Wendy AP Language

The poster for the Americans for the Arts Foundation tries to promote the importance of art in American children.  I think the layout and pictures make it more appealing to the reader than the words.  The title is made to look like the cover of a Whitman’s chocolate box, and I assume is meant to draw people in and wonder, “I thought Walt Whitman did make choclate!”  The ad does a pretty good job of showing the misconceptions that people have, and proving that American children do not have enough culture.  However, the evidence to prove that art is necessary is not very convincing.  It says that “the more art kids get, the smarter they become in subjects like math and science,” but where does that proof come from?  There is no support for the statement, and reading the ad doesn’t make me want any more art in my life.  The only thing this ad does is show that children need to learn more about poetry and culture.  The only visual argument that is appealing is the title, and the few paragraph that supports “Why Some people think Walt Whitman makes candy” is not very convincing.

In his essay “Lifeboat Ethics: the Case Against Helping the Poor,” Garrett Hardin uses the creative metaphor of a lifeboat to show reasons why helping the less fortunate countries of the world may not in fact be the best thing for the good of everyone.  As for immigration, he projects the United States through a lifeboat and the other countries as struggling people, drowning around the lifeboat and begging to be let in.  You want to help everyone right?  But Hardin goes on to describe what would happen if everyone was let on freely.  With too many people, the boat will sink.  Similarly with overpopulation, the country will also “sink.”  Hardin does a good job of comparing the capacity of a boat to the carrying capacity of a country, and shows how the two are similar in many ways.  He uses the idea of the lifeboat to show that by helping others, we may actually be hurting them.  Too much help can do more harm than good, and by controlling our help, it will be better for the good of the earth as a whole.  For example, a World Food Bank seems like a great idea, so third world countries will have something to turn to when they are in need.  In reality, however, the way those populations grow rapidly will only increase with excess food.  He goes on to say that populationcan be controlled the “natural” way, although it is much more harsh.  He uses the ethics of a lifeboat to persuade the reader to apply those same ethics to our world.  You have to close the doors at some point or else you lose everything, and all of our morals and guilt must be pushed aside to keep order on this earth.

James Parker pulls you in from the very beginning in his essay, The Existential Clown.  By beginning with an engaging story about the world thirty years in the future, with “an ozone layer so threadbare you can toast a slice of bread simply by hanging it out the window,” he goes on to show old Jim Carrey DVDs, still entertaining the people of the future.  He uses allusions and examples to best support his argument, while making it humorous at the same time.  You can practically see Jim Carrey right in front of you, making an outrageous scene.  In order to show the many sides of Jim Carrey, Parker must really show the reader what he is talking about, and not just mention it.  This he does very well.  The humor in this article is not only engaging, but it also makes you feel like you are right there, face to face with the man himself.

Nowhere does he say that Carrey should be worshipped, and is the best comedian that has ever lived, and this is what makes this argument more credible.  He acknowledges the face that you either love him or you hate him, and there is a good reason for that.  He gives examples of the many varieties of movies that Carrey has starred in, many great ones and many “unfavorables.”  He doesn’t just concentrate on all the great movies he has been in, instead he sees the fact that he has been in many bad ones, but his performance is always full-force.  He uses memorable scenes and quotes from familiar movies to make this argument stronger.

What I like most about this article is that he not only intertwines quotes and examples, but he uses them so well that they basically structure his argument.  He uses the examples almost in a story form of Jim Carrey, showing his ups and downs and different personalities.  Although this argument is casual and fun, it is a good read and really analyzes the acting of Jim Carrey.  It addresses his flexibility, and also the way that he brings the same type of character hidden deep in the soul of every role he plays.  He is simply an entertainer, and he doesn’t care whether he is starring in “the summer blockbuster” or in “a Samuel Beckett play.”  His comedy is timeless, and as much as half the world can’t stand it, he puts his whole heart into everything he does.

Everyone has heard about the fight for Darfur, and the horrible genocide going on there.  Just some racial tensions, right? In “The Real Roots of Darfur,” Stephan Faris explains the possibilities of a different cause of all of the struggles, and his ideas are unexpected.  He uses vivid writing to make it feel like you are seeing the story as it happens, even though it began almost thirty years ago.  His story is dramatic and engaging, pulling me in to read more.  He gives outside information to help the reader understand the conflict, without taking away from the article.

Beginning with a story, he addresses that the conflict really originated with global warming, and the drying out of farm lands shared by farmers and herders.  To help support his argument, Faris cites credible sources from multiples professors and scientists.  He then takes the conflict into a bigger issue, explaining how climate change has been a major factor in other disasters, like Hurricane Katrina.  He went even further to argue that it is possible that we are in a way responsible for the problems in Darfur, because of factories, power plants, and automobiles.  I think his point is to try and make Americans realize that people in Darfur need our help, and this was his way of making us feel like it is necessary.  I felt like he stretched the argument a little far, by trying to say that we caused genocide of innocent people by driving to school everyday, but the way in which he presents it makes it a pretty good article.  Although I feel like it is a little far fetched, it gives us another take on the conflict and he uses engaging language to make it a worthwhile article.

The article by Hanna Rosin, “Striking a Pose,” addresses the growing popularity of yoga and investigates whether it is just a trend or is considered spiritual to everyone who does it.  She begins the article by describing the grand opening of a yoga studio in New York City, naming off many different types of people and celebrities who all came out for the big opening.  She shows the reader how many people came to support yoga (over 500), when fifty years ago, it was nothing more than an art of “fringy new agers.”  Rosin then describes a true, old-age yoga type, who seems so out of place in the mass of celebrities in ball gowns.  She seems to have missed the memo that yoga has become huge in America, and is no longer something of the ancient world.

Rosin uses a very appealing use of language, comparing yoga to everything from Starbucks to judo.  She compares the past to the present, and what a distinct change the role of yoga has played in American lives.  Rosin uses quotes from everyday people and their opinions about yoga, as one woman had the take that “yoga is something that people with disposable income can do.”  Rosin herself relates her own experiences of yoga, and how even she had defiled the true meaning of yoga by wearing Nike running shorts.  It is appealing to the reader how she compares people who truly understand the meaning of yoga with us Americans, who do it merely for exercise.  She does this through stories and experiences of different people while making allusions to things common to us.

The manner in which Rosin sets her essay up is especially appealing.  She begins with the old-age yoga, and the way those people lived their lives, and then changes gears to address this “new age” yoga, with instuctors who look more like rappers.  What makes it interesting, however, is that throughout the essay, it seemed like she was bashing on the way yoga has invaded American pop culture, but by the end, she had a sort of “so what” attitude.  Yes, we have Americanized yoga intensely, but maybe it is not for the worst.  She explained accounts of people whose lives were changed because of their experiences with new age yoga, and although it is different, maybe it is just as cleansing.  As the world is growing and changing, maybe it is best that traditional things do the same.