IRB Intro 3

For my next IRB I will be reading A Short History Of Nearly Everything. I chose this book because it is a very detailed and interesting account of the history of life. The author, Bill Bryson, is also funny and was recommended to me by my father.

HRC Welseley (TOW # 9)

     In light of the current election i have decided to do a speech by one of the candidates, Hillary Clinton. This withstanding, however, i have decided not to use a speech from the recent debates. This is because we have already analyzed them. Rather i have chosen a speech i stumbled upon while browsing the internet, Clinton's Wellesley College commencement dress.
     Although today Clinton's ethos seems automatic, at the point of this speech it was far from that. Clinton was introduced before the speech by the dean of the school. She is established as both a good student and a charitable and kind girl, who the dean stated was a very obvious choice for the class speaker.
     It is also interesting to consider Clinton's audience in this speech. She is both speaking for and to her classmates. She both calls them to action and conveys their mass sentiment. For this reason her wording is both familiar as well as formal. She also takes great care only to use the first person plural.
     Clinton uses her speech to reflect on her class as a whole. She talks about the idea of reacting. she explains that her generation has spent years reacting to problems and aligning themselves with goals without doing much. She talks about how her generation developed themselves in people who acted for their beliefs. Clinton continues to describe the fact that in politics and history we have only thought of the possible, and no the impossible (and making it possible). She talks about this as their generation's goal. Clinton continues to talk about many people who doubt the girls of Wellesley college. She talks about devotion to the school as well as devotions to themselves. Clinton finishes, recognizing people may be afraid of change, but there is just no time for it now.

Stiff (TOW #8)

      Mary Roach is a notable science writer and journalist. She has a weekly column in Readers Digest and has published seven books, all revolving around points of interest in the science field. Roach's most popular book, Stiff, details the endeavors of the human body after death. Roach writes this essay to a general audience, using basic vocabulary and more elementary explanations. She establishes credibility with anecdotes of her own research and citations from many knowledgeable people.
     Roach's book essentially goes through and details the many possible uses for the human corpse after its inhabitant has died. Roach explains both the science behind the process the body undergoes during these procedures and elevates many misconceptions about them. Roach also gives anecdotes about these processes and how she has experienced them in her research. Roach continues to explain how these corpses can do good, and how their use can benefit society as a whole. Roaches over all goal throughout the essay is to sway her reader. She wants to both inform them of the power one corpse can have, as well as to persuade them to donate their corpse.
     Roach's most important tool as a writer is her great sense of humor. She is attempting to convince, a mostly begrudging audience to give away their body, even if it is after they are dead. She has a compelling list of arguments against her, from overwhelming fears, to cultural mores, to deep-rooted religious beliefs. However she uses facts and moral appeals to attempt to convince her audience. All the while she is certain to maintain a humorous and light tone. This is important, discussing death is treading into dangerous waters. It is a taboo that is typically avoided at all costs. But roach employs her light tone and dry humor to break through this taboo and convince her audience of the importance of donating your corpse, in one way or the other.

IRB Intro 2

My second IRB is Stiff by Mary Roach. The book seem very interesting and was recommended to me by my cousin, who is a medical student, and thought I would like it due to my interest in the subject,

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and The Importance of Imagination (TOW #7)

     JK Rowling is the author of the Harry Potter series. Although these works are by far her most well known Rowling has written an array of many other works under pseudonyms as well as her own name, JK Rowling in this essay is giving a commencement address. This role requires her as a speaker to establish herself as greatly wise and experienced, this is achieved through some degree of automatic ethos because of her widespread fame and success.
     The audience in this piece is the 2008 graduating class at Harvard University. The address relates two two core anecdotes from Rowling's own life. She opens her essay describing her own experience in college. Establishing a connection with her audience, as well as making a handful of witty comments and jokes relating to her more famous Harry Potter books and the typical college experience. JK Rowling moves on to explain her own experience in college. She recognizes that this may be a foreign concept to many of the people in the room, being that they are graduates of Harvard University. She explains her experience first out of college, when after her marriage fell apart, she was left penniless with just about nothing. She recognizes the pain failure can cause but also says that she made rock bottom the solid foundation of her new life. Detailing not only the importance, but also the inevitability of failure. She explains that failure allows you to learn more about yourself and those around you as well as bring out many positive traits you may have not known. After this Rowling then builds off the power as imagination, briefly mentioning how imagination was what sparked her success, but immediately after stating that the true power of imagination is in empathy. She details her experiences at amnesty international and all the terrifying and inspiring moments she encountered.
      Rowling's purpose is fairly direct in this essay. Her first and overarching purpose is to provide her audience with what she feels is the most important advice and wisdom she has to offer. She calls for the graduates to not be destroyed by the failures she feels they will face, and be shocked by, as well as urging them to do what they can to make a better change in the world. Rowling's final call is summed up in one of the last lines of the essay "we have the power to imagine better." Rowling then concludes the essay wishing her audience very good lives and thanking them.

