TOW #12 - The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins (IRB)

The God Delusion is a book written in 2006 by Richard Dawkins, a world renowned scientist and advocate for atheism and secularity. He is well known for his contributions to the science world, and holds an alma mater of Balliol College, Oxford. Given all of this, Dawkins begins The God Delusion with a large portion of automatic ethos. However, he does not rely solely on this throughout the first half of The God Delusion. Dawkins makes sure to support every argument he makes with innumerable statistics and facts. There is a notable lack of ethos throughout the book, but considering that this is a book focusing on science, the lack of emotional support makes sense. The heavy use of statistics, mostly probability calculations and supports for evolution, serve as undeniable evidence in support of Dawkins' claims. In any other book, the sheer number of facts and pieces of information that he cites throughout the text may seem overwhelming and unnecessary, but in a book that's topic is religion, there must be no shortage of information, because in a debate so heated, any gap in one's argument will be exploited. One problem with Dawkins' writing and arguments that is also present in many of his other works is that its tone can easily be interpreted as condescending. While this may not bother readers who already share some of his ideas on the topic, those who are of the opposite mindset and read the book will feel snubbed by this tone, and become biased towards others of similar mindset to Dawkins', thinking that everyone of that ilk is as condescending and arrogant. Thus, The God Delusion's argument to this point is effective, but largely nullified by its tone.

TOW #11 - Effects of Music on Society by Andrew M - Written

I do not know who Andrew M. is. I just know that he is somebody who decided to have an essay published on the internet.  I find this lack of instant ethos to be really interesting, and overall beneficial to Andrew M's rhetoric. The lack of any background knowledge of his origins and whatnot casts away any bias one could have towards him, leaving it up to him to establish his point, regardless of outside information, and he does that fairly well throughout this essay. One of the most effective strategies that Andrew uses in this essay is the quotation of reputable sources and studies for his information, establishing both ethos and logos at the same time. This focus on these two, and the neglect of pathos, is okay - this is a more factual essay; it presents raw informationa and interprets it. Another thing that is done quite well in this essay is the presentation of an unbiased argument through the use of varied studies. Over 6 different studies are cited throughout the paper, and all of them present unbiased arguments presenting the positive and negative effects of music on society today, which is his thesis - presenting just how important music is to our society. Overall, Andrew M. does a great job convinving his audience of the importance of music in society, using ethos that is built from the ground up, reputable studies, and varied studies throughout the paper.

TOW #10 - Porsche Advertisement - Visual

Porsche cars are widely renowned as some of the better luxury cars for their price range. They are quality vehicles that are quite expensive, but serve their uses with beautiful aesthetics and high performance. This advertisement uses several different tools to convince the reader that a Porsche is the right car for them. Amongst these are appeals to Pathos and Ethos. The strongest of appeals is that of an appeal to nostalgia. The ad calls upon reader's senses of nostalgia by asking them if they really dreamed of owning a nissan or a mitsubishi, both mid-price "decent" cars. This serves as both an appeal to Ethos and Pathos, reinforcing the Porsche brand by comparing it to two other brands of cars seen as being inferior. It appeals to Pathos by calling upon the reader's past, when they still had dreams and optimism and happiness, and connecting the Porsche brand to those happy feelings. Another appeal is to the user's sense of aesthetics. The layout of the advertisement is in grayscale, and has a very clean appearance to it. Cleanness and good aesthetics are things that people look for in cars, and Porsche uses these two in the advertisement to again connect its name to these things. By using these positive feelings and associating them with their name, Porsche forges a strong advertisement that is effective and subtle, making use of nostalgia and aesthetics to reinforce their name and reach readers' emotions.

TOW #9 - The Death of a Moth - Virginia Woolf (Written)

Virginia Woolf was an acclaimed novelist throughout her life, which started in 1882 and ended in 1941 by suicide. She suffered with mental illness her whole life, and it eventually ended it. Her essay, The Death of a Moth, was published a year after her death in 1942. It is a short essay whose topic is, well, the death of a moth that Woolf happened to see on her window. Whilst that is the obvious, first-level subject, the true subject is mortality in general. Taking into account the fact that this was written shortly before she died, it is easier to see that this is an essay about mortality. She uses her description of a moth as a metaphor for the life of a human being with bipolar disorder with stunning accuracy. At first, she describes the moth as a pitiable being, after watching it flutter about for a while, she realizes that it has none of the freedoms that she would have imagined it having before considering its significance. This symbolizes a sort of "death of innocence" that comes to a lot of people when bipolar sets in around age 18 for most people who have it. She then describes it standing still for a while, not really moving, struggling a bit against some force that she can't see. This represents the depressive phases that are encountered by sufferers of bipolar disorder. She then describes the death of the moth, her realization that it isn't moving because it's trying not to die. She documents its short time spent struggling to get up and continue moving, but then interprets its motions and eventual ceasing as an acceptance of death, which is what many bipolar sufferes eventually succumb to, Overall, given some background knowledge, this is effectively a suicide note from Woolf, and it communicates that quite effectively through the use of a dying moth as a metaphor for the life of a bipolar sufferer, probably being herself.

TOW #8 - How to Win Friends and Influence People (IRB)

How to Win Friends and Influence People is a book by Dale Carnegie, a writer and lecturer who focused a lot on self-help and social improvement. Many of his works focus around the idea that one can influence and change the behavior of others by changing your behavior towards them. After completing the text, I can only vouch for the effectiveness of the ideas Carnegie puts forth in How to Win Friends and Influence People. Whilst the content in the second half of the book is, of course, different from that of the first half, the rhetorical devices used to support it are by and large the same. Many anecdotes from successful people are used to back up each "strategy" that Carnegie propoese will help you to win friends and influence people. This is the same as any other form of endorsement in marketing or the likes. Having successful people's names and ideas in your work will make people connect said work to success. There is also a wry, subtle humor spread throughout the book. This humor is not too frequent, but appears just often enough to keep readers' attentions during some of the drier portions of the book. Both of these strategies appeal to ethos and pathos, without any logos. That is because this book is about people, and the interactions between them, two very intangible concepts that are nearly immeasurable, rendering any form of logos in a book like this moot. All Carnegie needs to do is keep you interested (Pathos) and make you trust that what he says for you to do will be good (Ethos). He achieves both of these very well, and in turn, writes a helpful and convincing book.