IRB Intro #3 "Greek Religion"

In Walter Burkert’s book on Greek Religion, he sets out to prove that even though it has always seemed familiar, it is a historical phenomenon. I have always been interested in Greek mythology and this seems like a great way to find out and hear stories I cannot find on Wikipedia. This book may also expand my horizon of topics within Greek mythology and religion. I only have a general knowledge of certain gods, goddesses, and events, and I would love to know more. There are going to be many topics in this book that I have never even heard of (I can tell just from looking in the table of contents), so I am looking forward to that.

TOW #17 "Let's Die Together" (written)

In David Samuel’s essay, Let’s Die Together, he addresses the topic of the rising popularity of group suicides in Japan during the early 2000s. Samuel uses specific dates, statistics, and instances in which these events have taken place. The narrator even noticed a pattern in the reports. “The victims meet online, using anonymous screen names, and then take sleeping pills and use briquettes, charcoal burners, and tape to turn a car or van into a mobile gas chamber.” The narrator does keep the tone fairly neutral and stays informative. He doesn’t use much expressively emotion-driven language throughout the essay, giving it a rather objective feel and mood. The text seems almost like a report of the events to superior rather than an essay written for a general audience due to the author’s diction and phrasing patterns. Though, something that benefits average readers would be that he does give background information, an example being the mention of seppuku, the Japanese ritualistic suicide practice, as a possible explanation for why this group suicide trend has been so popular in Japan. He also talks about how difficult it is to pursue these situations since suicide is not a crime. Many of these group suicides have only been noted through minor reports due to them not being against any laws. All in all, the essay is mainly formally written and informative about the topic.

TOW #16 "Gunn's Golden Rules" (IRB- 2nd half)

                In Gunn’s Golden Rules, Tim Gunn takes the audience through times in his life that he has had to “make it work” in tough situations. He explores positive moments as well as some negatives, hoping others can learn from his own mistakes. His main goal is for others to have good manners, an open mind, and to not let a difficult time get in your way of what you want. He uses anecdotes to tell how each experience reflects his intentions on the reader learning from his mistakes and moments, while being able to connect with some as well. Other things that are of his own interpretation are his descriptions of other people. Gunn loves fashion and can therefore describe a person’s outfit accurately, along with his opinion on it. He is careful not to allow his opinion to skew the visualization of the person, though. Since it is autobiographical, there are plenty of opinions about things, situations, and people he encounters. A main component to the message is his view on manners. He then continues to portray the purpose of his writing. Even with the multiple events he recalls, the point is never lost. From reading it, the message is quite clear. In the book, Gunn takes you through moments in his life that changed his ways of thinking. He in turn hopes that the readers’ thinking can be changed as well.

TOW #15 "Tokyo Ghoul: The Ani-TAY Review" (written review)

                In this review, Ani-TAY explains both good and bad points of the recent, and fairly popular, anime called Tokyo Ghoul. He starts out with a brief description of the plot and characters, and later elaborates on specific points he finds “fantastic”, “not bad”, and “terrible.” He talks about everything from voice actors to censoring. In each separate topic’s paragraph, Ani-TAY gives his opinion and uses specific evidence from the show or others for comparison. Under the “fantastic” heading, he lists the tragedy aspect of the storyline, the fact that the main character is forced to give up part of his humanity, the range of the voice actors, and the beauty of the animation. He explains what he loves about each topic and why. An example would be how specific voice actors are put into roles that are very ouside of what their “type-casting” usually is, like Mamoru Miyano and Kana Hanazawa. In the “not bad” section, he lists the odd censoring and how they rushed through the last arc. In Tokyo Ghoul, they use two types of censoring. “First is the standard and craptastic "let's just cover all the offensive bits in black" type of censoring, the second is it will invert the colors of the scene.” Ani-TAY dose prefer the inverted over the random shadow, as many others do. If his exasperated tone wasn’t enough to realize that, he does outright say it. The sole topic under the “terrible” title would be the ending. Even though Ani-TAY hadn’t read the manga (original comic), he still felt the ending was a little abrupt. They did in fact end the first season in the middle of an arc, and anyone can tell. The author dubs Tokyo Ghoul (season 1) as “yet another member of the Disappointing Ending Club.” Though, all in all, Ani-TAY gave it a good review, being sure to give specifics in recommending and not recommending since it is a horror anime, there will be blood. He even calls it one of the best he’s seen since Another, one other successful horror anime.

