TOW #3 – A Vegan Lover (Visual Text)

PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is an organization based in Virginia which aims to convert people to veganism all over the world in order to save the animals. This advertisement attempts to persuade those who are not vegan into abandoning meat and ordering a Vegetarian Starter Kit through the common desires of the general public. In this case, PETA focuses on the sex aspect mainly in regard of older males as well as females possibly in a relationship with one.

            The ad depicts a conventionally attractive woman in order to grab the attention of the audience. Her body language gives off the feeling of having just woken up, and she smiles at the camera as if to imitate that it is the viewer she is waking up next to. This generates an appeal to lust and desire since the majority of the intended audience would want to have the fantasy become a reality. The words, however, invoke the desire to go vegan for both men and women. For both sexes, the statement that meat can cause impotency causes them to feel either guilt (for men) or alarm (for women) since, in theory, there is a chance there will not be anything a woman to enjoy in a relationship if their partner consumes meat. As a result, a man may feel convinced to buy the Vegetarian Starter Kit, or the woman would feel compelled to buy a starter kit for either one of them. The colors, pink and blue, have a history of designating female babies from males in American hospitals. Because of this, PETA may be trying to target heterosexuality by mixing the two together, implying that the consumption of meat can greatly affect that sort of relationship. Heterosexual couples would, as a result, feel the most convinced by the ad into converting to veganism.

            Using certain colors and guilt invoking elements in the ad, PETA may have been able to create an acceptable argument. However, the claim itself seems a bit farfetched in comparison to personal experience. Before viewing the ad, no other sources would have ever suggested that meat could cause issues such as impotency which can lead to more skepticism toward the ad than agreement. 

TOW #2 - "Bop" by Langston Hughes (Written Text)

"Bop", written by Langston Hughes, is an essay that consists mainly of dialogue between two characters, the narrator and a man named Simple. Simple informs the narrator of the origins of Be-Bop, a type of music invented by African Americans as a result of the prejudices they face in society. In this example, the harsh treatment is through police brutality. The narrator was clueless about the topic, believing that it was not much different from the other forms they mention, but Simple elaborates that while Re-Bop and Be-Bop are similar, Re-Bop is a mere imitation of what white people think Be-Bop to be. Langston Hughes was an African American poet, novelist, and playwright. He was a major contributor to the Harlem Renaissance and one the first poets to experiment with jazz poetry. His essay serves to bring the effect racial inequality has on a group’s culture to attention for all Americans. He especially wants to grab the attention of the white Americans who are clueless to the harm the prejudice behaviors bring to a people based on differences they may have from the majority.

Hughes implements colloquialism into his writing as a way to show the contrast between how groups communicate. For example, Hughes wrote, “Bop comes out of them dark days. That’s why real Bop is mad, wild, frantic, crazy—and not to be dug unless you’ve seen dark days, too. Folks who ain’t suffered much cannot play Bop, neither appreciate it” (Hughes 191). While the narrator rarely, if ever, use slang, Simple uses a much more abundant amount of it. It is insinuated that the narrator is either white or is in a group not as exposed to the racism, expressing the difference between the two.

            The author also uses juxtaposition as well in his essay, offering a clear understanding of the behavior towards the minority in comparison to the majority. These lines spoken by Simple reads, “White folks do not get their heads beat just for being white. But me—a cop is liable to grab me almost any time and beat my head—just for being colored” (Hughes 191). This prejudice that lead to increased police brutality against African Americans is what lead to the invention of Be-Bop, showing how the difference in treatment began to show in African American culture.

Using colloquialism and taking advantage of juxtaposition, Langston Hughes was able to bring to attention the racial inequality that constantly affects our cultures for all groups.

TOW #1 "Graven Images" by Saul Bellow (Written Text)

Saul Bellow's essay, "Graven Images" introduces an interesting perspective on the idea of the power of photographers and the role media has in the present-day's society. As a winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts, Bellow explains to his audience, the people of any age who are interested in media or care about their public appearance, the influence that photographers have on the public portrayal of anyone and everyone. He touches on how a photographer can manipulate a person’s image for their own social or political interests, and that they are the ones who ultimately decide how the public with view and interpret different people and events. He also includes that some photographers will draw out a person’s weaknesses instead of their strengths, and how the media will often invade private details to share and warp the truth.

Bellow utilizes logos in his essay to convey his point. Right from the start, he references former US president Harry S. Truman on the topic. The author wrote, “Harry S. Truman liked to say that as a president of this country he was its most powerful citizen—but sometimes he added, smiling, the photographers were even more powerful” (Bellow 564). This draws interest from the reader as well due to the quote coming directly from a president, and that sort of credibility makes the reasoning of Bellow’s argument that much more convincing.

As another rhetorical device, Bellow also used the phrase Amour propre often in his essay. The term is a French philosophical concept created by Jean-Jacques Rousseau that one’s self-esteem and worth depends on the opinion of others. He was able to emphasize his argument this way by connecting this concept to his writing. For example, he wrote “Amour propre, with all its hypocritical tricks, is the product of your bourgeois outlook. Your aim is to gain general acceptance for your false self” (Bellow 565). Bellow connects this to his argument with the idea that the people conceal their true selves for a positive public response through the photographs we take. The reader is able to understand this with further implications of how humans naturally desire outside approval in order to feel happy with themselves.

By efficiently using these devices in his writing, Saul Bellow successfully establishes his stance on how powerful a photographer’s influence is in the media, and how much they can alter the political and social views of their audience. 

IRB Intro #1 - "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a memoir written in 2005 about a woman growing up with her dysfunctional yet loyal family. Her parents' behavior led to the children learning how to take care of themselves as well as function on an individual level as they found their own way in life with their parents following. Despite their success, their parents refuse to join them, choosing to remain homeless even after countless offers of aid. I chose this book as a recommendation from Ms. Pronko. This was the second time the book had been recommended for a non-fiction read, so I hope to be able to gain more interest in non-fiction by reading more stories that can draw me in starting with this one.