TOW #27 - "Attitude" (Written text)

                On June 14th, 1983, Margaret Atwood delivered a commencement address to a graduating class of Victoria College. In her speech, she talks about her process of thinking about what to say in this speech. She talks about how she thought about it for awhile and was unsure about which route to take. She could either be very positive and sugar coat adulthood, where the flawless educational system will push them out of any troubles. However instead of portraying false information and giving false hope, she decided to be realistic and frank. As a writer, she expressed that it wasn't a wise career path to take as it is unreliable and risky. She states, "But sober reflection led me to the conclusion that this topic too was a washout; for, as you will soon discover, a liberal arts education doesn't exactly prepare you for life." She then went onto exposing the errors in the educational system and pointing out how unrealistic it is. She pointed out that many things that are taught in school are not true in the real world. Overall, most of her essay points out the negatives, yet realistic parts of adulthood. However, her pessimistic outlook has a point to her overall purpose. For example she states, "on the one hand, we ourselves live daily with the threat of annihilation. We're just a computer button and a few minutes away from it, and the gap between us and it is narrowing every day. On the other hand, the catastrophe the threatens us as a species, and most other species as well, is not unpredictable and uncontrollable, like the eruption of the volcano that destroyed Pompeii. If it occurs, we can die with the dubious satisfaction of knowing that the death of the world was a man-made and therefore preventable event, and that the failure to prevent it was a failure of human will". Atwood stresses the ability of looking at one thing with multiple eyes. We can then create more positive changes as our government runs on opinion of the people. Wthe use of humor and attention grabbers, she was able to not only hold the attention of her audience but deliver an empowering message.

TOW #26 - "Apple's Newest Hit" (Written text)

In a recent article presented by Forbes, people are starting to get excited about the reveal of Apple's new wearable technology: a touchscreen watch. This has been an ongoing invention for at least half a year, so for it to be released soon is such amazing news. However, many people feel this new product could end up hurting Apple. Forbes addresses the watch as being too expensive causing many people to not buy it. While many people would disagree, we have to remember this did happen in the past. When Google came out with the Google Glass, it ended up being a bit of a failure. First, people thought it looked ridiculous raising many questions on how wearable technology ever became an attractive product. Secondly, the glass was pretty expensive starting close to a thousand dollars. In the end, Google ended up stopping sales because there was just no profit coming in, so it didn't make sense to continue manufacturing. If the same problem happens with Apple, it could really hurt their stocks and income. Think of all the money put into developing this product, if it fails, all of that goes to waste. However, many people would argue that Apple hasn't failed us yet. I mean every product they have come out with has caused chaos, huge lines, and lots of people spending lots of money. Therefore, I would have to disagree with Forbes and say that this product could end up helping Apple. If it does boom, the profit will be huge and stocks will go up. However, that has to be a risk Apple is willing to take because there is a chance that the whole plan could end up going sideways. Overall, the article does a great job in introducing the pros and cons of Apple's newest invention. 

TOW #25 - Alcoholism (Visual Text)

Alcoholism is a serious disease, and Rzecspospolita seeks to point out the horror hidden behind the drink in this ad through use of familiarity, illusions, contrast, and parallelism between the text and the image. The foundation utilizes familiarity to drive home the point that Alcoholism can affect anyone, even you, Average Joe. The person portrayed in the text looks like your average 35 year old man, who after a long day at the office (as his button up suggests), headed home or to the bar for a relaxing drink. This recognizable scene is supposed to make the reader think, "Hey, I do that." The foundation then uses an illusion to show the true horror inside a bottle of Vodka. With a clear liquid, you would normally be able to see the man's smiling face through the glass, but instead you see the same man's face screaming, as if being tortured or trapped inside the glass. The contrast the illusion sets up between the fun, light, happy man's atmosphere and the scary setting inside the bottle makes the reader think, "maybe this drink isn't all fun and games." Lastly, the parallelism between the words and illusion goes a long way in driving home the point that the reader may need help with their addiction. The text says, "Don't try to check [for disease] yourself," because you cannot see the monster trapped inside the glass like everyone else can. Had the man pulled the bottle away from his face, he wouldn't have seen anything wrong, unlike everyone else, who can see the screaming man. This makes the audience realize that they cannot see the disease, but other people might. The ad aims to help potential alcoholics not only realize they should reach out for help but almost scare them into doing it through familiarity, illusions, contrast, and parallelism.