TOW Post #17- Article: "Daddy Track: The Case for Paternity Leave"

             Having a baby is sure to be a life changing experience, especially when it comes to the first few weeks and months of the baby and the parents adjusting to a new schedule and enhance the bond between each other. It is typical that the mother goes on maternity leave in order to rest after having the baby and also take some time off of work to be with her newborn. But a new trend is starting to become more popular within the United Sates; fathers also taking off from work, a.k.a paternity leave. Fathers are usually the ones to continue to work, and find ways to bond and help with the baby around his work schedule, but today more and more dads are taking paid paternity leave as Liza Mundy writes.

             In her most recent article, featured in The Atlantic magazine, Mundy talks about the popular trend that seems to be occurring throughout the United Sates. Mundy makes an argument that the paternity leave is a beneficial trend, not only for the man himself but also for the mother and the baby. She incorporates research findings and facts, and real-life examples in order to support her claim.

            Starting off her article she uses a real-life example of a man, Chris Renshaw, who decided to take a two week paternity leave. She incorporates how Chris told his co-workers and what was their reaction. "“It’s definitely looked at in a good light,” says Renshaw, 28, who lives in Northern California and was taking infant-care classes to hone his diapering and baby-bathing skills. “People have said, ‘That’s a great idea—take as much as you can. It’s time that you can be with your child.’ ”" The reaction that Chris's co-workers gave him was surprising, considering one might think his co-workers would ask why, since it's not the usual thing for a man/dad to do. But later on Chris goes on to mention how important it was for him to have time with his baby, the first few weeks of the baby's life.
            Not only does Mundy include this real-life example, she also incorporates facts and research in order to demonstrate the benefits of paternity leave. She states that, "Previous studies found that fathers who take paternity leave are more likely, a year or so down the road, to change diapers, bathe their children, read them bedtime stories, and get up at night to tend to them." This is extremely beneficial because it helps the mother down the road and also allows fathers not only to be known for providing for the family financially but now also emotionally earlier in their baby's life. Through incorporating life examples and research and facts, Mundy was able to successfully argue that paternity leave is rather beneficial and important.

Link:http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/01/the-daddy-track/355746/

TOW Post #16- IRB: Me Talk Pretty One Day Part 2

            One key important advice that should be given to everyone is to be who you are and do not try to change who you are. Teens and young adults can relate and benefit from this advice the most because that is the age and time where one tries to find out who one is, and may also try to change oneself if one is not satisfied with who one is. Everyone has flaws, and unfortunately these are flaws that we cannot get rid of because they are apart of who we are. I believe that this is the purpose of the book or collection of essays Me Talk Pretty One day by David Sedaris.
            Author David Sedaris is an excellent writer when it comes to non-fiction, specifically memoirs and anecdotes, he really makes the reader feel like he/she is there in the moment with him. Using this skill Sedaris is able to tell anecdotes that help him convey his purpose. not only does Sedaris use anecdotes but he also is able to convey his message through personal struggles.
Similarly to "Part One" of the book, in "Part Deux" Sedaris uses his sharp memory and recalling of details to accurately bring his past experiences to life. For example Sedaris recalls himself comparing himself to other students in college, how they were better looking and smarter than him. He even began to have a negative though before Sedaris even tried something; "The only crimp in my plan was that I seemed to have no talent whatsoever.” (178). Fortunately he later on Sedaris realized that he did have talent which was art; Sedaris learned self acceptance which was what he we was trying to get across to his readers.
            Besides anecdotes Sedaris also reveal personal struggles to let his readers know how important self acceptance is for getting through life. Once living in Paris, Sedaris wanted to be very good in French so he ended up taking a class. Similarly to his speech impediment that he struggle with back in grade school, he also struggled with pronunciation with certain french words. He recalls how the class was a struggle especially with the teacher picking on him. He would go home at night and study extra just so his instructor wouldn't pick on him; until he realized that didn't help. He accepted the fact that he could pronounce certain french words and began not to stress about it anymore. By using anecdotes and personal struggles Sedaris was able to prove that self-acceptance is an important skill in life.

TOW Post #15- Article: "Goodnight. Sleep Clean."

