TOW #23: American Schools Should Teach Entrepreneurship

Reading Goal: Choose a topic very different from my last TOW

Writing Goal: Better rhetorical analysis of devices/stategies

In this article, author Dayo Olopade talks about the teaching model of the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa and how this model can apply to schools in the United States. In the African Leadership Academy, students are deeply immersed in entrepreneurship, group activities, and a hands-on method of teaching. Olopade criticizes the American education system for teaching leadership and business exercises, skills critical for any type of work, at only the MBA levels.

Throughout this article, Olopade employs quotations from students in the system and rhetorical questioning to prove that the ALA model of learning is something American schools should consider. She quotes students Akon Nelson, writing," Very schools give you the opportunity to make it where it counts- not for a grade, but for your own credibility." By showing the positive feelings of a student that is currently experiencing the ALA method of teaching, Olopade is showing that this methord is something that doesn't just sound good on paper, but is actually engaging students in real life. She also uses rhetorical questions to help her American audience consider what is lacking in our current education system. Olopade wites, " Why reserve leadership and business training to budding MBA's and leave teambuilding exercises the domain of annual workplace retreats?" Her questions help advance her argument that the ALA methord of teaching can help students gain the advantages of leadership-building and business-training before even joining the workforce.

The audience for this article is the American public, but perhaps specifically Americans involved in education. Olopade is, after all, offering new ways of teaching. The author achieves her purpose of showing the shortcomings of the American education system in leadership development, but she could have focused more on how to potentially implement more of these programs. Dayo Olopade is a journalist covering global politics and developmental policy.

TOW #23: Lessons From the Little Ice Age by Geoffrey Parker

During the 17th century, the world experienced longer winter and shorter, cooler summers in what scientists now call a "mini" Ice Age. This period of cooling lasted from 1620-1690's. The effects were devastating to the human population, causing famine. floods and disease. But more interestingly were the political events tied with this climate change, including riots, rebellions, and catalysts to later major events in history.

In this article, Parker argues that climate change is closely linked with political and economical turmoil. He supports his argument with the use of statistics and logical reasoning. Parker writes, "In Japan, a mass rebellion broke out on the island of Kyushu following several poor harvests. Five years later, famine, followed by an unusually severe winter, killed perhaps 500,000 Japanese." By using statistics to illustrate the scale of the rebellions, Parker highlights just how bad the poor harvests that resulted from this drastic climate change were. Parker also uses logical reasoning to qualify his argument. He writes, "Climate alone did not cause all the catastrophes of the 17th century, but it exacerbated many of them." But admitting that climate change was not solely responsible for every bad thing that happened in the world at that time, he is avoiding the hasty generalization fallacy. However, he follows up to this to clearly outline how the poor harvests and floods because of the period of cooling led to less food, hungrier and sicker people, and desperate and angry citizens.

The audience of this article would probably be the American public, because almost every American, to some extent, is aware of the idea of Climate Change. Of course, the current trend is global warming rather than cooling, but Parker seems to foresee many of the same consequences. Overall, he is effective is showing that that we must be careful about the potentially disastrous effects of global warming, but he does not attempt to address any different effects it would have than global cooling or give any potential solutions.

Geoffrey Parker is a History Professor at Ohio State University and author of "Global Crisis: War, Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century".

TOW #22: Nike; Find Your Greatness

This simple Nike commercial shows an overweight boy running down a country lane. There is no sound except for the scuffling of his shoes and the narrator in the background. As he is running, a narrator discusses what "greatness" is, and how anyone can be great. This implies that by having the motivation to keep running, the kid is showing greatness. Throughout the commercial, Nike employs an appeal to pathos and a testimonial of sorts to show the importance of its product.

