A Short History Cont. (TOW # 16)

     It is the late ninety's and STEM is all the rave. Author Bill Bryson must have picked up on this. A Short History Of Nearly Everything draws off the science of everything that surrounds the everyday human, and essentially gives a pretty well rounded spark notes of life as we know it. With the intention of drawing his reader in and causing an excitement around science Bryson serializes the creation of the earth. Although filled with a large amount of chemistry, physics and biology the book also dabbles in geology, meteorology, and even sociology. Covering events from the big bang to the Cambrian explosion to the extinction of the dodos. The book succeeds in both showing science at an incredibly microscopic and and personal level, as well as showing the grand insignificance of the human race and the great deal of chance that has played into our existence. This, i believe, ties back greatly to Bryson's purpose, to inspire interest in science and research, particularly in the hopes toward betterment and conservation efforts. I think Bryson best sums this up in his concluding paragraph of the whole book. "If this book has a lesson, it is that we are awfully lucky to be here-- and by "we" i mean every living thing...  We really are at the beginning of it all. The trick, of course, is to make sure we never find the end. And that, almost certainly, will require a good deal more than lucky breaks."
     In order to draw his audience in Bryson fills his book with factoids. Not always totally relevant but unfailingly interesting. Most of them show either the deeply personal level of science, or the unbelievable scope of it. For example, he tells us that in any given handful of soil there are 1 million plant yeasts two hundred thousand molds, ten thousand cryptozoa; or that one humans DNA spans 120 kilometers. This somehow makes the science more personal and potent. But to even further show its immense vastness he explains that as the universe expands it doesn't fill space, but creates it; or that we have only observed 1 trillionth of the universe. By showing the personal nature yet unimaginable size of the space and time, and show the shear lock that let us be a part of its beauty Bryson effectively advocates for conservation and research.

A Short History Of Nearly Everything (TOW #15)

     To categorize and chronicle the entire history of the universe is quite a daunting task. However, there are few people better suited to take on such an endeavor as Bill Bryson. Bryson is an author known for his nonfiction works and who ranks among some of the best nonfiction writers of all time. He served as the chancellor of Durham University between the years of 2005 and 2011, and his publication of A Short History Of Nearly Everything won him the Aventis Award from the Royal Academy Of Science for the best Science book of the year. This award is held by others including Jared Diamond and Stephen Hawking.
     The most intimidating aspect of a 500 page about science is not a lack of content. The issue is an excess of boredom. It is incredibly difficult to create a book describing complex scientific concepts that is both easy easy and inciting to read. Bryson's best weapon in this case is the anecdote. Rather then explain concepts and list facts Bryson weaves a story, creating context to discoveries, personifying discoveries, and characterizing key figures of the history of science. This is best shown in his description of researches and introductions to new key figures, which, although some may argue are unneeded, i believe that they aid in making the book more story like, approachable and personal. These contexts aren't just scientific aspects of the researchers lives, they include things from their spouses to how they take their coffee. Bryson again makes the book more personal by relating everything back to you. He takes macroscopic ideas and shows them in the microscopic, and in the end, brings everything back to the reader. No part of the book was more interesting, although self apparent, than when Bryson so sagely observed that "It is a slightly arresting notion that if you were to pick yourself apart with tweezers, one atom at a time, you would produce a mound of fine atomic dust, none of which had ever been alive but all of which had once been you."
     To me this book has been a compelling read throughout. I am most passionate about science when it comes to education. However, Bryson himself is quite the opposite, a self admittedly bad science student Bryson writes this  book for people like him. And in doing so helps to abolish the stigma that you are either science minded or you are not.

