TOW #11: Visual text

In a poster for a movie called "Frozen" by Disney, bright blue colors are depicted to catch the audience's attention. The obvious purpose of this movie poster is to get the audience to come see the movie. Disney, in this particular case, and the designers of this poster aim for the movie to ideally appeal to audiences of all ages, not just the common misconception of Disney movies being aimed for young children.  This visual text is well able to establish ethos and create a tone. 
       The world famous company already establishes credibility to the advertisement, and the movie, just by having its logo on the poster, being an incredibly successful company . In the center, the logo is placed very noticeably right above the title of the film, which can't be missed. The poster also increases it's ethos by including at the top "from the creators of 'Tangled' and 'Wreck-It Ralph'". It argues that the movie "Frozen" will be just as good as "Tangled" and "Wreck-It Ralph" because it is made by the same directors and company. This grabs the attention of an audience who liked the two previous movies. 
        Along with the text, the placement of the characters also attempts to convince the audience to come see the movie. The poster depicts four characters are up to their heads in snow, but despite this, doesn't give anything from the plot away to the audience.  Since they might not know what the movie is fully about, it  potentially inspires them to find out what will happen. There is the snowman in the middle, holding his own head. This prominent placement of such a goofy and creative character creates a happy tone and lets the audience know right away that Frozen is going to be a family-friendly and cheerful. 
        I believe Disney does a good job with achieving it's purpose because it uses bright flashy colors to initially grab the audience's attention. The poster then goes deeper by using convincing text to draw in an audience who has previously watched other Disney movies or is familiar with the successful company itself. 

TOW #10: Going Vegan, if Only for a Day

A writer for the New York Times, Mark Bittman, wrote in “Going Vegan, if Only for a Day”, what it truly took to be a Vegan. With context of this text being written within the last few years, it is applicable to our society as many of our people are changing their lifestyles and diets in order to improve their longevity and health by limiting eating meat, or completely avoiding any animal products.

        Mark Bittman is a journalist, food writer, and an author of 14 books, including the bestselling "How to Cook Everything and Vegan Before 6 P.M.". He most likely intended his article for anyone who has debated between whether or not to become a Vegan. The purpose of the text is to not only inform on what a Vegan is, but to highlight the difficulties a Vegan faces on a daily basis in order to maintain a diet that doesn't come in contact with any animal related products.

         He achieves his purpose through the use of humor, which he was used in the text several times. At one point he states, “I could live off pasta with vegetables for weeks” which is seen as sarcastic, but helps him achieve his purpose of informing the audience that being a vegan has limiting options, and it may affect your health much worse than just eating animal products. Bittman’s title also connects to humor, and ultimately his purpose, “Going Vegan, if Only for a Day” because it shows that a lot of people decide to join this lifestyle but don't realize that its a nearly impossible commitment. He also wants them to see the struggle vegans have finding foods not made from animal products.

         I believe that Bittman does a good job of achieving his purpose of telling the his audience what it really takes to become a Vegan because he uses of humor but it is balanced out by his commanding tone of showing the realities that Vegans are faced with. He successfully informs his readers that this lifestyle is beneficial, but it's not an easy task for those who go through completely eliminating animal products from their diet.  

IRB Intro #2

In Fast Food Nation, investigative journalist Eric Schlosser digs into the history, science and business of fast food restaurants. It was first published in 2001, which was later adapted into a film in 2006. The book examines the specific workings of the fast-food industry, including the chemical flavoring of the food, production of cattle and chickens, working conditions of beef industry, dangers of eating meat, and the globalization of fast food as an American culture export. The author, Eric Schlosser, uses humor and surprising information to create interest in his subject of the fast food industry.

TOW #9: This Messy World

This is a  personal essay called "This Messy World" by Richard Abrons, who received his BA from Yale, MBA from Columbia, and his MFA in Writing from NYU. In this piece the author describes all the conflicts going on in the world. The author also the ones that have already happened in the past including the Depression, World War 2, the Holocaust, the Cold War, etc. Although all these upheavals are going on, Abron's purpose is to point out that it's okay enjoy certain things without feeling guilty through his use of allusions and diction. 
     Throughout the essay Abrons talks about several situations that many would know about. He gives importance to these tragedies and mentions, "Syria, ISIS, Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, ebola, a reporter decapitated on YouTube, murder in Brooklyn.." (Abrons). These historical allusions in our current generation are commonly known throughout, and help the audience understand what is going on in the world. It helps achieve Abron's purpose by backing up his knowledge of current events. 
    The author also cleverly crafts his writing through diction. Although he is writing about serious topics, he gives the essay an informal tone, and does so without being disrespectful. He brings up valid points of how Americans have much to worry about and sometimes don't give importance to serious problems going on in other parts of the world but also describes himself as "damn lucky" and that people should also "do some good and enjoy". He isn't necessarily telling is audience to be ignorant, he uses these phrases to show that even though there is a lot going on, one can still live a little.
    This personal essay was intended towards an audience who pays attention to current events and watch the news because it uses information that they can understand and connect to, through the occasion of a conversation that the author has with his wife. I believe that Abrons does a great job of achieving his purpose because he points out that yes there are so many issues going on in the world that people have to worry about but feeling guilty, empathetic, and showing acts of generosity, "may make no difference to the whole but they can make a difference to the part, and that is all we can do" (Abrons).