TOW #7: No Ice Cape for Polar Bears (Visual Text)

Global warming is a serious problem around the world. As critical as the problem seems, most people are aware of the melting crisis but do not do anything to ameliorate the problem. This picture which was used in a news article titled, “No Ice-cape for Polar Bears” was directed towards those ignorant people. The reporter of this article Jamie Pyatt first appeals to ethos by being the reporter of a UK news. She then maximizes pathos by describing the photograph as “A polar bear cub is comforted by its mother as they drift TWELVE MILES out from shore on a rapidly shrinking iceberg.” The picture of harmless and innocent polar bears is already unfortunate enough, but if the two polar bears are a mother and a child and if the mother looks like she is trying to protect her baby despite the situation, people will feel a stirring deep inside their heart. The baby polar bear also looks very intimidated, making people feel guilty. Also, Pyatt’s emphasis on distance by capitalizing “twelve miles” inflate the vulnerability of innocuous polar bears. Pyatt wants people to see that their danger is caused by humans not by themselves. The surroundings of the polar bears are also interesting to see. In the ocean, the only thing floating around is the broken ice with polar bears. The isolation of the bears shown in the photo symbolizes how no one, even the people who are aware of the gravity of global warming, is willing to do anything to change the situation. At the end of the description, Pyatt does mention that “amazingly experts said the pair probably made it safely back to the shore”, but she puts it at the end to make the photograph stronger and thus prevent people from feeling less guilty.

TOW #6: "The Disposable Rocket" by John Updlike (written, non-fiction text)

In “The Disposable Rocket”, John Updlike uses rich metaphors to describe what it is like to be a male and what it is like to have a male body. He begins his essay by saying that “Inhibiting a male body is like having a bank account; as long as it’s healthy, you don’t think much

about it” (1). With this sentence, he criticizes the majority of men who do not take care of their body. Although he values men’s never-ending thirst for adventure, he says it is important for men to take care of their body as they may feel the same kind of betrayal he had felt when he first felt weak and old. Also, he stresses men’s superiority over women and the difference between the two genders. He says that unlike women, men have an innate recklessness, “to take their body to the edge, and see if it flies” (5). He almost puts men over women by delivering a feeling to the readers that he is stating men can do whatever they want. These anti-feminist feelings readers receive from his works is not surprising. Although considered as one of the greatest American writers of his generation, Updlike was often criticized for his misogynistic depiction of women in his writings. Because of this background, his intended audience for this essay is other men who do reckless things just for the joy and temptation of it. Updlike establishes his credibility with age; since he was in his sixties when he wrote “The Disposable Rocket”, he has the experience and credit to warn other men to take good care of their bodies. Updlike successfully achieves his purpose of warning other men to be aware of risks, but fails to win women’s accord by undermining the importance and power of women. Also, his very distinct descriptions of roles of men and women makes it difficult for women to agree. Some women also have the audacity and desire for adventure that Updlike stresses are only ingrained in men.

TOW #5: Things We Think We Know (written, non-fiction text)

Chuck Klosterman is an American columnist and author who writes about American popular culture. In 2007, he wrote the short article “Things We Think We Know” for Esquire demonstrating his belief that stereotypes are incorrect and based on coincidence but people irresponsibly utilize them to “fabricate who we are (or who we are not)” (Klosterman 2). Klosterman starts his essay with the description of human nature’s hypocrisy, how people pretend like they hate stereotypes but passionately use them to make themselves be someone they are not. To illustrate this hypocrisy, he uses paradox. He writes “We all hate stereotypes. Seriously… Except that we don’t. We adore stereotypes, and we desperately need them” (Klosterman 1). People seem like they hate stereotypes because to fabricate their integrity and open-mindedness people will often equate stereotypes with ignorance. However, when stuck in a situation when stereotype is required to escape, the same kind of people will claim that all stereotypes are based on some facts. To establish more credibility for his point, Klosterman uses anecdotes in which he experienced Germans stereotyping Americans in his tour to Germany. He says a German teenager that he had encountered assumed American Dream meant “watching Baywatch twenty-four hours a day” (Klosterman 7), indirectly stating Germans’ view of Americans as sluggish and careless beings. By using an idea that most Americans would object to, Klosterman attempts to achieve his purpose that stereotypes are incorrect. However, overall, Klosterman fails to achieve his purpose. He would write about all the generalizations and stereotypes he had discovered about Germans during his tour in Germany, but hastily dismisses all these observations as stereotypes. He weakened his points by being overly obsessed with the idea of avoiding stereotypes that he is incapable of judging between what is actually based on fact and what is based on biased fabrication.

Article:
http://www.esquire.com/print-this/ESQ0307klosterman?page=all