Essay 2

For my second essay, I chose to look at a political cartoon and an article. Both of these mediums give the message that the Healthcare reform is insensitive and does not help the individual—quite a controversial idea in society. Let’s first look at the cartoon.

            The cartoon by Chip Bok shows an oversized Uncle Sam in one hospital bed and a sick, weak, dying “you” in the other bed. The caption reads, “We can’t leave life support rationing to the darkness of private enterprising.” These words are from the doctor who is attending to Uncle Sam.

The article I chose is one by Drew Zahn entitled “Obamacare hospitals killed: 60, with 200 on life support.” It continues to argue for patient choice, as does the cartoon. A central argument within both of these mediums is that along with Healthcare for everyone comes less efficient healthcare for those who already had insurance. The government is taking away the patient and family’s right to choose between different forms of treatment and length of life support.

Within the article, I find many literary techniques to examine. There is pathos, ethos, and logos as well as allusion. The cartoon relays its message in the form of satirical comedy. I believe that these two mediums provide enough information for a well developed essay.

Evaluation of Facebook

I completely agree with Tom Hodgkinson’s idea that instead of Facebook fulfilling its purpose to connect us with the people around us, it disconnects us. I always say “the more friends you have on Facebook, the fewer friends you have in real life.” While I do agree that Facebook is a useful tool for finding people that you haven’t seen in a while, it seems to make your current relationships a bit superficial.

I think one reason Facebook is so popular is because to a certain extent you can be whoever you want to be. Your profile picture is always the most flattering picture you have ever taken. You can lie about your name, your age, hobbies, etc. Nothing has to match up with reality and I think that’s why America and other countries are so addicted to it. It’s easier than reality. It’s much easier to converse over Facebook because you can take however long you need to think of a good statement. You’ll never get tongue-tied.

Another thing Facebook is good for is stalking. To do this kind of snooping in person, is illegal and creepy, but everyone does it on Facebook. Who is Sarah dating? What is Susan’s mother’s name? Where will Jake be tonight? Everything you could possibly want to know and more!

Although useful at times, Facebook ultimately decreases the quality of our relationships with other humans and takes time from better things we could be doing.

Essay 1 Ideas

For my essay, I chose to use “The Culture of Thin Bites Fiji,” by Ellen Goodman. The article first appeared in the Boston Globe in May 1999. I chose this topic for a number of reasons. The first being because it was conveniently located in the textbook, but also because it was a good-read. She employs many tactics and literary devices to assert that television and the media have a negative effect on the self-image of teenagers. I will probably use the previous sentence as my thesis and include the main literary devices Goodman uses. I like Goodman’s analogies and feel that they will be useful in my essay. The background information is also very helpful in providing me with another topic for my essay. It reveals that Goodman is a long-time columnist for the Boston Globe, which means she has probably gained her readers trust by now. This is a great example of ethos. Goodman also employs pathos and logos in her argument. The 38 month research and the statistics and percentages that resulted are examples of logos. She makes numerous allusions to popular television shows such as Seinfeld and Beverly Hills 90210, which can also be used as support in my essay. I think that Goodman’s argument is clear and strongly supported and that even though her article is short, I should be able to pick out many examples for my essay.