TOW #6 - Article: "What I Love: Deepak Chopra" by Joanne Kaufman

In "What I Love: Deepak Chopra" by Joanne Kaufman, the life of Deepak Chopra, the most famous new-age guru, is examined. His life on the 69th floor of a Mid-town west condominium in Manhattan contrasts against the "Inner Stillness" he claims he can find anywhere, even on the subway.  Chopra recently relocated his primary residence from the sunny southern coast of California to bustling New York. Chopra's urban residence is describes as shrine-like, with statues of Ganesh, Vishnu, dancing Krishna, and the goddess Lakshmi scattered throughout the spacious apartment. Rainbow spices sit in tins about his kitchen. Sharing this building with A-list celebrities such as P. Diddy, Deepak Chopra's elevator rides have been filled with queries about yoga and meditation, even making house-calls to help out his fellow building-mates. Kaufman artfully juxtaposes the serenity of Chopra's life to the chaotic scene that is Midtown Manhattan. However, Chopra states that he needs this stimulus, that the energy the city provides, he has been absorbed. "The apartment is my extended body, and when I look out the window and see the steel and concrete - that's my exo-skeleton." Adding another level of juxtaposition, Kaufman contrasts Chopra's home in Manhattan. His coastal home in California provides the Deepak with an incredible view of the ocean, with access to the beach, 24/7. However, Deepak Chopra states that he only travels to Cali in order to teach at his center for yoga and meditation. Chopra is aware that his home in California is irreplaceable, but mentions the lack of difference between his personality and the area. New York adds energy to the Deepak, while California enables his energy to plateau. He is able to feed off of Manhattan because of its bustling nature. The city that never sleeps is leaving Deepak Chopra well-rested.

TOW #5 - Article: "The Culture Paradox" by Gina Bellafante

New York Times journalist Gina Bellafante examines the shifting importance of the arts in Manhattan in the article, "The Culture Paradox of 21st-Century New York." Bellafante covers the changes passing through New York's boroughs of Manhattan, once the cultural apex of the US, now inhabited by the 1%, contrasted against Brooklyn, a haven for the arts in the 21st century. Immediately,  Bellafante alludes to an essay written by singer-songwriter David Byrne, criticizing modern day New York for succumbing to Wall Street and dampening creativity through its over-expensive culture. Byrne reminisces the 70's, when New York sustained young, striving artists with no money and in turn produced masterpieces. Bellafante then brings light to the culturally blossoming borough, Brooklyn. The author provides evidence of Mayor Bloomberg's commitment to the arts through donating 10's of millions of dollars to the arts in New York. The author then establishes a counter-argument to Byrne's essay: Brooklyn is the new Manhattan. Culturally, Brooklyn has been thriving. The BRIC House, a large gallery building with space for readings, screenings and lectures, has sprouted in the midst of Brooklyn. With inexpensive ticket prices, the BRIC House provides a space for new artists to flourish and display their work. The mention of this cultural sanctuary is a metaphor of New York in the 70's, a place where young artists moved to "make it" in the art world. Classes are offered at dance centers for young children and visual media in Brooklyn for nothing or little to nothing. Thus attempting to prove her the author's purpose that the center for culture in New York has shifted boroughs: Manhattan to Brooklyn. Even though the New York of the 70's remains, the same type of "Urban Chaos," as stated by Bellafante, remains in the boroughs.

TOW #4- Independent Reading Book: Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed follows a young woman, newly orphaned after mother subdued to cancer, on a quest to self discovery. Strayed writes about her impulse decision to hike the California section of the Pacific Crest Trail, as well as the unfortunate series of events that lead her to this conclusion. Strayed's major in English from the University of Minnesota help her to write a life-defining memoir. Beginning with the news of her mother's impending death, Strayed writes substantially about their relationship and how she spent every last moment of her mother's life by her hospital bed. In a collapsing marriage, once Strayed's mother died, the author felt she needed to do something "wild", that would help her find herself: hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Strayed shows that through the difficulty and accomplishments of physical feats, healed her after her mother's death and divorce. Parallel to this purpose, Strayed aims to reach audiences wishing to be healed or going through situations similar to that of the author's past. Through using imagery, Strayed connects with audience on an empathetic level to achieve her purpose. "Amazed to be free of it's(backpack) weight, I strolled around and accidentally brushed up against one of the Joshua trees and was bayoneted by it's sharp spikes. Blood instantly spurted out of three stab wounds in my arm. The wind blew so fiercely that when I removed my first-ad kit from my backpack and opened it up, all of my band-aids flew away" (Strayed 57). Strayed's perceptive use of imagery allows us to see her struggle on her journey and see what she had to go through in order to achieve self-actualization. The audience is able to connect with her struggles and hardships to better understand Strayed's predicament.

