TOW #29 - Letter to a New APELC Student

Dear new APELC student,

If you're reading this, that means you've chosen to taken APELC, which is a choice that will provide you with an enriching and challenging experience for your junior year. The course will teach you a lot about writing and reading different types of texts, and it will definitely make you think about a huge variety of topics. The beginning of the year is a struggle for all new students, but definitely don't be discouraged at your performance in the beginning of the year, because the only thing you can do from there is improve! Struggling in the beginning of the course is something that happens to everyone, and it shouldn't be discouraging. You're not a bad writer, the teachers have high expectations and you'll get increasingly closer to reaching those expectations throughout the year. Getting off to a rough start won't determine the whole year, because as the year progresses, you'll become more comfortable with the structure and expectations of the course. The important thing is not about whether you get an A or B in the class, but it's what you learn from the class. You learn to improve your reading and writing abilities as well as discuss important topics and learn to become a more informed and active citizen of society. You do so many different things, from symposiums to creative projects, and the course is about so much more than just writing. The practice and the timed essays really do help with improving your skills at analysis and argumentation. You'll develop your own writing style and thoughts on the topics and prompts that may differ from those of the teachers or your fellow students.

It is important to get help when you need it - especially for discussing essays before they're due. The teachers can give you excellent advice on your essays and guide you in the right direction if you're having a problem with your writing or maybe even just to get another perspective. While the homework that is assigned is usually not checked, it's still a good idea to do it so you can have a deeper understanding of the topic and so you can be prepared for class and not be confused as to what everyone is doing. The texts are really helpful, and by understanding what you read and learning the ideas of others, you can improve your own writing as well as expand your knowledge of the world. You'll have to do a lot of thinking and analysis, but it's definitely worth it.

Everyone starting the class has a lot to learn, and by the time the year comes to a close, you'll look back upon your work from September and be amazed by how much you've improved. The important thing is to have a positive attitude and know that a bad grade is not something to be upset about, but something that can be used for improving in the future. You have plenty of opportunity to prepare for timed essays or take home essays and get help if you need it. The class has many opportunities for you to succeed, and it's definitely possible to achieve your goals. The course isn't impossible, despite what some people may say. It takes work and thought, but you are definitely able to survive the work (and maybe even get an A while you're at it).

TOW #28 - Reflection

I noticed that as the year progressed, I did more focus on the strategies that the author used and how they were or were not effective in portraying the purpose of the text. I think I started doing well at identifying the different devices that were used and identifying the purpose of the text. In the beginning of the year, a significant portion of the TOW would be summarizing the content in the text or providing a more personal opinion on it than later in the year, when the posts became more focused on analysis and identifying strategies, which is an important skill for the course. Earlier in the year, most of the posts didn't identify the purpose of the text and by the end, I think it became more apparent. Overall, I think the depth of the analysis improved and it became easier to identify the strategies and the purpose of the text I was reading or viewing. I think I've become good at reading more closely and finding the things the author does in the text that contribute to a better development of the purpose. I think I could have done more analysis of the devices and how they were used to further the purpose. I identify the devices and their effect but not as much how it relates to the overall purpose. I also think I could have done less summary of the material and less influence from persona beliefs. On TOWs that related to a topic I was passionate about, I focused less on the analysis and more the topic of the writing, which was straying from the purpose of the assignment. I think I did benefit from these assignments because the purpose was to read a variety of texts and work on analyzing them in a way that would be beneficial in preparation for the exam. I think it was effective because I found different types of materials and I definitely did my best to improve my analysis, and I think I eventually did less summarizing and more analysis. I think it was definitely good practice for analysis and understanding a variety of writing styles and topics. I personally believe it was a useful exercise that helped me improve.

TOW #27 - How I Got Converted to G.M.O. Food (Written)

This article is from the New York Times on the topic of genetically modified foods, which is a controversial topic in modern society. The article details the benefits using genetically modified foods can have for farmers and consumers and why they should be more widely accepted as safe and something that should be used in order to solve some problems agriculture faces today. The author uses examples of ways that GMO foods have been beneficial, such as the example with the farmer and the eggplants, and how it has removed the need to use chemical pesticides, which can be harmful to humans, while these new organisms are generally considered to be safe and the new chemical this eggplant would produce would be toxic only to the pests that are destroying the crops. This helped in appealing to logos as well as pathos, with the mention of the children and how they appeared to be suffering from malnutrition and poverty and how the introduction of these new crops could help the impoverished farmers in developing countries. The article uses many statistics, including the number of times farmers spray their natural crop with pesticides in a single season (140) or how most scientists believe these crops are safe for consumption while a much smaller part of the general population believes this. The author also compares the controversy surrounding this topic to the reaction to global warming, and how scientific evidence should be the most important determining factor in these sorts of issues. The author used a lot of information such as the status of GMO foods in many countries in order to address the scale of the problem. The author also attempts to establish his own ethos throughout the article. I personally think it could have been improved by addressing the counter argument more, mentioning some of the reasons that certain people believe these organisms are not safe and should not be used, as there is still much we don't know about their effect on the environment or the effect lowering the populations of pests will have in the future, and these are definitely problems that need to be considered.

