TOW #12 Behind The Scenes Of The Cutest Cooking Show On Television by Emily Fleischaker

Behind The Scenes Of The Cutest Cooking Show On Television by Emily Fleischaker
This article is about the beloved show Master Chef Junior. This show is a lot like the adult version, but of course it stars little kids as the culinary masters. This article goes in depth in the show, showing all the backstage workings and how these kids really cook so well. This article is unabashingly honest, common for Buzzfeed and it does not embellish anything. For example, the author is writing about this show where the main man is Gordon Ramsay, but she does not put him on a pedestal. Fleischaker wonders why people still work for Ramsay in, "in the face of his insulting tirades and long list of scandals." And then she links the readers to this long list of scandals. Fleischaker also makes use of rhetoric questions like when she ask, "And who wants to watch kids being mean to one another or judges hurting their feelings?" or, "Are these kids as good as they seem? And if not, would that make the show any less fun?" These questions serve to show what the piece will serve about the show. She answers them all throughout the piece dealing with them in a good way. She also gives a lot of background of Master Chef, to make sure she is writing not just for people who watch the show, but also for people who are just curious about the inner workings of reality tv competition shows like Master Chef. "The adult version is based on a BBC show that initially ran from 1990 to 2001, and the brand was exported globally. More than 40 countries have adapted the show — there’s a Master Chef Italia, Master Chef Pakistan, Master Chef China, and more. The kid spin-off was first introduced in 1994 in the U.K. and has been produced in 15 different countries." Overall, Fleischaker effectively wrote an in depth piece about Master Chef and showed the world a little something they didn't know.

TOW #11 (IRB) The Psychopath Test Pt. 1

The first half of The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, by Jon Ronson, was extremely fascinating, but also definitely not what I excepted. First of all, Jon Ronson has a distinctly British style of writing that just seems more winding and roundabout than an American counter part might have been. He has many anecdotes in this book, in which he weaves into one massive story concerning every single part of madness and the many layers of the psychopathy world. He starts of with an admittedly confusing but intriguing mystery about identical boxes filled with interesting objects sent to scientists all around the world for them to supposedly figure out. Many a moons are spent pouring over this box and its mysteries by the scientists but Jon Ronson travels around the globe just to find out that it was a random act by a psychopath. The very psychopath that would send him deep into the world of psychopathy. A rhetorical device Roson uses consistently is compare and contrast. He meets and studies many different people that are psychopaths and he compare and contrasts all of them to see what they have in common, what is different, all to define psychopathy. Another rhetorical device Ronson uses well is definition. Throughout the entire book he is building a definition of a psychopath and whenever he seems to have a definite definition, he learns something new and has to revise it. These rhetorical device make Ronson writing very effective because it seems like a story but it is also informative. The Psychopath Test is a study into psychopathy, but it is strung together using Ronson's stories and experiences. The audience is given an intimate look into a person who fears he is succumbing to a whole other type of madness, so he studies psychopaths to reassure himself he can't be worse than them. This was very effective and a good read.

TOW #10 Smoking Kills (Visual)

This advertisement is against smoking, featuring a young girl blowing out of a bubble baton, but instead bubbles coming out, smoke does. This advertisement caters mostly to pathos because of the sheer age of the little girl. Here's this girl, barely ten years old and she's already being exposed to harmful smoking chemicals that could harm her greatly. The audience of this advertisement is clearly people who smoke, but also people who have kids and smoke. This shows that secondhand smoke is very dangerous too and in most cases, a parent would want to protect their child greatly. The shock value of the ad is that it puts two things together that you would not expect. The deadly smoke coming out of a child's play toy is startling and in some cases, terrifying. This ad can make people realize that second hand smoke is very bad for children and can persuade parents to stop smoking in front of their children or at all. The ultimate purpose of this ad is to persuade people to stop smoking, especially if they have children. It is equally important that people without children stop smoking as well, but this ad caters to people with children. The thought that they may be harming little kids by their bad habit or addiction is a very heavy thought and just by looking at this ad, it may be able to persuade people to the path of not smoking anymore. I thought this ad was very persuasive because the amount of pathos in it is huge, and even though it does not have much ethos or logos, the emotion coming from a small child and dangerous smoke is a lot. The context of this is of course, the smoking epidemic that has swept the nation and claimed many lives. In conclusion, I believe this was an effective ad that used rhetorical devices well. 

