Rhetorical Precis Comics and Pictures

Roy T. Cook in the article Do Comics Require Pictures? Or Why Batman #662 Is a Comic is looking for an overarching definition of comics while taking the side that a comic needs to have pictures. The author starts with the view done by another author Scott McCloud and then begins to examine the comic Batman #663 and develops multiple definitons of a comic. The author writes the paper to establish different views on a definition of a comic book and the importance pictures play in the definition and in order to direct the definition he uses the issue of Batman #663 to help define comics. The audience intended by the author are those people who are interested in comics.

TED Prison Sentences

<p>The video was about how the people can change the system that is being used to incarcerate people primarily of ethnic minorities. He opened with his background and a storyof his grandma to entice the audience. He used the story to lead into what he was going to be talking about because of his family's history in slavery. he then told of how his grandmother would tell each of the children that they were special and that they could do anything and make them promise that they would always love their mother and do the right thing and never drink alcohol. That story is what grabbed my attention and made me pay more attention to the video. He then started with the true intentions of the speech which was how the court system is incarcerating more people and the tie that it still has to ethnicity. He shared a story of a court case in which he said that the judge must have some sort of magical powers to change the status of the child in the court case allowing them to be tried as an adult. So he thought that if that was true then it could be the same for the opposite, he asked the judgeif he would be able to try the child as a rich white man which only angered the judge. The final part of the speech was about him being asked questions about the subject and what people can do to help. The speaker answed with reference to the problem with the use of the three strike rule in California and that he is working to get that law removed. The final question asked was about the decrease in the crime rates. The speaker replied with that the decrease is not in the violent category of the offenders but the majority of the people incarcerated are there due to the crackdown on drugs.

NY Times Article Summary

The article published in the New York Times "The Cancer Lobby" is all about the possible cancer causing formaldehyde. It starts with a strong pathos appeal to the reader by citing a study. That study said that nearly all homes had formaldehyde concentrations that exceeded the normal guide lines. In the article it tells how companies are trying to delay the test results because the reputation is on the line. This tactic is compared to the same one that is used by tobacco companies. The author ends the article with a comparison to another cancer causing problem from the past esbestos. He says that this is the same thing that happened with esbestos and the result is the suffering of people in the current times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/opinion/sunday/kristof-the-cancer-lobby.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Why Men Fail

The article "Why Men Fail" has a lot of useful information. It tells the reasons that men in today's economy are more likely to be less successful than women. This is especially appealing to me because I am in this situation. It begins by stating that boy in elementary through high school get the majority of the D's and F's. This is shown to carry on into college with men only getting 40 percent of the degrees. This article references another article on the same subject entitled "The End of Men". In that article it says more on the subject by explaining the end of men is based on the ability to adapt. With that being said it states that women are more open to the idea of change while men are reluctant it because of the prior gender separation. With women more likely to accept change they have adapted to a more dominate role in the current economy. This article is showing the difference in how the future may change to a more female dominate society instead of the usual thought that men are in charge.

Presidential debate

On Wednesday the presidential candidates had their first debate. By watching the debate I believe that the winner of the debate was governor Romney. He with every response had a clearly outlined response such as when he explained his five point plan. Although president Obama tried to get on the offensive early governor Romney was prepared. The way each of the opponents carried themselves was even different. Obama was more passive while Romney was more aggressive. That alone could help people decide who they are going to vote for. But everytime Obama would say something about Romney he would have something to say about how he was wrong. Romney may not be the better candidate for everyone but in this debate I believe he was the winner.

New Rules

The article published in the New York Times entitled "New Rules" is about the importance of education. He starts by explaining that in Estonia they are teaching the kids in school how to program. This is important because the future is filled with jobs that are primarily based on technology. The article then starts to speculate that that might be the new standard of teaching. This is because with all the jobs starting to rely on technology the people who are doing the hiring are looking for people who are already trained. The employers are looking for people who are "Ready Now" which means that they have the necessary skills required for the job and that is what the schools are preparing them for. The article explains more into what is required for people to get a job. It explains more into the unemployment rates showing that people with 4 years of college have a 4.1% unemployment while on the opposite end dropouts have a 12% unemployment rate. The article then ends by saying that "the illiterate will not be defined by their inability to read but by their inability to learn and relearn".