AOW #3: Mapping Mideast Peace Article

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/09/12/opinion/mapping-mideast-peace.html?ref=opinion

Summary

This article is basically explaining the continual “Palestinian-Israeli Conflict” in the Middle East and some solutions that experts have come up with to solve it. It is explaining not only that this is – more or less – a “work in progress”, but also that there are several opinions that have just arose. Most of these opinions were based off of earlier ones, but there are 4 new ones. The first one “requires the greatest land exchange between Israel and the Palestinians” because 113 sq. miles of land are being “swapped” with 77 settlements in Palestine and 43 in Israel. The second only includes 103 sq. miles of land to be swapped with 82 Palestinian settlements and 38 for Israel. The third one only “swaps” 89 sq. miles of land with 88 settlements in Palestine and 32 in Israel. The last one is “Geneva’s Option” which only includes a swap of 53 sq. miles and 101 settlements for Palestine with a measly 19 settlements for Israel.

The author of this article is David Makovsky.

He is credible because at the bottom of his article, it actually lists his background information on how and why he decided to write about this specific topic. At the bottom is says, “[He] is the Ziegler distinguished fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.” This shows me that he is credible because he has researched specifically in this field and just for this topic alone. The citations for the maps that were in the article are also included at the bottom which shows me they are credible as well.

The context of this piece would definitely be either spacial or causal. It would be spacial because, as by definition, spacial context buds from social and historical aspects of certain events that explain how it became what it is today over a long period of time – like the ongoing “Palestinian Israeli Conflict”. It could also be causal because the solutions that the article introduces actually grew from an historic event and were created and thought of promptly (but not temporally).

The obvious purpose of this article was to propose a set of opinions on how to solve an opinionated event. Basically, it was to show the readers that this is a very controversial issue and that it need a matter of several opinions to solve it and cannot be solve in a literal, single-opinionated answer. It needs more than one thought for it to cease.

The audience for this article was definitely more limited than any other articles that I’ve read before. It was because in order for you to understand the sentiments listed, the intended audience needed to know what the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict was and is today. The audience cannot just be oblivious of what the article is about because the article did not include and preface, preamble or basic narration to introduce readers to the immense background of it.

This article included an abounding amount of rhetorical elements from the “Classical Model”, or classical argument set up for rhetoric writing, outline.

They included:

Introduction: they included an “attention grabber” at the beginning when they said that “a two-state solution is the only viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” This is definetly an attention grabber because it is a very strong opinion that can be sought against.

Confirmation: this was included all throughout the piece, especially in the listed statistics in the graphs/maps.

Refutation: the “counter-argument” was probably the most prevalent throughout the entire piece. It was because the article, as a whole, was like one large argument because there were 4 different opinions on how to solve this issue and they were all contradictory towards one another.

Conclusion:  the interesting thing about the conclusion is that it wasn’t really there, but in reality, it was there without being physically present in writing. I believe that the “conclusion” was represented by the unanswered question they left you with at the end of the article – “What is the solution to Mapping Mideast Peace?” So, in reality, the conclusion is for the reader to create, however, they lead you right towards the discovery of a conclusion throughout the entire article.

I believe that the author completely accomplished their purpose. They did because their purpose was to inform people about certain solutions for this pre-understood conflict as well as to show different opinions on how it should be solved and make them appeal to certain solutions more than others. As I read, even though they tried to keep the opinions vague, I could definitely see the “draw-in” into the different listed opinions. It’s like as if it forces you to pick a side because there are 4, clear cut “sides” that all have different characteristics that appeal differently to others.

AOW #2: Dali Painting

photo: http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fdzIyiXskwk/TaNpuOYpbXI/AAAAAAAABsY/YelN9wiNrKo/salvador-dali-geburt-ei.jpg

So, based on the title “Enfant Geopolitique Observant la Naissance de l'Homme Nouveau” (or “Child Geopolitics, Watch the Birth of the New Man”) I can infer that this picture is politically, globally and religiously based (based on the definition of geopolitics). I also understand that  this is about the birth or the needed rebirth of the entire world as a whole (the world is shaped like an egg and it looks like the two older figures are Adam and Eve with a child who represents creation).

The “author” or painter of this painting is Salvador Dali.

