TOW Post #29- Documentary Rhetorical Analysis

            There are many problems in the world today, including hunger, the middle class, debt, and many other problems. Yet luckily the United States is not suffering with many of these problems unlike third world countries. So one might think that the United States doesn't have many or close to any problems. Yet there is one problem that is lurking under the American soil, and this happens to be educations. It may seem like our education system is perfect, yet truth be told it certainly is not.  In the documentary Waiting for Superman the director explains just this problem; the education system in America is not the best that it can be. Hence the title "Waiting for Superman" it is as if the children and students of America are waiting for a hero and or a solution to fixing this education system, thus ultimately leading to graduating successful and prosperous students. The argument that the American education school system needs to be fixed is precise considering the many problems that have came up in the news, data shown in the documentary, and personal experience.
              On the news unfortunately, finding good new is rare, most of the time the news is bad or sad and just plain upsetting. Recently on the news there was a school where teachers were caught cheating. The were four female teachers that had changed many answers to many students tests and had kept this among themselves. the Education system regarding the hiring, needs to reevaluate how teachers are chosen and what should be looked for. Because these teachers were clearly not acceptable as a teacher, affected many students grades and perhaps even their process and confidence in learning. Teachers like those women need to be weeded out of schools in order for the students to receive and honest and quality education.
              Shocking data was used to support the director of the documentary's argument that the education system in America needs to be fixed. When talking about the actually benefits of charter schools and public schools they mentioned that “only 17% of charter schools have better test scores than traditional public schools, 46% had gains that were no different than their district counterparts, and 37% were significantly worse.” The fact that this statistic exists, it is ashamed. Not only is our education not broken up for what makes sense, many students are getting cheated. This can be the cause of lack of effort by an employee/teacher, not equal attention, and lack of supplies. Also the documentary brings to light that many of the children who go through “dropout factories” are more likely to drop out and head to a prison than graduate form high school. 

               Unfortunately I have experienced one of the flaws in the American education. No where near some of the bigger problems but it sure a contribution. In high school, one of the most critical stage of the education track before college, every class counts and every grade counts, especially if one wants to get in to a good college. I have witnessed some teachers though out my high school years who  do not care enough when they are teaching. In some cases teachers only care about those who are on track and give up on the one who might need an extra push. Teachers who don't go the extra mile is small problem in the system yet can lead to bad affects down the road, such as students going through the "dropout factory."

                Data has shown that America has begun to fall behind in the education process. Many countries are ahead of many of the students in America, one country being China. I such a competitive world that we live in today, where education is one of the most important keys to success, America needs to reevaluate and take the appropriate actions to fixing the education system.

TOW Post #28- Documentary Rhetorical Analysis

           

             The documentary that I watched is called Waiting for Superman. One might think that this documentary must be about either a love story about a women waiting for the man of her dreams, or a spin off of one of the greatest superhero movies Superman. Yet this documentary is actually about education. In today's world wide society, education has grown to be one of the most important aspect of life; it is the key to a successful life. In this documentary the speaker is a professor and also retired superintendent. Throughout the documentary the speaker changes often from this superintendent to a narrative voice of the documentary creator, to families included in the documentary. This documentary touches base on many issues today in the education system. Some of the issues discussed are bad schools because of bad low income neighbor hoods or vice versa, schools not being able to advance because of bad teachers, and the struggle of families trying to get their children into the best school near them, such as charter schools. After watching this documentary the creator of this documentary was bel to open my eyes about the flaws in the education system.

            One key strategy that the filmmaker included in order to make this film more interesting instead of a two hour talk about education was what the filmmakers decide to show when ever they were stating data. Throughout the entire documentary they used the same type of animation style to not only make the statistics more interesting but also to give a great illustration and picture of the actually statistic itself, using symbols and graphs. This strategy was clever and stands out from other documentaries considering it's a huge contrast to the rest of the documentary which is real and not cartoon style. By using this strategy, the filmmakers made the documentary more eye-catching, thus allowing them to directly expose that the education in hindsight needs to be reevaluated and changed for the better.

            To strengthen and improve the filmmakers purpose, the follow the struggles of four families slowly yet progressively throughout the documentary. The filmmakers were able to smoothly tie in these stories of the four families and their struggles and relate it back to the data they is often presented. This weaving in of the families stories is able to bring some life to these statistics and adda sentimental factor throughout the documentary. Unfortunately these families were the percents of the data that were bad and unfortunate, such as only 6% percent of a high school class in LA would graduate; thus one of students in one of family would be borderline of this 6%. In the end of the documentary most of the families being documented were not selected for their child to make it into a charter school, therefore certainly not supporting the assumption that the educations system over all is successful. 

