This ad supports the program, Americans for the Arts, because it effectively argues that today kids do not have enough art in their lives.  This is done by making the comparison of Whitman chocolate and Walt Whitman the distinctive “revolutionary” poet. The title itself draws the reader in by using the same font that one would find on a box of chocolates.  As the reader continues they realize that it is not about chocolate after all.  This ad is all about a famous poet and his influence on America as well as the cause that kids need more art in their life.  Under the title is a picture of Walt Whitman.  One can see that he is from the older generations, but even though he was not from the “Summer of Love” he still has inspired other writers such as Ginsberg and Kerouac. 

          Another analogy or comparison that is made is the writing style of Whitman to the savory taste of chocolate.  This is seen in the caption under the photo. “Whtiman satisfied his sweet tooth with rich wave-like verse.”  The need for art is compared to other neccessities of life.  Poetry is seen as a part of a “diet”.  To enable our child’s learning experience the art program in schools needs to be strenghten.  Hopefully through these efforts people will not confuse Walt Whitman, the poet, with who makes Whitman chocolate.  Kids will start to get smarter when it comes to science and math.  Through these different comparisons, Americans for the Arts effectively makes the argument that art is needed ineveryday America.

            The metaphor of the lifeboat is used to describe the different views and cases that people have proposed for helping the poor.  In Garret Harding’s, Lifeboat Ethics: the Case against Helping the Poor, he argues that there are poor and rich nations in the world and if they were divided into thirds the poor nations would make up a third.  The lifeboat in this case is the comparatively rich people.  These rich nations seem to be ethically responsible for the welfare of the poorer nations.  This proposes conflicts in issues that concern foreign aid, immigration, and food banks.  When addressing the issue of foreign aid, one has to ask themselves what is the limited capacity of the lifeboat.  With an increase in birth rates in that of the poorer nations, the third of the rich nations cannot be expected to serve all those that makeup the two-thirds of the poor.  If the richer nations like the United States takes in more than its capacity the entirety, the poor and the rich, will drowned and therefore bring more bad fortune instead of good.  “Complete justice will lead to complete catastrophe.”  Now the question is who do we let into the boat.  This is a whole other argument within itself.

            The lifeboat metaphor also applies to immigration.  Just as the lifeboat has a capacity so does the land.  Just as the farmer needs property for his cows to graze others need property.  This leads to the tragedy of the commons.  If there is not enough wealth to go around when people immigrate to the United States the whole economy will suffer.  Also the living capacity would be greatly diminished in about twenty years because of the high birth rates among those of the poorer nations.  This leads us to the last and final issue that faces America that can be addressed using the lifeboat metaphor.  This issue is food banks.  There has been talk about creating a world food bank.  This is an impossibility because those who have to supply the food bank get it taken out of their taxes.  The poorer nations do not have the money to pay taxes and therefore cannot contribute to the food bank cause.  Again wealthy nations are put in charge of the poor nations.  Not only does this propose ethical problems, but if we take it on we will all sink.

         

          In Graeme Wood’s article, Riders on the Storm, he researches the new technology that scientists are using to adjust the type of weather in the atmosphere.  The author first tries to build his credibility by stating some well-known facts about hurricanes.  For people who only know hurricanes for their destructive nature, they are normally formed off of Africa’s coast, especially those that hit the United States through the Gulf of Mexico.  As the storm continues it meets the cold atmosphere and its heat turns into kinetic energy.  “It creates a violent twist of wind and rain.”  With this information presented to the readerclose at hand it compels the reader to find out how scientists can effect the outcomes of these dangerous natural occurances.

         With using computer models and instruments used in tracking storms, the author continues to build up a wealth of information to support scientist research.  He starts to build his argument that scientists should not be sued for natural occurences that cannot be changed.  Even with the use of cloud seeding and “sooting the clouds” the effects of these procedures are still unpredictable.  Once the particles leave the plane there is no telling what their effect on the atmosphere or on the oncoming hurricane will be.  The hope are that they will diminish the hurricane by 40%.  This would change a category 5 hurricane to a 2 or 3 hurricane.  With this wealth of information can now help form the author’s decision about suing scientists as well as the reader’s.  Hopefully with these facts, the author is seen as reliable and therefore will persuade his reader’s to take his stand as well.

