TOW #14 "Stand Up and Speak Out"

During the past year, two star athletes, R.A. Dickey and Kayla Harrison, have come forth to describe the abuse they faced as children.  In an article in Sports Illustrated, Gary White, a sports writer who has written for the magazine since 1983, details the emotional journeys of these two individuals.  Throughout the piece, titled “Stand Up and Speak Out”, White writes as if the article were a transcript of a class discussion held one hundred years in the future.  For example, he writes, “Sitting in this classroom as we enter the 22^nd century it’s difficult to believe such an epidemic could occur, devouring boys and girls simply because they couldn’t open their lips to utter its name.”  By contrasting the present social stigma surrounding child abuse with what he believes will be a much more open and engaged public stance in the future, White attempts to highlights our society’s ignorance towards this increasingly prevalent problem.  In addition, he compares the lives of R.A. Dickey and Kayla Harrison to reveal the similarities between the fears and attitudes often experienced by children who are abused. 

White also employs logos in order to emphasize the point that adults must be more proactive in preventing pedophilia.  He writes, “One in 10 men had molested a child, their likelihood of being caught only 3%.” Ultimately, White uses this article as a way to encourage serious discussion about the presence of child abuse and to discuss ways in which it can be stopped.  By focusing on two athlete victims, he makes the article more interesting and accessible to the average Sports Illustrated reader and enables his audience to reconsider their views on the impact and scope of child abuse in this country.      

  

TOW #13 "Another Game of Thrones"

            Over the last ten years, it has become clear that four companies, Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook, dominate much of our activity online.  An article in The Economist, titled “Another Game of Thrones”, describes the fierce rivalries between these companies over things such as online shopping and social networking.  In keeping with the style of the magazine, the author of this article did not publish his/her name in a byline.  In order to help the readers of The Economist understand the context of these rivalries, the author of the article compares the disputes to the HBO program Game of Thrones.  For example, when describing Microsoft, the author writes that, “like the Targaryen family, which used to rule Westeros and now plots in exile to regain the crown, the company is desperate to regain its former glory.”  By using the popular television series as a metaphor, the author is able to add humor to the article and better connect with readers who are familiar with the show.
            The author also employs logos by using statistical evidence to support his/her claims.  The author writes that Apple’s “margins on iPhones are so good the company accounted for 60% of the total profits made by the mobile-phone industry in the third quarter of 2012, even though it accounted for just 16% of phone shipments during that period.”  Statistics like these highlight how even though certain companies seem to dominate specific aspects of the online market, competition is becoming more fierce and more diversified.  Ultimately, the author successfully conveys the idea that these four companies must continue to expand their variety of online products if they wish to survive in the future.

TOW #12 The Checklist Manifesto

            We often use checklists for simple procedures like running errands on the weekend or completing homework.  Yet what if we applied the checklist to more complicated processes, such as running a hospital or disaster-recovery efforts?  In his book, The Checklist Manifesto, Atul Gawande proposes applying checklists to nearly every facet of our lives, no matter how difficult or complex they may seem.  Gawande is an associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and has written for publications such as The New Yorker and Slate. 

In the various works he has published, Gawande describes his life as a surgeon and how his model for efficiency has greatly improved the success of the hospitals at which he operates.  For example, the second chapter of his book details how medical staff at the Johns Hopkins I.C.U. managed to bring down the rate of infections from 11% to 0% after introducing a five-point checklist.  Gawande once again employs logos to illustrate the checklist’s effectiveness by citing a study that details the effect of instituting a hospital checklist on post-surgery complications.  He writes, “In seven out of eight, it was a double-digit percentage drop. This thing was real.”  Gawande also includes various other anecdotes to emphasize the importance of checklists, including the story of army pilot checklists in 1935.  Throughout the beginning of the book, Gawande’s eloquent and well-substantiated opinion that checklists are a vital part of our society rings clear.  In this way, he hopes to inspire others to include checklists in their daily lives as well.