            On the news every so once in a while there is always a report or a story about how important it is for children and even adults to get enough sleep every night. The average expected healthy amount of sleep that an adult should get every night is eight to nine hours of sleep: for children and teens eight to nine hours as well. And as we all know that most of us do not get nearly nine hours of sleep every night. They continue to say that we need the maximum hours of sleep, but why if we can still get up early in the morning without passing out? Well an opinion writer of the New York Times looked into this common question.
           Author Maria Konnikova mostly known for her first book, Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes, which was a New York Times bestseller. She is now working on her first novel and second book. Her writing has not only appear in the New York Times but also The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The Paris Review and many other well-known newspapers. In her most recent article "Goodnight. Sleep Clean." she talks about the importance of sleep. She establishes her argument by saying that sleep is important because it clears out "all of the junk that has accumulated as a result of your daily thinking." She makes her argument strong by presenting multiple counter arguments, using claim of fact, and claim of value.
            In the beginning of the article Konnikova starts off with multiple counter arguments. She states rhetorical questions such as "Why would our bodies evolve to spend close to one-third of our lives completely out of it, when we could instead be doing something useful or exciting? Something that would, as an added bonus, be less likely to get us killed back when we were sleeping on the savanna?" Right after she proves how these counter arguments aren't important, due to the compelling aspect of her argument. Besides presenting counter arguments Konnikova also uses a claim of fact by supporting the fact that there is a lymphatic system that empties out "trash" in the brain during sleeping. Konnikova supports her claim of fact by using research done by scientists like Dr. Nedergaard. 
           Lastly Konnikova ends with a claim of value by noting that this potential discovery is good, considering the positive affects. Overall Konnikova made very good points, and by using claims of fact and value and presenting counter arguments, she successfully creates a strong argument.
         
Link:http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/12/opinion/sunday/goodnight-sleep-clean.html?rref=opinion&module=Ribbon&version=origin&region=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&pgtype=article

TOW Post #14- Visual Text: "Abuse Advertisement"

            Abuse is a rather serious problem that as a whole that cannot be easily taken care of by authority. In most cases the one that is being abused doesn't venture out for help making it harder for that person to stop the abuse. Organizations are out there to help and make advertisements to let people know that what they're going through is wrong and that help is only a phone call away. The organization and also hotline, Aware Helpline, created the advertisement above not only to let people know that they can help by providing their number on the bottom right corner, but also to show that words are just as painful as actions; verbal abuse is equally as painful as physical abuse.

            One way that the organization supports their argument that verbal abuse is just as hurtful and physical abuse is by combining and replacing the two types of abuse. The advertisement shows a punch coming out of a man's mouth hitting the women's face. With this image that they are creating is supporting their argument; the punch is very painful from the reaction of the women, but the fact that the punch is coming out of the man's mouth like words do, it's saying that words hurt just as much.

            Not only does this advertisement present an argument but it also presents a message that this is a subject that must be taken seriously. The designers of the advertisement helped present this message by using dull colors. The color choice communicates a painful and depressing tone to the audience and successfully conveying the seriousness of this subject. Also the organization communicated their message by having the women express agonizing pain on her face. Viewers will see her face and  cringe at the pain she must be suffering from, supporting the advertisement's message. By presenting an argument and using key elements to convey a message, Aware Helpline successfully achieved its purpose.


Image Source:http://www.creativeadawards.com/verbal-abuse-3/

TOW Post #13- Article: "A Formula for Happiness"

            Happiness is defined as a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or   pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Many people go through their lives looking and searching everywhere for happiness; it's one of the most need things in life. When one finds happiness it is the greatest feeling to feel besides love. Happiness can be defined in many different ways depending on the person, and what happiness means to them. But has one ever thought that the resources and or what sparks happiness. One might think that there is no right answer because it it depends on the person, like I said before, but there has been discovery of reasons.

            Opinion writer Arthur C. Brooks of the New York Times Newspaper, discusses the resources of happiness. In his article, "A Formula for Happiness" he mentions that scientist have finally "caught the butterfly" of this situation; scientist have found the three resources of happiness through research: genes, events, and value. Author Brooks argues that this statement and or break through discovery is true. Although Brooks does not directly state that these findings are true, but they are certainly implied. In order to support Brooks's argument that the scientists' findings are correct he incorporates stories and metaphors. In the article Brooks he begins off with making a comparison between the scientists' discovery to someone trying to catch a butterfly. "It has been said that “happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” Social scientists have caught the butterfly." By using this butterfly comparison, he demonstrates a positive a feeling about the scientists' discovery, thus supporting his argument that he supports the scientists' findings.

