TOW #11 - Taylor Strikes A Chord

In Taylor Strikes a Chord, Jack Dickey highlights the shocking success of the pop icon, Taylor Swift. Jack Dickey, a journalist for Time and Magazine, is known for his contributions regarding culture and music. Taylor Swift is one of the most successful musicians of this generations and Dickey not only portrays her as a role mode and symbol but as a successful performer. To Taylor's fans and just followers of the music industry in general, he emphasizes the mark that she has left on the world of music. Jack Dickey uses facts and statistics and quotes from various sources in order to illustrate Swift's success in the music industry. Her success in album sales has been a constant factor in her career. Dickey says, "… Swift was the nation's best-selling artist in 2008 and in 2010 and No. 2 in 2012, the last three years she released albums." His appeal to logos supports his attempt to prove Taylor Swift to be one of the most successful artists of the time. He also uses quotes from sources, including Swift, herself. She says, "I just struggle to find a woman in music who hasn’t been completely picked apart by the media, or scrutinized and criticized for aging, or criticized for fighting aging.. It just seems to be much more difficult to be a woman in music and to grow older. I just really hope I will choose to do it as gracefully as possible." His use of quotes from Taylor swift increases his credibility and helps support his argument. I believe that Jack Dickey definitely achieved his purpose. I am not a huge Taylor Swift, but after reading this article, I cannot deny the success she's had and her impact on modern music. Through his appeals to logos and ethos, Jack Dickey encourages all lovers of music to give Taylor a listen.

TOW #10: The Persistence of Memory

In the infamous painting, The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali illustrates a dream-like scene of distorted clocks and this piece is considered a vastly important surrealist piece. Dali, a renowned Spanish surrealist painter, is considered one of the most prominent artists of the 20th century and his deformed and crazy images left a significant mark on the world of art. He appears to address the masses by illustrating his views on time and memory. In the painting, he utilizes subdued colors, distorted images and symbols, and irony to argue his view of the inconsistency of time and memory in the modern world. The fact that he painted 4 clocks melting away in a lonely desert and he uses the word persistence in the title is incredibly ironic. Melting does not symbolize persistency and this use of irony implies his views of how neither time nor memory are constant. Also, one of the clocks is covered with ants as a symbol of decay and how time can, in fact, deteriorate. The subdued and natural colors used in the painting give the piece a realistic flare, yet the deformed clocks and figure on the ground contrast with that flare and give a dream-like sense. The figure on the ground also has their eyes closed, possibly indicating that they are in a dream as well, where time passes even faster than in everyday life. This strategic juxtaposition was important to many surrealist painters, especially Dali, as seen in many of his other paintings and his use of very different images and symbols to display a common theme.  I believe that Dali achieved his purpose of proving the inconsistency of time and memory. His strategic use of symbols and irony support his argument that neither of these facets are constant and that time passes very differently when in various states of mind, like dreaming. The Persistence of Memory is considered one of Dali's most famous works, and rightfully so, due to the fact that it poignantly emphasizes his own perceptions of time and memory.

IRB Introduction #2 - The Omnivore's Dilemma

For my second IRB, I have choosen The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. Throughout the book, he discusses american eating habits and the vast aspects of food and its effect on culture. I find this particular topic so interesting and I cannot wait to start reading!

TOW #9 - Coatesville by John Jay Chapman

In his address, Coatesville, John Jay Chapman discusses the importance of human morality and the need for equality throughout America. Very disturbed by the lynching of a black man that took place in the town of Coatesville, PA in 1911, Chapman travels to the town in 1912 to recognize and remember the tragic event by holding a prayer meeting. Although only two people attended, he speaks to the entire population of the town and America and addresses the serious issue that this event highlighted. In his address, Coatesville, John Jay Chapman uses personal anecdotes and metaphor in order to emphasize his beliefs on what America needs in order to become a better place, where these awful crimes do not occur. His use of personal anecdotes have a major effect on the entire piece. He says, "I will tell you why I am here; I will tell you what happened to me. When I read in the newspapers of August 14, a year ago, about the burning alive of a human being, and of how a few desperate, fiend-minded men had been permitted to torture a man… I seemed to get a glimpse into the unconscious soul of this country…I seemed to be looking into the heart of the criminal - a cold thing, an awful thing" (72). This recounting of how he learned of the situation explains how he realized the flaws of the American people and what was needed for change to ensue. He thus continues to explain how he believed that the issue was deeply rooted with the slave trade and that the only solution was new life, life in which the human disposition in hearts and souls will change. His strategic use of metaphors also plays a significant role. He says, "The people stood like blighted things, like ghosts about Acheron, waiting for someone or something to determine their destiny for them" (72). This quote paints a very vivid and horrifying picture of the lack of action that the bystanders took while watching the lynching. He explains that one of the central issues was not only the lynching, but the fact that there were hundreds of witnesses and that no one even attempted to stop it. I believe that Chapman definitely achieved his purpose. The personal anecdotes and metaphors made the address extremely powerful and I felt that it was a very important and revolutionary text of the time. In Coatesville, John Jay Chapman attempts to address the needs of America and highlights racial issues in an extremely revolutionary way.