IRB #3 Intro

For my third IRB, I chose to read Wild by Cheryl Strayed. My mom read this book and recommended it.

TOW #16 - Freakonomics

            Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything is a non-fiction book about economics. It takes a look at peculiar questions that the average person wouldn’t ask, and gives the readers a clear answer. These questions include “what is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool?” Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner wroteFreakonomics. Steven D. Levitt is an American economist who is best known for his work in crime, particularly on the link between crime rates and legalized abortion. Stephen J. Dubner is an American journalist who is best known for Freakonomics, although he has written several other books and articles.

            This book is written to the average American. The authors bring up American crime rates as well as popular names in America. They also explain foreign concepts such as Sumo Wrestling. Freakonomics was written in 2005, and aims to inform people about unrealized economic concepts such as how the KKK compares to real estate agents.

            Dubner and Levitt utilize irony in their book. When they explain unrecognized comparisons such as how swimming pools compare to guns, they use irony because they display the difference between what appears to be and what is really true. This has the effect of showing readers the importance of thinking outside the box.

            The author’s purpose in Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything is to display the unrecognized similarities between seemingly random things. I learned that legalized abortion rates directly affect crime rates, and that swimming pools have something in common with guns. I believe that Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner did an excellent job getting me to open up my mind by explaining these strange and unrealized correlations.

TOW #15 - Donald Trump

            This piece shares that Donald Trump believes to be close with God, but instead of focusing on his religious practices, the author shares how Trump is not good at maintaining his marriages. The article was written by Gregory Krieg, and was published by CNN. Mr. Krieg is an established writer at CNN. Before this job, he was a senior political reporter at mic.com. Gregory Krieg also reported for ABC News for eight years. Krieg graduated from the University of Maryland in 2006.

            The audience of this piece could be anyone, but it is more likely to be those who do not like Donald Trump. The article pokes fun of his inability to maintain a marriage. It also does not give any reason why anyone would like Trump. This piece may be important now that Donald Trump is running for president. However, he was famous before he decided to run, and this piece does not discuss his politics. This piece could have been equally relevant at any point throughout Trump’s career.

            I believe that this entire piece is nothing but an ad hominem. It has nothing to do with Trump’s politics, and barely explains why he thinks he has a good relationship with God. In my opinion, this piece was poorly written and incorrectly labeled. If Krieg wanted to discuss Trump’s poor marriage skills, he should have done so without briefly mentioning trump’s supposed relationship with God. This piece discredits Krieg, because it has nothing to do with anything.

            The author’s purpose was probably to show a reason why Trump is a fool. I do not think that Krieg achieved anything. If discussing Trump’s relationship with God, he should have mentioned that Trump hates immigrants and all Muslims. I hope God doesn’t hate all those people. If Krieg wanted to criticize Trump’s failed marriages, he could have done that without the pretense of a discussing a relationship with God. I say this is an ad hominem because instead of attacking Trump’s polices or political beliefs, Krieg is questioning Trump’s ability to hold a marriage.

Tow #14 - Miss Universe

Edward Roberts and Rebecca Merriman wrote this piece about the Miss Universe pageant. They wrote about how Steve Harvey crowned the wrong contestant, and they told readers that many people, such as Justin Bieber, made fun of Steve’s mistake. It was reported that the man himself apologized multiple times. Roberts and Merriman both are established authors on the site Mirror.

This piece is for those who did not watch the Miss Universe pageant. It lets people know what the problem was, and it informs readers of how people felt about the situation. The text was written after the pageant, because many people were talking about how problematic the crowning was. Reporters want to get on it and let people know what happened.

One thing that the authors of this piece did well was quoting people and adding images. The images are a nice visual (the Justin Bieber meme made me laugh), and adding quotes gives authentication that proves these writers have the scoop. To me, these quotes make the people seem more real. I personally am disappointed in Steve Harvey, but the quotes show that he is truly remorseful about his gaffe.

The author’s purpose in writing about the Miss Universe crowning was to inform readers of the mistake that was made. I think the authors of this piece achieved their purpose, but that was it. This piece lacked depth and detail. An interview or opinion would have been nice. I think this piece should have achieved more than just the minimum.