TOW #16 (IRB): Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America by Yossef Bodansky

Through the second half of "Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America" author Yossef Bodansky discusses Bin Laden's plans for attack, and his motivations for them. In comparison to the first half of the book, the second half is much more about the terrorism Bin Laden has caused and the events leading up to these acts. Again, like the first half of the book, Bodansky writes in chronological order of Bin Laden's life story, which makes it very easy to follow. One of the strategies that Bodansky uses to make complicated terrorism easy to understand, is he uses cause and effect to explain things. Since in the real world, we know that there is always multiple causation, Bodansky makes sure that he makes the reader aware that Bin Laden doesn't just do things for one reason, but rather a plethora of influences. I found the whole recruitment process interesting, as people volunteered their lives to become a terrorist. When Bodansky explains this process, he includes all of the reasons as to why someone would join Al-Qaeda. This makes the text very easy to understand, and that much more interesting. In the second half of the book, Bodansky's purpose is to try and tie Bin Laden's early life to his terrorism, and by doing so he tries to shed light on why this man did what he did. One way Bodansky is effective at achieving this purpose is by writing the book as a narrative. Instead of boring the reader with a list of facts about Bin Laden, Bodansky takes the reader through the events as though they are actually happening. This effect makes the reader more engaged in the book and provides for a much deeper understanding than just raw fact. As opposed to being a boring non-fiction book, Bodanksy's rhetorical devices engage the reader and make them feel like they are in the time period instead of reading a list of facts. Overall I thought the book was really interesting as it gave a different perspective on why Bin Laden did what he did.

TOW #15 (TEXT): Are e-cigarettes dangerous? by Harold P. Wimmer

In this article, author Harold P. Wimmer discusses the implications of a new phenomenon, e-cigarettes. Because e-cigarettes are such a new product, Wimmer says that there needs to be regulations on them. Since there is currently no regulation on the e-cigarette, people believe that it is a healthier alternative to the cigarette. Although this is the case, Wimmer argues that the lack of regulation actually makes the e-cigarette more dangerous. In his article Wimmer lists all of the possible effects and dangers of e-cigarettes. What his purpose in writing this article is that Wimmer wants to make people aware of the e-cigarette's health implications and also propose that there be regulations on them. In order to get his point across, Wimmer appeals to the reader's pathos by discussing how e-cigarettes are affecting children. What makes readers' cringe is the fact that a new wave of nicotine addicts are being born from the e-cigarette. Since there is no actual smoke, e-cigarettes create a falsified sense of safety and thus 1 out of 10 high school students have tried an e-cigarette. By using these statistics, the reader's ethical code comes into play as they feel bad that kids are smoking. Wimmer also tries to get readers to feel shocked by using statistics. These eye-opening lab studies make the reader feel, again, more inclined to feel skeptical about the e-cigarette. Wimmer even compares the e-cigarette to the way the original cigarette was first advertised: with attractive women, etc. This parallelism shows that history is going to repeat itself in that e-cigarettes are now going to generate a new wave pool of nicotine addicts. Wimmer's article makes a great point that e-cigarettes are not safer, not regulated, and is just another way for our generation to get hooked onto nicotine. I personally think this article resonated with me because being a high school student, I see many kids getting hooked onto things like e-cigarettes just because they seem safe, when in reality they aren't. 

TOW #14 (Visual Text) Old Spice Momsong Commercial

In this commercial, Old Spice, a deodorant manufacturer, takes a comical route in advertising their product. The commercial is essentially a bunch of mothers singing about how Old Spice turned their sons into men. The mothers sing and complain about how their "little boys" turn into men and during the commercial they list all of the "bad" things their sons are doing like attracting women and being "naughty" with them. What Old Spice is effectively doing is making the mother's problem a selling point to customers, who are mostly teenage boys. These boys that are being targeted are usually the ones who haven't yet chosen their brand of deodorant that they are going to use for the rest of their lives. Since most people stick with one deodorant brand for the entirety of their life, Old Spice is targeting people who have not yet made up their mind. In this commercial, Old Spice uses comical rhetoric in order to get their point across. Scenes like having moms hold on to the bumper of a car, and turn into a janitor to spy on their sons is comical and makes the viewer laugh. However the comical scenes are just the support for the main claim, or purpose of the commercial. The main selling point is how Old Spice essentially gives boys the ability to turn into manly men who attract women. I think that Old spice does a great job in slipping in this selling point without being as obvious as they usually are in their other commercials. Overall I think Old Spice made a hilarious commercial which got its point across by using comical rhetoric and slipping in the main purpose. I personally use Old Spice, and I changed over from Axe to Old Spice much because of their advertising.