            Unfortunately we as a nation especially have not reached our goals of providing the best education. Maybe we have for a small percentage of students in America but not for every student. Education should be everyone's first and major priority considering the fact that we students are the future of the United Sates. Although the audience of this documentary could be students like myself, teachers and families who are also struggle, the real audience might just be those who have the power to change the education system and make a difference.

TOW Post #27- TOW Reflection

           

            Through out the year of AP English, I have adjusted to the ongoing Text of the Week Posts that we had to do every week. At first I thought that having to do a blog post on a reading every week was a waste of time and not going to be beneficial for me in regards to the AP English Exam. I thought to myself, how is doing the same thing repetitively for months going to help me do well on the exam, since its not exactly how the exam will be like? But I have come to realized that the TOW posts have made me read many readings in a different and more analytical way. Also these TOWs help me strengthen a work on writing skills that I needed more practice with.
            Beginning with the first marking period there was a major difference between my second marking period posts and especially my third marking period posts. One of the characteristics of my first marking period trends seemed to be that I used new articles, in stead of writing that is easier to analyze rhetorically, such as opinionated essays. This trend quickly ended with in the next marking period. Besides the type of writing pieces I chose, another trend and difference compared to the other marking period posts was that I used a lot of quotes in my posts. This showed that I really didn't analyze much of the writing piece, instead I was just re-staing things in the writing piece. One last thing with in marking period one trends was that I did not have conclusion paragraphs, leaving my TOW post with no ending and just open. As the second marking period came around, my TOW post introductions were coming along, yet my posts seemed like lists when coming to explaining the rhetorical devices that were used. But as time passed i slowly began to integrate my rhetorical devices and connection them together, making a smoother TOW post. The third marking period posts are more detailed and began to get better with the "so what" aspect regarding the author's purpose. From the first marking period to the third marking period, my TOW post have changed for the better.
            Although I have made progress with my TOW posts, i believe there are still some things that I need to work on improving; one of them being the ultimate message of the author purpose. In other words the "so what" is a key aspect in writing that I need more practice with. But I have made progress considering I did not attempt to address a so what with my earlier TOW post. I also need to improve on connecting my rhetorical devices/reasonings a little bit more. Yet I do believe that I have mastered introductions. Coming into AP English writing introductions was a concern of mine, and shown through the TOW post, I have gotten a lot better with them.
           The TOW posts initially sounded like a bunch of work, just to keep us AP students busy, but I benefited from these TOW assignments each week, even though they might have been a bit of an annoyance. When the AP Exam came around last two weeks ago, I do believe that being prepared for the writing (and also reading) part of the exam was partially because of these TOW assignments. Not only have the TOWs may have helped me with my AP Exam, they have also allowed me to look at readings more analytically and become more interested in non-fiction reading.

TOW Post #26- Visual Text: "Cigarette Advertisment"

           Years ago when the first cigaret came out on the market four the public, it was a big hit. There many poster and television ads that advertised the new product. Celebrities anreven doctors were used as strategies to get the public to buy cigarettes. But many years down the road doctors began to discover how unhealthy and dangerous that cigarettes can be. Today there are barely any advertisements for the use of cigarettes, but there are now advertisements for the stopping of smoking cigarettes. In the advertisement above, the author of the image is clearly trying to advertise that smoking is overall a poor choice that needs to be stopped. The author is able to achieve his purpose through the use of color and symbolism.
             Color is known to represent and have an effect many things; yet in the advertisement above the color plays a key role into creating a certain feeling and mood. In oder to convey the message that smoking is bad, the author used dull and dark colors such as grey and black. Usually when something or someone is colorless it indicates a negative mood. By creating a negative tone and mood through these colors the advertisement is  affecting the viewers; the viewers realizing the negativeness of smoking and how serious the situation is.
            Communicating with the viewers of the advertisement is key to successfully convey the message and purpose of the advertisement. Symbolism is a great tool used to communicate a message. In the advertisement above the ashes from the cigarette symbolizes the person who is smoke the cigarette, and how its bringing them down. Cigarettes are health hazardous and can count one's life short: slowly bringing the person down.
           The creator of this advertisement successfully conveyed his message on the fact that smoking is bad and should be minimized and ultimately stopped. By incorporating rhetorical devices into the advertisement the creator is not only to get out his message but also to guide people in the right direction, saving more lives.

