AOW 28

More Attack Ads, Please

Paul Begala

Newsweek Magazine

Author:  Paul Begala is a Newsweek/Daily Beast columnist, a CNN contributor, an affiliated professor of public policy at Georgetown, and a senior adviser to Priorities USA Action, a progressive PAC.

Summary: In the age of mass advertisements, this article is a semi satirical recommendation to the campaign candidates: use more negative ads. He claims researchers believe that negative messaging is more effective due to our natural instincts, because throughout evolution picking up on bad cues had been the key to survival. Feeling like anger, distrust, contempt etc. are simply more common and familiar than positive ones like friendship and loyalty. He jokes that Americans are especially negative, starting with our founding father’s great negative rants, exemplified by the Declaration of Independence, and continuing with our obsessions with scandals. He explains some 2012 campaign examples of slandering, and gives advice to other “fans” of the genre. Greatly simplified, they are the following: be factual, avoid race, be cinematic, avoid emotion, use damning quotes.

Analysis: This article is interesting to analyze it is a long piece about a rhetorical device. Playing devil’s advocate to many people’s claims that negative ads are unfair and untrue, Begala argues the truth we would not like to believe. In a very satirical tone, he congratulates the lowest yet most effective ads not only in the context of this upcoming election but also those of previous elections. His purpose is most likely to prove that negative advertisement is merely a device that is proven to be very effective and therefore completely justified to use. Reaching an educated audience, those that read Newsweek, he assumes that his readers either follow the elections or watch TV in general. His advice is backed up by solid evidence, the previously successful negative campaign ads. At least for me, his purpose was achieved.

Devices: There are not many devices he uses in this piece. Again, the emphasis goes to his satirical tone, which points fun at himself, the ads, and the audience. This prevents the reader from disagreeing with him before getting pulled into his argument. He points out our weak spot by using common knowledge in the form previous ads that most of his audience has seen. His use of logo gives his somewhat unusual argument strength and is possibly his greatest strength. The formatting of his article is also very effective; he breaks his argument into sub points and explains them one by one.



AOW 27

A Farewell to Arms

Final Post

Character: The primary character, of course, is protagonist Fred. With him, for the last part of his journey, are the ambulance driver. Hemingway portrays them as socialists who do not care for the war or their part in it, but eagerly await the end so they may return home to their food and wine. One is shot, the other runs away, and at the end the third is abandoned. The other protagonist is Ms. Barkely, who cares only to please Fred and become thin and beautiful for him so that she may better serve him, but dies giving birth to a stillborn child who neither of the parents wanted.

Setting: Like other famed authors emerging from the ruins of WWI, the setting of this book is neither noble nor beautiful. It does not talk of fantastic travels or great adventures in Italy. Rather, it focuses on bloodshed, cold rivers, dead bodies, abandoned villages and dirt roads. The final leg of Fred’s journey is anything but pleasant as he loses most of his companions, gets lost in mud filled roads, travels along with hundreds of now homeless villagers, and is almost killed. Only Switzerland, the nation not in war, seems peaceful and beautiful.

Plot/Conflict: The war is ending, and the Italian army has begun to shoot officers.Fred and his ambulance driving companions get lost on a muddy side road and can’t seem to free the car, so they continue on foot. One man gets shot, one leaves to become a willing prisoner in the German army, and the third gets left behind when Fred must jump in a river to flee execution by the Italian army, as he was an officer and had a foreign accent (he is American). Injured, he jumps on a train and finally makes it to his beloved nurse. They are together for a short while, and Fred must hide as he is not a deserter from the Italian army and can be killed/arrested at any time. They then flee to Switzerland, where she dies in childbirth.

POV: Third person from Fred’s eyes.

Theme: There is no clear winner in war, as all people ultimately loose what they hold dear. The greatest damage of war occurs off the battlefield.

Literary Elements: The detached tone and prose of the writing, coupled by an objective third person view of the horrors of war (not on, but off the battlefield) puts war in a very bad light. In a time of literature that glorified battle, this writing was meant to shock the reader without playing with their emotions. The writing was sparse, to say the least, lacking metaphors, adjectives, emotions, and details. It was a reflection of what was left after the war.

