Chaya's AP Lang Blog

The editorial board of USA Today, in " Will Trump's lows ever hit rock bottom?" (2017), passionately proclaim their opinio n that  Donald Trump is completely unfit to be leading our nation, partly due to his wildly inappropriate and offensive comments and remarks, and his overall lack of morality, ethics and simple humanity which is consistently displayed in his speech and behavior over and over again. They highlight several specific examples of Trump's abominable behavior in recent history, even giving a lengthy catalog of just a number of his offenses, and use fiery rhetoric to display both Trump's disgraceful nature as well as their hate-fueled feelings towards him, delivering their message with a scathing, disgusted and critical tone to accurately convey their thoughts on the subject. Their purpose is to take a strong stand against Trump and use their position as a representation of an established news platform to hopefully educate and influence...

President Abraham Lincoln, in his "Second Inaugural Speech" (1865), asserts that slavery was the cause of the Civil War, and the war would only end when God felt that America had paid the consequences for their sins. Lincoln describes how the issue of slavery is what spurred the war into action, brings in biblical verses and allusions to show that the war is divine retribution from God, and ends off with a hope that the nation will be able to heal itself and rebuild in unity after the war will end. Lincoln's purpose was to give answers to the American people regarding the cause and length of the war, in addition to giving his own religious and political opinion on the issue, emphasizing the evil of slavery, pointing to it as the root of the death and destruction caused by this war. He speaks with a passionate, yet critical tone towards the American people, both Northerners and Southerners, and acts as a sort of religious leader preaching about the divine providence of God...

Op-ed contributor Wajahat Ali , in his opinion article "I Want 'Allahu Akbar' Back" (2017), mourns the fact that the claimed benign, religious phrase "Allahu Akbar" has been unfairly twisted into a terrorism-related reference and asserts that these two words are actually innocent. Ali supports this claim by delivering a catalog using parallel structure in which he gives real-life examples of when he uses this phrase throughout his daily life in order to show the innocence and casual usage of the phrase, gives examples of the phrase being tagged onto three recent terror attacks around the world, showing how a few radicals are giving these words a bad reputation, and compares "Allahu Akbar" to shouts of "white pride" by supremacists, showing another example of how language can be perverted and weaponized by extremists and how therefore this is not exclusively a Muslim problem. Ali's purpose was to shed light on the true meaning behind t...

Columnist Nicholas Kristof, in his op-ed article "What Monkeys Can Teach Us About Fairness" (2017), asserts that inequality in this country is the root of many dysfunctions in America. He brings in a case study that explores the strong sense of fairness among monkeys, builds a logos argument by listing the statistics of economic inequality in America found by professor of psychology Keith Payne, suggests possible reasons why inequality negatively affects humans so much, and concludes with a comparison of views among the political spectrum regarding this issue as well as a personal reflection on America's struggle in this area. Kristof intends to probe into the inequality in America, discuss why it affects us as humans so deeply, and how it is the cause of many issues in our country. He serves as an analyst who is giving over information to his readers, creating an informative relationship with his audience, the people of America. One of the examples that Kristoff bro...

In Apple's advertisement, "Mac vs. PC: Work vs. Home" (2006), Apple asserts that the Mac is more "fun" than the boring PC, and that is why it is better. The ad starts off with a contrast between Mac's version of "fun" and PC's version, depicting how PC uses pie charts and graphs while Mac uses pictures and videos, builds on logos by clearly showing that Mac's system is better and more fun for the user, and uses humor to show how nerdy and old fashioned the PC is compared to the Mac. Apple's purpose is to clearly mark the difference between the Mac and PC, pointing out why their buyers should choose the Mac, which is more fun, user friendly, and cooler. Apple creates a close relationship with their viewers, reinforcing their products to their current clients and reaching out to PC owners in an effort to win them over. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA265ZVXuq8

Columnist Danny Westneat, in his article "UW professor: The information war is real, and we're losing it" (2017), asserts that the surge in twitter bots who are spreading false news, theories and conspiracies is dangerous and is negatively impacting news and our society. He starts off with recent, real life examples of the negative impact of twitter bots, builds on ethos by structuring the entire article around his interview with University of Washington professor Kate Starbird, a professional in the field of "crisis informatics," in order to build credibility and persuade his readers by letting them hear the information from an external, expert source, and ends off with his own reflections on the severity of the situation. Overall, Westneat intends to shed light on the harmful impact of these twitter bots, as well as more importantly, back up his claim with the personal opinions and findings of an expert in order to strengthen his message. He serves as a critic...

Columnist Nicholas Kristof, in his opinion article "If Americans Love Moms, Why Do We Let Them Die?" (2017),  asserts that maternal medicine in the United States is failing, and it is completely unacceptable. He describes the current situation, then uses contrast to shed light on the difference between the U.S. and other advanced countries in this area, follows with pathos in the form of personal anecdotes of women who suffer because of this lacking, and builds a political argument on the basis that this issue is due to problems with Medicaid and Republicans lack of initiative in an issue that they are apparently passionate about. Kristof intends to shed light on the sad, harsh reality of the situation and those who it affects, and also admonish the American medical system as well as the government administration for not dealing with this problem. He serves as a critic towards the Republican administration and American maternal medicine, and as a advocate for the women who ar...

This satirical article, titled "As your doctor, I am protesting the removal of your tumor because I don't want to erase your medical history," uses irony and humor to make the point that it is completely ludicrous and illogical to leave the Confederate monuments in their places and not remove them. Using the form of a doctor's note, Bob Vulfov uses an extended simile comparing these offending monuments to a life threatening tumor. The satirical tone comes in by taking the stance of those who do not want to remove the Confederate monuments, and showing how ridiculous and silly their view point sounds when compared to a tumor. The "doctor" explains that he views the tumor as an "important symbol of your body's history and heritage" and this history should be celebrated and "prominently displayed inside your body." This is how those who wish to protect the monuments make their case. They claim that these monuments symbolize the history o...

In the past year, there have been many differences of opinions throughout the south regarding the topic of whether to remove Confederate monuments or not. While some cities, like Charlottesville, VA, chose to leave these statues standing, others, like New Orleans, LA, voted to remove them. The issue of conserving or obliterating these offending memorials has validity on both ends. Those in support of removing them want to erase the message that they stand for and what they represent in our history as well as our future, while those opposed to removing them believe that we cannot erase our history and these monuments should stand as a teachable moment for future generations.  I see solid validity on both sides of the argument, and at first I sided with Mayor Signer from Charlottesville, who voted to keep the statues standing. He spoke about how we must "neither forget the past nor accept its grasp on our present and future," and how we cannot erase the history of our country,...

Ode to the Moon Alone I am, deep in despair, Looking up to the deep dark sky, To you I lend a passionate prayer, Dear Moon, the Mother up on high. The orb of beauty and of grace, Appears when night is drawing nigh, A beacon in the dark of space, Dear Moon, our Mother up on high. Mysterious and magical, A silver diamond in the night, Your power awes both young and old, Dear Moon, our Mother up on high. Your presence firm, helps us believe An everlasting watchful eye, Your strength and hope to which we cleave, Dear Moon, our Mother up on high. Young and afraid, my hope is done, Coming to you, I now do cry, So listen please to your dear one, Dear Moon, my Mother up on high. Give me the strength, give me the might, My life to live, my tears to dry, I need you to shine bright tonight, Dear Moon, my Mother up on high . #pocketpoem

The path was purple in the dusk. I saw an owl, perched, on a branch.   And when the owl stirred, a fine dust fell from its wings. I was silent then. And felt   the owl quaver. And at dawn, waking, the path was green in the  May light.  #pocket poem