TOW #17 Rewrite of Wes Moore

            The Other Wes Moore, written by Wes Moore, depicts the lives of two children both named Wes Moore who grew up just blocks apart in a poor neighborhood in Baltimore.  One of these boys, and the author of the book, eventually became a Rhodes scholar and is a successful business executive, while the other Wes Moore is currently serving life in prison for murder.  The book is devoted to finding the reasons as to why one of these children succeeded while the other failed despite the fact that they grew up in nearly identical circumstances.

In order to illustrate the parallels between their two childhoods, Wes Moore arranges similar formative events in each of their lives side by side.  For instance, he describes both his own and the other Wes Moore’s first encounter with drugs within the same chapter.  In another passage, Moore explains that as a result of poor grades throughout high school, the other Wes Moore eventually dropped out while the author was forced into military school.  In this way, the reader can easily identify where their paths began to diverge and can begin to draw his/her own conclusions as to how the other Wes Moore might have avoided a life behind bars. 

Next, Moore remains credible as an author by emphasizing the positive and negative qualities of both him and his counterpart, rather than just denouncing the other Wes Moore as a criminal and bragging about his own successes.  In fact he writes in the beginning of the book that “it is my sincere hope that this book does not come across as self-congratulatory of self-exculpatory.”  Furthermore, he utilizes pathos in a way that encourages readers to recognize the other Wes Moore partially as a victim of a broken system rather than just dismissing him as a criminal.  To humanize the story of the other Wes Moore, Moore includes testimony from his relatives and childhood pictures that make it easier for readers to relate to him emotionally.

            While Moore makes it clear that the crime the other Wes Moore committed is inexcusable, he also demonstrates the fact that his life might have turned out better had his upbringing been more favorable.  Ultimately, he wishes to demonstrate the fact that small, seemingly insignificant incidents during childhood can often have lasting effects on that person as an adult, and that parental involvement is necessary to ensure that a child is on a path towards success.  Yet at the same time, poverty can severely limit a parent’s ability to perform this duty for his/her child.  Therefore, the book serves not only as an account of two lives with very different outcomes, but also as a call to improve care for the urban poor in the United States.

             

TOW #16 The Other Wes Moore

            The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore depicts the lives of two children both named Wes Moore who grew up just blocks apart in a poor neighborhood in Baltimore.  One of these boys, and the author of the book, eventually became a Rhodes scholar and is a successful business executive, while the other Wes Moore is currently serving life in prison for murder.  The book is devoted to finding the reasons as to why one succeeded while the other failed despite the fact that they grew up in nearly identical circumstances.

             In order to illustrate the similarities between the two childhoods, Wes Moore utilizes parallelism throughout the text.  The most formative events in each of the children’s lives are arranged side by side in chronological order so that the reader can easily identify where their paths began to diverge.  For example, he describes how both of the boys struggled with grades during high school, yet while one Wes Moore decided to drop out, the other was forced into military school.  Next, Moore remains credible as an author by emphasizing the positive and negative qualities of both him and his counterpart, rather than just denouncing the other Wes Moore as a criminal and bragging about his own successes.  To humanize the story of the other Wes Moore, Moore includes testimony from his relatives and childhood pictures that make it easier for readers to relate to him.

            While Moore makes it clear that the crime the other Wes Moore committed is inexcusable, he also demonstrates the fact that his life might have turned out better had his upbringing been more favorable.  Therefore, the book serves not only as an account of two different lives, but also as a call to improve the lives of poor, urban children.

TOW #15 The Fiscal Cliff

            Discussion about the fiscal cliff and what it could mean for the United States’ economy dominated the news cycle for weeks until a tentative agreement was finally reached on December 31^st.  In response to confusion over what the agreement meant for average Americans, President Barack Obama released a video explaining the deal’s implications in layman’s terms.  In an effort to divert attention from what was almost a complete failure of government, the President used a variety of rhetorical devices to paint the agreement in a more positive light.  First and foremost, the President utilized ethos by attempting to show that he created an agreement that was most beneficial to average Americans.  For example, he stated that “in the face of looming deadlines, you know my top priority is preventing a tax hike that would have hit 98% of all Americans.”  In addition, he talked directly to the camera and spoke in an informal tone that gave the impression that he understood the struggles of middle-class families.  

Due to the fact that the video was published by the President’s staff, it is highly likely that the audience was primarily Democratic.  As a result, he employed pathos by making it seem as if the Republican Party was the only obstacle in the way of reaching an agreement.  In addition, he talked about their proposed solutions in an almost condescending manner.  In terms of appealing to passionate Obama supporters, this video is very effective in telling the audience what it wants to hear.  Yet at the same time, this video presents a rather one-sided message with little specific information and therefore has difficulty reaching a broader audience. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tuztHPq95o