TOW #13 - IRB Blink

    Humans are faced with hundreds of both simple and difficult choices every single day. Ranging from a simple yes or no question to a potentially life changing choices, people are met with decisions that likely take time to answer. However, many of these choices have to be done nearly instantaneously, in a blink of an eye. In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell effectively reveals to everyone "the power of thinking without thinking" by utilizing eye-opening statistics and real-life psychological tests.
    Even without thinking or noticing, human beings make spontaneous choices throughout their lives. When examining CEOs across America, an interesting pattern emerges as "Among CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, that number is 58 percent. Even more striking, in the general American population, 3.9 percent of adult men are six foot two or taller. Among my CEO sample, almost a third were six foot two or taller" (87). Despite many modern day companies striving to provide equal wages and opportunities to employers, humans still make decisions without even realizing. Gladwell picks out very compelling statistical evidence to prove that the instantaneous choices that humans make, even if it goes unrecognized, can have a huge consequence.
    Malcolm goes on to reveal the fascinating consequences by actually testing the readers on a real life psychological test.  When giving a seemingly straightforward word unscrambling quiz, Gladwell secretly incorporates words such as "wrinkled", "old", and "gray" into the list of words. The effect of the test draws the audience's attention as the author explains, "You thought that I was just making you take a language test. But, in fact, what I was also doing was making...your adaptive unconscious think about the state of being old" (53).  By engaging the readers through an interactive activity and revealing the unknown effects of the test, Macolm Gladwell shrewdly validates his claim.  Through the interesting psychological test, the readers realize the power of instantaneous unconscious thinking for themselves and the potential effects that it may have in their everyday lives.
    Contrary to popular belief, Gladwell proves that there is great potential in "thinking without thinking" through the integration of notable statistics and surprising psychological tests.

TOW #12 - Visual Text "A Third Season of Tanking May Be Too Much to Ask"

    With Bryan Colangelo as the new head of the front office for the Philadelphia 76ers, the franchises' years of losing has officially come to an end. Appearing on the sports section of the Philly.com during the "Hinkie Era", the satirical cartoon by Rob Tornoe mocks then General Manager Sam Hinkie for intentionally losing to acquire better draft picks, more popularly known as "tanking".  Through the use of  creative humor and exaggerated understatements, Tornoe effectively argues Sam Hinkie's ineffective leadership in a satirical visual cartoon.
    Sam Hinkie has been widely recognized for the massive amount of losses he had brought to the Sixers during his tenure as the manager. Tornoe creatively pokes fun of Hinkie's plan as he uses wordplay to mock the hardships the GM brought to the fanbase.  His infamous "tanking" plan is illustrated as an actual tank that runs over innocent lives, specifically representing the Philly fans. This in effect reveals the ridiculous extent to which Sam Hinkie did not have sympathy towards the suffering fans across the city of brotherly love.
     Hinkie's strategic plan to intentionally lose in order to set up a potentially better future is also highly questioned by Tornoe when presenting a statement that is worse than depicted.  After running over a Sixers fan, Tornoe mocks Hinkie stating, "Don't worry, that'll start to feel better in 3-5 years".  Clearly depicted by the cartoon, the injured man is in critical condition, but Hinkie is shown to undermine the issue that is at hand. As the general manager of a profession organization, Hinkie is mocked for not proving to be an effective leader in the front office as he directs the injured fan to just wait "3-5 years".  Although Hinkie's timetable to rebuild a team is a ridiculous long period from the views of many, his statement undermines the problem which depicts his lack of skills as a GM.
   Hence, Rob Tornoe justifies his claim that Sam Hinkie is not a competent General Manager for the Philadelphia basketball organization through his ingenious use of humor and understatement in the satirical sports cartoon.

TOW #11 - Sojourner Truth: "Ain't I a Woman"

     The United States was a whole different world for African-Americans during the 19th century. Slavery was still prominent across the United States and it would last until the late 1800's. Even more so, women's rights were almost non-existent as men dominated the American society.  Millions of women, even the wealthy whites, were restrained from certain rights until the late 1900's. Sojourner Truth, a notable African-American abolitionist and women's rights activist, experienced not only neglect due to her gender, but also discrimination due to her race. In her influential speech "Ain't I a Woman", Sojourner Truth alludes to her religious views as well as utilizes repetition as a means of effectively persuading women, particularly African-American women, to stand up for their individual rights.
    During a less secular time period, religion, particularly Christianity, was an vital aspect of many American's lives. Truth realizes that although she is nearly powerless, she can question the white men through religion, asking, "he says women can't have as much rights as men,' cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him". Despite being an African-American woman, part of the lowest levels of the social structures at the time, Sojourner truth positions herself to directly challenge the higher class men by alluding to a reverend God that the people believed to be omnipotent.  She persuades African American women that since Jesus Christ was born from a mother, women are just as capable as men and should be treated equally as men, if not more.
   To further her argument for equality, Truth emphasizes the idea of women's rights as well as the
abolition of slavery by reiterating the same point numerous times. When faced with both discrimination and gender inequality, Truth lets her anger out by stating, "Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! Ain't I am woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have plouged and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman?" By repeating the phrase "Ain't I a woman", Sojourner Truth sparks a mix of passion and anger among the African-American women. Every time the phrase is repeated, her idea builds onto the previous idea, ultimately creating a dynamic argument. Through the inclusion of repetition in her speech, Truth accentuates her idea of equality for all African-American women and makes her passion towards the subject clear.
     Hence, through the integration of allusion and repetition, Sojourner Truth effectively influences African-American women and provokes an urgent feeling of personal rights.