The Santa Ana Winds 10/22/2016

Joan Didion, in her writing "The Santa Ana Winds", describes a usual yet bizarre phenomenon known as the Santa Ana's. Her purpose was to convey how violent the winds can be and emphasize the strange and altering effects that they have on everything, especially human behavior. Didion uses words like "eerie", "screaming", and "surreal" in the second paragraph to express the uneasiness that the Santa Ana winds bring as they pass over. Her word choice gives the text a very moody and suspenseful tone. It catches the readers attention because it reads like a mystery novel only to then switch tones at the end when Didion starts stating facts about what happens in Los Angeles when these winds hit, all backed up by science. Didion also uses vivid imagery when she mentioned that a "husband roamed the place with a machete". This evokes an image of insanity, especially when she points out that "meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks". Normally these women would cave to their husband's every command, yet the days that the Santa Ana's are blowing through the city the wives feel empowered and start contemplating murder. It further proves that the winds have an effect on people's moods and personalities. 


I feel that Didion was very effective in her writing because she evoked a mysterious vibe and it definitely interested me. She used the rhetorical techniques to her favor and it left the reader with the realization that circumstances outside our control may determine our moods and actions. The text ends leaving the reader uneasy when Didion says, "no one seems to know". Ending on such a mysterious note illustrates the fact that no one will ever know how and why these winds affect people the way they do. And even though the text reads like a fiction novel, the Santa Ana winds are a real occurrence.

PETA's "Go Vegan" Ad 10/8/16

One of the advertisements that we saw during class this week was PETA's, an American animal rights organization’s, “Go Vegan" ad. It shows a picture of a young girl, who is in a sense overweight, eating a hamburger. The girl looks like she is in extreme pain and at first glance even looks like she's crying. The quote on the advertisement reads "Feeding Kids Meat is Child Abuse" and on the bottom it says "Fight the Fat: Go Vegan". The ad portrays the message that making your child eat meat is the equivalent to child abuse and it should not be allowed. The little girl looks as if she is being forced to eat something she doesn’t like or want and is suffering because of it further proving PETA’s point that feeding the child meat is abusive.

I feel that the ad was aimed at parents because by using a child who looks emotionally and physically sick a parent would feel bad and do anything so that the kid doesn’t look like she’s in pain. The creator of the ad successfully used pathos, or emotions, when generating it and relied on the fact that people would feel sad for the child, persuading them to stop eating meat. 

Since PETA is an animal rights organization their purpose and mindset was to get people to stop killing animals and eating them. From other ads made by PETA the general theme that repeats is that “animals are not ours to eat”. But that is never going to happen. Meat has been part of our lifestyle from the beginning so I think the ad was effective in the sense that it opened peoples eyes to how much meat they are eating but I don’t think it would convince people to go vegan all together. Meat has nutritional value; it has protein and we need it for our strength and muscles. Cutting meat out of our lives will not make us skinnier. I have a cousin who is vegan and she is constantly eating; she’s never full because she doesn’t eat full meals. If it’s not meat we will find something else because we need to substitute that big portion of our meals and the substitute could be very unhealthy to us. So the ad didn’t have a huge impact on me and I don’t think it had as big an impact on the world population either.

Trump's RNC Speech 9/24/2016

Hey!

So with the upcoming Presidential elections approaching quickly everyone is talking about the possibility of each nominee getting elected. It looks like Clinton is in the lead in the National polls so what are Trumps chances of getting ahead?

In my opinion this year’s presidential candidates are not our best but if I was to choose Trump had the more effective speech at the 2016 National Conventions. He didn't fool around and have a long introduction to his speech; he just got to his point. He told his audience the situations our country is facing with crime rates, police brutality and the number of homicides increasing. He laid it out in front of us. I think this was a risky tactic because many people try to cover their eyes to the things going on around them because they have too much faith in the country but the truth is that our country is falling apart and people need to realize that. He used facts to help prove his point, expanding on his logos, and he builds people's fear of what might happen if we don't stop the terrorism and the danger we all face when leaving our houses, making people listen to him. People want to feel safe that’s why Trump appeals more to the older generations. They want their children and grandchildren to grow up in a safe environment. Also many people feel that since he is already rich he is not doing it for the money and that will make him focus on our nations problems more.

Trump’s issue is that he doesn't tell the people how he will possibly get rid of crime in our country. Other then building a wall he doesn’t tell us how we will fix the economy together or fight crime. While Clinton is here talking about family and how she was our First Lady and Secretary of State, making it easy to relate and trust her, Trump is telling people the harsh truth. When you want to believe that your country is not going downhill it's hard to accept the fact that it is, so if Trump plans to keep us safe and help our economy he needs to tell us how so that we can decide if he has our best interest at heart.

What do you think?

Bush's 9/11 Speech 9/17/2016

Hello fellow bloggers!

For days now we have been discussing, in class, whether or not Bush's 9/11 speech was persuasive. I am part of the majority who feel that Bush was successful in his speech. I think he did a good job at comforting the citizens of his country. Many people said that they don't agree because he spoke about the effects of the attacks and didn't mention that we are strong enough to get through this tragic time until the end of his speech, making him sound insincere. Well, what was he suppose to do? Cry? He's the President. His job was to unite his country and give them hope. He made it clear that he is with his people by using phrases like "our country "and "our way of life" to say that they will get through it together. Bush connected to his people on an emotional level, successfully using pathos, and he was strong while doing it. He knew he had to make major decisions so he had to stay composed. He said exactly what the people needed to hear at the time. He was calm and reassuring. The citizens of United States were in a state of panic and they needed to be told that everything would be okay. I think it gave them faith when Bush said, “But they have failed” and “Our country is strong”.
What do you think?

Get to know me 9.15.2016

Hello,
     
My name is Valerie Izrailova. I like to watch television, especially supernatural tv shows, and read
books. I have an older sister who is a freshman at Hunter College. We are very close.

Thanks for reading!

See ya!