          Even though the weather modification act was passed in 1951, which stated that an equitable distribution of rain across the states would tried to be reached, people still tried to sue the government.  In fact people have sued scientists and the government for a drought.  Also a tourist has sued because he jumped out of a ski lift while it was lightning and blamed it on the scientists that were doing research nearby.  Weirder things have happen.  The facts that are presented certainly help persuade the reader that the government has nothing to do with the weather, even though they continue to experiment.  The author is credible and therefore earns the trust of the reader.  Overall it is a successfully planned argument.

         

 

           The aricle by T.C. Boyle starts out with the headline of “post-fire life in Santa Barbara will never be the same-or will it?”  It tells of a person’s actual encounter as they saw the flames rise high into the sky.  The writer immediately gets the reader’s attention with the headline, but the reader is even more drawn in by the first line of the article. “The material things are a drag on the soul and that you can’t take them with you.”  How devastating would it be if you were just walking on the beach busy about your lives spending time with friends and family, and someone calls you to tell you that a fire has just broken out on the ridge above you.  This article is about the thoughts that are going through a person’s mind as they are experiencing first hand what I have just described.  Many things go through a person’s mind such as “which papers are the ones to preserve, what about bank accounts, and insurance policies, and all that was dear to you during  your childhood was gone.” 

          This appeals to the reader’s pathos and since it is a person’s encounter of the event it adds credibility to the thoughts that are going through this individual’s mind.  Also the preciseness of details makes the reader feel as if they were present during the Tea Fire when it hit “at dusk on the clear unreasonably warm evening of Thursday, the 13th of November.”  Just imagine walking on the beach a few hours earlier and “the sway palms and sweet smell of eucalyptus and the salty breeze fill the air.”  Even though this couple was lucky to get out of the fire the only thing that they still can see are the burning coals and as the wind blows “they come back to life.”  One can only just imagine what it would be like in this type of situation.  Being awake all night and “sleepless, just awaiting the evacuation call.”

          Through the author’s credibility, description of events, and his appeal to pathos he successfully makes his argument of what should be  most valuable to people and how life can change in an instant.  He uses an analogy to compare two fires.  This analogy compares the Tea fire and the Zaca Mensa blaze, which burned north of Santa Barbara for two months in the summer of 2007.  He refers to the experience of California fires as Ash Monday.  Many people know that California is known for its forest fires, but not all know the immense harm and danger that they cause for the people.  We all need to be grateful for what we have because some say it may all be gone.

“Suppose time is a circle, bending back on itself.”  If time really is a circle according to Alan Lightman’s novel, Einstein’s Dreams, people who have an impulse that everything is happening once again are the ones who live “miserable” lives.  This is because they have no other thing to look forward to in life.  When they look back at their life happenings, they only remember their “wrong deeds” and “bad luck.”  It causes a source of unrest because of the knowledge that they have of what will happen next.  They are not able to change the things of the past.  Also if time is a circle there is no way to fix humans’ past mistakes.  It is the double fortunes of many that give the belief that time maybe a circle.  For those who know it would just be “double misfortunes.”

For those who do not know that the world “repeats itself precisely and endlessly” are a lot better off than those who know that the world will always continue as it is.  For those who do not know that the world just loops back on itself and makes a total and complete circle are able to share “every handshake, every kiss, every birth, and every word” without it losing its overall meaning.  For these precious moments in time these people would be happy.  They have no idea that these precious moments will soon repeat themselves.  On the other hand those who are living with a person who is battling cancer will have to deal with this occurrence over and over again.  This is what leads to people only remembering their “wrong deeds” and “bad luck.”  They are stuck with the fact that events are not able to be changed.  For a woman “in the hospital on Gerberngasse saying good bye to her husband” will only live through this experience once.  For others they will live it over and over.  The ones who know are not able to say their final goodbyes and move on with the rest of their lives.  If time really were a circle bending back on itself it would add to the world’s chaos, stress, and inability to dream.