The most effective aspect of this commercial its appeal to pathos. There is no doubt that many people struggle with their weight but feel like they lack the motivation to go out and exercise. By showing this young teen who has the drive to keep on running, Nike immediately creates an ad that is connectable and relatable to a large chunk of its audience. And the uplifting message of working towards a goal is something that all people can relate to. Nike also uses a real person to further the connectability of this ad. In the left-hand corner of the ad is a link that leads to the teen's actual TV interview and progress after this commercial was filmed. This shows that he actually achieved his goal, and that you can too. It is also important to note that there really is no mention of Nike or really what this commercial is advertising for except until the very end. This is effective in that the audience can take the time to relate to the commercial on a personal level without any brand being peddled in front of their face. However, this may detract slightly from the beginning since the audience is not aware what the commercial is for at first. The audience for this commercial is probably all Americans who exercise or want to get into better shape.

Nike is a sportswear company that specializes in shoes. Founded in 1964, its current CEO is Mike Parker.

TOW 21: The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

In this memoir by Jeanette Walls, the author and her family constantly move during her childhood across the West. Both her father and mother are free-spirited souls who seem unable to completely settle in one place, partly because they were constantly accumulating debts. Her mother is an artist and her father  works odd jobs to make money. Jeanette was forced to grow up fast as a child, learning to take on responsibilities such as managing money and getting food for the family. However, she still loves her parents despite their irresponsibility. Currently, the family is staying at Battle Mountain, their longest place of residence.

Throughout the story, Walls uses imagery and metaphors to vividly describe her experiences. She writes, "Brian and I loved to go to the dump. We looked for treasures among the discarded stoves and refrigerators, the broken furniture and stacks of bald tires. We chased after the desert rats that lived in the wrecked cars, or caught tadpoles and frogs in the scum-filled pond." This detailed imagery gives the memoir an almost fantastical quality, adding to the story-telling element of it. Walls recounts her life as the adventure it truly was, full of constant action. Even though her story itself is interesting, these devices make it easy to imagine her as a child, searching as all kids do for treasure, only in the middle of a small desert town while constantly on the move.

Jeanette Wall's purpose is probably to tell her story and share her unique childhood with her readers. She achieves this marvelously, partially through her undoubtedly interesting experiences but also through her vivid descriptions. This also makes her memoir suitable for all audiences because it is very readable and suspenseful. Ms. Walls is a regular contributer to MSNBC and won the 2006 American Library Association Alex Award with The Glass Castle.

TOW # 21: Ukraine's Drama, Obama's Weakness by John Bolton

In this article about the recent Russian invasion of the Crimea Region in Ukraine, author John Bolton discusses the Obama's Administration's ineptitude at handling this crisis as well as previous internaitonal issues. He goes into the history surrounding the previous Soviet region and also discusses the failure of the EU to fully incorporate the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Through his appeal to logos and detailed timeline, Bolton explains why Ukraine is currently in the situation it is and why the those in power are not doing enought to address the issue.    

Bolton begins with some examples of the failings of those in Washington in terms of international affiars, such as how Obama's vision to "fundamentally change" America has caused a lack of focus outside of the borders. He argues that the president has not done enough when faced with previous issues similar (Syria comes to mind). He compiles the inadequecy of the administration with the failings of NATO and the EU in general to help Ukraine transition into a more Westernized country. He writes, "Ukraine's turmoil shows why. When the Soviet Union dissolved at the end of December 1991 and its constituent republics, some unwillingly, split off, the West had an enormous opportunity to bring these newly independent states into its orbit. The path was clear, as the central and eastern European states freed from the Warsaw Pact's chains demonstrated by immediately seeking NATO membership." When NATO and the EU did not follow this plan, Ukranian president Viktor Yanukovich then began having increasing ties with Russia rather than the West. It is ultimately, as Bolton spells out, these chain of events that led to the current situation today.

Overall, the author did not fully address  his purpose because he didn't focus enough on what the Obama administration should actually do. It's easy to say that Washington isn't doing enough: but how exactly it should procede given the circumstance of this extremely sensitive sitation with Russia is a much harder arguement to make. This article was probably meant for a layperson as it gives a detailed history of Ukraine and the region to give background information that is affecting the issue. John Bolton is a former U.S Ambassador to the U.N