TOW #8 - Cash

The autobiography of Johnny Cash, Cash, was written by the famous singer, guitarist and songwriter whose work spans many generations.  The author is credible simply because he is writing about his own life and the events that occurred.  The audience for whom the book is written for would definitely be those who are at least slightly familiar with Cash's work.  Often he alludes to events that occurred in his life in relation to his music.  While someone who is unfamiliar with Cash's work could still enjoy his anecdotes, a familiarity with his music helps the reader to understand how important Cash's life experiences were.  The purpose in Cash writing his autobiography is for his fans to understand the hardships he endured throughout his life, and to reveal how these hardships paved the way for not only his music, but for the eventual happy times he had the privilege of experiencing.  Throughout the second half of the book, Cash uses a variety of sentence structures.  For example, after a long winded description of a fellow singer and a show they did together, Cash ends with a simple comment, "That's fun" (383).  This abrupt change from the carefully crafted and intricate sentence that Cash used prior is not only a break for the reader, it also helps to establish his tone.  The short sentence shows his outlook in a simple way, and shows how objectively Cash can look back on all the emotional and life changing moments he experienced.  Multiple times Cash ends paragraphs with short sentences, providing a sometimes abrupt, but effective ending to his anecdotes.  Another strategy Cash uses is repetition of ideas.  In the first half of the book, he refers to the fact that his outfit for almost every show he has ever done has been completely black, and he even has a song called "Man in Black".  Near the end of the book, Cash references this idea once again when he writes, "I'll put on my black shirt, buckle up the black belt on my black pants, tie my black shoes, pick up my black guitar, and go put on a show for the people in this town" (395).  Not only does this sentence repeat the idea of "black" once again, it also helps to characterize Cash and the emotions he feels.  Black represents a dark color, and Cash seems to repeat the idea to show how he can relate to the emotions that are evoked by its darkness.  Overall, Cash was very effective in writing his book.  The stories he told were interesting, thought-provoking, and helped to characterize Cash in a new light.  Not only was he just the extremely talented songwriter, singer and guitarist, he was also a man who had to endure many hardships, but was able to come out stronger on the other side.

TOW #7 - Justice Ginsburg’s Cautious Radicalism

The article was written for The New York Times by Irin Carmon, an Israeli-American journalist and commentator as well as co-author of the new book, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  The article focuses on the strategies of RBG and how these strategies, as well as her fame, have developed over her lifetime.  The article is written to reveal a fighting side to RBG in the face of discrimination and injustice.  Written for an audience of educated people, likely many women, the article discusses RBG's recent fame with younger generations, but only alludes to her professional work.  A strategy Carmon uses is many quotes to characterize the Supreme Court Justice.  While many are familiar with the professional side of RBG, as well as the public opinion side, Carmon uses her piece to reveal even more about RBG than is generally viewed.  An example is when she juxtaposes the public opinion of RBG with the "real" RBG.  She writes, "Justice Ginsburg has been depicted as an avenging angel smiting her enemies, with two middle fingers up in the air, and as a warrior Athena inked on the arm of more than one feminist."  Only one paragraph later though, Carmon uses a quote from RBG.  She says, "Anger, resentment, envy and self-pity are wasteful reactions...They greatly drain one's time.  They sap energy better devoted to productive endeavors."  The direct quote not only helps to characterize RBG for Carmon's audience, it also juxtaposes the general public's view of the icon vs. the actual opinions of the icon herself.  The end of the essay also provides a call to action for the audience, but in an indirect way.  Carmon writes, "By that point, you can be sure she will have tried everything else.  She'll still be fighting for the things she cares about.  But this time, she'll be asking us to join her."  Throughout the entire essay, Carmon dismantled certain views of RBG that most people look up to her for, mainly her extreme emotions and iconic feminism.  However, by the end it is clear that Carmon agrees with RBG being an icon, but for different reasons.  The author succeeded in characterizing RBG as an icon for even better reasons than before, achieving her purpose and calling for her audience to join RBG's fight for justice.

TOW #6 - Human 'Mini Brains' Grown in Labs May Help Solve Cancer, Autism, Alzheimer's

