TOW #18 (IRB)- A Walk in the Woods

    A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson is funny and entertaining, even though the premise seems a bit dry. Bryson tells the story of how he and a buddy of his decide to hike the 2168 mile Appalacian Trail, up the East Coast. The problem is, that he is slightly overweight, and while he thought the buddy he invited along was a real rough-and-tougher, instead this friend is even more overweight, and even more used to the nice things in life, like running water. Bryson uses a lot of humor in the book, starting off by the shocked way his wife acts when he tells her his decision. The vernacular of the book is very informal, with occasional cursing (like when they were chased by bears).
     Hidden by the gags and funny parts, is the true reflective nature of Bryson. Though he could not complete the trail, he learns a lot, and in between hilarious anecdotes are profound statements, such as, "“But I got a great deal else from the experience. I learned to pitch a tent and sleep beneath the stars. For a brief, proud period I was slender and fit. I gained a profound respect for the wilderness and nature and the benign dark power of woods. I understand now, in a way I never did before, the colossal scale of the world. I found patience and fortitude that I didn't know I had. I discovered an America that millions of people scarcely know exists. I made a friend. I came home.” This statement spoke volumes to me, and almost makes me want to go out right now, and "rediscover America", the beauty of the natural wilderness. Even though Bryson described horrible things, rain, fog, bears, cold, and getting lost, you're still left with a sense of respect for nature. I come from a hiking family after all, so who knows if I'll do it or not? And the way Bryson described the Pennsylvanian part of the trail, "miserable, with rocks stabbing every part of your shoe", well that just made me feel right at home, because the trails in Pennsylvania really are like that. Thanks, glaciers, and thank you, nature.

IRB #3- A Walk in the Woods.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson is his own recounting of how he was overweight and decided to hike the formidable Appalacian Trail. I picked this book because the librarians said I would enjoy it maybe.

TOW #17 (Written)- The Trouble With "It Girls" by Anne Helen Peterson

One of the most powerful parts of this article was not the words, but instead the pictures. One picture could mean as much as a thousand words they say. These pictures, or rather, collages that embellished the article were full of "It Girls" and just at a glance you could recognize that at one point every woman up there had been idealized into an it girl. Then there's the pictures of magazine covers-most notably Vouge and Vanity Fair-which have the it girls posing. Not only does this sometimes create the "maniac pixie dream girl", as 500 days of Summer aptly put it, but it expects woman to conform to the standard of that one woman. It also pits women against each other in competition to be the "it girl" when really, we are all the It girl. Now the It girl category is diversifying, take Lupita Nyongo and Benazir Bhutto, but this image limits the woman that it holds. Now, the media expects them to be the exact mix of sexy, demure, smart, but not too smart, different, but not too different, and they take away the power of the woman to define herself. One example of this is Clara Bow, from the 1920-30's. She was the starlet of Hollywood, until she went too much out of the box and proclaimed herself a feminist, gambling, drinking, and partying too much. But of course, the it girl mantle was passed on, as it always is. Take the quick switch from Jennifer Lawrence, to Lupita Nyongo, to Rosmund Pike. The article says, “It's another to see the term-and all its insidious, objectifying power- resurface, proliferate, and thrive nearly a centuary later. Only this time, it's saddled not on one woman, but any woman who seems primed to be more than an object-an It, passive and pliable-in the narrative of their own lives.”

My Brother Is Going To Love This Forwarded List Of Lawyer Jokes by Steve Schwantes (TOW #16 Written)

My Brother Is Going To Love This Forwarded List Of Lawyer Jokes by Steve Schwantes is another in a long list of Onion articles that point out the real issues. Everyone has that one person that just will not stop sending you pointless emails that you're going to delete automatically, or even better, have set to spam. For me, it's my dad, who sends endless emails about how millennials are lazy and how I should have my major picked out by now. Jokes on you dad, this millennial knows how to delete emails in two easy clicks! And then they'll ask you about it later and you'll be all “yes, that was very helpful, what would I do without your life changing emails?” But enough with the passive-aggressiveness, let's analyze the rhetoric in this passage!

The first part of this article is a picture of the author, a balding, white, middle aged man. It is very obviously meant to represent the majority of people who send the annoying emails you delete. Next is the satire, which is quite obviously there because the Onion is a satire website. While at first look, to a very gullible four-year-old this may look like a genuine man talking about genuine things, everyone else will be able to know that they are using satire to point out a very annoying #firstworldproblems. The article uses a first-person point of view to show how ridiculous it actually is. For example, “When you forward a mass-forwarded email, you get a good feeling inside”. Not to mention that everyone stopped mass-forwarding jokes in like, 6^th grade. Middle aged people, am I right? It paints them as excited puppies who understand nothing and have just found out what the internet is. Wow, gmail, what a revolutionary concept, am I right?

