TOW #11: WWF (Visual)

                On Conan O’Brien’s talk show, the host, Conan, often brings animals from the National Wildlife Federation onto the show to encourage people to support preservation of the animals. Similarly, the below ad from the World Wildlife Fund was released to encourage citizens to preserve something, in this case, Earth. The ad depicts Earth as a scoop of ice cream that’s melting as a symbol of global warming. In the ad, the World Wildlife Fund uses somber colors and symbols to encourage citizens of the planet to preserve it.

                The middle of the ad holds a scoop of Earth ice cream melting, which symbolizes global warming and the disastrous effects associated with the phenomena. Since the Earth is melting, and therefore taking on an irregular shape, viewers are led to believe that global warming can end up destroying their home. The sight of pieces of Earth rolling down the side of the ice cream cone can be described as horrifying even, which shows the urgency in fixing the problem. Additionally, viewers realize that in the same way that a scoop of ice cream melts due to heat, Earth can also “melt” due to the heat from global warming. Since viewers are more familiar with ice cream that global warming, they can relate to the problem, and therefore try to take steps to fix it. In conjunction with the melting sight of the Earth, viewers recognize and understand the problem, which the WWF hopes is enough to encourage people to fix the issue.

                While the viewer understands the problem of global warming through the centerpiece of the text, it is the background that sets the mood. In the ad, dark blue shades are used in the background to create a somber tone, which in turn shows the audience that it is time to fix something on Earth. The dark blue shades used around the ice cream cone itself are very dark, and take up much of the ad space itself. The dark color creates a tone of sadness because that emotion is usually associated with dark shades of color, especially blue. Since the dark colors take up much of the ad, viewers are flooded with the color and therefore the emotion of sadness associated with it. These colors reinforce the somber and scary tone of global warming first created by the sight of the Earth melting, and therefore, make the reason even clearer to the audience to take a stand against the issue.

                Overall, the ad is an extension of the power the global warming has, and by showing the implications of the phenomena, the ad hopes to encourage people to try and fix the problem. This blog post was written on a computer, and is probably being read on one. The first step: Think about the where is power for a computer is coming from. Combustion? That will definitely melt ice cream, and possibly Earth, too.

TOW #10: "The Onion: Astronomers Discover Planet Identical to Earth With Orbital Space Mirror (Written)

                The Onion is known for its mocking of everyday things and claims of dubious veracity. In a recent article, The Onion discusses a NASA mission that discovered a planet identical to Earth by using an orbital mirror. Sounds absurd, doesn’t it? The Onion isn’t wasting its time though, since they included dubious claims and irony to show how NASA is not being used for practical purposes anymore.

                The article makes absurd claims about scientific discoveries made with the mirror throughout. At the beginning of the article, The Onion writes, “According to NASA, the $2.9 billion aluminum glass mirror… suggesting that our solar system may contain a terrestrial planet of the exact same size, shape, and surface composition as Earth” (par. 2). Later in the article, they compare the two planets, discussing how they are exactly the same is water composition, period of rotation, and axial tilt. The idea of a space mirror is absurd enough, but The Onion continues to mock the usage of NASA by using these comparisons as emphasis. In this way, the author is able to convince readers of a downfall in NASA’s practical days, since the article makes it look like NASA is only being used for absurd missions nowadays.

                Continuing through the article, there are also examples of irony used in order to show the absurdity of the theoretical space mirror. The article states, “’What may be even more surprising is that it was discovered in a part of space that was previously thought to be completely empty’” (par. 3). This shows the absurdity of the mirror because the word “surprising” is ironic. Although it is meant to show the scale of the discovery, in reality, it just emphasizes the fact that the mirror was just used for satirical purposes. The mirror is used by The Onion as a symbol of NASA's lost practicality and glory. At other points throughout the article, irony is used to emphasize this, and it is the irony itself that really is key in showing the problem with NASA.

               With funding for NASA missions dwindling, the article came at the perfect time. It was meant to ridicule that missing funding, and its use of irony and dubious claims are effective in doing so. Readers are left to think about the problems with NASA's funding and glory today, and The Onion hopes to bring change with that.

