TOW #16: "The 25 Best Inventions of the Year" (via TIME Magazine)

     In the November 25th, 2013 issue of TIME Magazine, authors Charlotte Alter, Cleo Brock-Abraham, Lev Grossman, Andrew Katz, Denver Nicks, Alice Park, Jessica Roy, Katy Steinmetz, Mark Thompson, Bryan Walsh, and Christopher Wilson compiled a list entitled "The 25 Best Inventions of the Year". Written for an audience of literally all ages – the list format allowed for readers of all ages to comprehend the article – this list strives simply to inform the American public of twenty-five interesting inventions of 2013, ranging from fun ideas like driverless toy race cars to amazingly innovative and impactful inventions like the Rewalk, which can allow paraplegics to stand and even walk. Through its sensible and attention-grabbing arrangement, "The 25 Best Inventions of the Year" effectively teaches readers about its titular products.
     The article is arranged from the most "fun" inventions to the most "useful". It begins with simple things, described as "widely entertaining" that the average reader could possibly own, like the Sony Smart Lens, which fits onto smart phones to give the consumer high-quality photos with relative ease. By first introducing simple yet exciting inventions, the article successfully intrigues readers enough to continue reading – these "everyday" inventions could affect the readers' lives, and are therefore very interesting to the average audience member. Once the article has the readers' attention, it moves towards products that probably don't directly affect the average person, such as "world-changing" Argus II, which is able to "restore partial vision to those who have severe retinitis pigmentosa, which can lead to blindness." While the average person (especially one who is reading this particular article) is almost certainly not blind, they may know someone who is, and who could be positively affected by this invention. Regardless, the introduction of consumer-friendly inventions first and then a slow build-up to more life-changing ideas allowed for the article to keep readers entertained even as the successive innovations began to stop applying to their everyday lives. This logical arrangement kept readers entertained throughout the article and therefore successfully achieved the authors' purpose of informing their audience of great new inventions of 2013.
     Through the use of a sensible yet entertaining arrangement, the authors of "The 25 Best Inventions of the Year" effectively entranced readers throughout the entire article. By beginning with products that could directly affect their audience and moving out to a larger scale, the authors kept their audience intrigued to the very end, which ultimately allowed for a successful transfer of information about the inventions from the article to the readers.

The 3Doodler:

One of the inventions in the middle of the article was the 3Doodler, a pen that effectively acts as a handheld 3D printer, allowing the user to draw in three dimensions.

(Source: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/148824-the-worlds-first-3d-printing-pen-yours-for-just-75)

TOW #15: Dreamland by David K. Randall (IRB)

     Dreamland is a comprehensive informational book about the science of sleep, written by David K. Randall who, while not a certified sleep expert, has suffered from sleep problems for much of his life and has devoted the past few years to researching sleep to write this book. Dreamland was written with the average American in mind, and Randall does a great job of making it simple enough to understand, yet detailed enough to be extremely informative. To do so, he writes about various sleep disorders as well as the ideal way to get a good night's sleep and uses scenarios that the average American can relate to and therefore understand. Through this familiarity, Randall is able to achieve his purpose of informing the public about sleep.
     Chapter 9 of Dreamland (titled "Game Time") focuses on circadian rhythms. Since that phrase likely means very little to anyone who has not recently completed a biology course, Randall begins by talking about Monday Night Football, something that the average American certainly knows. Randall then discusses how East Coast teams often lose to supposed evenly-matched West Coast teams. This, again, is something many East Coast fans can relate with, which allows them to become further interested in this chapter of Dreamland. Finally, once Randall has his readers' attention, he incorporates the new idea of circadian rhythms. These, he writes, are the reason why East Coast teams often do poorly against western teams – they're playing football at times that their internal body clocks would rather be sleeping. By first introducing a scenario that many readers will understand and be interested in, Randall ensures that he has his audience's attention and their interest in how he could connect the topic to sleep. From there, Randall launches into interesting explanations that often include more scenarios in order for readers to continue to connect with the text. This combination of interest and comprehensive explanation ultimately allows readers to learn about many aspects of sleep.
     Randall employs many rhetorical strategies in Dreamland, including appeals to logos, as discussed in a previous TOW. However, as the book continues into more complicated topics, he often uses relatable scenarios to give readers a better understanding of sleep. Ultimately, Randall's use of situations his audience can connect to allows for readers to come away from Dreamland as people far more educated about sleep than they were when they started.

Circadian Rhythm:

As Randall discusses, knowing the circadian rhythm is vital to getting the most out of one's day. Trying to do important work during dips in energy is often very unproductive, as many eastern football players have experienced.

(Source: http://cdn01.asianefficiency.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/circadian_graph.jpg)

TOW #14: "Stranger Danger" by Misha Collins (Visual Text)

Stranger Danger:

(Link in case the video doesn't work)

     Misha Collins, an actor and published poet, wrote and directed the video short "Stranger Danger". It is about just that: the danger of strangers. The video features a young girl skipping down a neighborhood street who ultimately enters a suspicious-looking white van. Through this video, Collins conveys the message to his audience – virtually anyone – that one should not judge the safety of others based solely on their appearance. To achieve this, Collins uses irony.
     The video begins by following a young girl as she walks down a neighborhood street, presumably after getting off of the school bus. From the outset, the viewer trusts this girl, who is dressed in pink and seems cheerful and altogether normal. She waves to her neighbors and smells the flowers by the sidewalk. Then, the video cuts to a shot from the inside of a vehicle, in which a man is smoking and looking at the little girl. The man begins to drive slowly behind the girl, and viewers begin to think of him as a predator – they immediately distrust him. The van stops near the little girl, and she looks inside at a Barbie doll. Seemingly trusting the vehicle, she heads towards the side doors. At this point, viewers become very worried for the innocent girl. The man throws the doors open, and, much to the viewers' surprise, the little girl sprouts fangs and leaps at the man, sinking her teeth into him. This alarming twist causes watchers to reconsider how they perceived the people in the video. The man may not have had good intentions, but not once did they consider that the seemingly innocent little girl would have evil intentions as well. Through his use of irony, Collins effectively forces viewers to really think about how they judge people based on their looks, and makes them realize that just because a stranger looks safe doesn't mean that they actually are.
     In the video short "Stranger Danger", Misha Collins successfully conveys his message of not judging the safety of others based only upon their appearance. By employing irony through a twist ending, Collins shocks readers into reconsidering their perspective on strangers altogether. He hopes, surely, that if many people view his video, the world may ultimately be a slightly safer place.