The article was written by Thom Patterson who is a senior correspondent at CNN, specializing in technology, transportation, and aviation.  Patterson wrote the article to highlight a leap forward that has been made in the science world.  Recently, scientists have been able to grow brains that are nearly 98% similar to the brain of a fetus.  Cells are taken from organisms and then grown in petri dishes into tiny replicas of human brains.  The excitement comes from the fact that these brains will now be used to test drugs for everything from Parkinson's to Alzheimer's to schizophrenia.  The brains, since unattached to human bodies, are an excellent testing ground for advancements in cures for previously incurable diseases.  Patterson wrote the article for an immediate audience of doctors and researchers to learn about advancements that are being made in their fields.  However, there is a broader audience of almost anyone who has some knowledge of diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, and the article is written in fairly easy-to-understand terms for this reason.  Patterson does a very good job of using logos to support his point.  The first sentence of the article reads, "A Harvard medical pioneer calls it "astounding"-an "incredible achievement" and a "quantum leap forward" in the battle against cancer, autism, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's."  These quotes establish the credibility of the topic from an outside source, and help Patterson to reenforce the excitement and importance of the advancements that have been made.  In addition, Patterson also used quotes from Sanjay Gupta, an Emmy-Award winning neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN.  The organization of Patterson's article also helps his purpose.  After describing the experiment and the possible advancements that could be made in the future using the lab-grown brains, Patterson heads his paragraphs with questions (which he describes as head-scratching, some good diction), and then proceeds to answer the question he has just posed.  By taking the time to answer questions that he assumes his audience will be asking, Patterson is establishing ethos and illustrating in even more detail the importance of the breakthrough.  His excitement towards the subject is evident, and he is able to achieve his purpose very well.  The reader leaves with a knowledge of the subject and a desire to follow the brains through their coming trials.

TOW #5 - Extra Gum Commercial: The Story of Sarah & J

The commercial was created through the Wrigley Jr. Company to promote their gum line "Extra". Currently, the story of "Sarah and Juan" has over a million views on YouTube and has been shared countless times on every social media network.  The purpose for this commercial would be to first off, sell gum, but on a deeper level, the creators want the audience to connect with the characters and find a piece of themselves within the story.  The emotional nature of the story is used to draw the audience in and associate the wonderful love story created with the brand of gum.  The commercial follows a young couple from the first time they meet in high school all the way to the point of proposal many years later.  In each scene, from dates to prom to fights, the Extra wrappers are incorporated into the scene.  In the end (spoiler alert), Juan proposes to Sarah at a little art studio.  As she walks in, all along the wall are pictures he has drawn on Extra wrappers of times they spent together.  The last one on the wall is a drawing off a proposal, and Sarah turns around to find him down on one knee.  The audience would definitely be younger people because they could relate to the characters, the difficulties the characters have, and the love story that is woven through the entire commercial.  The biggest rhetorical device that was used was definitely pathos, and all the other devices used relate back to this one.  The music is "Can't Help Falling in Love" sung by Haley Reinhart, and the raspy soul of her voice is tear inducing and highly effective.  In addition, the creators used a narrative tone to follow the story.  There are no words, other than the song, yet by the end the actors/producers have done such a good job of showing Sarah and Juan's story that the viewer feels as though they were in the story itself.  Another rhetorical device that was used was repetition.  In each scene, the gum wrappers make an appearance.  This repetition subtly brings the product in, and also helps to create a connection between the story and the product itself.  Over all, the creators definitely achieved their purpose.  The commercial was interesting, inviting, well made, sad, happy, and many, many other positive adjectives.

TOW #4 - Cash

The autobiography of Johnny Cash, Cash, was written (obviously) by the famous singer, guitarist and songwriter whose work spans many generations.  The author is credible simply because he is writing about his own life and the events that occurred.  The initial audience of the book would definitely be people who are familiar with Cash's work, and he alludes many times to performances he did and albums he released.  However a second, and wider, audience also exists because even if one is not familiar with all the details of Cash's life, they can still enjoy the anecdotes he provides and the emotional appeal that his stories have.  Cash's wrote his second autobiography to provide an outlook on his entire life as he got older and to reveal to his audience the hardships and experiences that shaped his music and his being.  Throughout the first half of the book, Cash has used multiple rhetorical devices.  In the beginning, Cash uses anaphora to establish a basis of his life and reasons for writing the book.  On page 12 he uses the phrase "I'm thankful" to begin multiple sentences.  This repetition goes back to his purpose of being able to look back on his life and reveal to the audience how he has come to be where he is.  Another tool Cash uses is figurative language.  On page 17 he writes, "Perhaps I'm just alienated, feeling the cold wind of exclusion blowing my way."  This language allows the reader to get into the author's mind and understand the feelings he was experiencing at different points throughout his life.  Another tool Cash uses is the way he jumps from flashbacks in his life to the current time, and sometimes even the day he is writing that page of the book.  An example of this strategy comes on page 161.  After telling an entire anecdote about his friend Waylon from a time when Cash was on tour, he starts the next page by writing, "We're edging into the heart of winter now, and I'm in Texas."  This rotating perspective allows the reader to understand events that took place in Cash's life and then connect them back to the current Cash that narrates the story.  He is extremely effective in writing about his life, and the stories he tells are intriguing and full of personal detail.  Many are sad, shocking and straightforward, but many are comedically sarcastic and look upon the great times Cash has had throughout his life.

Cash and his wife June, whom he writes much about