IRB 3 #3: To Kill a Mocking Bird - By Harper Lee

Character:

All of the characters are still the same (I listed the characters in the last independent reading post). There are, however, a few new characters such as Miss Maudie and Mr. Avery. Miss Maudie is a woman who sits outside on her porch and talks to Jem and Jean Louise about the town and their days. Mr. Avery is a bit colder than Miss Maudie because he breaks up the children’s games if he suspects something and all in all, he is less of a warm person. The character’s attitudes have changed much since last time as well. As for Jean Louise or “Scout” and Jem, their outlooks on judging people have changed immensely. They used to make fun of Boo Radley – the suspicious and supposedly crazy man that lives at the forbidden Radley residence – and his family but a life altering experience changed their outlook for good (explained in plot).

You can also see the personality of Jem and Jean’s father (Atticus) come out more. He is portrayed to be a very down to earth, all knowing and appreciative person – especially because he “for” some causes that the entire town is against (IE he supports African Americans in court).

Another character that was added was Uncle Jack. He acted just like Atticus as he was kind and caring, and someone who always promoted love for others around you, no matter their race.

Setting:

The setting in this section was opened up into a whole new world. It was  because the children – Jem, Scout and Dill – felt brave enough to approach the forbidden Radley house at an “unsafe distance”. So now they feel like the town is boundless.

Plot/Conflict:

Rather than listing out the entire plot from the beginning of the section, I will sector out the most important parts of it. The first most important part is when the three children venture out towards the Radley’s place at night. They have only peered into it or wandered near it but this is the first time they ever went directly to it. They were trying to see inside the home to possibly catch a glance of Boo or his family however, they were caught by Mr. Radley. Since it was dark, however, he thought that they were African Americans trying to steal something from his yard so he shot a bullet in the air to scare them off. As if it wasn’t scary enough for them, Jem had lost his pants when they were tugged by the fence so he had to run back later and get them even though Mr. Radley warned the town he would kill another intruder no matter who or what it would be. The most peculiar thing, however, that changed all of their mindsets for good was first that his tugged pants were folded as if they expected him to return and second that a person, most likely from the Radley house, was leaving prizes for the children in the tree out of gratitude. They finally were starting to see the truth.

Another important part of the plot would be when Atticus mentions his new court case where he is defending an African American on trial. This is an extremely significant occurrence because during that time period, it was against the “culture” or norm of the world to support someone of color on trial, especially because they had less of a chance of winning due to their race. However, Atticus was willing and good-hearted enough to put himself on the line to defend justice.

Theme:

The theme of this entire part would how vital positive change and strong, wholesome opinions are in the path to becoming a good human being. Positive change is shown how Jem, Jean and Dill have now changed what they think about the Radley’s - and even on people of a different race. This is shown not only because of their personal experiences that happened in this section, but also because Atticus promotes equality of all within his family and society and puts down racial slurs.

Literary devices:

Here is a list of some literary devices used all throughout the story:

-          Foreshadowing

-          Communal memory

-          Communal speech

-          Tone: Reversion to Childhood

-          Southern Jargon

Claim: (simple, based on theme NOT literary devices)

Change and striving to have strong opinions are two of the most important elements in becoming a wholesome human being.

Support:

In order to support, I can first give a clear definition of what a “wholesome” human being is and give examples from Atticus’ speech.

Then, I could give examples from the three children and how children can change for the better, even when born into a world with pre-planned beliefs.

After that, to support the need for strong, positive opinions I could give examples of Atticus’ dialogue when he reprimands his children for acting hateful against others or even when he gives moral advice. I could also provide examples from Calpurnia or Uncle Jack every time they talk to the children to act based on kindness.

AOW #20: US News "Re-election Hurdle" Political Cartoon

AOW #20:
http://www.usnews.com/cartoons

this image is showing Obama jumping over a hurdle in the "re-election" race. Not only does it show that he's fighting to be re elected, but the scoreboard is showing gas prices and not the runners' times. This is important because it expresses how much automobile gas and the price of it can sway someones vote die to the current increasing dollar amounts for gas. Basically, the cartoon is saying that the lower your gas prices are on the score board, the more likely you are to win (as in real running with times). 

The creator of this cartoon is Steve Breen. He won the Pulitzer prize twice for his cartoons and is featured in a number of prestigious newspapers, such as US News. Both of these facts express his credibility because awards and features are a perfect evaluation of what critics think of his work. 

The context of this piece would be causal. It would be because the elections are coming up soon and the gas prices have just recently risen to one of their highest. So due to the current status of the gas prices AND the election being shown, we can see that this image is a reaction to the new issues. 

The purpose of this piece was hinted at before: to show how much Obama wants to be reelected for a second term, and that lowering the gas prices will help him in doing so. 

The audience of this piece would be those who are aware of not only the election, but the other  candidates. They must also have some idea about what is truly the most important factor in this election that will push one candidate over the other - that being gas prices, the economy, etc. 

Some rhetorical devices used were contrast and enthymeme. Contrast was expressed when you saw the racing track and then the scoreboard. When you see a track, you expect the scoreboard to be running times or even just a regular football scoreboard. However, here there was contrast because the scoreboard was actually gas prices and not at all like a normal track timer. 
The enthymeme was expressed when all of the elements of the cartoon worked together.
Major: The re-election race depends on low gas prices. 
Minor: All of the gas prices on the scoreboard are high. 
Claim: Therefore, the runners in the election race must lower the gas prices in order to win (alike to regular running)

I believe that the author completely accomplished their purpose. They did because people like me, who aren't completely involved in the election and re election process, can understand what's going on. Not only is it clear, but it portrays a strong message of the current issues related to politics. 