AOW 26

Congressman Hurt to Discovor Lobbyist Not Really His Friend

The Onion

Source: It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news. The Onion's articles comment on current events, both real and fictional. It parodies such traditional newspaper features as editorials, man-on-the-street interviews. Web traffic on theonion.com amounts to some 7.5 million unique visitors per month.

Summary: A satirical article about the relationships between lobbyists and our congressmen, the piece creates a fictional heartbreak about Rep. Bobby Shilling who recently discovered that his lobbyist friend Stephen Fischer was only using him. It turns politics into something similar to a small high school relationship, showing the naïve faith of the government in the honesty of those lobbying. The article highlights telltale signs that should have warned the representative that the relationship was one sided: Fischer genuinely seemed interested in soybean crop insurance, deep sea fishing, and his friend’s position on House Agricultural Committee. After the relationship is revealed as false, Shilling’s despondent and depressed nature highlights the dependent nature of the congressmen on their lobbyist buddies. At the end, a colleague says, "One day he'll form a good, long-lasting friendship with a health insurance corporation or oil company that truly appreciates him and supports him as much as he supports it. All of us eventually do."

Analysis: Lobbying has always been rigorously debated topic in politics, or a government body untainted by the desires of corporations. The purpose is to bring the nature of this relationship to life and, of course, make fun of it. The audience of the onion is primarily between the ages of 18-45, and the style of the article (geared towards women or anyone who watches chick flicks) reflects this knowledge.

Devices:
Satire: This website, and thus article, has been chosen by readers because of its satirical approach to modern conflict. It reflects a knowledge of the situation without boring the reader, thus keeping its popularity the readers’ interest.
Common Knowledge: What makes the article funny is that it is a political version of a completely overdone cliché. The funny, captivating, an rich older man uses the eager and young optimist to reach his ends, then severs the connection completely leaving the other confused and devastated. We’ve seen everything before, but never in this context. By changing the ratios (Burke’s Pentad) the author turned a boring plot through a hilarious twist.
Pathos: One not only feels sad for the congressman, but for themselves for having elected such a naïve and shallow representative in such an important position.



AOW 25

A Farewell to Arms
Ernest Hemingway

The Author: 
Nobel Prize winner, Hemingway is most known for his post-WWI literature which embraced a new type of prose. He worked for a newspaper before going to fight in the Italian army during the war, and drew inspiration from his experiences for several books, including A Farewell to Arms. In fact, the book is semi-autobiographical.

Summary:
The story is of an American ambulance driver in the Italian army. He’s a typical guy in that he enjoys women, alcohol, and the camaraderie he finds with the soldiers he hangs out with. Although considered “one of the guys” he has a soft spot for the British nurse he meets, named Catherine Barkley.  He gets injured at the front, and is transferred to another hospital in Maggiore. There, Catherine joins him and becomes dependent on his love for her as he slowly recovers from his wounds.

Context:
The context of the story is the Italian front in WWI. Hemingway was actually an ambulance driver for the Italian army, and draws much of the story from his own experience (even some of the romantic relationships.) Although it is a love story, the book in no way hides the brutalities of war, a new approach for literature of the time.

Purpose:
Although the purpose was most likely not to discuss war, many of the main characters in the book disclose a strong dislike of the ongoing fight, and those who made it. The book is from the perspective of people who are stuck in a war that never seems to end, and their fear of an everlasting menace colors the book in an anti-war light. Thus, in a subtle way, I believe the Hemingway did convey a message, whether that was his intention or not.

Audience:
Although certainly not restricted, the book was probably intended for anyone in America who reads novels. As it occurs during the war, it would probably catch the interest of many Americans who still have memories if the fighting fresh in their minds.

Rhetorical Devices:
Hemingway’s style can only be describes as sparse. His primary device is simply the lack of devices all together. The dialogue is short, the descriptions lacking, and the plot uninvolved. The characters seem to lack depth of emotion, and therefore no such feelings are reflected to the reader. This was not specific to this book, however, as Hemingway is famous for his style which is used to reflect “primitive people whose courage and honesty are set against the brutal ways of modern society”.