TOW #7(opinion article) "What We're Afraid to Say About Ebola" by Michael T. Olsterholm

     Any updated person knows that the world is on the verge of facing a pandemic of ebola. The ebola virus is transmitted through bodily fluids and causes high fever and severe internal bleeding. It is most prevalent currently in West Africa in countries such as Sierra Leone and Liberia, but there are many things about ebola that the world doesn't know yet, especially it's potential to alter history. In "What We're Afraid to Say About Ebola", Michael T. Olsterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, uses possible outcomes of the ebola virus and an overall theme of fear to urge Americans to take action and control on the ebola outbreak and not let the ebola outbreak take control of us.

      Olsterholm hypothesizes possible situations that may arise if the ebola outbreak is treated that way it is treated now to allow his audience to recognize this future as unacceptable and create change since people know how ebola is currently devastating West Africa but not what ebola might do in the future. He states that the first situation, one that many have thought of already, is if the virus spreads to megacities around the world in developing nations. However another possibility that others might have considered, but too afraid to speak up about, is if the ebola virus mutates into an airborne disease. If this happened, the ebola virus would become a pandemic and destroy the world population. Olsterholm uses this cataclysmic end to have people realize that something has to be done and quickly before the virus gets out of hand.

     

Connected closely to Olsterholm's frightening, yet possible, futures of the world, a sense of fear is also created by the article in order to get people to take action. Not only do the possible futures discussed earlier scare, but Olsterholm uses alarming facts such as " health care workers have been infected with Ebola, and more than 120 have died", "Liberia has only 250 doctors left, for a population of four million" and the one that gets Olsterholm's American audience the most riled up is the fact that "if we wait for vaccines and new drugs to arrive to end the Ebola epidemic, instead of taking major action now, we risk the disease’s reaching from West Africa to our own backyards". The truth that it is very possible that ebola could reach America is spine chilling to many people, myself included, and can create the hysteria that might be needed to take the critical action that needs to be taken before ebola reaches us.

TOW #6 (Visual Text Analysis) DON'T TUNE OUT

I know from personal experience that teenagers like to walk around with headphones in our ears. We get to relax to our favorite jam and block out the world while looking cool at the same time. I'm often walking around school plugged into my music, and it's not too dangerous. However, when crossing roads or walking on the sidewalks, it's a different story. This advertisement by the Pedestrian Council of Australia urges people to be more aware of the surrounding traffic by using a specific character in the advertisement and powerful symbolism.

The girl on the face of the advertisement was not arbitrarily chosen. The Pedestrian Council of Australia chose a specific person, a young and beautiful women, in order to evoke the emotion of its audience. If the person on the road was a grungy man in a ripped and nasty sweatshirt with a green mohawk and a Mike Tyson tattoo on his face, I don't think many people will feel much sympathy for that man. Nothing against those kind of people, but that's society. But when the subject is a pretty, young women, it appeals to the aesthetic element of the advertisement. The women is wearing a clean white shirt, bringing the idea of purity. People will feel sympathy and uneasiness when this sort of character is lying on the streets, further contributing to the Pedestrian Council of Australia's purpose.

In addition, the girl seems to have earphones on. The audience instantly understands the message; this girl must have had earphones on while she was on the streets and got hit by a car. That in itself is somewhat powerful, but the impact of the entire advertisement can be seen with closer look of the earphones. Those are no earphones. That's blood. Crimson red blood is streaming down the girls neck, symbolizing earphones. With that, the audience is hit with a wave of shock and reality that this girl is most likely dead. The shape of the blood reminds the audience that earphones can cause this type of death and discourages use of them on the streets.

The use of a beautiful women and the shape of the blood as earphones allows this advertisement to drive its audience with it's message that people need to be aware of their surroundings, especially in a place where traffic may end your life. It discourages the use of earphones and steers people into the proper direction of safety.

TOW #5 (NonFiction) "Hong Kong – betrayed by China. And abandoned by the British" by Anson Chan

        Hong Kong is currently going through a turning point in its history. Back in 1984, the UK and China made a treaty to give Hong Kong back to the Chinese in 1997 after 150 years of British rule, creating a capitalist state within a communist nation, both side making promises to maintain Hong Kong's way of life and freedom. However, ever since Hong Kong was in Chinese control, China has had control on the choice of leader, or chief executive, in Hong Kong without any say by the Hong Kong public. China pre-screens every candidate and only those that the Chinese government approves are allowed to run fort the position. With a new generation of worldly, connected people, the idea of democracy is spreading like fire, and this past week, many pro-democracy demonstrators have been, so far, peacefully rallying against this "fake" democracy. However, neither China nor Britain has stepped in to face the problem. In her opinion article, "Hong Kong – betrayed by China. And abandoned by the British", Anson Chan uses a compelling ethos and an effective counter-argument to argue that China and Britain need to take action in Hong Kong's situation and follow through with the promises they made to Hong Kong.

     The most prominent appeal in the article is the appeal to ethos. Anson Chan was the chief secretary in both the British colonial government before from 1993 to 1997 and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government under the Chinese rule from 1997 to 2001. An advocate for democracy in Hong Kong even after her civil service she is a public activist in the road to democracy. Since Chan has served in the Hong Kong before and after Chinese rule, she has the knowledge and experience of both sides. She knows the pros and cons of Chinese rule and British rule and has incredible credibility when speaking of this topic. Knowing who Anson Chan is and her accomplishments allow readers of the article to seriously consider her argument.

    Connected to her past as the chief secretary of the British colonial government and the Chinese government, Chan also has the ability to consider the other side and their motives, yet effectively counter it with a more powerful argument. "If people are fearful of their future, they are more likely to protest. And of course the Chinese leadership worries about protests spreading. In this light, they might view Hong Kong as an agent of change. So I understand mainland Chinese fears" (Chan). Here, Chan considers what the Chinese are doing and why their actions are justified. They see Hong Kong as the catalyst to a revolution that they don't want to happen. Chan understands this. However, "if they are allowed to walk away from their commitments under an international treaty, then it doesn't say very much for China's commitment to the rest of the world" (Chan). The Chinese promised to protect Hong Kong way of life, yet they haven't followed through with these fixed elections. For Chan, an international promise and commitment that you made to yourself and the rest of the world is of much more importance than the fear of a non-existant revolution. Chan further proves her point that China must follow the promise to Hong Kong instead of worrying about its own problems with the effective counter argument.

   Both her great credibility and her wide perspective allow Chan to argue her point that the promise between China and Britain must be kept and both must follow it.  Sometimes in opinion papers, we don't get to see the whole picture, both sides of the story, just one biased argument that leaves the reader stunned but somewhat persuaded. But Chan has the ability to overview the entire situation, analyzing the actions and motives of the entirety, and then come to a sound conclusion that makes sense, both to herself and the reader.