Evolution of Dr. Pepper (Visual TOW #4)

 

With simple colors in contrast, the visual text presents an image of a primitive monkey at a supposed “pre-pepper” stage, an evolving monkey at “pepper-discovery” stage, and an evolved monkey, known as humans, at the “post-pepper” stage. The advertisement is one of many created by the Dr.Pepper cooperation, a soft-drink company, in 2012 and can be found in many places on the internet. However, despite its ubiquitous appearance, the advertisement is clearly not aimed at all potential buyers of Dr.Peppers. The very act of associating Dr.Pepper with the principle of evolution in a mutual relationship offends potentially all religious people who look upon evolution with a high critical, if not disdainful, eye, and the context in which the visual text is presented does not necessarily fit its targeted audience.

  Despite the visual text’s controversial means of presenting its message, the message itself is simply and explicit: buy Dr.Pepper because the drink tastes good and assists in the bettering of mankind as a species. Though obviously exaggerated, the advertisement posed by the Dr.Pepper company does catch audiences’ eyes. There is little reason to associate the idea of evolution with the idea of drinking Dr.Pepper, so at first sight many people’s attention will naturally be drawn to this incoherent image. Only under further scrutiny will one read the description “evolution of flavor”, and understand that the evolution is not about organisms but about the flavor of Dr.Pepper.

       In addition, the simply color and imagery usage of the visual text also enhances its clarity and simplicity. Audience will not be bombarded by flowery colors or complex imageries characteristic of other advertisements. All they have to deal with is a simple mixture of red and white and general images of monkeys and human. In doing so, Dr.Pepper cooperation assured that the audience can get the general purpose even with a busy glance so that their impression will likely be “Dr.Pepper is good” instead of “that ad took me so long to comprehend”.

       Despite the visual texts positive attributes, it is probably insufficient in achieving its purpose. The way the text is presented will likely offend many religious people, and since the text is widespread across the internet, there really is no way to limit the range of audience, and therefore the text may likely cause Dr.Pepper to lose as much support as it can gain.

Bop by Langston Hughes (TOW #3)

       Music comes from people’s souls, and Be-bop, a form of American “colored folks’ music” (Hughes 191), tells the struggle of Black Americans in the 20^th century.

       “From the police beating Negroes’ head” (Hughes 191) is how Langston Hughes explain the origin of Be-bop. In his essay, Hughes used a conversation about Be-bop music between an African-American tenant and an African-American landlady to extend the meaning of prejudice against blacks. “Most white folks can’t play Be-bop”, Hughes writes, “ [because] Bop comes out of them dark days” (Hughes 191). Most white folks can’t play Be-bop not because of their ability in music, but because of their different history with the suffering African-Americans. Be-bop in Hughes eye clearly goes beyond its surface music value. It is a symbol for the blacks’ scarred history, a reminder of how Blacks were used to be abused.

Hughes did not forget the struggle, and he does not want other African-Americans to forget either. As a known civil rights activist and famed author with many world-recognized writings, such as the Weary Blue, Hughes published Bop in The Chicago Defender , a popular newspaper within the African-American community, in 1949. The essay itself emphasizes on the struggle of blacks against racial prejudice in the American society and cautions the young African-Americans who want to forget about the darkness of their heritage.

By deliberately juxtaposing a naive African-American tenant with a knowledgeable elder, Hughes shows his African-American readers the importance of knowing their past.When the African-American tenant heard about the origin of Be-bop, he responded, “your explanation depresses me” (Hughes 192). The landlady, portrayed by Hughes as someone who is aware of African-American’s struggling past, said “your nonsense depresses me” (Hughes 192). The tenant is not someone who knows his people’s past very well, and Hughes criticizes such person through the response of the landlady. Through an allegorical conversation between the innocent and the mature, Hughes urges his audience to be more mature, and he seems to be successful. The African-Americans, no matter what time period, will know the essay is talking truth. The automatic ethos Hughes brought with him into this essay and the built up ethos through his description of black sufferings will likely make the African-American readers to pause and think.

Hughes does not deny that the past is depressing; he is stating that being unaware of the past is even more depressing.