"Freakonomics:" Introductory Post

Moving from science to economics now, as part of my independent reading for the next few weeks and months. I have selected Freakonomics, a book that seeks to explain the inner workings of everything to do with the business world and beyond. It should be an interesting read, since I am eager to understand what goes on behind the scenes of economic and business, even though that inner side might by exemplification of unfairness. Early pages show a huge amount of data and statistics present in the book, and it will be interesting to see how the authors, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, weave those devices into the prose to show the hidden side of everything. In some ways, it is somewhat similar to my previous book, since The Fabric of the Cosmos also dealt with hidden parts of our universe. However, Freakonomics will be interesting because of its take on socioeconomic issues of our time. 

TOW #9: "Making Chemistry Green" (Written)

            Reading this blog post on a computer, you are ignoring the fact that certain toxic chemicals are present inside that very computer, thankfully hidden away from your hands, but strangely and frighteningly close to you. With the rise of electronics and synthetic materials in today’s society, the New York Times released an op-ed piece about the safety of synthetic materials in our daily lives. Written by Rolf Halden and Robert Lawrence, both Professors of environmental science and public health, “Making Chemistry Green” used exemplification and pronouns such as “we” and “us” in order to encourage the public to take a stand against hazardous chemicals in their daily lives.

            The use of examples is important to convince the audience that the problems with synthetic materials actually exist. The authors first speak of DDT, which was a pesticide that killed wildlife populations in the early 1970’s, and which scientists, “still find remnants of it today in the blood of adults, children and newborns” (par. 7).  The authors also discuss the vast quantity of synthetic chemicals, stating, “another 500 to 1000 new ones introduced each year, we’ve created a situation that is impossible to regulate effectively” (par. 9). The use of examples in essay allows the authors to describe the problem in clarity to the audience. The second quote above also shows the vast scale of the problem, which also goes a long way to showing the problem that synthetic chemicals create in today’s society.

            The examples first show the audience that the problem exists, and then the use of pronouns throughout the essay encourages the audience to take a stand against the problem. The essay heavily uses words such as “we” and “our” to showcase the techniques the authors want the general public to use in order to make the materials safer. Since the audience was previously convinced of the problem, the use of these pronouns is very powerful, since the audience understand s the problem and is eager to take a stand.

            “Making Chemistry Green” comes at the perfect time in this society, when newer technologies and electronics are coming out quicker than ever, often containing hazardous chemicals. With the essay being published in The New York Times, the audience is huge, therefore making a bigger difference against the problem.

TOW #8: "The Fabric of the Cosmos" (IRB)

            For many years, our world had thought that the Earth was at the center of the universe, but in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, famous scientists like Isaac Newton and Nicholas Copernicus began to challenge that. Now, Brian Greene is beginning a similar revolution with string theory, a theory that attempts to consolidate multiple theories of the world into one single theory. Brian Greene’s book The Fabric of the Cosmos uses diagrams and exemplification to foster interest in science amongst the general public.

            Greene uses diagrams of abstract concepts throughout his book in order to make the concepts more understandable to the general public. While discussing strings, which are tiny strands of energy thought to be smaller than an atom, Greene included a diagram of different patterns that a string could vibrate in (357). This was important to include since the general public would have a hard time picturing exactly what a string would look like and how it behaved. In this specific diagram, different patterns are shown of string vibrating, and it is used to reinforce the concept of differing vibrational patterns making different kinds of matter. For Greene’s audience, although they might be in the clouds when it comes to the actual theory, the visualization of strings is made possible through the use of the diagram. This makes the theory that the audience is reading about more understandable, which in turn can foster interest.

            The diagrams themselves function as examples of certain characteristics of the theories Greene discusses, but other types of exemplification are used by Greene in order to promote science to the general public. While talking about strings and black holes, Greene includes an example of an experiment done in the 1970’s, by Stephen Hawking and Jacob Bekenstein. He writes, “…Jacob Berkenstein and Stephen Hawking discovered that this isn’t right” (479). This shows that recognizable scientists can prove Greene’s points, which makes him more credible to his audience. Since the audience now trusts his work, they can believe in the theories he discusses, which in turn can foster interest in the field.

            Brian Greene continues to make himself more recognizable with his book. By using rhetorical strategies throughout his book that seek to make his book more understandable to his audience, he is able to foster interest in the field.