To establish his credibility, the website says that he had been painting ever since he was a young child (born in 1904 but it was believed that he discovered impressionism around 1916 and began painting at a young age). Also, he has been a part of hundreds of art exhibitions throughout the years to display his work and is widely well known. Website - http://www.salvador-dali.org/en_index.html
 

The context of this piece would definitely be either spacial or causal. It would be spacial because the controversial topics he addresses (religion with Adam and Eve and even geography and politics with the melting and re-forming world) are references to history as well as to history repeating itself. It could also be causal because these speculations about certain parts of history had to grow from some type of interaction between the people, space and time.

I believe that the purpose of this piece was to show to the people of the world (like Eve showing the people, represented by the child) that we need to break the shell of our old earth and mistakes and begin rebirth to start anew. The “new” and “reborn” world can be represented as the man coming out of the old shell who can start to help rebuild the new world with Eve (possibly like what happened at the beginning of time, based on Christian beliefs).           

The audience of this piece would be, in an extremely broad sense, the entire human population because Dali is trying to tell the entire world how we must all start anew.

Some rhetorical elements that Dali used were pathos and contrast. He showed pathos by giving two characters (possible Eve and a child) strong facial expressions and certain body jesters (like when Eve is pointing to the rebirth, forcing the child to watch the process) that provoke certain emotions from the audience. He showed contrast with the contrast of light and dark colors which illuminate more important things (like the “rebirth”, the blood and the melting continents).

Yes, Dali completely accomplished his purpose. He did because he expanded upon a simple meaning and added a deeper concept within the little details he included in the painting.  He was even able to express his thoughts through the colors (illumination to represent a bright future) as well as the deep shadows and seemingly never-ending world behind the earth.

IRB #1: Jagger by Marc Spitz

Title of the book:
The title of the book is "Jagger: Rebel, Rock Start, Rambler, Rogue."

Author: 
This book is by Marc Spitz

Four sections:
FIRST 4 WEEKS: 1-71
NEXT 4:  71- 155
NEXT 4: 155 - 223
NEXT 4:   223 - END


Why you chose this book:
I chose this book for several reasons. First of all, I love the rolling stones and their music. Because of this factor, I believe that it will be much more interesting to me and much easier to read. Second of all, as I skimmed through the pages, I realized that it sounded quite similar to a lot of the examples in Chapter 1: Everyday Use. It did because the author seemed very opinionated and defensive about what he was saying (although not too extreme) which gives me a lot to work with, in a rhetoric sense. So the second reason I chose it was because it had to do with the course's outline. Overall, I am quite excited to read this biography on Mick Jagger!

AOW #1: Sweeping Security Effort Planned for 9/11 Events

Article of the Week #1: SOURCE - www.nytimes.com

     This entire article was all about how New York and Washington D.C. are preparing (safety wise) for this coming Sunday – the 10^th anniversary of 9/11. The cities are doing a “clean-sweep” of the entire foregrounds to check for any suspicious actions linked to terrorist acts.

     There were two authors who composed this article: Al Baker and Scott Shane. To discern credibility, i searched their backgrounds. Neither of them had a biography but both had written abounding amounts of political writings – just like this one – and had many printed versions of them (giving it permanency). They also gained important information from real officers, e.g. "Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly".

     The context was more relaxed and not as formal as some other types of articles. It was more laid back because, to inform the public about safety issues, especially during an event that could be extremely detrimental, you must approach them in a calm and soothing manner.

     The one main purpose of this piece was to notify the community of the current situation connected to the anniversary of 9/11 and give recent updates on the increasing security.

     The audience for this article was the general public (mostly in the communities around NY and D.C. area) because these areas were mentioned as well as local streets and places they would only know - e.g. “Around city hall”, “Pennsylvania Station”.

   

  In this article, there was a predominant amount of logos intertwined within because there were many statistics mentioned, ex: when they discussed the amounts of “F.B.I.”,  “Joint Terrorism Task Force” and “Secret Service” members working to calm high tensions. They were also trying to persuade the public that everything is OK.

     I believe that the authors completely accomplished their purpose because their drive was to inform people about the newly increased forces to calm the hysteria of 9/11 - and they carried this "drive" through to the end and left readers satisfied.