Plant fuels that could power a jet AOW #20

http://www.ted.com/talks/bilal_bomani_plant_fuels_that_could_power_a_jet.html

This week I watched a speech made by Bilal Bomani on TED.com where Bomani described the work he and his coworkers had been doing.  They had been working on finding alternative fuel sources for jets.  They are using processes like climatic adaptation to create the perfect plant, then they take that plant to their "Open Pond" system to grow the plant large-scale.  They are mainly focusing on algae and halophytes, which are plants that can grow in saline environments.  Using halophytes is helpful because 97.5 percent of the world's water is saline, so finding a plant that doesn't have to grow off of the 2.5 percent of water that is freshwater would make it conserve useful resources.  Additionally, the facility is powered by solar cells and wind turbines, which aids the problem of renewable energy.  So far, the organization has been successful in finding many possible solutions some of the world's problems that include, water, fuel food and energy.  The speech that was given about this research is surrounded by a time where finding renewable resources is a huge issue.  This speech was given to show the world that new resources are being found, but the ways to produce them are still being perfected.  Some rhetorical elements used by Bomani were the use of humor, and an appeal to logos.  Bomani made jokes during his speech to keep it feeling lighthearted.  This made the boring parts of his speech, where he was listing facts, more interesting.  He appealed to logos through giving the scientific names of all of the plants involved and gave facts about their work and the environment.  By giving quantitative facts, people were shown how much work this organization has already done to a more accurate degree.  I believe he did accomplish his purpose because the speech has over 70,000 views, which means that many people have seen it and know that alternative resources are becoming a viable option.

Unit 3 Reflection

An individual and their government have mutual duties to each other.  The readings from unit 3 were able to help me gain a better understanding of these obligations.  Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail showed the importance of using your talents to better society.  The Declaration of Independence, by Thomas Jefferson, and "The Crisis, Number 1", by Thomas Paine, both reflected the idea that a government must govern in a way that is best for the people, and if this is not the primary motive of a government, then they are corrupt and must be put out of power.  These mutual duties must be followed in order to have a society grow and prosper.

An individual must use their talents to better their society.  For Martin Luther King Jr., it was his rhetoric.  He was able to persuade many people that African Americans weren't any less than whites.  He made his society better through the rhetoric in his speeches and other writings, which effectively impressed his ideas onto others.  Though the talents that better society do not have to be related to the use of rhetoric, other talents are just as helpful, and citizens are obligated to do whatever they can to improve their society.

A government must govern its people in way that benefits the citizens.  When a government does not have its people as top priority, they are corrupt.  This was shown through "The Crisis, Number 1" and The Declaration of Independence.  In Paine's piece this is shown because he tells the people that the British government does not care for them and tries to oppress them.  He uses this point to try to rally the colonists to revolt against the crown.  This idea was also reflected in The Declaration of Independence.  Jefferson states to the British government that the colonists are being oppressed and that they will have no more of it.  He also states that the colonists are creating their own new nation that is separate from Britain.  This displayed that a government must act in a way to benefit its people because if a government is without what is best for the people in mind, the citizens will not want to be governed by a corrupt system.

Overall, Unit 3 added on to what the other two units had taught me.  Through the readings of Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson, I found that an Individual must try to better society through using the talents that they were given.  Also, a government must act in a way that is best for its people.  A society will be successful and sustain itself if both the individual and the government can fulfill their duties.

New Strain of Lab Mice Mimics Human Alcohol Consumption Patterns AOW #19

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111212124555.htm

The article that I read this week dealt with a new strain of lab mice specifically bred to seek alcohol over other liquids in their diet. The article states that this is beneficial for us because we can study them to try to find the genetic reasons that humans become alcoholics. They state that being able to breed lab mice to seek alcohol proves that some of the reasons humans become alcoholic could be tied with genetics. The reason that they chose lab mice for this experiment is because mice share 80 percent of their DNA with human DNA. The scientists who perform tests on these mice are excited to begin testing with these mice. Today, many humans know of someone who is an alcoholic or are one themself, but we do not know much as to why some humans seek a lot of alcohol while others do not. The article itself had a purpose of proving to the audience, or those interested in the reasons behind alcohol addictions of humans, that they are achieving some progress in their tests. Some of the rhetorical elements in this piece were its appeals to logos and ethos, and the organization of the article. The author established their credibility through the appeal to logos, their wise diction, and the fact that their article appeared on a website dedicated just to science. They appealed to logos through the statistics that they brought, and, also, the examples that they stated from the experiments the scientists had been working on. There was no figurative language or imagery/allusion in this piece because stating anything besides the facts in an article like this would discredit the author. I believe that the author did accomplish their purpose because they made an interesting article which informed the public of the advances this organization had made in science.

