TOW#16: THe Most Controversial Decision

In the book, The Most Controversial Decision by Wilson D. Miscamble, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War I was described and researched. As previously described in my blog the first half of the book was strictly fact based to provide a specific record of events leading up to the bombing. In the second section, the actual event was described along with the aftermath including the importance of the Japanese surrender as well as the brutal effects of the radioactive bombs.  The sections in which these aspects of the event are described maintain an unbiased point of view and provide numerous sources in the footnote of each page. This allowed readers to collect straightforward, factual information and create their own opinion regarding the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Chapter seven entitled “Necessary, But Was It Right?” while this seems like it would be an opinionated section, it was not; rather it defended the bombing as well as critiqued it. Just as Miscamble had in the recaps of history, he maintained the large amount of reliable sources in the footnotes to show the credentials of him and his writing.  After that section which vastly focused on immediate results of the bombing, he went on to describe long-term effects of the event such as the Cold War. The purpose of this book, to educate intellectual adults on the controversial bombings in Japan to allow them to form their own opinions on the matter, was achieved through Miscamble’s strictly fact-based writing. By writing without incorporating his personal views on the event he allows this book to be very reliable and provided a well-rounded perspective of the bombing. This book is an effective recap of the events before, during, and after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing which allows readers to make educated decisions regarding whether or not they agree with this event.

Cover Page
URL:http://www.tower.com/most-controversial-decision-truman-atomic-bombs-defeat-japan-wilson-d-miscamble-c-paperback/wapi/117398971

TOW#15: Keeping Music Real

The article, “Keeping Music Real”, was written by a teen under the name of Abby H. to discuss her opinion on what the music industry has evolved into. Unlike most teenagers, she does not support recent rap and pop music; in fact she finds it to be shallow and more about image than music. She speaks about the emotionless lyrics written by professional songwriters to be artificially performed, inappropriate music videos, and attention seeking rumors. She uses a personal experience from camp when she tried to introduce her bunkmates to the type of music she listened to and she was turned away being told that no one liked that music and only she didn’t like the music they played. This piece was written to encourage teens to find more meaningful music than the stereotypically popular music this day in age.  This article is much like the timed essay that we wrote for class about entertainment’s potential ability to ruin society, except this specifically focuses on the music industry. The behavior of some artists is rather inappropriate and some lyrics do not containing any meaningful purpose. However, this article fails to present any specific evidence of this argument and therefore leaves it underdeveloped and therefore depreciates Abby H.’s credibility. There are plenty of examples of her opinions that she could have incorporated into the article but did not. With the lack of evidence this article did not convince me to agree with her viewpoint, it actually provoked me to think of examples that contradict her argument. I think it would have been a much more effective piece if she included some examples to support and verify her point because I wide range of evidence does exist on this topic. While music has in some cases taken a turn for the meaningless and inappropriate there are still plenty of artists who value the musical side of the industry rather then just their image.

Article: http://www.teenink.com/opinion/all/article/17164/Keeping-Music-Real/

The "Music" Industry
URL:http://www.businessinsider.com/why-miley-cyrus-we-cant-stop-is-actually-the-saddest-song-of-the-summer-2013-8

TOW #14: Barilla

Barilla, the pasta company, released an ad to go along with the time of the New Year holiday. The background of the advertisement is a royal blue, which is also the color the box; this will allow consumers to not only notice the ad but to make a connection between it and the product itself when they are in a store. The main focus is the large firework shape made out of pasta; this presents the product in an interesting and festive way, the text, “HAPPY NEW YEAR” clarifies the occasion for this advertisement. The unique shape firework shape that the pasta is in makes it memorable, both drawing attention to the ad and being so distinctive that the audience will remember it while grocery shopping. At the very bottom is the Barilla logo and slogan to specify the brand of pasta being represented. The purpose of this, like any ad, is to sell the company’s product to adults that grocery shop. During this time of year it is typical for holiday related commercials, however they are typically more oriented towards Christmas, which alienates audiences of other religions. By approaching the customers through New Years, it can be accepted by people of all backgrounds making this ad inclusive to a large variety of people allowing it to be more effective. The use of the yellow pasta on the royal blue background draws attention to the pasta therefore greatly presenting the product itself. The slogan of Barilla is, “The choice of Italy” which appeals to logos. This phrase describes the Barilla pasta of extremely high quality because even in Italy, the home of pasta this brand is typically chosen. It is through these various aspects of the advertisement that it is so effective and achieves its purpose of getting people to purchase Barilla pasta.  