How 'Fight Club' Became the Ultimate Handbook for Men's Rights Activists (TOW #14)

     Fight club is a book written by Chuck Plahniuk about an unnamed narrator who is consumed in materialism and capitalism, until he meets Tyler Durden, starts an underground hyper-masculine anarchy group called fight club, and ultimately try's to destroy the world. The book was widely popular and adapted into a block buster film. My essay relates the way that fight club was transformed from such an insightful reflection of the ninety's into the handbook for male rights movements. The article, written by Paulie Doyle of vice news, seems to take a view of this as a tarnishing and misuse of fight club.
     The article opens with a brief summary of fight club and its textual themes and continues demonstrating how it was an effective reflection of its time periods, the 90's, in which male vulnerability and introspection became a more mainstream and acceptable cultural concept. After describing fight club adequately the author then explains how the "manosphere" has sacrilegiously appropriated the text. He explains the men's right belief that there are alpha and beta males, alpha being superior physically and sexually while beta are introverted and weak. Fight club to the alt rights men movement shows the way modern life has confined men to suffer by taking away there killer instinct and replacing it with consumerism. In the eyes of the movement, the author explains, this is the fault of women, who have obviously gained too much power in society and need to be put back in their rightful place. To many men in the manosphere Fight Club is a description of this need. Not only this it shows how a beta like jack the narrator can transform into an alpha like Tyler Durden.
     In my opinion the authors most powerful tool in this article is his tone. He decides to use a very conversational tone so as to effectively portray his opinion on the topic without making it too serious. The author effectively wields tone so as to condemn the manosphere rather than just describe. He uses witty asides, sarcasm, and at some points demeaning references to the manosphere to show this thought.
     this article is effective and informative and serves as a mean of refuting the men's rights view of fight club as well as a way of redeeming the films true purpose.

Pepe (TOW #13)

     It is hard today to go on the internet without coming across a meme in some form, and anyone who is savvy with current internet cultures knows that one meme reigns supreme: Pepe the frog. Pepe is a cartoon frog created in 2005 as a character on the cartoon Boy's Club. The cartoon depicts the typical life of a twenty some year old american. The cartoon was relatively small and Pepe did not have any kind of great claim to fame. He spread relatively slowly throughout social media, but by 2015 Pepe was the most common meme on almost all platforms. Obviously Pepe is popular, but why does he have such a broad appeal?

     It is hard to say why Pepe has become so popular, but I would argue that it is due to his incredibly emotional depiction and easily emphasized features. Pepe comes in many iterations but his most common form is sad Pepe. This instance of Pepe features the frog looking down with a mix between sadness and emotion in his eyes. This complex level of emotion is shown through the details put in the eyes. The eyes are looking down and slightly furrowed, but they also seem distant and are made so to look reflective like dears are building in them. This meme is typically paired with a caption depicting a sad event, or more specifically a disheartening realization of the future. This is a key part of the life of an early twenty year old, it is the beginning of true adulthood and independence.

     I think it is also important that Pepe is a frog. Although he possesses a fairly humanoid form Pepe is still a completely different creature. This makes him seem a little more distant. This creates a tone of a sort of self depriving humor. It highlights both the way that there are many things that can make you upset when you are young but also how in hindsight they are greatly insignificant.

     Like any part of the internet Pepe has been appropriated for many less than savory causes. He has been used by alt-right antisemitic groups to promote Neo-Nazism, racism, and white supremacy. This is a wholly unjust and quite frankly irrelevant use of the image and is not true to its original intent.

Wander Above The Sea Of Fog (Tow #12)

     The Wanderer Above The Sea Of Fog is one of the most iconic romantic paintings of all time, and is rightfully so. It was painted in 1818 by artist Caspar David Friedrich and depicts a man standing high on a cliff looking down over a land shrouded in fog.

     Caspar David Friedrich was one of the more well known painters of his era and is considered the most important German artist of his time. Most of his pieces were landscapes and were allegorical in nature. His work went on to be some of the most important pieces in all of German history and to influence the surreal and expressionist movements greatly.

