Tow #10 - Here’s What Your Part Of America Eats On Thanksgiving

In his article “Here’s What Your Part Of America Eats On Thanksgiving”, Walt Hickey employs the rhetorical devices of humor and statistics in order to achieve his purpose of explaining a recent poll to his audience.  In this article, Hickey tells his audience about a recent poll that explained the different types of Thanksgiving foods that are eaten around the country and how they differ from region to region.  This was merely an informative, light-hearted read that was meant to be almost like a fun fact; there is no deeper life meaning to this article.  However, that doesn’t mean that Hickey didn’t utilize rhetorical devices to help achieve his purpose.

Hickey creates a funny article to establish a light-hearted tone and make the audience laugh since this is a piece about the holidays and he doesn’t want to burden his audience with dry, boring, or melancholy tones.  Hickey’s humor is mostly just concerned with a few short sentences that make the reader laugh.  He writes, “Meanwhile, New England is losing its mind over squash, with 56 percent demanding it on their table, compared with only 18 percent of the nation as a whole. This is, by far, the most confusing finding of this whole pursuit. Did Gronk endorse squash or something?” (Hickey 1).  This allusion to the NFL and a pop culture icon in Gronk makes the reader chuckle to themselves.  Another example is when he says, “Still, after dessert, the nation unites around that most American of traditions: buying shit” (Hickey 2).  The use of blunt and unexpected language makes the reader laugh out loud after reading this sentence.  Again, the use of humor is designed to simply keep a light tone in the article and have some fun.

One a more serous note, Hickey uses statistics to convey his point.  Since his article is centered around a recent poll, it is obvious that he uses statistics from this poll in his article.  BY incorporating specific stats, he creates credibility in his work as well as allows the stats to speak for themselves.  The numbers tell the story, and Hickey simply puts in a few words here and there to make it cohesive and attractive.

 

TOW #9 - A Kenyan Runner Maps His Way Home

Kenya is a country in East Africa plagued with corruption, poverty, and misfortune.  But out of this dust, stories of success has been created.  In his article “A Kenyan Runner Maps His Way Home,” Dan Barry explores one of such stories.  He writes about Kelvin Serem, a 21 year old student athlete at Lafayette University.  Serem is a good track runner- not an Olympic quality athlete like we come to expect from Kenya, but certainly an impressive runner.  He was born and raised in a small Kenyan village that had no electricity, plumbing, Wi-Fi, or modern appliances.  Barry recounts Serem’s story from poverty to a prestigious school in Iten, Kenya, to a prestigious American high school, and finally to Lafayette University.  Serem is now part of an international organization, named in his honor, dedicated to building schools in Kenya.

Barry’s purpose in writing this article is rather simple; this isn’t a call to action, or an ideological argument for or against something, but rather simply a narrative of a success story from Kenya.  Barry utilizes direct quotes in his article for two reasons. First of all, by including quotes, Barry establishes ethos since he directly quotes Serem.  This makes for a believable and reliable article.  Secondly, this creates a personal relationship between Barry’s subject, Serem, and his audience, the readers.  If the audience can, in a sense, get to know Serem, his story is much more enthralling and appealing.  For example, Barry writes, “‘Why Serem?’ he says. ‘I had never been to a city. I had almost lost hope in life. Why, why, why?’” (Barry 2).  This quote appeals to pathos for the audience, but it is extremely effective because it doesn’t come from the author, it comes directly from the source.  It is much more powerful than Barry simply writing “Serem had lost hope.” 

*This is the second installment of my project of exploring Dan Barry’s writing.  Barry is, of course, a reliable source.  He is columnist for the New York Times and he writes about sports and how they affect our lives.

IRB Intro Post #2

For my second IRB, I have chosen to read How Soccer Explains the World: an Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer.  I found this book by accident- I was bored and simply looking through a bookshelf in my homeroom and this caught my eye.  I love soccer, and ideas about global interaction interest me.  Ergo, I decided to read the introduction to this book and found it delightful.  The book primarily uses soccer as a metaphor to discuss the idea of globalization.  I think I will thoroughly enjoy this book since it is about two of my favorite subjects.