Barilla New Year
URL: http://www.zulucreative.co.uk/blog/21/12/2012/xmas-ads-volume2/

TOW#13: Increase the Odds of Your Start-Up's Success

Successful business owner Vineet Nayar, who owns the billion-dollar business HCL Connect, wrote an article to inform small business owners on the steps necessary for survival in this economy. In his piece, “Increase the Odds of Your Start-Up’s Success” he discussed his business over time and the vital mindsets and actions for a business to develop. The first three paragraphs of the article was to describe the success of his start-up business which allows his audience to see him as a credible source that clearly knows what it takes to run a business. Once he developed respect and trust from his audience, Nayar listed out the five most important and essential aspects to running a prosperous company: create a purpose, prioritize employees, maintain flexibility, pay attention to timing, and empower all employees. By using this descriptive list set up, Nayar was able to approach the audience in a clear-cut way to have the greatest impact in a simple way. While simplified, each of the five points were sure to provide a depth description of exactly what he meant as well as why it is important. By including an in depth but not overwhelming list of necessities he encouraged the audience of small business owners by making success tangible. Had he included a long list of intense steps, small business owners would have feared the future of their business and possibly given up on their dream. Nayar does not sugarcoat business owning but he does not make it seem impossible to achieve success; he provides a nice balance of harsh reality and encouragement. In attempt to inform business owner on what it takes to be successful, I believe that he was able to achieve this. He made an obvious list of the steps necessary for success and was very clear in how to achieve each step, however he did not stray from the reality and difficulty of it. By being clear, realistic, and encouraging Nayar was able to achieve his purpose.

Article: http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/12/increase-the-odds-of-your-startups-success/

Building Success
URL: http://linkedintobusiness.com/businesssuccessisgameofinches--i-248.asp

TOW#12: The Most Controversial Decision

Wilson D. Miscamble wrote the book The Most Controversial Decision after the fiftieth anniversary of the bombing in response to the revival of the worldwide controversy. So far, the book has simply recapped the entire development and decision making about the bombing to provide readers with a straightforward description of the events leading up to the bombing. Miscamble uses an extremely vast amount of renowned resources throughout the book; this is to demonstrate that there was an extensive amount of research done before the text was written. By providing multiple quotations for each page he allows the audience, intellectual adults interested in this controversy, to have faith in his credibility. Miscamble approaches the first section of the book with an unbiased tone, stating facts and integrating quotes without posing an agreement or disagreement with the decision of dropping atomic bombs in Japan. By maintaining an unbiased viewpoint he gains even more credibility with the audience. It is important in a research-based text to keep personal opinions form being incorporated into the piece because it eliminates the possibility of alienating the audience and leads to a more accurate description of what happened. It is through these educated and accurate portrayals of the events leading up to the dropping of the bombs that Miscamble achieves his purpose. Had he taken a biased and less factually based approach to the topic, the text about such a controversial topic would have been too controversial in and of itself leading it to be less impactful to the readers. Retelling such a huge topic must be strictly fact based, since he did this the audience is able to trust this text as a source of credible information providing a well-rounded view of the event. I am interested see how he uses this credibility to argue whether it was or was not a justifiable act, the next chapter is, “Necessary, But Was Is Right?” so I am assuming he will make an argument in this chapter.

Debris
URL: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/g_l/levine/bombing.htm