ToW 13: Geneticists Debate Ethics Of Cloning Humans And Forcing Them To Fight To Death In Pit For Our Amusement

     This satirical article from the Onion describes a conference to discuss the 'ethics of cloning human beings and compelling them to fight to the death in a rocky pit for our amusement.' Humorously, the conference takes place at Geneva, an allusion to the Geneva conventions.

     The article pokes fun at how little some people care for others, by using lines such as '“Or imagine 10 clones of one person in a bout against 10 clones of a different person,” Phillips continued. “I wholeheartedly believe that it is the responsibility of science to advance human society by creating something so f***ing cool.”,' and, '“My colleagues in the field seem to have forgotten that human life is precious.”' The article also discusses the ethics of 'replacing the clones’ limbs with axes and swords." However, the article does discuss actual, potential uses of cloning, such as research into organ transplants.

     Overall, the article fulfills its purpose of humor, while mocking the either ignorance, or apathy of humankind when it's about something that is not well known.

ToW #12: The Boys on the Boat Part 1

     The Boys on the Boat is an excellent book; looking into the lives of young rowers on an American rowing team and their path to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The books seeks to teach a lesson of hard work brings success, as many of members of the team are from poorer families, and are seeking self-fulfillment from rowing that they might not've been able to get anywhere else.

      This is nicely juxtaposed by the German rowing team, however, as they are a professional group who always had everything, and are seemingly unstoppable. However, they're also not the focus of the book, and we simply get glimpses into their lives, which nicely keeps the books focused on our American rowing heroes back home.

ToW #11: End the Gun Epidemic in America

    This article by the New York Time's editorial team argues for stricter gun laws, but doesn't take the radical view of completely eliminating guns that seems all too common on social media politicians. This is accomplished by using the most recent shootings as reasons why gun laws should be more strict than they are now, while still recognizing the near-impossibility of keeping weapons out of the hands of criminals, while still allowing normal citizens to own them.

     They also use a method of clarifying what kinds of guns are used in these killings, to show that they are targeting a specific type of weapon, rather than guns as a whole, clearly stating, "Certain kinds of weapons, like the slightly modified combat rifles used in California, and certain kinds of ammunition, must be outlawed for civilian ownership." This helps them to both state and accomplish their overall purpose of showing a more moderate liberal view on gun control laws, that may appeal to both sides of the argument, especially with the hot debate after recent events.

ToW #10: Trump is a Nazi?

     This political ad by John Cole, a political cartoonist for the New York Times, compares Donald Trump and his supporters to Hitler and the Third Reich. It is made for those against Trump, as it exaggerates his flaws in his campaign and ideology. Other means are used to get a chuckle out of the reader and exaggerate the similarities, such as the man in a militant uniform who is singing a pro- GoP chant, except that S's in it are replaced by Sch's, imitating German spellings of words, further exaggerating the similarities. This alongside the salute given by Trump, and the Muslim man who is wearing an Islamic star and moon, take the exaggeration to ridiculous levels.

     However, the ad fulfills it's purpose, because it rallies anti-Trump support in a humorous way through exaggeration of comparison to a past reign that had terrible repercussions.

ToW #9: The Verge Review of Animals: The Capybara

     Written by Chris Ziegler of The Verge, this article is a semi-satirical review of the Capybara, semi-satirical because while it has elements of satire such as an overall humorous tone, it also works in real facts to form an argument: Capybaras are one of the best animals out there. 

Take a look at this majestic beast from South America

     Ziegler uses a humorous, yet also excited, tone throughout the text as a way to communicate how much he loves this animal. The does this through his use of colloquialism, such as when he proves a point that 'Capys have nothing but chill'/'They're...human-sized bags of chill' by saying, "Seriously/ Sometimes, monkeys ride them, just for funsies." The informality of the language enforces the fact that the articlke isn't meant to be taken seriously (As if the pre-text warning that "This column is part of a series where Verge staffers post highly subjective reviews of animals. Up until now, we’ve written about animals without telling you whether they suck or rule. We are now rectifying this oversight." This pre-text in of itself is another form of colloquialism.), but it still enforces the writer's opinion in that the Capybara is one of the best animals out there.

     Overall, Ziegler wrote an incredibly entertaining article that has given me a new view on the Capybara, fulfilling both of his purposes- to show how great of an animal it is and to entertain the reader.