TOW #14 "The Crime of the Ages- Who Did It?" (political cartoon)

                This World War I era political cartoon portrays the major European countries involved in the foreground. Each of them, represented by people, are pointing towards whomever they believe is the most responsible for causing the war. Most countries are pointing at Germany as it was thought to be the main aggressor in the war when it invaded neutral Belgium. The Allied powers showed this clearly when they forced Germany to give up land and pay reparations when the war came to an end with the Treaty of Versailles. However, what is in the background is a large hand that represents other countries’ views on the situation, is pointing towards an impaled body labeled “The Peace of Europe.” This shows how others think the main problem of this war is that it has killed off the peacefulness of Europe. The author’s choice to have that in the background could represent how the finger pointing and naming of names being done by the Allied and Central powers has overshadowed the real problem of peace, which is why the countries are in the foreground. The crime of the ages is that the peace in Europe died all on account of one assassination. The soon to be Austria- Hungarian leader and his wife were killed by Serbians, which triggered Austria- Hungary to take action, as well as Germany, Serbia, Russia, and eventually many more. The tangling alliances and militarism brought the rest into the war. The spider web of connections is shown in the pointing of hands. Blame cannot be placed on only one country.

TOW #13 "Facebook Preventing Drunk Photos" (article)

                In this BuzzFeed article, the author talks about the topic of Facebook having a new ability to tell the difference between a drunk picture of you and a sober picture of you, and prevent the drunk ones from being uploaded. They had an interview with the person that oversees the Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research department, Yann LeCun. This qualified person explained how the technology that would be in use is the same as the technology they use to suggest things you might like. This technology is composed of deep learning algorithms that will be able to decide whether you will regret the image you are uploading the next morning. “’Imagine that you had an intelligent digital assistant which would mediate your interaction with your friends,’ he says, adding, ‘and also with content on Facebook.’” The upside is obvious. Imagine how much embarrassment would be saved when you don’t have to worry about your boss or family members seeing you absurdly drunk in pictures you uploaded on a whim. There are many different kinds of people that would benefit from this. The downside is, with a little added humor on the author’s part, would be that “after the machines get so clever that there’s an inevitable robot uprising, there probably won’t be any photos of you at all.”

TOW #12 "Gunn's Golden Rules" (IRB- 1st half)

Tim Gunn wrote the novel, Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making It Work (with Ada Calhoun), with a definite purpose in mind. From reading it, the message is quite clear. In the book, Gunn takes you through moments in his life that changed his ways of thinking. He explores positive moments as well as some negatives, hoping others can learn from his own mistakes. A main component to the message is his view on manners. “Good manners lead to better relationships, more career success, and less personal stress.” (Gunn, 5). He then continues to portray the purpose of his writing. Even with the multiple events he recalls, the point is never lost. Each experience reflects his intentions on the reader learning from his mistakes and moments, while being able to connect with some as well. The author’s interpretation of things plays a great role in the book. Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making It Work is a non-fiction book that is written from one point of view, so it is bound to have somewhat of an opinion behind things. For example, Gunn talks about why he loves to receive gift cards. “…they’re way better than crazy objects that I then have to move around my house and hide in closets.” (Gunn, 105). Not everyone would agree with that statement, showing that it is clearly his opinion about receiving gifts. Other things that are of his own interpretation are his descriptions of other people. Gunn loves fashion and can therefore describe a person’s outfit accurately, along with his opinion on it. He is careful not to allow his opinion to skew the visualization of the person, though. Since it is autobiographical, there are plenty of opinions about things, situations, and people he encounters.