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)