TOW #16: Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer

When trying to recall a traumatic experience, many times the events that someone may think occurred are not actually true. Jon Krakauer, the author of Into Thin Air, had to determine between fact and fiction when writing about his disastrous expedition of Mt. Everest. Krakauer uses quotes from survivors and analogies from other writers to retell the most accurate account of the devastating events that he and his fellow expeditionists experienced.

Krakauer was sent to Nepal by Outsider Magazine to write about a guided ascent of Mt. Everest. Krakauer unknowingly took part in a climb that would lead to the death of many of his fellow climbers. Upon his return, Krakauer wrote his article for Outsider Magazine, but felt the article did not serve proper justice for his experience. Krakauer’s decision to write a book meant that he would have to tell the accurate version of the events that took place. Krakauer knew that he had difficulty remembering the accuracy of every event because of the emotions that the expedition caused him. Due to this, Krakauer met with the survivors to use their quotes as well as his own to retell the story as accurately as possible. By his use of quotes, Krakauer is proving his credibility. Since it is known that every survivor may view the climb differently, Krakauer creates a medium between all of the viewpoints that make his story, as accurate of an account of his expedition as possible.

Krakauer also alludes to other writers’ work to help create the emotions that he felt during each chapter in the story. At the beginning of every chapter Krakauer shares a poem or excerpt either about climbing or ones that create the same mood that the chapter creates. For example, at the beginning of chapter fifteen Krakauer provides an excerpt from Joseph Conrad’s, Lord Jim. The paragraph talks about the emotions felt by a man when he is facing a danger that takes his life. This foreshadows events that will occur in the chapter that follows. By using appropriate allusions to other writers’ work before each chapter, Krakauer foreshadows events and creates moods that will be portrayed in the chapter to help the reader feel as he felt when experiencing the events.

Krakauer faced the difficulty of accurately portraying the disastrous expedition of Mt. Everest that he experienced. He uses quotes to find a medium between all of the survivors viewpoints and shares excerpts from other works of writing to create a specific mood that enables him to write the most accurate account of his Mt. Everest expedition.

TOW #15: NFL Advertisement, Sports Illustrated

An effective advertisement should appeal to more than just one target market. Located inside of Sports Illustrated, the NFL placed an advertisement for NFLShop.com. The NFL is always trying to expand their fan base, and the NFL uses this advertisement to try to appeal to the women.The NFL successfully advertised their women’s products through the use of bandwagon appeal and by their word choice.

Sports Illustrated is primarily read by men, so why would there be an advertisement for women’s products in the magazine? The NFL put an advertisement showing five women in their team’s shirts to show that women also enjoy the game of football. When a husband, father, boyfriend etc. sees these women wearing NFL shirts they will think that all women are buying into being a fan, and this will cause them to purchase NFL attire for the woman in their life. Band wagon appeal causes the male fans to not want to feel left out from their special woman owning their team’s apparel, causing them to buy a product and making this advertisement effective. 

For the less frequent readers of Sports Illustrated, women, the NFL uses specific word choice to make women feel as if they play just as much as an important role in the success in the NFL as men play. At the top of the advertisement is the line, “Together we make football”. The “together” is written in the largest font on the page. The large font puts emphasis on the “together”, showing that the NFL would not be what it is without the help from all of their fans. Since this ad is made for the women fans, the “together” gives these women the feeling that they are just as important to the success of the NFL as any other fan, making them want to purchase NFL apparel to show that they are just as much of a fan of the NFL as anyone else.

Watching football is no longer just for men. As more women are beginning to enjoy watching the game of football and are adding to the success of the NFL, the NFL must begin to advertise their products to them. In this advertisement, the NFL uses a bandwagon appeal for the men and specific word choice for the women to get both genders to purchase NFL apparel. 

TOW #14: "The Al Qaeda Switchboard", Lawrence Wright

Whether or not one believes that the N.S.A has the right to view phone records and other forms of personal data in the United States, he/she must begin to see why others have opposing views on the subject. Lawrence Wright, writer for The New Yorker, and author of “The Al Qaeda Switchboard” wrote his essay  for citizens of the United States to see another side of the Edward Snowden scandal. Wright uses historical references as well as rhetorical questioning to show that N.S.A surveillance can only prevent terrorism if the agencies that have access to the surveillance use it correctly.