      The images central figure is a man staring over a precipice. He is notably higher than everything else in the image, even the cliffs in the background. The image itself is very typical of the time period and the romantic movement. It shows a subject in nature and focuses on the power and beauty of nature, it is also a very emotionally evocative piece, adding further to its romantic undertones is the fact that the man is alone. The romantic movement was strongly centralized around introspective solitude and emotional reflection, which is shown in the mans staring into the fog and presumably pondering. 

     Two crucial symbols within the text are the authors intentional positioning of the man facing away, and the intense fog enveloping the surroundings. The man's distal orientation is used very powerfully to highlight the emotion of the piece. This is because it is impossible to tell what the man is feeling because we can see his face. It also in some ways makes the man easier to affiliate with because he could have the same face as one of us. The next device is the fog. The fog is interesting because everything about the man seems to suggest a ruler looking down over his nation, but there is nothing to be seen, just a vast empty landscape of fog.

Tow #11 (The American Crisis)

     When we think of the american revolution we tend to focus on the roles of the founding fathers. People among the ranks of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. However, when we consider the ideals behind the american revolution one man stands at the base of nearly all of them. Thomas Paine is an author whose works were incredibly moving and influential, helping to structure the beliefs of the american revolution. Pains most notable work is the pamphlet Common Sense, meant to display the tyranny of Britain. His next work, the american crisis, was meant to inspire Americans to fight against Britain in the revolutionary war. It was so effective, in fact, that George Washington read it to the all of the troops in valley forge.

     The essay is meant as a call to action so as to inspire american soldiers to fight against Britain. It lays out and juxtaposes two different men the summer soldier, and the true patriot. In the introduction Paine says " These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country" by characterizing the summer soldier Paine creates a rather unfavorable archetype. He shows a soldier who literally and figuratively fights in the summer. The summer soldier is the soldier who literally fights in the summer but retreats home to comfort in the winter. This symbol is further extended at a deeper level. The summer could be referring to any time where fighting seems favorable, where sun and good fortune shine down on you, but as soon as darkness or threats loom, the sunshine patriot flees. Paine continues his argument in this first paragraph with an argument that seems both logical and emotional. It was a call to the american sense of divinity. He makes a clear logical relationship Tyranny is like hell and there for not easily conquered, but it is known that the harder a conflict the better the triumph. This call to action is deeply moving in that it not only lays out a logical reason to fight but also compels one to revolt against the actions of Britain depicted as nearly satanic.

The American Male at Age Ten (TOW #10)

     Susan Orlean has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992. She has also written for The Rolling Stone, Vogue, Esquire, and Outside. She is also a nonfiction novelist, whose most famous book, The Orchid Thief, was adapted into a movie. She has also received a Nieman Fellowship, a prestigious award from Harvard school of journalism.
     Her essay "The American Male at Age Ten" details the time Orlean spent with ten year old boy Colin Duffy. Orlean spends the essay giving many short anecdotes about Collin and frequently using dialogue that she takes from Collin and his friends. She opens the essay with a brief description of Collin, from his appearance to his interests. She then talks about his school, she details the social structure of the fifth grade classroom and shows us more about Collin through dialog. She continues on describing Collins social and home life. She focuses on many key aspects of Collin's life such as the girls in his class, his relationship with his friends, his dreams for the future, his obsession with money, and a rather detailed segment on Street Fighter II.
    The essay is centralized around dialogue between Orlean and Collin and thus, much like the inner dialogue of a ten year old, jumps between many different topics very quickly. This is done effectively however, and in such a way that helps to both characterize Collin very deeply in a very short amount of time, and support Orleans overall purpose in the essay. The essay acts as a general spectacle on the point in you at which one is between adolescence and childhood. When the typical naivete of children begins to fade. She highlights this masterfully in the very conclusion of her essay. When she explains Collins creation of a spider web trap.  It seems like a childish game but it also highlights Collin's increasing maturity and complexity. With him saying to her "You could do it with thread, but the fishing line is invisible. Now I have this perfect thing and the only one who knows about it is me."