TOW #3 - Article: "Jhumpa Lahiri comes up short in 'The Lowland'" by Porochista Khakpour

Porochista Khakpour reviews The Lowland, the most recent novel by critically acclaimed author, Jhumpa Lahiri. Lahiri has written two separate collections of short stories as well as one other novel; Interpreter of Maladies, Unaccustomed Earth, The Namesake. The author of this article, Khakpour, writes for The Los Angeles Times and will have two published novels by this winter. He is writing this as a book review for the newspaper. After having loved Interpreter of Maladies and Unaccustomed Earth, Khakpour knew Lahiri had mastered the art of the short story, but was skeptical as to her prowess towards the novel following his unsatisfactory review of The Namesake. Khakpour does not tread lightly while dissing Lahiri on the lack of exciting writing in The Lowland. Livid that Lahiri chose a characterless wife to be the main character rather than the subversive children, Khakpour states:  "It seems exactly the wrong choice for this book, as if she's invested in telling this story as tepidly as possible. This threatens to collapse the entire narrative in her endgame: Every story line is tiresomely followed until dead end, and the final third of the book is all downwind resolution, overwrought and exhausted, as if in complete misunderstanding of the novel form." Khakpour is ripping this novel left and right, even at one point eluding to the opinion that Americans are so infatuated with Lahiri's work because it is a non-threatening, "watercolor" depiction of Indian-American life. Similies like this give the author's audience a clearer picture of how Lahiri writes by comparing it to something that is commonly known. However, Khakpour found Lahiri's short stories impeccable, making him beg the question: Why does Jhumpa Lahiri need to master both the novel and the short story? His answer: She does not, and most certainly has not. Slipping in his thoughts on her other novel, The Namesake, he refers to it as "clumsy and laborious." This allusion allows the audience to more accurately gauge their attitude towards Lahiri's writing and decipher wether or not The Lowland would appeal to them. Khakpour has certainly put his two cents in on his views of The Lowland and done his best to discourage others from reading this "overwrought and exhausted" novel. 

TOW #2 - Visual Text/Media: GEICO Hump Day Camel Commercial

Wednesday's will never be the same. GEICO is known for their humorous commercials with the gecko and the iconic caveman. This particular commercial follows a camel in a generic office setting prancing around, gleaming with joy, asking worn-out, impatient co-workers what day it is. The camel's question remains unrequited until one blank-faced woman replies "It's Humpday." The camel hollers with excitement and trots around the office with pride. 

The author's ethos is not established until the end of the commercial when it is stated that the advertisement is for GEICO. This allows the audience to connect through the commercial's humors appeal to pathos. However, the author understands that in order to establish credibility, he must demonstrate who the speaker is. That is why only at the end of the commercial do the two singing men reveal the speaker is GEICO.

The purpose however comes at the end of the commercial, where two guys are standing, playing guitar and relay the message that those who switch to GEICO insurance are happier than a camel on a Wednesday. The context of this commercial is and advertisement for a famous insurance company with a reputation for comical commercials. Used to please all TV watchers, the commercial caters to a broad audience of anyone watching TV, but more specifically to those 18 or older and in the market to buy insurance. Personification is used as a device to give the camel the ability to speak as well appeal to ethos by connecting with the audience through humor. 

Their purpose is clearly to get people to buy GEICO's services through making their audience laugh. In saying that, this commercial is extremely funny and certainly grasps people's attention. However, whether it effectively acquires more customers to the GEICO product is debatable. Humor may attract people but it can also give off the impression that GEICO does not take their service seriously. GEICO has undoubtably achieved the purpose of making their audience laugh and spread the popularity of the GEICO brand by playing the commercial on various national networks.  

Independent Reading Book Introduction: "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed

For my IRB the first marking period, I have selected to read Wild by Cheryl Strayed. In this memoir, Strayed writes about her journey to find herself while hiking 1,100 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave dessert to Washington State. I selected this book because I myself, love to hike and the idea of finding one's self while hiking really appealed to me because I can easily connect to this. I hope to gain inspiration from reading this book. I wish to be able to connect with Strayed over her hardships before and during her trip, and learn from her mistakes and translate these lessons into my everyday life.

TOW #1 - Article: "A Wiseguy, Retooled for Police Work"

In the article, "A Wiseguy, Retooled for Police Work", Dave Itzkoff writes about Andy Samburg's transition from the late night sketch comedy show, "Saturday Night Live", to starring in a prime-time comedy series, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" on the FOX network, in this week's issue of The New York Times. Dave Itzkoff has been a culture reporter for The New York Times since 2006. Itzkoff is a published author of two memoirs. Andy Samburg left "Saturday Night Live"at the end of last year's season, in 2012. While dabbling in different types of film, such as Indie Flicks and music videos for The Lonely Island, his comedic musical group, Samburg had trouble deciding what his next move would be. After watching SNL alum Amy Poehler transition smoothly into a starring sitcom role on "Parks and Recreation", he came to the conclusion that he would take the starring role on the new FOX show, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine."
In this article, Itzkoff achieves his purpose through his effective use of rhetoric. The author effectively uses juxtaposition to bring forward the different types of work Samburg has accomplished and compare them to demonstrate his professional timeline, as well as maturation. "By comparison, Mr. Samburg said, he felt he could easily navigate the responsibilities of being the star and a producer of 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'." This allows the reader to understand the pressure Samburg faced while at SNL by concluding that starring in and producing a prime-time show on a national network could be "easily navigated."
Dave Itzkoff adapts a tone of admiration while writing about Samburg that give the audience a sense of admiration for his professional accomplishments. SNL digital shorts, such as the infamous clip featuring Justin Timberlake about surprising items in a box, are highlighted in this article to exemplify Samburg's success at "Saturday Night Live." The author reached the audience by bringing highly popular work that Samburg has accomplished, to the foreground, in order for the audience to connect to the article as well as Samburg.
The impeccable use of rhetoric in this article undoubtably helps the author achieve his clear purpose and at the same time allowing the audience to connect to the article.