Wright uses historical references to provide background information that allows the reader to understand why he is showing the need for N.S.A surveillance to be used correctly. Wright retells events from 9/11, “What the report actually says is that the C.I.A. and the N.S.A. already knew that Al Qaeda was in America, based on the N.S.A.’s monitoring of the Hada phone. If they had told the F.B.I., the agents would have established a link to the embassy-bombings case, which “would have made them very interested in learning more about Mihdhar.” Instead, “the agents who found the source were being kept from obtaining the fruits of their work.” By retelling the events that led up to 9/11 and his use of quotes, Wright is able to convince the reader that the surveillance has the ability to work, but it did not because the agencies did not share the information correctly. Wright was able to show that the surveillance could have worked to prevent 9/11 if it was used correctly, so he changes the audiences’ views to now question if the N.S.A surveillance is being used correctly rather than if it should be allowed at all.

Wright also asks rhetorical questions to call out the mistakes that the agencies made with the information that they collected from surveillance before 9/11. Wright informs the reader that the CIA knew that Al Qaeda members were in the United States, and that the CIA did not inform the FBI of this. Wright then asks, “What did the agency intend to do about the Al Qaeda operatives in America?” Wright asks this question to show that the surveillance did its purpose, but the CIA made the mistake of not sharing this information with other agencies. By asking what was the CIA was trying to do, the reader again takes his/her focus off of should their be N.S.A surveillance and now questions if the surveillance is being used correctly because the C.I.A knew that there were Al Qaeda members in the U.S and did not act accordingly toward them.

Wright was able to achieve his purpose of proving that the agencies need to be more of a topic of discussion amongst the public, rather than the N.S.A’s ability to use surveillance on Americans by his use of historical references and by asking rhetorical questions.

TOW #13: Dodge Commercial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyGlqb1s_n0

What is more American than owning an American made car? This is why Dodge made a commercial that relates their cars to one of the most important events in American history, the Revolutionary War. The commercial shows the British lined up to battle, as well as George Washington and many other colonists driving Dodge Challengers to defeat the British. Dodge uses symbolism and humor to advertise their Challenger as America’s car.

There is no war more important to America than defeating the British in the Revolutionary War. This is why in order for Dodge to create the feeling that their car is America’s car they related it to the war. They use George Washington as the driver to create a feeling that if a Dodge is good enough for him, than it is good enough for you. By using symbols like the Revolutionary War, George Washington, and the American flag, Dodge was able to create a patriotic feeling towards the car. By creating a patriotic feeling, Dodge was able to convince the viewers that the Challenger is America’s car.

To grab the viewers attention, Dodge uses humor throughout the entire commercial. When making an advertisement it is important for the viewer to remember the advertisement. This is why Dodge uses humor by relating their car to a very serious event that will cause the viewer to never forget the commercial. By having the Americans defeat the British by driving cars at their horses during a time that was still far away from the invention of the first car is very humorous. It creates a sense of pride for people who purchase the car because it is showing that the car is capable of defeating the British, who at the time of the Revolutionary War were known as the best military in the world.The commercial then concludes by stating, “There are a couple of things America got right, cars and freedom.” This humorous quote shows that America takes as much pride in the cars that they make as much as they take pride in winning their freedom. By use of humor Dodge is able to convince the viewer that the Challenger is America’s car.

Dodge uses symbolism to create a patriotic mood as well as humor to create a sense of pride to convince the viewer to purchase their Dodge Challenger, “America’s car”.

TOW #12: IRB; Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer

How can an author properly describe his/her emotions in an event that changes his/her life dramatically?  Jon Krakauer, the author of Into Thin Air dealt with this difficulty when writing about his experience during his Mt. Everest expedition. Because of the strong emotions that his experience created, Krakauer writes a letter and provides pictures for the reader in order for the reader to understand his emotional difficulty when writing the book.

