TOW #13- How Trump Stole Chrismas

In the spirit of the holidays, I decided to look at this poltical cartoon aimed at Donald Trump. Within the  image, Donald Trump is depicted as the iconic Christmas Grinch. Complete with the his signature floppy hairstyle and and puckered- out lips, the cartoon obviously aimed to show the cold-nature of the poltican using allusion and imagery

Obviously, the artist alludes to the classic tale of The Grinich within the cartoon. As per the story goes, the Grinich lived in isolation- distinguished by his hate for everything joyful and an overall grumpy disposition. By comapring the grinich to Trump- he makes the point that his desire to rid all the muslims  

is extremeley cold-hearted and hateful. In addition, at the bottom of the page is the phrase, "His Heart Was Too Sizes Too Small." This phrase is iconically tied to the tale, in which the movie declares that the grincihes heart was too small to feel the warmth of christimas. This- combined with the heart x-ray makes it clear that Trump is a hateful, bad bannana. 

Not only did the author compare the Trump to the grinich, but the drawing used to compare the two is unflattering to put it niceley. The iconic, biligerent looking face compined with the small heart makes it obvious that the author views Trump in an decidelngly unflattering light. 

TOW #12 - IRB

The first half of Robert M. Pirsig’s book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, is based on the profound examination of how we live and a meditation on how to live better. The story itself is the authors’ firsthand account of when he went on a summer motorcycle trip across America's Northwest with his young son. Through the use of imagery and compelling, yet relatable storyline, the book becomes a profound personal and philosophical odyssey into life's fundamental questions, showing us that it is the small, essential triumphs that propel us forward.
 To make his information more presentable and interesting, Pirsig utilizes imagery. For example when writing about how once must take in their surroundings, he describes his surroundings. “After the rain stops, the sky lightens a little. But from the motel courtyard, I see past the cottonwoods that a second darkness, that of night, is about to come on. We walk into town, have supper, and by the time we get back, the fatigue of the day are really on me. We rest, almost motionless, in the metal armchairs of the motel courtyard, slowly working down a pint of whiskey that John brought with some mix from the motel cooler. It goes down slowly and agreeably. A cool night wind rattles the leaves of the cottonwoods along the road." (201) By describing the since, he not only creates interest, but he also is able to convey the point of the majesty of simple human life without directly telling the audience.
 
Pirsig also makes information more understandable by using a storyline. When one talks about such subjects such as the meaning of life, it is hard to describe such deep material. In order to convey this, Pirsig uses stories. The entire book is based on his own road trip, and it is throughout this trip in which he takes little experiences and analyses the deeper value.

TOW #11- Why Women Can't Have It All

Ninety-six years after the ratification of the 19th Amendment gave American women the right to vote, a new age of feminism has taken over. For the first time in history,  a majority of women are able to achieve higher levels of 'success' and work in positions that were once exclusively for men. As a result, many modern day mothers work as well as manage the home front. Yet, despite this shift towards equal rights, Anne Marie Slaughter agues that it may not be for the better. As the first woman director of policy planning at the State Department, a foreign-policy dream job, she faced first hand the struggle of balancing her professional life with her family- ultimately resulting in her resignation. Within her article in The Atlantic, Slaughter uses relatable anecdotes and as well supported facts to show her idea that until society changes in order to allow more flexibility, women can't "have it all"


In facing such a controversial topic, Slaughter draws on her own experience to show how working in high level positions is not condusive to a maintaining successful family relations, and afterwards uses well corroborated facts to support her claim. In the beginning, she talks about how her position didn't allow flexibility for her to maintain her job performance and be an active participant in her children's lives. "I could no longer be both the parent and the professional I wanted to be—at least not with a child experiencing a rocky adolescence (Para. 11)" By admitting how she, even a high power executive and self proclaimed feminist, had trouble achieving a balance, she strikes to make her claim more valid. 


In addition to her own personal stories, Slaughter also uses data and other professional’s accounts on the topic to generate reasoning. She points to other high-powered executives, claiming, " I am hardly alone in this realization. Michèle Flournoy stepped down after three years as undersecretary of defense for policy, the third-highest job in the department, to spend more time at home with her three children, two of whom are teenagers. Karen Hughes left her position as the counselor to President George W. Bush after a year and a half in Washington to go home to Texas for the sake of her family.  Afterwards, she comments on the overall structure of American society and how the business world is still unprepared for a women workforce by not allowing women, "to work off-site or to have flexible work schedules."

By combing her personal experience with other firsthand accounts, Slaughter is able to successfully comment on how, in order to women to fully achieve equality, we must insist on changing social policies. Simply put, instead of forcing women to choose, we must bend career tracks as a whole to accommodate their choices.