            The question in many people’s minds especially educators is “is Google making us stupid.”  Some people see the internet as a necessity of life.  Others are realizing that there is an “uncomfortable sense that someone or something has been tinkering with our brains.”  Internet, especially Google, has taught us to use critical thinking skills differently and has made a wealth of resources available right at our fingertips.  Reading lengthy articles or books used to be a piece of cake.  People used to read for their own leisure, but now with the use of media and the World Wide Web there is no need to read, except for academics.  Even when people read two to three paragraphs they skim it.  This dependence has all been thanks to the internet. 

            Also the reason for writing meaningful pieces had declined. One of the writers by the name of Friedrich Nietzsche in 1882 had bought himself a typewriter.  His work was not as creative and engaging as it had been while he was writing on paper.  His composer noticed a change in his writing style.  He says that “thoughts in music and language often depend on the quality of the pen and paper.”  Nietzsche replied back by saying “our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts.”  His arguments had “changed from arguments to aphorisms, from thoughts to puns, from rhetoric to telegram style.”  This all happened because of the convenience that the typewriter had provided.  Writers no longer have to think for themselves and later the internet made people even more dependent on quick and fast facts and news.

            Other than writing and dependence on the World Wide Web it has also led to seeking “maximum speed, efficiency, and output to organize work and configure the jobs of the workers.”  It became known as the Taylor system.  He defined it as The Principles of Scientific Management.  Google is trying to make a perfect search engine.  Of course this is impossible; nothing can be perfect can it.  With how close scientists are coming in artificial intelligence it is hard to tell how the internet will look in the future.  Pretty soon the power of the human mind will be overrun by the overall convenience and man made reliance on the internet.  With the use of new technology since the time of the Industrial Revolution, it has greatly shaped the way that we see the outside world.  There is no way to know where we will be forty years from now, but hopefully we will all keep to our own intelligence and not the intelligence that is displayed on Google.

            Reading is one of the things that many people hold in common.  In Thoreau’s book Walden he writes a chapter on reading.  He starts out by saying that all people are students and observers.  Their destinies and nature are all alike.  Thoreau seems to think that his residence of reading is more favorable to anyone else because he does “serious” reading more than that of a university.  While he was writing Walden he read “one or two shallow books of travel.”  This made him ashamed of his work and he started to question where exactly was he living and what was he living for. 

            Thoreau says that “to read well, that is, to read true books in a true spirit, is a noble exercise, and one that will task the reader more than any exercise which the customs of day esteem.  He says that the classics that were written in Greek or Latin are the most noble things to read, such as the Iliad.  “Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations of nations.”  Through reading these kinds of books we understand more about our culture, genius learning, paintings, statuary, music, and philosophical instruments.  According to Thoreau “New England can hire all the wise men in the world to come and teach and broaden their views of the world.”  This is the kind of “uncommon” school that Thoreau wants.

            For me on the other hand reading is an experience like no other.  Right now I am in the middle of reading Tami Hoag’s Guilty as Sin.  I don’t why this book is so intriguing.  Maybe it is because of all the plot twists, the evil lurking in the shadows, or the curiosity of who the cold-blooded kidnapper is.  Interesting enough through the pages of this mystery novel one of the main characters, who is writing about the case states that his writing is “no more so than picking up a Stephen King novel or Agatha Christie mystery.  To that reader my book is just a story, something to get lost in and ponder; all the more interesting because it happened.”  This is how I look at reading a way to escape the normal world and to dive into something that is larger than yourself.  Thoreau’s observations are respected, but many find it hard to live up to the ideal that Henry David Thoreau has put into place.

            The lessons that we learn from Henry Thoreau’s writing in the chapter Solitude is the finding of one’s self.  In solitude a person is able to discover oneself through self-communication and introspection.  He does not refer to solitude as being in loneliness or isolation.  In fact he writes in this particular chapter that from time to time he receives visitors from the neighboring village.  Everyone needs to have time to themselves.  Whether it comes through reading a book, listening to music, or contemplating the day’s happenings, this peacefulness helps a person realize their true potential.  Through solitude we are able to escape from the everyday demands of society. 