AOW #19: WSJ A City Old and Buried—but Far From Dead

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203753704577257391635511380.html?mod=googlenews_wsj 

This piece was about a classics teacher’s visit to Troy to see the Roman Horse from the “Iliad”. It was basically like a story of her experience of seeing the horse for the first time after reading it since she was just a kid. She explained the details and how they matched up perfectly with the story description in her mind.

The author of this article is Madeline Miller. She is credible not only because she works for the Wall Street Journal, a very prestigious paper, but she wrote many articles on much of the same things. She had at least 5 to 6 more articles about the “Iliad” and everything that goes along with it, which shows me she must be somewhat of a “expert” o said topic. She is also a “classics” teacher who understands and teaches her students about all of the classic literature in history.

The context of this piece would be causal because she is describing what happened on her trip, which happened before the article, and her reactions to the trip.

The purpose this was written for was, simply,  to share her experience of her trip to the audience. She also wanted to show us that this city of Troy is “Far From Dead” because as she said, “Someone—a particular person, with a particular life—had placed these stones exactly here. And here they had stayed, through fire and flood and earthquake and storm.”. So it is still alive and well today!

The audience of this piece is a very wide range of people. Of course, it attracts those who love the story “Iliad” by Homer. It can also attract those just interested in ancient roman history. All in all, this article is for everyone who enjoys the “classics” – and even for those who may just know of the classics – because she does a fantastic job of explaining what the “Iliad” is.

She used some simple literary rhetorical devices such as imagery and allusions from the story. Imagery was shown when she was describing how much the actual sight of Troy was alike to the descriptions in the story. Here is where she compares through description: “A sign pointed to the highest ground, one of the old ruined towers that Homer had described, its jagged walls like a broken tooth.” She then added allusion in when she talked about what she remembered from her readings as a child:

“Homer's descriptions of the ancient city felt vivid enough to touch: the huge, brazen gates; the stone walls said to have been built by the gods; the lofty towers leaning over the plain where swift-footed Achilles slew Hector…”

Yes, she completely accomplished her purpose. She did because although I didn’t know, I detail, too much about the “Iliad”, she was able to not only describe what it was all about, but also connect the reading and her own experience into one article. I felt as if I was there alongside of her as I read it, due to her descriptions and connections!

AOW #18: WSJ Death Gets in the Way of Old-Age Gains

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203753704577257292958403150.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1

This article is about people growing old past 100. It talks about how there are less and less centenarians in our society, which is very unusual, especially at the positive rate that the numbers were going. They discuss different meanings of why this was happening, one being that the time period of the oldest generation living could have had an effect on age. They also talk about how “the body [is]… like a machine [and] amasses more flaws as it ages… increasing the probability of breakdown, or death”.

The author of this piece is Carl Bialik. On the WSJ website, he says that he is the “senior special writer” who was a free-lance writer before said job offer. He also has a bachelor’s degree in math and physics from Yale University. This shows his credibility because he not only has a great educational background – especially for this topic – but he also works for the WSJ…as a senior special writer, which is a very prestigious job.

The context of the piece would be spacial. It would be spacial because in the article, he had to refer back to previous years and the age results of how many centenarians there were. It would also be spacial because although it was a “reaction” to the reading, it would not be causal because it is more about long-winded research and not short blurbs of reaction.

The purpose for this article was to explain to people why there are not as many centenarians as there were in previous years. Although it did show how the increase of age meant an increase of death rates for a specific group, they should have given specific reasons why these people were dying (IE what was happening during the time period that these people with less centenarians were born?).  I also think the purpose was to compile all of the research on this topic into one central idea – by adding in different scientific insights from a few people.

The audience that this was written for would be older Americans – people who are concerned with “death”, and people who are just interested or noticed the sudden drop in the number of centenarians.

o A listing of any rhetorical elements in the piece

Rhetorical elements used in this were: motifs, objective tone and organization of data. As for the motifs, the constant motif was “centenarians”. It was this because this word constantly kept coming up all throughout the article to explain their scarcity, how they got to where they are and what their deaths may do.

As for the tone, I believe that it was very semi-formal because they used an objective – not subjective – tone. This type of tone then improves the author’s ethos because the people can believe you more when you have more of an open mind/detached voice. It was shown through personal phrases like “This is bad news for anyone who wants to reach the century mark, but could provide an odd measure of relief for pensions, retirement programs and medical insurers, whose costs rise as people live longer”. This was used to qualify the fact that “Death rates among Americans born between 1875 and 1895 [are] climbing steadily as they age”. The two sided, qualifying article allows the reader to think that much more.

As for the organization of the data, I believe that they did place the data (IE bar graph to show direct relation between time and amount of centenarians) that they had in a convenient sense (right in the center of the article to bring your focus back). Although this rhetoric did work, I think they needed more data, especially from the scientists they cite! I couldn’t quite imagine what they were talking about because they didn’t give specific examples as to what the scientist were talking about (IE explain signs of the body decaying).

I don’t think that the author accomplished their purpose. I believe this because although I did see that the reasons for this increase in death and decrease in centenarians (because of the time periods this older generation was born and also because the body just starts to break down at one point), I didn’t quite believe it. I would like it if they added more examples and explanations of why this was happening – not just a few mere suggestions of what they “think”.