            Not only does Brooks use a metaphor to support his argument he uses a story as well. He mentions a story about twin who were separated at birth and were raised by different parents, both grew up to be very happy. Although the twins were raised by different parents they both grew up to find happiness because of genes and or a "genetic carbon copy." By using this story, he was able to convey a supporting feel concluding that his argument is that he supports the scientists' findings. By using these two strategy the audience is able to clearly understand Brooks's argument.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/opinion/sunday/a-formula-for-happiness.html?_r=0

TOW Post #12- IRB: Me Talk Pretty One Day Part 1

            The most important and memorable moments of our lives take place between our late childhood and teenage years. It is usually the time where search to find out who we are and who we want to become; we take risks and do things that we don't want to, but that we have to hoping it has good better outcome than the situation. This is a main focus on then first part of the book Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. The book is split up into two parts, "Part One" and "Part Deux"meaning there could be two different purposes or one that applies to both parts, but there is a sole purpose for part one. Sedaris uses detailed personal anecdotes and situational humor to encourage his readers to do or try something when they are afraid to do so.
            As mentioned before Sedaris wrote the first part of the book ("Part One") about his late childhood and early teenager years. The reader finds out within the first few pages that Sedaris has a lisp and cannot pronounce S's. He starts off the book with an anecdote about the time he first started speech therapy. He recalls that he had no idea what was going on when his teacher said that he had to leave the classroom with the unfamiliar woman that was standing in the doorway. He then goes on to tell that the lady ended up being his speech therapist. Taking a look at this anecdote, Sedaris being a quiet an shy boy at the time must have been scared when he was asked to leave the room with a stranger, but it demonstrated that he went with the flow and left the classroom even when he was afraid to do so.
             Besides using anecdotes Sedaris also uses situational humor in order to achieve his purpose. For example he adds a humorous aspect to the anecdote mentioned above by recalling that he tried to speak without having to pronounce and "s" sounding words. It was funny because he said ridiculous phrases just in order to avoid his speech impediment. There were many other situational humor incorporated by Sedaris similar to this one. This shows that although he was timid and scared of his speech flaw he still continued to talk and found his way around his fear and also embarrassment. By using these two strategies Sedaris was able to achieve his purpose, for the first half at least.

TOW Post #11- Article: "The Real Humanities Crisis"

            Humanities is a term that not many people discuss or think about. The general definition that most people would refer to would be simple the human race. But in most cases humanities is discussed in the terms of  learning or literature concerned with human culture, esp. literature, history, art, music, and philosophy. Today the most top secure jobs are in the realm of business and medicine/science and the humanities realm in jobs are decreasing. In the article "The Real Humanities Crisis" author Gary Gutting, and opinion writing for the New York Times newspaper wrote about how humanities jobs are losing importance and losing peoples interests. Gutting makes a this statement a claim of fact and supports this up with statistics and a claim of policies in the end. These two rhetorical strategies together help the Gutting achieve his overall purpose which was to call attention to this "humanities crisis"
            Gutting first supports his claim in the beginning by state some basic statistics about humanities jobs vs business jobs. He make a clear point that more people are reaching for jobs in the business and medical area because that is where the better pay is. Although people who work in the humanities real of occupations get more satisfaction out of what the are doing, they are not getting good satisfactory economically because of the lower pay compared to business jobs, Gutting states that "Humanities majors on average start earning $31,000 per year and move to an average of $50,000 in their middle years. (The figures for writers and performing artists are much lower.) By contrast, business majors start with salaries 26 percent higher than humanities majors and move to salaries 51 percent higher" Stating this fact supports his claim of fact helping him achieve his overall purpose.
            Relating to his use of facts, he ends his article with claims of policies to announce solutions to these down grading facts. For example he states that humanities jobs should get paid more so more people can feel economically safe and doing what they love. By ending with claims of policy, Gutting wraps up his claim of fact, supporting his overall purpose.


Source:http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/30/the-real-humanities-crisis/?ref=opinion&_r=0