TOW #23- Visual Text: Political Cartoon

This political cartoon came from townhall.com. The cartoon was created by Lisa Benson, who is well known for drawing many other political cartoons. This specific cartoon was created after the 2012 presidential debate. It depicts a boxing rink. Within the rink, Mitt Romney is dressed in boxing gloves, boxing shorts and boxing shoes. Over Romney’s right shoulder is a sign that says “Round 1”. Besides him is an official with a stunned look on his face. In my opinion this symbolizes many of the American peoples reaction after the debate. Across from Romney is a knocked over stool which looks as if he easily knocked it over in one punch. The stool is meant to represent President Obama and how in many people’s opinions he was easily taken down in the first debate. This cartoon targets any U.S. citizen who can vote and also those people who watched the debate. Rhetorical devices such as pathos, ethos, logos, symbolism, and mood are used by Benson to convey this cartoon. In my opinion she accomplishes her purpose of showing the audience of how many people reacted to the presidential debate. They felt as if Mitt Romney knocked President Obama out of his chair as the audience looked on in awe.

TOW #22 - Article: "Turn Out the Light! It May Be Making You Moody" by Alexandra Sifferlin

Alexandra Sifferlin, a writer for TIME Healthland, wrote the article: “Turn Out the Light!” under the topic of depression and health. The exigence was to inform a random audience of the consequences of excessive light exposure so others can live healthier lives. This article described an experiment with rats that were exposed to light for longer periods of time. Researchers found that the rats exposed to more light had depression-like symptoms hence the same would apply to humans. Humans have cells in the eye activating the brain's limbic system when exposed to light. The system is responsible for memory and emotion and is functioned to slow down at night and speed up in the morning. Sifferlin provided solutions to this problem by providing tips on limiting light which were given by Samar Hattar, a biology professor at John Hopkins University. Hattar worked with his team to study light exposure problems which allowed this article to appeal to ethos because credible sources were provided to support Sifferlin’s claim which was to make others limit excessive light exposure. 
The article also consisted of jargon, but only to refer to medical concepts such as “limbic system,” “intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells,” and “cortisol.” The use of such rhetorical devices allowed Sifferlin to accomplish her purpose which was to encourage readers to limit using light at night. She did this by describing the rat experiment in a way that was very easy to understand with jargon that was clearly explained and defined.

TOW #21- Visual Text: Political Cartoon (Security Blanket)

In this political cartoon, created by Eugene Payne, aimed at the second amendment, the man in the center is reclining against a tree and sucking his thumb. He is wearing a shirt that reads "National Rifle Association", which is an organization in favor of the right to own weapons and has much political leverage in Washington. He hold tightly to a blanket that reads "The right to bear arms", a direct allusion to the second amendment. His posture and stance creates a child-like appearance about the hunter. This slogan on the hunter's blanket shows that this is his "security" blanket, like a child would have. The blanket is something that protects the hunter. Leaning against the tree, is a gun with a flag on it that states: "Assault Hunting Weapon," implying that the hunter justifies his use of guns to "hunt," ever though the man is sitting idly by and apparently, napping. The hunter is in favor of gun control and against the NRA’s belief in owning weapons because the hunter is portrayed as childish and needing a “security blanket.” This particular political cartoon appeals mostly to those who are for gun control laws. On the other hand, this sketch specifically does not appeal to those who hunt or want less strict gun control laws. Due to this audience, this cartoon may appear in liberal media such as The New York Times, and NBC based networking because the pressure for more gun control laws and legislation is largely associated with the Democratic party. Payne uses exaggeration and ironic juxtaposition to achieve his purpose of portraying the NRA and anti-gun control enthusiasts in a humbling light.

TOW #20- Book: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis is about a girl growing up in war-torn Iran. This auto-biographical memoir begins with a short history of Iran, first occupied with Indo-European nomads. Satrapi's main point in the begining of the book is to highlight and show that Iran is not a nation of fundamentalists and terrorist, like many Americans and other nation believe. Satrapi notes that since 1979, Iran has largely been discussed “in connection with fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism.” She says that as a person who has lived half her life in Iran, she knows that this characterization is not true. This, she says, is why she wrote Persepolis. She believes “that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists.” Persepolis begins with a school picture of Marjane in 1980. She is ten years old and wearing a veil. In the picture, she is with a group of other girls, all with dour faces. She is on the far left of the picture and is partly left out of the frame so that she is only partially visible. She says that in 1980, it becomes obligatory for girls to wear the veil at school. The girls do not like this and do not understand why they have to wear it. They complain that it is too hot and some take them off and play with them, jumping rope and throwing them away. Other children playfully mimic scenes from the Revolution. This vivid imagery is used to depict an idea of what Iran was like through Satrapi's eyes. Not the Iran that is talked about today in politics and on the news. She uses her age as a guideline for Iran. As she grows older, Iran becomes more extremist and religious. This allows her to juxtapose her child-like innocence with the harsh regime that later takes place in the book.