TOW #10

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Arthur C. Brooks, writer for the NY times, released an article about gratefulness. He claims that even if you are not grateful, pretend to be until it starts happening. In "Choose to Be Grateful. It Will Make You Happier," Brooks uses scientific facts as well as personal anecdotes to express how acting grateful will lead to a better and happier life. The beginning of the essay introduces how acting grateful and thankful, even if it isn't always true, can create a more positive life. However, Brooks takes this accusation one step further, and backs it up with scientific evidence. He writes, "gratitude stimulates the hypothalamus (a key part of the brain that regulates stress) and the ventral tegmental area (part of our “reward circuitry” that produces the sensation of pleasure)." Including this piece of information brings his theory from being theoretical to being actual. By including evidence of how gratitude creates pleasure, as well as other case studies, Brooks appeals to logos, which creates a more logical connection for his audience. People are much more likely to trust theories like Brooks' when it is supported with science. Along with including scientific facts, Brooks also includes personal anecdotes to show how his theory has proven to be true in his own life. He shares a story about how a letter he received full of criticism and complaints about his book. Brooks decided to reply with a letter that expressed to his criticizer how grateful he was for him to take the time to read his book and send him a list of ways he could improve it. The criticizer later replied with a much friendlier and warmer letter and both him and Brooks were left feeling satisfied. This anecdote takes Brooks theory and shows the audience that it is proabable, because it has worked in a real life situation. Brooks acted grateful even when he wasn't and both him and the person who wrote the letter were leading happier lives. Both the use of scientific facts and personal anecdotes helped Brooks prove that acting grateful and thankful can create a more positive life.

TOW #9

The Washington Post posted a blog post written by former teacher and current High School Learning Coach, Alexis Wiggins. After 14 years of teaching, Wiggins decided to spend two days shadowing students. Her discoveries shocked her, so she decided to share them with the world. Wiggins writes her blog in sections labeled as 'key takeaways' involving her experience and how she would change her own class if she could to effectively show how teachers don't fully understand what it's like to be a student, and how schooling should be changed. Alexis wrote her article by splitting it up into three key takeaways. She began each takeaway with a summary of what her experience was, and then followed up with the things she would change if she was still a teacher. For example, after explaining how she found herself exhausted at the end of the day from sitting down and listening all day, she wrote about what she would change. One of them being, "build in a hands-on, move-around activity into every single class day. Yes, we would sacrifice some content to do this – that’s fine. I was so tired by the end of the day, I wasn’t absorbing most of the content, so I am not sure my previous method of making kids sit through hour-long, sit-down discussions of the texts was all that effective." This not only told the audience that school should be changed, but gave a key example of how it could be changed. Throughout her essay, she expressed that throughout her 14 years of teaching, she never realized what her students were experiencing. After reading the article, I found that I agreed with a lot of what she said. All of her take-aways began with a statement about students, and I found that most of them were applicable to my daily life as a student. For example, "Students sit all day and sitting is exhausting." In the majority of my classes, I am sitting the entire time, and by the time 1:00 rolls around I have trouble concentrating or keeping my eyes open. I think that Alexis Wiggins took on a very interesting endeavor, and I am interested to know if other teachers would find the same results if they were to take on the same project. 

IRB Intro #2

For my second IRB book, I will be reading Freakonomics by Stephen J Dubner and Steven Levitt. Dubner, an economist teamed up with Levitt, a famous journalist and author, to create the book. The book is written based on what they describe as "the hidden side of everything." The book focuses on why things happen, why people make decisions they do, and how things are or are not connected. I think I will enjoy this book because it offers a new way of viewing life. I really like reading about different interpretations people have and discovering ideas I never would have found on my own. The book was a New York Times Best Seller, and was even turned into a movie. I know many people who read this book last year for IRB, and they loved it. I think it will be a great choice.

TOW #8

One of the most haunting and effective chapters of Unbroken, is titled "200 Silent Men". Author, Laura Hillenbrand uses descriptions and imagry to express the horror and hardships the American prisoners had to face while being captured by the Japenese during World War II. The main character Louie was captured during war, and taken to a place called Ofuna. He soon learned that Ofuna was not a POW(Prisoner of War) camp, but a place off the records to the government where Japense interrogated high profile Americans. The title of the chapter becomes apparent to readers when it is revealed that none of the prisoners are allowed to speak. Louie faces harsh punishments, betrayal, and immense fear at his time at the camp. Hillenbrand writes, " There were rules about every detail of life, from the folding of blankets to the buttoning of clothes, each reinforcing isolation and total obedience" (199). This description expresses the severity of what was expected from the prisoners. They had no freedom to do anything, and there were consequences if they did not obey. Hillenbrand also writes, "Men were beaten for folding their arms, for sitting naked to help heal sores, for cleaning their teeth, for talking in their sleep" (200). This expresses how often they were attacked and how impossible it was to avoid being beaten. The descriptions and imagry created in these sentences by Hillenbrand appeal to pathos, allowing the audience to feel sad and afraid for the men in the interrogation center. This helps the author show the hardhsips the men and the main character Louie faced during his time as a prisoner. I think this chapter was necessary in telling Louie's story. His time spent at the camp played a huge role in shaping the man Louie becomes. Although it was one of the harder chapters to read, because it talked a lot about the torture these men faced, it was very effective in understanding Louie.