TOW #16: IRB Final Review

Three Little Words  was a phenomenal book. Ashley Rhodes is one of my new favorite authors, not only because of the plot and storyline, but because of her style and the way she writes. She writes as though the reader is sitting there in the situation, not as if the reader is an outsider looking into an foggy window. I  would definitely say, above all, her descriptiveness and metaphors were the most outstanding elements of her book. For example, one way she described herself in the book was, "As we pulled out of the driveway, I heard a shattering sound inside my head as if a glass had broken between my ears...I was escaping, and yet, I felt as worthless as the junk in my trash bag. Once again, I was the one being tossed and thrown away." (Rhodes, 74) As the author describes herself as a piece of trash being tossed into the garbage can, the audience can imagine how small and worthless she had been feeling. 

    A recurring theme throughout the book was the idea of these "three little words", thus, the title of the story. As I read, I began to learn that the three words were "I love you", and the book helped define what that actually means- to love someone. Ashley had been abused for half of her life by foster mothers, never understanding the true meaning of love. She didn't belong anywhere, and she never had a home. It took over 195 people to find the two people who would save her from foster care. When she said those "three little words", it altered her life, as well as the world's life because she was able to put it into words and publish it. I think what Rhodes was trying to teach her audience was that life will throw struggles out that don't seem fair. There will be times where you won't  know if you'll survive this time or make it to tomorrow. The only thing that keeps you from jumping off of that mental cliff is hope. Love teaches hope. As Rhodes crawls her way to the appallingly flawed American foster care system, the audience is taken along for the ride, and Rhodes doesn't fail to convey her strength over and over again. By the end of the book, the reader realizes that not only did Rhodes make it through all of her struggles, but she was able to do more than that- she was able to live a part of the American dream by writing her book. It's incredible that after nine traumatic years, Rhodes was able to accomplish writing a book and overcoming her battles. I respect her not only as an author, but as a person.

TOW #15 School Uniforms: Yes or No?

         
It's an age old debate; it's a debate on which  I have been writing TEAC and 5-paragraph sample essays  for probably about the last five years of my life. School uniforms. Do we need them, or are they just a hassle? Noelle McGee, who writes for a local Illinois newspaper, wrote an article about the pros of a school mandating uniforms. Sandra Chereb, who writes for a local Carson City, Nevada paper, wrote an article about a hearing at the Nevada Supreme Court in which two parents were having issues paying for uniforms, and listed the cons. Because one article was written distinctly better than the other, my opinion about uniforms changed. Because

 of bullying in school, a necessary professional atmosphere, and the flexible price offers, uniforms should be enforced in public school districts and will positively effect the students and the learning environment. 
              Noelle McGee writes, "'We believe that will help eliminate some of the time spent on correcting the dress code and decrease other problems like bullying and gang violence.'" This is a quote from the principal of a middle school principal in Illinois. When I read this, I immediately thought of how people dress in the halls of Wissahickon High School. While some students dress very conservatively, covering almost every inch of their bodies, some walk into the building with shirts that barely cover half of their torso. It's an extremely interesting concept, that of the dress code. It raises the question of whether or not disallowing students to wear inappropriate clothing will create a more business-like and professional environment for students to learn. It will also eliminate the bullying that subsequently appears because of name brands. Many can not afford it. 
             Sandra Chereb made the same argument, about the parents not being able to afford school uniforms, but it wouldn't matter, as long as they would fit the dress code. This could be a collared shirt and khakis. IT wouldn't be an insane price like some uniforms are. This actually made me overthink uniforms. It would prevent bullying, and I think the professional atmosphere would be better for students to learn. 

TOW #14 AT&T Commercial

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijeg-jeTUBs

The AT&T commercial never fails to have my family and me glued to the screen because it's so adorable, but as I continue to learn about logical fallacies, I have to begin to question: how effective is the ad? Of course, the commercial changes every so often, and normally, it is the same actor sitting with a group of four or five very young children in a classroom at a table. The whole idea of the commercial is that switching to AT&T is not complicated, and neither is having AT&T. What doesn't make sense, though, is the fact that the commercial takes the idea from little children, and then transposes it to the oh-so-powerful phone company. Although extremely adorable and occasionally humorous, it is hard to take this commercial and say it's effective. This fallacy would be called false authority, because this would make better sense if it was a toy store company or even an ad for juice boxes or something more immature, but making it about a phone company doesn't make much sense. Another example of this fallacy would be celebrities who have nothing to do with a certain product, being advertised with it or even advertising it themselves. 

         Rhetorically analyzing the AT&T commercial, though, the commercial does have it's humorous moments, and the children on it are usually extremely adorable. It leaves me wondering if the commercial is scripted. In this way, it is extremely effective because it definitely catches the audience's attention while also keeping them interested. I'm starting to understand that this applies to many commercials, in the sense that even though many ads and commercials contain logical fallacies, these logical fallacies may actually help contribute to the commercial. While straying a bit from the commercials purpose, it may keep the audience entertained, and give them something to remember by the end of it.