TOW #16 - Visual Text "Bad Grades: 1960 vs. 2010"

    The education system in the United States has dramatically changed over the course of the last few decades. Although the improvements in the quality of education have made positive impact on millions of lives, the change has also intensified the competitive nature amongst Americans. Due to the extremely competitive education system, there is currently a controversial change in the perception of bad grades. "Bad Grades: 1960 vs. 2010" vividly and humorously illustrates this 21st century issue through the use of clear juxtaposition.
    As the college acceptance process is currently at its all time high in term of competitiveness, more and more parents have changed their views on bad grades. In the 1960's scenario in illustration, the parents blame the child for simply failing a test and demand better performance from the student. However, in the scenario half a century later, the parents do not accuse the kid for the poor performance on his test, rather they blame the teacher for the critical grade. The illustrator explicitly reveals the differences in ideologies by positioning both time periods next to one another. By adjacently placing the two situations together, the viewers can easily make out the discrepancy of when a student obtains a bad grade. The author argues through the image that times have changed and today's parents usually blame teachers for bad grades, not the child. As colleges are becoming more selective, parents are prioritizing their child's grades before the improvement of the student themselves.
     The vast development of America's schooling has changed the views of countless parents across the nation, for better or for worse. While the cartoonist does not definitively take a stance on the change, the illustration effectively argues that there has been a huge shift in perceptions on students receiving bad grades.  With such a huge change in merely half a century, it is difficult to imagine how much differently the relationship between the parents and the education system will play out in the next fifty years.

TOW #15 - Disneyland for Gun Lovers: Inside the Notorious Darra Adam Khel Arms Market

     In a section of Pakistan, where the nation's laws are not normally applied, all imaginable types of guns are freely being sold to customers at an alarmingly cheap price. The town of Darra Adam Khel has become notorious for its knockoff gun business. Despite army crackdowns, the gun market is booming in the area as civilians as well as army men near the Afghan border are constantly seeking for weapons. In "Disneyland for Gun Lovers: Inside the Notorious Darra Adam Khel Arms Market", Wajahat Khan of NBC News reveals the surprising world of the open gun sale.
     For most citizens living in the United States, a lawless area devoted to a gun business that requires no paperwork, license or background checks is almost unheard of. Khan hooks the Americans' audience by opening the article asking, "Want to knock-off Beretta or AK-47 that's "guaranteed" to be as good the original at a fraction of cost?"  Khan goes on to illustrate a shocking area of the world that is considered as one of the most violent regions of the globe. Also known as "no-man's land", the infamous Darra Adam Khel is depicted as a mysterious territory with little to no regulations.
      Not only does Khan paint the scene of the dangerous region, but also incorporates primary sources in the report through interviews with the gun-makers themselves. Functioning guns that are being sold for the fraction of the cost of real licensed guns are taking the breaths of Americans as revealed in an interview, "'I can copy anything,' Orakzai says, ticking off a list that includes Turksih Zigana pistols, American Beretta handguns, and Chinese 30-caliber weapons, 'We guarantee our copies to be as good as the original. A guarantee of it working when you need it to'". Through the eyes of most US civilians, expensive gun replicas that are easily being distributed is an unimaginable. Not only are the replicas cheap, but they are just as effective as the original guns, which in turn may make Darra Adam Khel seem like a whole another world to Americans. Although guns are common items to many Americans, a "Disneyland for Gun Lovers" is an eye opening scenery to most. Through a clear depiction of the hazardous area of Darra Adam Khel and the words of the businessmen themselves, Khan vividly illustrates an unheard of society for Americans living halfway around the globe.

link: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/disneyland-gun-lovers-inside-notorious-darra-adam-khel-arms-market-n702236

TOW #14 - Eight Years Later: The Economy and President Obama's Legacy

     As 2017 will bring a new face in the White House, it is important to reflect upon President Obama's accomplishments during his eight-year tenure in office. Although Obama's presidential decisions caused disagreements among Americans on numerous occasions, many people can agree that the president's two terms were more beneficial to the country than destructive.  In an economy article by NBC's Martha White, the author effectively reviews the President's major accomplishments and weighs the extent to which America productively developed as nation.
     Many economist agree upon the idea that President Obama took the office during one of the most disastrous economic time periods in American history. 2008 was a catastrophic period for American citizens as the United States faced its worst recession since the Great Depression. White points out that by the end of President Obama's tenure, "178,000 jobs were created the previous month, bringing the unemployment rate to 4.6 percent, the lowest since August of 2007". However, the author also weighs the other side of the argument by pointing out, " Some economists even contend that the pace of the recovery was slowed by cutbacks in government spending and a divided Congress's inability to make infrastructure spending".  By reviewing both aspects of the miraculous recovery, White effectively reveals President Obama's success all while not crediting him entirely for achieving the economic feat.
     In nearly a decade, the American society not only made economic developments, but also huge strides in the technology field. When President Obama first took office, "the iPhone had only been around for one year and Twitter for two, Facebook wouldn't go public for another four years". After just two presidential terms, almost every single American transformed into depending on all forms of technology.  The country developed a whole new social media and app economy that are currently acting as gigantic markets globally.  America's economy truly revolutionized in the mere eight years that President Obama was in office. We can only wonder what the United States will be like after President Trump's final days in the White House.


http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/president-obama-the-legacy/eight-years-later-economy-president-obama-s-legacy-n703616