectively prove that they wanted to inform the American public about the reasons the attacks on Sweden occurred and how they impacted the entire world.

            I believe that the authors proved their purpose because they effectively show America the reasons President Trump attacked Sweden. They make it evident that the reasons Trump attacked Sweden were due to television and his beliefs that they were reliable enough sources in order to actually order this attack.

TOW #18 - Trump Tweets

In a New York Times Syndicate, Turner created a political cartoon showing the impact of Donald Trump’s tweets has on the United States of America. Donald Trump is portrayed as a bird who is “tweeting” on a tree branch. The statue of liberty, a politician, and a civilian are on the ground looking up at Trump in disgust and disapproval. All of Donald Trump’s tweets on twitter are represented in this political cartoon as a disgrace to the American public. He is using his new power as president to order people around and express his anger when things do not go his way. The person on the right of this political cartoon looks like a truck driver who originally voted for Trump but became frustrated with not getting what Trump said during the process of becoming President of the United States.  Donald trump’s position is higher than the others in this political cartoon to represent Trump’s power over the United States of America. This political cartoon is an accurate representation of the effects Donald Trump has had on America.

The rhetorical devices used in this political cartoon are imagery and symbolism. There are subtle colors used in this cartoon that represent the figures that are used. The images are in specific locations to show the importance of the figures represented in the political cartoon. Donald Trump’s face shows how focused he is on sending all of his tweets out to the American public to express all of his feelings and his opinions on the politics going on in America. The other rhetorical device used in this political cartoon is symbolism. Even though Donald Trump is actually represented on this political cartoon, he is in the position a bird would make when sitting on a tree branch. He represents that he is now in control of the United States of America and he knows everything that is going on. The Statue of America represents many Americans who were disgusted when Trump became president.

The author made this cartoon to demonstrate the impact Trump’s presidency has already had on the people of the United States of America. The audience is the people reading Donald Trump’s tweets who only see his perspective. I believe Turner was successful because it is clear that Trump’s tweets have affected every person living in America.

IRB #3 - Eat, Pray, Love

For the third marking period three independent reading book, I am going to read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. This book is about self-discovery. By traveling the world, Elizabeth Gilbert left her entire life behind, her husband, and a successful job, to fulfill what she felt her heart desired. She travels to three different countries with three different cultures to help her find what she wanted in life. She went to Italy for food, and pleasure, she went to India for pleasure, and she went to Indonesia for enjoyment. All three of these countries on Earth, helped Elizabeth Gilbert with finding her true self. 

TOW #17 - Andre Agassi's Open

In Andre Agassi’s autobiography Open, Agassi uses his personal experiences to express the positive and negative effects professional tennis can have on a person. Andre Agassi spent his whole life playing tennis and as he grew up it became evident that he would play tennis as his career. Agassi did very well as a professional tennis player; he won many major tournaments like Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. However, as he continued to play tennis there were many injuries he faced. Being a professional tennis player is rigorous, for Agassi, he struggled with constant back pain as he continuously tried to win a title at a tennis tournament. This extreme pain led to Agassi’s retirement.

                The rhetorical devices used in Agassi’s book are his appeal to ethos and pathos. Agassi makes it clear to his audience how much tennis impacted his life. Not only was it a sport he grew up despising but it created many physical injuries. Due to a wrist and back injury, he had to slow down his rate of playing matches which dropped him from number one to 141^st in the world. It took him an entire year of physically demanding exercises to become one of the best tennis players in the world again when he reached number sixth in the world. Agassi appeals to ethos because he has experienced what it was like to be a professional tennis player and he uses his personal experience to show the audience the physical, and mental demands playing tennis professionally has on a person.

In this autobiography, Agassi’s audience is able to relate to the injuries Agassi sustained and the demands tennis has had on his life. The audience was to inform tennis players who have watched Agassi play on the court what Agassi really went through to be the number one tennis player in the world. Agassi wants his audience to know how much work it really took to keep a toned body and a healthy relationship with people outside of tennis. I believe that Andre Agassi proves his purpose because he uses experiences that had a great impact on him to successfully prove the effect tennis has on people.