The Treachery Of Images (TOW #6)

The Treachery Of Images

Rene Magritte was a Belgian surrealist artist. He is considered one of the most notable surrealists of the time period, ranked amongst the likes of Salvador Dali and Max Ernst. This considered, his works were not greatly recognizes until the 50’s, the later parts of his life.  Many of Rene's works have been greatly influential on the pop art movement particularly in the works of Andy Warhol.

The piece, titled The Treachery Of Images is an oil painting of a wooden pipe against a plane beige background, and underneath are painted the words, “Ceci n’est pas une pipe,” which translates in English to “This is not a pipe.” The painting is one of Magritte’s earlier work, painted roughly thirty years before his more famous The Son Of Man and Golconda. The painting is very simple in its composition and does not have many parts, however it is effective at achieving its goal.

The painting is a kind of speculative piece on the gap between a representation and reality. It is similar to the idea that the word is not the thing itself. It is meant to cause the reader to question the meaning and importance of the image and the word. It shows the idea that a real pipe is not the same as a picture of a pipe which is not the same as the word pipe. This pipe is an allusion to the book Vers Une Architecture.

The painting has been analyzed by many critics and is even the topic of a full length book. The painting at the time of its creation was treated much disapproval due to its strange and mysterious tone; however it is this tone that makes his piece so influential and well known.

The Oedipus Complex (TOW #5)

                Sigmund Freud is probably the most important figure in world of modern psychology. His works have been so influential that they are still studied and are the basis of nearly all of today’s psychological principals. Considered the father of psycho analysis, Freud coined the iceberg theory, a belief that a person’s subconscious had a great effect on their daily life. He believed that dreams were a crucial tool in analyzing patients’ subconscious.

                In his book The Interpretation of Dreams Freud discusses one of his more famous concepts, the Oedipus complex. In a section of the book, in which he describes the more common dreams, he talks about this complex in an essay entitled “The Oedipus Complex.” The essay seems to be directed toward an audience of more educated individuals, presumably with some connection to the neuroscience or psychology field, as shown by his use of specialized jargon without pretense.

                In his essay Freud establishes, and defends his theory of the Oedipus Complex. He theorizes that the relationship of between parents and children have great effects on the psychological traits of the children. He shows that there is an even more significant effect on children who hold onto polar opinions on their two parents. Freud goes on to explain his belief that children go through a phase where they become sexually attracted to their mothers and feel resentful, even wants to kill their father.

                Freud justifies this belief with three primary examples. He initially discusses patients he has had who became stuck in this Oedipus complex, never growing out of it, and resulting in states of poor psychological health. His next example is the legend of Oedipus Rex from which the complex obtains its name. The myth tells of a young boy who is abandoned, becomes king, accidentally kills his birth father, has sex with his mother, and then gouges his own eyes out as a form of retribution. Freud argues this is an exemplification of the complex. Freud’s final large example is in his analysis of Hamlet in which he argues that the reason hamlet could not do what his father’s ghost asked is because he would feel like a hypocrite because he too desired to sleep with his mother and kill his father.

                Though Freud was a notable figure and established some ethos with patients and cultural examples the theory has generally been regarded as wacky and been refuted many times. This, Freud would argue, is tied back to the social taboo of incest, but he would also say that the Oedipus complex is why incest was made into a taboo.