TOW #16 - Everything Bad is Good for You by Steven Johnston (Part 2)

In Everything Bad is Good for You, Steven Johnston, the author who is a graduate of both Brown University and Columbia University and currently an American popular science author and a media theorist, takes the position that regular exposure to pop culture is beneficial to us. In part 1 of the book, Johnston argues in favor of video games, television, films, and the internet, describing all of the positive cognitive effects it has. Starting off part 2 of his book, Johnston transitions into the Flynn Effect and IQ scores. Through various studies, it has been concluded that the population's IQ has been increasing across all races, and the factor resulting in this increase has been the environment, particularly the great exposure to pop culture. Nowadays, with the advancement of technology, people face so many problems and challenges that it is reasonable to see why people are getting smarter. Additionally, Johnston goes into the economic, technologic, and neurological drive of the Sleeper Curve. The economic forces include and film industry's constant production of movies and TV shows. The technological forces entail the media-related technology, such as DVD, VCR, cable, etc. Lastly, the neurological forces explains how people enjoy challenges and focusing on this that interest them, like different informative TV shows for instance. To support his argument, Johnston incorporates diagrams, statistics, and quotes. Diagrams, especially when trying to explain a complex point, simplified the content and information Johnston was channeling to the readers,  making it easier for them to understand his viewpoint. Furthermore, using statistics from various studies and experiments bolstered his argument since he quantified everything, giving a perspective for the reader. Lastly, by incorporating quotes from reliable sources, such as scientists, Johnston's argument becomes something to consider. He doesn't voice an arbitrary claim, but a claim that can be supported and argued against. With evidence, diagrams, and reliable sources, it can be justified that Johnston successfully proves that pop culture, contrary to traditional belief, has a beneficial effect on the public. 

TOW #15 - Article: "Can DNA Reign Supreme in the Digital Dark Age?" by Roger Highfield

Roger Highfield, the director of external affairs at the Science Museum in England, addresses the issue of losing and not being able to obtain information in the future. Considering the fact that there are some billion gigabytes of data stored worldwide and that technology is rapidly progressing, it is necessary that mankind be able to develop ways in order to preserve the rapid increase in data. Highfield goes into a brief explanation of how storage on floppy disks that still remain today are unreadable by much of current technology. There is no software available and no program to open files, prompting scientists to craft new methods to store information. Highfield's solution to this problem is to use DNA to store all the information. Highfield refers to Ewan Birney and Nick Goldman, at the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute near Cambridge, have created a way to store two thousand million million bytes per gram of DNA. It is speculated that DNA storage can last until the year 10 millennia. Specifying this issue primarily to the scientific community, Highfield attempts to provide an answer to this future problem and convince scientists to pursue research in issue. To achieve his purpose, Highfield includes historical evidence and scientific jargon. Historical evidence that is incorporated into this article provides the context from which Highfield creates his argument, which is to use DNA for storage purpose in the future. It sets the foundation of his argument, which is then used as evidence as to why newer and more improved methods of storage are essential. Additionally, Highfield's use of scientific jargon gets across his reasoning in a much easier fashion. Since his message is primarily towards scientists, using science-related vocabulary will help the audience understand what Highfield is trying to get across. With historical evidence and scientific jargon, Highfield was successfully able to achieve his purpose.


Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/10553626/Can-DNA-reign-supreme-in-the-digital-dark-age.html

TOW #14 - Media: "Start Your Day On A Roll" Wawa Commercial

In this 30-second Wawa commercial, there are various scenes that go through the variety of Wawa Breakfast Hoagies. At the same time, this commercial shows what can go into the breakfast hoagies: cheese, eggs, bacon, steak, ham, etc. To conclude the commercial, the narrator states the different hoagie sizes (junior, shortie, and classic), each with its respective price (2, 3, and 4 dollars), and then ends by transitioning to the Wawa logo and saying the slogan. The target audience of this commercial is everyone who lives mainly on the eastern side of USA. Wawa, primarily located in Deleware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, aired its commercial in those particular locations because of convenience and promotion, particularly to advertise and convince people to buy the Wawa Breakfast Hoagies, which was this franchise's purpose. Additionally, Wawa aired its commercial in order to compete with other places that serve breakfast foods, such as McDonald's, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, etc. To achieve its purpose, Wawa incorporated music, visual text, and animation to help achieve its purpose. With happy and joyful music and singing playing in the background, the commercial conveys the idea that eating Wawa's Breakfast Hoagie is a great start to one's day. Furthermore, the visual text that pops up is another aspect of the commercial that has a strong appeal. Using bright colors, such as yellow, orange, and red, Wawa forces the audience to eye the words that pop up on the screen, which helps the audience create a mental list of what can be added into their hoagie. Lastly, the animation added the finishing touch to the commercial. It helped keep Wawa's commercial flowing, and it is effective in keeping the attention of the audience. Eggs rolling on the table, cheese getting cut, and sandwiches constantly changing are the various animations that crafted this strong commercial. Primarily appealing to pathos, the incorporation of music, visual text, and animation are all qualities that created a jolly commercial, which successfully convinces the viewers to start their day on a roll!