TOW# 25- Article: "The Pointlessness of Unplugging"

Reading Goal: Interesting, can take part in

Writing Goal: Finding the author's purpose/deeper meaning

            In today's world technology has become a huge part of our everyday life. From our daily routine to even our social aspect of life, technology has tied itself into these things. although technology has been a good and huge advancement in society, has it become too much? It clearly has been concluded as too much considering there is a National Day of Unplugging, where one does not use any type of technology for and entire twenty-four hours. 

            In the March issue of The New Yorker, author Casey N. Cep wrote an article about the National Day of Unplugging and how technology has made us rely on it. Cep studied at Yale University and has written many articles in the The New York Times and the Boston Globe. Cep discusses how many people participate in the N.D.U. (National Day of Unplugging) and their reasons for it. The slogan or theme sentence for this day is "I unplug to _______" and participators would fill in the blank with what they are doing instead of using technology. by simply unplugging for a day, it allows people to "to reset, to spend more time with family, to bring back the beauty of life," etc.  Cep's purpose in writing this article is to see if the N.D.U. is actually beneficial. She brings forth her purpose through examples and irony.

              Throughout her entire article Cep incorporates quotes and examples of people that help her achieve her purpose and help the reader conclude to a so what at the end of her article. For example she use how she was surprised that Pope Benedict XVI used twitter to reach out to his followers, showing how technology is in everyone's lives, eve those of high ranking. Also she used quotes from people who participated in the N.D.U., saying their reason for unplugging was "so [their] eye will stop twitching" and "to be in the moment"and also "to be more connected"; showing the various reasons why people participate. With all of these benefits of this day you would think it's good. Irony comes into play when Cep makes concussion. She states that when we go twenty-four hours with out our technology, it only makes us crave the use of technology even more. In conclusion, although this day is beneficial for twenty-four hours, it technically worsens our addictions, thus making this day pointless; Cep successfully achieving her purpose.

IRB Intro Post: Marking Period 4

            The book that I decided to read for the fourth marking period is Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother written by Amy Chua. Chua is a mom of two daughters trying to raise them in the mists of American culture and Chinese culture at the same time. She  recalls ho she was raised under strict Chinese culture by her own parents. Yet she is not so sure that she is raising her kids the right way. I chose to read this book because i am able to connect with Chua, being raised by parents who are from a different country other than America. Also I chose this book, because  from reading reviews, Chua incorporates some humor into her book, which I makes her telling g of her experiences more interesting and fun.

TOW Post #24- IRB: You Are Not So Smart

-Reading Goal: A more challenging text, requiring more thinking

-Writing Goal:Establishing the "so what?"

            In society today, many people don't accept a decision, situation, etc, very well when the result is not in their favor. Everyone just wants to be right all the time and not be confronted with something they might believe is outrageous and false.In general, basically everyone thinks high of themselves and believes that their so skater than everyone else. Unfortunately a writer has written a book on what we don't want to hear; to be told that we are wrong. Although readers we might pick up the book and disagree with the title You Are Not So Smart, because we all think that we are, essentially McRaney makes a good argument as for why he does not think, everyone is so smarts. He achieves this argument through claims of fact and claims of policy.

            Author David McRaney organized his book into mini chapters on topics that tell the reader why their way of rationalizing is wrong, and the explanation for it. McRaney include multiple facts in order to support his argument on why everyone is not so smart. Throughout one the point one point that he clarifies and writes about if accusations on why we chose and use the same brand name of product. McRaney writes that “We reach for the same brand not because we trust its quality but because we want to reassure ourselves that we made a smart choice the last time we bought it.” Then he continues on to explaining experiments and hypothetic situations to explain his claim thus overall supporting his argument.

             Besides incorporation multiple claims of fact McRaney also incorporates claims of policy throughout the entire book. After explaining why the readers way of thinking about something or coming to a conclusion, he gives advice for the readers in order to stop the false thinking/way of things from happening again. For example at the end of his 15th chapter he states that “To escape consumerism and conformity, you must turn your back and ignore the mainstream culture. The shackles when then fall away, the machines will grind to a halt, the filters will dissolve, and you will see the world for what it really is. The illusory nature of existence will end and we will all, finally, be real.” By incorporating this policy of change McRaney is able to support his argument. Overall McRaney is not only supporting his argument, he is also pushing his  readers to becoming the smartest that they can truly be.