TOW #26 - Celebrating 21st Century Feminism (Written)

I really enjoyed this article I read, and I found it interesting because it talks about the issues in a very modern context, in fact it was posted the day before I read it. I found it interesting because it addresses many feminist issues that I don't see mentioned often, such as rights for trans people and the reasons that we still need feminism today, even though some people insist it is unnecessary. People like to think society has achieved gender equality but there are still many problems that exist like the wage gap between men and women as well as the harmful stereotypes that have been projected upon both men and women. The article also brought up a major problem facing feminists, the facts that we have to struggle against already existing power structures and some ideas that are deeply ingrained in society, like some beliefs about women (for example, how women feel uncomfortable celebrating their own achievements). It described the progress women have made since the beginning of feminism, such as gaining the right to vote and more freedoms later. My favorite thing about the article was how it listed achievements that have been made by women recently, which may inspire readers to do more research on the topics, and other progress that has been made in gaining more equality for women. I liked how the article began with reservations about the things that have been changed, and the fact that there is still much more to be done. However, the article then shifts to the things that have been done. The author also uses specific examples of things that have been done in order to prove the point that feminism can make a difference. She also uses examples of things that have happened, such as Hillary Clinton's role in politics and the announcement that the Pope made in order to emphasize how progress is happening but there is still much to be done, because this is an ongoing fight and change doesn't happen overnight.

TOW #25 - McDonalds Ad - Visual

This is an advertisement for McDonalds. I found this ad particularly interesting because McDonalds is often portrayed by most people as serving primarily unhealthy and fattening foods. However, in more recent times, McDonalds has been trying to promote the good qualities of their food, including reintroducing chicken tenders, which are proudly heralded as containing all real white meat as well as offering healthier options in kids meals, like milk and apple slices. This campaign has become necessary as people are becoming more aware of their health and the negative effects fast food can have. The company The advertisement itself features the easily recognizable McDonalds French fry box, except carved out of an actual potato. This emphasizes that McDonalds fries are naturally cut from the potatoes, and that the food is natural and tastes good because of that. The caption at the bottom right of the image reads "Real. Good." This emphasizes that the fries, and therefore the rest of the food as well, is made from real natural ingredients like the potato and taste good, as well as being made of good ingredients. The image uses a minimalistic design in order to emphasize only the main focus of the image, the French fries. This is effective because the advertisement would not have been as effective had there been a lot of other material in the image - it would have distracted from the purpose. Also, I thought the color scheme was interesting - the colors weren't too bright and was easy for the viewer to look at. The actual idea of the advertisement was interesting as well, I found it clever and an interesting way of conveying the message that they were intending without having too many words - the image mainly speaks for itself. The advertisement relies on the basic assumption that foods made from natural and good ingredients taste better and are better for health.

TOW #24 - A General Theory of Love - IRB pt. 2

I finished the second half of this book, and there were a lot of concepts that the authors addressed that I found to be interesting. It primarily addressed interactions and relationships between people, which is primarily what love is. It focused on where attachments form in the brain, and how the way the brain functions is conducive to learning new things in a particular way, and it's very difficult to "unlearn" something when you become an adult, which the authors described as one of the problems that therapists face. This is because certain neural pathways become strengthened due to being used a lot and this can often lead to faulty assumptions like the illusion of a triangle in this image. 

It described how certain strengthened neural pathways (called Attractors by the authors) can sometimes overwhelm signals from less used pathways. The book described different ways the brain works and what causes some people to be attracted to each other - a common the me is that because they are similar. It explained why changing the way the brain thinks is very difficult, because of the power of the Attractors. The authors used numerous examples of the concepts they were describing, such as the example with the H and the much simpler neural network, and the example with drug abuse and the most effective ways to deal with the problem. The book explains emotions from a largely biological standpoint, which is interesting, because most of the time people don't think of relationships are regulating each other, but the book approaches it much in this way. It explains how people in a truly meaningful relationship make each other better and change each other. The examples made it easier to understand a potentially abstract concept. It explained how the mind is not shaped only by genetics but also by interactions with people and the nurturing a child receives. I thought it was definitely unique and interesting.

TOW #23 - The Search for Marvin Gardens - Written

This is an interesting essay from the 100 best essays of the century book, and I thought it would be nice for a change from my usual topics. This essay was written by John McPhee, an American writer who is considered to be a pioneer of creative nonfiction, which is definitely shown in this essay. The essay primarily features two people playing multiple rounds of the game Monopoly, along with descriptions of the realities in the places that are mentioned on the Monopoly board. I found it interesting because most people who play the game probably aren't thinking about the actual places that they see on their game board - they're more concerned with the actual game itself. I found the juxtaposition between the status of the game and the descriptions of many of the places to be really interesting, especially the descriptions of the jail and the people there. Throughout the essay, the game is described almost as simplistic, and hardly any attention is given to the actual locations in the parts of the essay describing gameplay. It was a pretty big contrast between the players in the game and their thoughts about the properties, to collect them for their own personal gain, as compared to the descriptions of the actual locations and the poor condition most of them are in, like with the description of St. Charles Place as being completely abandoned with barely recognizable sidewalks and vacant buildings. The essay is not about the game - it's about the reality in the country and how many of these things that are happening and real and can't be ignored. These are conditions that actually exist, and they won't just disappear. I did find the description of Monopoly as "chess at a Wall Street level" to be interesting, because it seems to be a pretty accurate summary, because there is definitely an amount of strategy involved, and it was actually an interesting analogy for actual development. The essay did seem a bit hard to follow at times, because it jumped around between different locations that were being described, and I was a bit confused as to the person who was actually seeking Marvin Gardens and why no one knew where it was. It was a unique essay, and I thought it was definitely an interesting glimpse into the actual places behind the game.