Krakauer felt so passionate about the events that he experienced during his expedition that he went against what many other authors advised him, and wrote this book shortly after his experience. Krakauer knows that this may have caused him to not have had the time to completely accept what had happened to him, so he wrote a letter warning the reader. By informing the reader his need to have written the book so shortly after the disaster on Everest, allows the reader to understand his emotional connection that made the rest of the story so difficult to write. Also by providing a letter to the reader before the book, Krakauer is able to warn the reader about what the story entails. Krakauer’s choice to include a letter allows the reader to understand how difficult it was for him to write the story because of the emotional impact the disaster caused him and may cause the reader.

Krakauer also provides pictures and maps before the story begins. He does this for the reader to understand the significance of the book. The impactful images that are labeled with events that occurred at the locations, such as the sight of where his fellow hikers’ bodies were found, allows the reader to see that the truth of the story does not necessarily have a happy ending. Because the reader is able to see that the story will involve death of the author’s companions, they can understand that the expedition did not end well for him, and understand why he may have had difficulty conveying his emotions in the story. 

TOW #11: "Higher Calling", Steve Coll

            The holiday season approached quickly, and many began to see their inability to have a very merry holiday season because of their low income. Steve Coll a writer for The New Yorker, wrote “Higher Calling” to show how a raise in minimum wage will provide workers with economic independence. Coll achieves this by using statistics and brand names that the reader can relate.

            Coll enables the reader to understand the problem of minimum wage by sharing statistics that are common to people that live off of minimum wage. Coll states that nearly twenty seven thousand people living in Seattle live in poverty. This means that many of the people are living off of around $15000 a year, far below the federal poverty line of $23,550 for a family of four.  Living in a tech savvy city like Seattle, these people have difficulty being able to enjoy the holiday season, let alone the rest of the year, with a minimum wage budget that does not get them very far. Coll’s use of statistics enables the reader to understand the severity that the minimum wage is causing.

            In order for the reader to feel the need for a raise in the minimum wage, Coll shares situations that people living off of minimum wage experience. Coll states, “This holiday season, activists have been excoriating WalMart because one of its stores organized a charitable food drive for its own low-paid employees. McDonald’s was taken to task for suggesting, on a company Web site, that strapped employees could raise cash for presents by selling belongings on eBay.” If companies are telling their own employees that are receiving minimum wage to find other ways to make money, it is time for the politicians to see the need for a raise in minimum wage. It is not right for people to have to sell their own goods on top of a full time job to mak ends meet. This is why Coll connects to the audience by sharing situations like these to get the reader and politicians to see why a raise in minimum wage will create economic independence for many.

TOW #10: "At Super Bowl, New York and New Jersey Will Be Top Rivals", James Barron

On Super Bowl Sunday, not only will there be two of the top football teams competing, but there will also be a rivalry between New Jersey cities and New York City. The Super Bowl is know for directly helping the economy of the hosting city. This year the super bowl is being played at Metlife Stadium, home of the New York Giants and New York Jets. To this date, many still do not know that this stadium is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey rather than New York. James Barron a writer for the New York Times and author of “At Super Bowl, New York and New Jersey Will Be Top Rivals” juxtaposes the cities of New Jersey and New York City to show the difficulty that New Jersey will face when competing for tourists during the Super Bowl weekend.

When making the decision of where to stay as a tourist, the decision is easy to many, New York City. As Barron describes, New York has some of the top restaurants, hotels, and many of the best attractions in the world, so why would someone want to stay in a New Jersey city that is over powered by the great city across the river. By comparing the two options of where to stay side by side, the reader can understand the dilemma that New Jersey is worried about. Barron then goes onto describe New Jersey’s and New York’s efforts side by side to gain tourists. He states that companies in New Jersey are being trained on how to welcome tourists to their cities. Where as on the other side of the Hudson, “All New York City has to do every day is wake up, take the crust out of its eyes and it’s open for business.”(pg 2) By describing the situations for both cities, Barron is explaining how this rivalry is becoming a one-sided affair. James Barron effectively explains the odd rivalry between the two states by juxtaposing the cities side by side to create an awareness of the importance of the Super Bowl’s economic impact for the host city.