TOW #9 The Hunter, The Hoaxer, And The Battle Over Bigfoot by Tim Stelloh

The Hunter, The Hoaxer, And The Battle Over Bigfoot by Tim Stelloh is an in depth informative article comparing and contrasting two very different sides of the Bigfoot myth. On one side are the never ending hoaxers, profiting from an urban legend by essentially lying for a living. On the other side is the serious scientists that truly believe Bigfoot exists and have put their very careers on the line trying to prove it to the world. Tim Stelloh, an accomplished journalist, traveled with each side trying to figure out why they do the things they do, whether the motivation is money or knowledge. Bigfoot is something people have debated for years and many people actually do believe in this colossal human-like creature, so this article reaches out to anyone the least bit curious about Bigfoot. The audience would be people that aren't in this world of searching for Bigfoot because it offers an in depth look into it. Stelloh's purpose was to show the different sides of the Bigfoot hunt and he did that extremely effectively by using compare and contrast. First he painted a portrait of a man that makes his living off of lying to people that he has killed a Bigfoot., then he showed a man who was a respected scientist and spends a lot of money and time in the hope that Bigfoot is real. Contrasting these two clearly showed how some people in the Bigfoot game just want money, but others are passionate for knowledge about this creature they believe exists. However, Stelloch also compared the two men, showing how their true purpose was really the same, both, " seeking to advance, in their own peculiar way, the mystery of Sasquatch." This showed that this subculture may be deeply divided between true scientists and lowly hoaxers but they're all push a similar agenda. Stelloch's purpose was to inform about the world of Bigfoot hunters and he did that very well using compare and contrast.

IRB Intro Post #2

I chose "The Psychopath Test: A Journey Throughout the Madness Industry" by Jon Ronson for my second IRB book. This book is about psychopathy, how it affects individuals and how its definition fits many varied people. This book is well renowned, especially in England, and it caught my interest because of the intriguing title. 

TOW #8 I Am America by Stephen Colbert (IRB)

Note: Since I didn't have a chance to do a TOW on the first part of this IRB because of my concussion, this is a TOW on the entire book, not just the second half.

I am America by Stephen Colbert is a satirical commentary on American society from the view of an extremely over the top conservative United States citizen. This is the persona Colbert puts on to show the shortcomings of America and to parody similar conservatives that preach many of the views his character does. Throughout this book, Colbert discusses many controversial topics in American politics like education, LGBT rights, immigration, and race, but his tone is neither serious nor informational. He adopts a mocking, superior tone, preaching that his views are, "nothing less than the Constitution" (ix), and that, "your differing view is wrong" (iii). By using this tone, he creates a sense of humor because the ideas he's preaching are clearly wrong and in total opposition to what the audience and and he himself believe. The audience he wrote this book for are his fans, the "Colbert Nation." They are a group of young liberals, the complete opposite of Colbert's persona, but very similar to Colbert. He wrote I am America to pander to entertain them, but also to preach his beliefs, which he does very well. As a whole, this is a funny parody of a serious book about politics. Colbert employs a radically conservative voice and reversal to preach his beliefs, which are actually the complete opposite than what is actually written. For example, when he writes about gay rights, since he is a famous figure who is known for his liberalism, the expected thing would be him being completely for gay rights. However, Colbert flips that and writes about how he is firmly against gay rights, showing how ridiculous the arguments against gay rights is (106). I Am America effectively achieves Stephen Colbert's purpose by mocking conservatives in American politics and parodying corrupt parts of American society.