Finger 24- Book Review

To end this years TOWS in a blaze of glory, I wanted to write about the upcoming election, or the latest breakthrough in biotechnolgy. However, the roation requires a response to an independent non fiction book. Due to these  restraints, I forced myself one day waiting in the Orthodontist waiting room to read the gut wrentching book, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families, a collection of firsthand accounts based on the Rwandan Civil war.

 In April 1994, the Rwandan government called upon everyone in the Hutu majority to kill each member of the Tutsi minority, and over the next three months 800,000 Tutsis perished in the most unambiguous case of genocide since Hitler's war against the Jews. Written by Philip Gourevitch's, the piece serves to be a haunting work about the anatomy of the war in Rwanda, providing the reader with a vivid history of the tragedy's background, and an unforgettable account of its aftermath.  

"Hutus kill Tutsis, then Tutsis kill Hutus--if that's really all there is to it, then no wonder we can't be bothered with it," Philip Gourevitch writes, imagining the response of somebody in a country far from the ethnic strife and mass killings of Rwanda. But the situation is not so simple, and in this complex and wrenching book, he explains why the Rwandan genocide should not be written off as just another tribal dispute.

The "stories" in this book's subtitle are both the author's, as he repeatedly visits this tiny country in an attempt to make sense of what has happened, and those of the people he interviews. These include a Tutsi doctor who has seen much of her family killed over decades of Tutsi oppression, a Schindleresque hotel manager who hid hundreds of refugees from certain death, and a Rwandan bishop who has been accused of supporting the slaughter of Tutsi schoolchildren, and can only answer these charges by saying, "What could I do?" 

In the end, you can't help but to ask along with the author: Why does this happen? And why don't we bother to stop it? 

Finger- 23 (Sorry I lost track)

 In this currently trending article, The Case for Hamilton as Album of the Year, Spencer Kornhaber pulls quotes from songs and compares Lin Miranda, the lead and writer of Hamilton, to other artists in order to argue for Hamilton as the album of the year by rhetorically analyzing it.

     Like any good piece of rhetorical analysis, quotes are powerful tools to persuade the audience. He writes, “it probably took a month alone to figure out the right phrase to rhyme with ‘revolutionary manumission abolitionists.’ ” By implementing quotes into his writing as shown, he allows the reader to make decisions for themselves and see first-hand how Miranda used certain techniques to create certain effects. In this way, he can show the reader the intricacies of Miranda’s writing and musical technique, proving Hamilton to be the best album of the year.

     Kornhaber also includes comparisons to other artists, including hip-hop artists like Kendrick Lamar and Drake. He writes, “You can find this Hamiltonian idea of hip-hop refracted through rap’s other great works this year. You hear it in the verbosity, the craft, the daringness, the desperate idealism, and the death-obsessed drive of Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. You hear Hamilton’s obsession with legacy, his unwillingness to back down when challenged, his profligacy—’why do you write as if you’re running out of time?’—in Drake’s multi-mixtape 2015 output.” In this way, Kornhaber proves the validity of rap as an expressive tool in musical theater, perhaps even more effective than just singing. This is seen in the song “Farmer Refuted,” in which “Hamilton tears Samuel Seabury’s words apart by literally speaking between them—basically, it’s Miranda proving the supremacy of rap as a form of expression.” Kornhaber argues that even though Miranda’s use of rap is unconventional, it’s wholly effective in musical theater. Kornhaber’s direct quotes from Miranda’s song and comparison of Miranda’s songs and other artist’s songs allows him to successfully rhetorically analyze Hamilton all while supporting his argument that Hamilton should be lauded as the album of the year. 

Finger 22

Intelligence is a word that can seem to take on a different meaning every time it is used.  This could explain part of the problem with the education system today.  We all know what smart looks like, but we don't fully understand how to obtain it.  David Robson digests what he thinks makes a person intelligent and summarizes it down to a concise list. The title works to draw the reader in by using a word not often found in news headlines let alone on the BBC.  It alerts the reader that this will be a casual piece that will not try to make any heavy handed points that may disturb audiences and that it will probably be an entertaining read.  It also suggests that the advice is not meant to change the reader compleltly but to get them to approach situations in a different way. 

The ideas hinted at with the title of the article are further developed with the structure that follows.  The article is formatted in a list structure that is easy to digest, but does not subtract from the overall quality.  For example #2 is entitled "be ready to eat humble pie"and a picture of an actual pie is shown.  The audience knows what is coming and they can form an opinion before they read on that Robson plays off of.  He does not just rely on this reaction, however, as he links to outside information and develops his argument with multiple paragraphs for each point.  This is uncommon for internet lists and that makes it all the more effective and noticable.

 Obviously Robson's relatively short article cannot make anyone into a genius but it does provide a relaxing introduction to the idea that believing you are intelligent may be the first step.