            Thoreau actually states, “some of my pleasant hours were during the long rainstorms in the spring or fall.  These rainstorms confined me to the house for the afternoon as well as the forenoon.  I was soothed by the storm’s ceaseless roaring and pelting.  When an early twilight ushered in a long evening in which many thoughts had time to take root and unfold themselves.”

            The next chapter, Visitors, Thoreau states that he likes companionship more than anything else.  This at first seems to contradict the idea of the last chapter, which was Solitude.  In Thoreau’s idea of companionship the ideal guests do not interfere because it does not interrupt self-communication, but it broadens it.  Through the visitors that he has, Thoreau displays his social and moral standings.  Even though he has three chairs for visitors he does not contribute to charity.  Thoreau rather helps a person grow spiritually and away from the confines of society.  The point that Thoreau is trying to make is that people need to find the delicate balance that exists between solitude and visitors.  When one has found this balance they will be at true happiness with themselves.

     During Thoreau’s two year experiment on Walden Pond, he lives mostly in solitude.  The only company that he is greeted by is the bullfrogs and the rustling leaves as they blow through the trees.  When he does return to the house that he has built, he is able to distinguish whether or not a visitor has been there.  Other aquitances that Thoreau had while living on Walden Pond were the village people that would come and bait their hooks and fish until it was dark.  He sees nature, every sound, and  every sight as an ‘infinite and unaccountable friendliness.”  The nature and his atmosphere that he has created for living sustains his ideal lifestyle.  Though many find Thoreau ideas and actions pointless or extreme, his life represents the ideal life that we are all trying to follow.  Through his living in the woods he has become a more conscious human being and he sees himself as “being more favorable to the gods.”  One might say that this is egotistical, but Thoreau during his two year experiment at Walden Pond did not find his joy in material possessions.  Rather he had a detachment form this world and therefore his life can be seen as more favorable than another who dwells only on the material matter.  He rises above all the gossip that is being spread in the village just past the pond.  Living in nature it gives the human mind time to meditate and think about how they truly want to live out their lives.  This is exactly what Thoreau did.

In Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, he writes about the principles and philosophies that enable a person to live a better life.  In the second chapter of Walden, Where I Lived and What I Lived For, Thoreau tells his story about the many places that he had tried to settle down.  Most of them were large estates and farms.  When he finally found Walden Pond it was his perfect place to be.  For many this would not be the case that we would want to live so far from society, but according to Thoreau this helped him detach from the world around him.  He finally concludes that it is “as long as possible” to “live free and uncommitted.”  He starts his building project on Walden Pond.  Even though it is simple it symbolizes his own conquest of being.  He is truly trying to be one with nature itself.

            One example of this could be found in Stephen J. Dubner’s New York Times article, What is the Future of Suburbia?  There are many different opinions relating to this inquiry.  Many people were asked why they would move to the suburbs.  The most prominent answer was to get away from the busyness of the city.  People also wonder what will happen to the suburbs in the next forty years if the cities keep expanding.  Some say that they will be wealthy and white.  Others say that there will be more ethnic diversity.  The price of living will increase and all the money would go to the government and others say that it all depends.  Within all these different conflicting views of this particular issue, Thoreau successfully separated himself from society.  Some may see this as a poor decision, but in doing this he was able to better himself by seeking out the true meaning of life.

            Another way that people are trying to live with nature is through reusing the resources that they have.  In the New York Times article, A Year Without Toilet Paper, it outlines how a couple in a city environment are able to live comfortably without extravagant non-necessary things.  In the article there is an allusion to Walden Pond, which is where Thoreau lived two years of his life.  Even though this couple is part of civilization they are doing their best not to leave their carbon footprint on the earth.  They only eat organic food that is grown within a hundred miles and also do not drive a car to commute to and from work.  For some this may be extreme, but for these people it was just a matter of a lifestyle change.  They are trying to help our planet and keep it green and healthy.  Although they have not had as dramatic of an effect on society that Thoreau did they are certainly doing their part to be in harmony with nature.  Thoreau’s principles illustrate the ideal and therefore are not easily carried out.  Those who do try are just bettering themselves to deal with the everyday challenges that lie before them.