What Does the World Want from America AOW #18

This week I finished my IRB “What Does the World Want from America?” This section deals a little bit on how the other countries view America but mainly focuses on how these reflections look to the United States.  A professor of U.S. foreign policy, Simon Serfaty, writes about how the other countries views on us change who we are.  He says, “…every president becomes what he did not want to be.  Since 1945, the pattern has periodically repeated.” (Lennon 145)  This shows to the other countries that it is not who we are that makes us act this way towards them, but their views of our country.  And since we cannot act in a way to please everyone, no one can agree that we act in the right way for them.  Some rhetorical components of this section were an appeal to ethos and pathos.  The appeal to ethos is, once again, made through the structure of the book.  Since it is composed of many well-educated professors, the credibility is already established.  As for the appeal to pathos, Professor Michael J. Mazarr writes about September 11^th.  This event is a sensitive topic for citizens of the United States, and he draws the emotions of his audience through talking about it.  Overall, I believe that Alexander T.J. Lennon achieved his purpose because he was able to get all of the opinions of America, and share them with the Americans who do not have a correct understanding of what people from other countries think about the United States.  Though it may have achieved its purpose, I would not recommend this book to anyone in high school and below because the way that the professors dictate their views is confusing unless you’ve had experience with it.

State of Imitation 2 AOW #17

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxYJb2ScuXM

This week I decided to rhetorically analyze the second state of Imitation commercial from State Farm.  This video is in response to all of the positive feedback from the first video where Aaron Rodgers is placed in a humorous situation where people have stolen his touchdown dance and say they don't know who he is or why he thinks that it is his move.  To them, the move is for the discount double-check that State Farm does to make sure you pay as little as possible.  In this commercial, one of Rodgers's teammates, B.J. Raji, has gone to State Farm and gotten a discount double-check, then he and the other people at the company do Aaron Rogers's touchdown dance and say that it is Raji's dance.  They then proceed to play a song and dance to it with "Raji's" dance.  The source this is from is the State Farm insurance company which is doing all they can to make as much money as possible.  They have been making humorous commercials recently to try to get more customers.  This commercial was created when many people watch sports and like to laugh, so State Farm put a humorous commercial on ESPN's channel.  This commercial mainly applied to those who are sports fans and are looking for insurance.  Some of the rhetorical elements in this piece included appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos.  Also, diction and allusion were big parts of this commercial.  The appeal to logos was the fact that State Farm will perform a "discount double-check" to make sure you get all of the discounts possible.  This alliteration of "discount double-check" goes along with diction in that it flows off the tongue and is easy to remember for a lot of people.  The pathos is in that the commercial is humorous.  This also goes along with allusion because it was funny when the woman said, "Come on, you said you were a dancer."  This connected to the first commercial where he tries to explain it is his touchdown dance and she just thinks that he is a dancer.  The ethos in this commercial is that two of the people who have a dangerous job with a lot of injuries go to State Farm to get their insurance.  I believe that this commercial achieved its purpose because it was able to catch the attention and possibly persuade any who saw it.

Mask-Bot: A Robot With a Human Face AOW #16

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111107161758.htm



This week I found an article on ScienceDaily.com that was about a robot called the Mask-Bot which is able to act as a head for a robot that models that of a human.  It has a projector behind it which projects its image onto the 3D, translucent surface that is its face.  This allows for a more realistic view from many angles.  The Mask-Bot also has different programmable faces and voices to customize to what the customer would like.  Possibly the coolest part about the Mask-Bot is that it is able to listen to someone talk, and by analysis of their tone of voice, pitch, and other technical aspects of voice it can create appropriate body language in the image of its face.  The team who created the Mask-Bot is currently developing language software to make it so that the Mask-Bot will be able to respond with a voice to the things that someone says.  This article was written in the current time where many scientists are developing newer technology for the people of the world.  Generally, the masses only see what has been released for consumers, but this article lets us know what is being developed.  This article was written to inform those who are interested in future technology about what is being developed and will soon be on the market.  This article used logos and ethos, but since it is an article attempting to inform people, it lacked figurative language and imagery/allusion.  An appeal to logos was made through all of the facts that the author brought in as well as the quotes he used from the scientists, themselves. This appeal to logos helped build his ethos with the wise choice of diction the author uses.  I believe that the author accomplished their purpose because they were able to keep interest while also giving many facts about the Mask-Bot.