Finger #21

Campaigns aren't cheap, and despite his public distain for wealth and American capitalism, Bernie Sanders does need a revue stream. As a result of his younger following, the powers of the internet as well as major clothing manufactures have come together to create a clothing line with Bernie as the star- the proceeds going to his campaign. What makes this different than any other merchandise seen from any other politician is that it is not what one would expect? Instead of New Times Font, and the traditional patriotic debacle plastered across normal campaign hoodies and mugs, Bernie’s team has opted for prints such like this, with bright, pastel colors and an overall alternative, urban outfitters vibe. And it’s working. Already, his merchandise sales are over twice as greater than all the republicans and Hilary Clinton's combined. They are so popular that they are seen more a fashionable tool then a political statement by teenagers, who wear such clothing in order to 'send out good vibes' By taking to social media and following current trends, Bernie is reaching out to a slew of people that other candidates have generally neglected- the younger Americans. Even though they may be less powerful (and less able to donate) crowd, they have allowed what should have been a short campaign to run to the point where Bernie has a real chance of winning the democratic nomination. This tee shirt is more than just a social media icon- it is changing the face of what it means to run a successful campaign.

IRB

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer is a book written by Siddartha Murkehea, an Indian-born American physician and oncologist. Published on 16 November 2010 by Scribner, it won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize. From beginning to end, the book itself tells the complete story of cancer, from its first description in an ancient Egyptian scroll to the gleaming laboratories of modern research institutions. Then it switches to sweeping historical narrative; with intimate stories about contemporary patients; and an investigation into the latest scientific breakthroughs that may have brought us, at long last, to the brink of lasting cures. The first part of the book is driven by the obsession of Sidney Farber and philanthropist Mary Lasker to find a unitary cure for all cancers. (Farber developed the first successful chemotherapy for childhood leukemia.) The last and most exciting part is driven by the race of brilliant, maverick scientists to understand how cells become cancerous. Each new discovery was small, but as Mukherjee, a Columbia professor of medicine, writes, "Incremental advances can add up to transformative changes." Mukherjee's formidable intelligence and compassion produce a stunning account of the effort to disrobe the "emperor of maladies."The book itself is a tour de force. Effectively does Mukherjee weave together all the various facets of this iconic disease throughout history, from describing cancer from the patient's perspective, to viewing the never ending battles of physicians and medical researchers with cancer over the centuries, to examining the mysteries of the cellular nature of cancer itself and what really goes on in there, to the pro and con impact of this never ending plague on the spirit of the individual human and on our race as a whole, to peering into a crystal ball for a glance of cancer's and our future together. While doing all of this the alchemy of Mukherjee's writing continually turns science into poetry and poetry into science.

Finger 20

To avoid economic stagnation faced by nations like Japan, John Cassidy, who is an esteemed economist journalist, suggests that the US should print money and hand it out to it's citizens. He argues this radical viewpoint with logical reasoning and analogies to convince the reader that his unorthodox idea is the best solution. "helicopter drops, or their electronic equivalent, could provide the Japanese government with a way to lift its economy out of a decade-long slump." (Cassidy 2). Money would be injected into the economy, and activity would explode, leading to a stronger and healthier economy. This idea, at least to many people, would have the opposite effect, but Cassidy uses facts and logic like this to prove them wrong. The economic issue can be solved by printing money, and this story shows the side of one that far too many people neglect. This devil's advocate is not totally out of his mind, and offers the insightful perspective of the opposing design. The author also uses analogies to strike fear into the hearts of the reader. When reading about Japan, the reader will most certainly not want the United States to experience the economic stagnation that they are subject too, so the reader may consider actively trying new and innovative economic methods. The author was overall quite successful. I went in strongly against this idea, not for any good reason that he did not disprove in the text. The convincing nature of the article makes you want to sink in and accept the unique idea instead of utterly rejecting it out of closed minded fear. By opening the perspective of the reader, he has completed his cause. The author never wanted to hand out thousand of dollars, but wanted to find a better medium in between what our current system is. This method can truly revitalize the economy.

Finger #19

With the elections coming up and all, I had the undeniable joy of listening to countless arguments on presidential candidates. To escape this political frustration, I turned to one thing that I beilived to be a safe space- Buzz Feed. Hoping to find another article about 'Sephora hacks' or '10 things we love about Leonardo Dicarpio', I was sadly greeted by yet another Trump article. However, this article was anything but ordinary. 

A filmmaker, no- visionary, had created a spoof of Donald Trump in which he flawlessly placed Trump within sense of Game Of Thrones. Within the video, they have Donald Trump saying quotes with the characters of Game of Thrones reacting to it as if they were indeed having a conversation. 

This video is indeed successful in highlighting the absurdness of Trump was saying by playing off his words and invoking humor.  For example, at one point they placed Trumps head onto a king, and inserted Trump saying his big speal on building a wall. The cast looks at him in utter disbelief- and shows the ridiculousness of what he’s saying.

In addition, they only place trump as characters were are antagonist within the plot series. From greedy kings to medieval terrorist- these comparisons make the Donald seem corrupt and downright diabolical.

All and all, I am thoroughly in satisfied in everything this video had to offer. It may not have been informative, but I guarantee that it will become hUGE as an internet phenomena.

PLEASE WATCH IT 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lGH_DvtBEM