Hiroshima By John Hersey (TOW#2)

 

With a noiseless flash the atomic bomb was dropped on the citizens of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the beginning of the end of WWII; similarly, with a serene scene Hersey started his narration of the horrifying experiences of six survivors from the Hiroshima disaster: two doctors, a clerk, a widow, a Japanese pastor, and a German Jesuit. The bombing of Hiroshima may be a fading memory for many, but to Hersey and many others that are affected by the bomb the attack seemed just as vivid as if it happened yesterday. Many people remember Hiroshima bombing as simply an event in history, but Hersey does not, and he stated it loud and clear by writing the book Hiroshima, a book resulted from 15 years of interview of survivors and research and a follow up with the survivors decades later.

       The goal of Hersey’s writing is clearly not sympathy but empathy, and he did so through the realistic yet humanized depictions of six individual survivors from the Hiroshima disaster. By describing how “Dr Fujii was settling down cross-legged to read the Osaka Asahi”(Hersey 1) and how Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge reclined in his underwear on a cot on the top floor…” (Hersey 2) to how “their mouths were mere swollen, pus-covered wounds” (Hersey 52) and “She discovered her family were all dead” (Hersey 63), Hersey did a amazing job at convincing the readers who see Hiroshima as a mere event as something more personal, something more devastating to the nature of humanity.

After all, the opening of the book was just like contemporary life experienced by many; people relax, read news, and worry about daily matters. However, the gradual development of the narration made a dramatic turn. The six survivors, who the readers can relate to perfectly at the beginning of the book, suddenly began to experience things beyond ordinary comprehension. They began to see true suffering in great detail, and the serene imagery was completely replaced by that of similar to hell. Yet, the readers were still able to follow. Not because they desired to but because Hersey had already tied them with the survivors at the beginning of the book. The readers had connected to the survivors, and therefore feel their pain, and as the readers feel the survivors’ pain, they then also began to feel Hersey’s purpose.

Hiroshima is not going to be the same again.

IRB introduction- Hiroshima

Everybody can connect the atomic bombs with Hiroshima and Nagasaki; however, not all of them really understand the impact these bombs had on the lives of people, of specific individuals- of mothers, daughters, brothers, and friends-of Hiroshima. To inform the public of the true stories of atomic bomb survivors, John Hersey spent years on interviewing and researching atomic-bomb survivors, and composed his non-fiction book called Hiroshima. The book mainly tells the story of four survivors from Hiroshima with different backgrounds: one being a German priest, another a Japanese doctor, another a book-shelf keeper, and another a community leader. Each of them had different social relationships and lived a life subtly different from one another; nevertheless, the atomic bomb tied them together, not necessarily as friends but as empathizers, and their stories lived on. When I saw this book, my curiosity was immediately aroused. Afterall, all I heard about Hiroshima are generalizations. I want to know more about Hiroshima and the reaction of its citizen toward the atomic attack; I want to know about specific events and feelings from real human, and hopefully, as a goal, I can be more empathatic toward these war-time survivors after the read.

How to say nothing in 500 words

To many inexperienced writers, “In my opinion, cats have ousted dogs” are just as the same, or even more suitable, as “cats are better than dogs”; however, 20^th century famous linguist and writer Paul Roberts responds to such thinking with a loud and clear “NO!” For the benefits of inexperienced writers, Roberts collaborates with Pearson Education Company and publishes the didactic essay about what constitutes a good writing: How to say nothing in 500 words, a succinct, specific, and meaningful piece of work. Though aim primarily at college writers, the essay’s comprehensible text and simple organization has broaden its audience to any writer wishing for improvement.

       Starting from the very first paragraph, Roberts shows his reader what good writing is. With an amusing anecdote about a student’s thinking process on a college paper and his eventual disappointment, readers are both captured by the text and educated about “bad writing”. However, the anecdote is only a beginning. Roberts then structured his writing into distinct categories about lessons learned from the bad writing, such as “avoid the obvious content” and “get rid of obvious padding” and supported his teachings with specific examples, both good and bad. How does one put words in the right place at the right time? Roberts answers the question with “there are few useful generalizations one can make… but there are perhaps a few” (Roberts 65). The clear examples and categories used by Roberts help the readers of the essay to have a deeper and more immediate understanding of the content. In addition to the beginning anecdote the readers can reflect upon as they read, they are also assisted by numerous distinct examples provided in the essay. To say the least, readers definitely will not say “good grief and turn on the television” (Roberts 65).

       With the closing of the last page of the essay, Roberts’s purpose of both to inform and educate are well accomplished. The strategies and structures Roberts employ in his essay makes his teachings not only simple to understand but also simple to accept with specific examples supporting every claim. The readers, even if they cannot immediately apply their understanding, are now surely aware of what is a good piece of writing.