TOW #16 - The Omnivore's Dilemma #2

In the book, The Omnivore's Dilemma; A Natural History of Four Meals, Michael Pollan deeply investigates the mysterious, immense world of food. Pollan, a Berkeley Professor and successful author and activist, changes the way his audience perceives eating and all of its intricacies. Throughout the text, he uses imagery and humor in order to describe some of his personal experiences while researching and to make the extremely informative book more enjoyable. Pollan spent 7 days on Joel Salatin's farm, while researching the importance of grass and he vividly describes certain things he encountered. On page 208, he says, "When I stepped out of the trailer into the warm early morning mist, I could make out two figures - the interns probably - moving around up on the broad shoulder of hill to the east, where a phalanx of portable chicken pens formed a checkerboard pattern on the grass." This detailed description serves to help the reader picture certain aspects of farms, in order for them to gain a better understanding. While using imagery, he also uses humor, in order to make his text more relatable and enjoyable. Continuing onto page 209, Pollan describes, "Directly behind each pen was a perfectly square patch of closely cropped grass resembling a really awful Jackson Pollock painting, thickly splattered with chicken crap in pigments of white, brown and green. " This funny quote, comparing chicken pens to the artwork of Jackson Pollock, increases the audiences enjoyment of the book. I believe that Michael Pollan did an excellent job in achieving his purpose. With his strategic use of imagery, I really understood where he was, and how it related to his research. I often felt as though I was there next to him, studying the chickens or the grass. The humor he incorporated also made the book more enjoyable and I really thought it enhanced his overall writing skills. I highly recommend The Omnivore's Dilemma to anyone who is interested in the world of food, due to Michael Pollan's deep knowledge of the topic.

TOW #15: Ideas Are Bulletproof

In this particular cartoon, Walker Bragman depicts one of the terrorist shooters, involved in the January 7th, Massacre in Paris. The French satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, had published some cartoons depicting Muhammad, one of the most popular figures of the Muslim religion, which resulted in upsetting much of the Muslim population. It led to a shooting during one of the paper's editorial meetings, killing 12 people. When word got out of what had happened, people all over the globe were infuriated, claiming that the newspaper had the right of free speech and could publish whatever they prefer. In this cartoon, Walker Bragman uses monochromatic coloring and bold words and pictures to illustrate the idea that everyone has the right to free speech and that no ideas should be silenced. Bragman uses black and white throughout the entire cartoon, except for the puddle of blood the terrorist is standing on. This strategy also added a bit of pathos because it indicates violence and fear. This utilization of specific coloring adds emphasis on the intense effect of the shooters and highlights the violence that was caused by this issue of not respecting the newspapers rights.  At the top of the cartoon, he wrote in bold lettering, "ideas are bullet proof", meaning that no one has the right to harm or kill someone because of their ideas, and that ideas and words have much more power over guns and violence. This idea is also shown when Bragman illustrated a large pencil overpowering erasing the terrorists gun. This symbol was very powerful and helped get his central idea across. I believe that Walker Bragman achieved his purpose. I came across this cartoon before I really knew a lot of about what had happened, and then after reading up on it, this cartoon helped emphasis what is really important and how unfair these violent acts were. This is one of the most interesting cartoons I have ever seen and I believe that it really has a powerful effect.