Visual Text -TOW #15

This political cartoon depicts a huge crowd of people rallying with a banner that has “save the twinkie” on it. Meanwhile, two people, one holding a sign that says “save the earth” look on to the crowd, and the man wearing blue jeans part of the twosome says, “we're doomed”. It is a critique of the causes people choose to rally around. Also noted should be the fact that the people holding the save the twinkie sign are seemingly overweight, or close to it. They are also white and middle aged. Then, the people holding the save the earth sign are younger, thin, and looking on with disapproving faces. The people holding the sign save the twinkie are aggressive in their manner, not even taking notice of the save the earth people. This points out the fact that many of the people rallying around twinkies would not even take a second glance at save the earth posters, or the whole cause in general.

The author of this piece is trying to say that people rally for dumb causes much of the time bypassing more important ones, like saving the earth. One example of this is the potato salad guy, who on kickstarter, raised a couple hundred thousand bucks just to make a potato salad. While these people could have been giving to worthwhile charities, they instead chose to help someone make a 1 dollar potato salad. His cause was dumb, but people still gave to it, thinking it was funny. The author is pointing out the shallowness in society, and how we get numb to causes that are important but seemingly overexposed. This is what sucks in society because we need to learn more to not overlook things we have seen before, like save the earth posters.  

TOW #14-The Last Amazon by Jill Lepore (Written)

The Last Amazon by Jill Lepore is an article on The New Yorker's website. It is a critique on D.C.'s usage of the character Wonder Woman, and how she could be so much more than the studio is letting her be. It highlights the feminist issues of women that are as amazing and can kick as much butt and men getting sidelined to let the men (read: Superman and Batman) have their “epic duels”. Lepore uses a lot of rhetoric in her article, one of the most effective is her look back into history, at where Wonder Woman originated. She even goes to the max as to find the son of two feminists who evolved Wonder Woman to see what he thought. She also quotes experts on Wonder Woman, and how the figure has evolved.

Another thing Lepore does is use comparisons really well to highlight her point. For example, she points out Captain America vs Wonder Woman, and who would be easier to age up to modern times (Wonder Woman, of course). She also uses the movie in which Wonder Woman played by Gage Gadot will be in, Superman vs. Batman, as a jumping point for the injustice done to Wonder Woman. For example, she uses another critic's example of an alternate title for the movie, “Batman vs. Superman with also some Wonder Woman in there so sit down ladies we're treating you fine: The Movie”. This also showcases a slightly underrated part of Lepore's article, the humor and sarcasm aspect. Lepore also quotes many wall known feminists, like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Max Eastman, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Lepore ends with the call to attention of how much has still to change. “She'd have to take stock, and what could she say about what women have got? Brest bumps and fetal rights instead of paid maternity leave and equal rights? Longer hours instead of equal pay?”

TOW #13- Bossypants by Tina Fey (IRB)

          One of the funniest things about Tina Fey's book Bossypants is the not so subtle pointing out of her literary techniques. These are presented as commentary on what she has already written placed in between of parentheses. For example, this hilarious insert where she is talking about her resemblance to Sarah Palin, and Fey says, "Lorne and I discussed the overwhelming public opinion (hyperbole) that I should play Governor Palin," (Fey 202). No, that was not me putting in the word hyperbole to show where it was, that was Fey clarifying that no, there wasn't hoards of people clamoring for her to play Sarah Palin. Fey also does this by adding an aster ix, so she can add a note at the bottom of the page. She does this when she says, "...after inspecting the cleanliness of Oprah's airplane, set, and dressing room the next morning*.." and then at the bottom of the page, "This is not something I would normally do, but I wanted everything to be perfect for Miss Oprah. Jon Hamm, if you come back, I will not preinspect your toilet. I may inspect it afterward to make sure you didn't steal anything." This adds so much humor in her own voice, and makes it seem less edited than the rest of the book even though you know that the whole book is edited a lot.

         The thing that I bring away from the book is how Tina Fey is trying so hard to seem like a normal person when it is obvious she is a hilarious goddess sent to Earth as a reincarnation of the comedy muse of the old religions. She speaks about her insecurities regularly, really making it seem like she is a real woman, which she is. I think the best part of this is seeing how she views her own life. She eve says once that her kid's 6^th birthday party theme was just important as the Oprah guest starring on 30 Rock, and that really puts into perspective how crazy celebrity's lives can be.