TOW #10 - How Bernie Sanders Has Already Won

Bernie Sanders has already won? Looks like I've been watching a different presidential race than author, David Axelrod. Now David Axelrod is quite a known figure in the political world, one for being the Chief Strategist of President Obama's campaign for presidency, and two, he is CNN Senior Political Commentator. Clearly he knows his stuff. However, yearning for an explanation, I dove right in to the article. What I read was completely different than what I had envisioned. Instead of claiming Sanders was going to win the nomination, he revealed that by pushing Clinton in the race, due to his successful campaign, has pushed Clinton to create bolder stances and a stronger base for her campaign. Through the use of juxtaposition, Axelrod establishes the idea that Sanders has been the driving factor in making Clinton a better prepared candidate for becoming president in 2016. In 2008, Clinton made some costly mistakes in her campaign, that she has began to fix so far into her campaign in 2015. "Folks in Iowa, home of the first-in-the-nation contest, say her team is building the superior ground game she lacked in 2008. This is critical to victory in the organizationally rigorous caucuses." (para. 4). Axelrod uses the Iowans comparison of the two campaigns, to reveal how instead of Clinton being on the fence about some of the political issues, she has now solidified some of those opinions. He later reveals that Bernie Sanders' views on inequality, outsized influence of Wall Street, and gun control, have forced Clinton to embrace the issues, rather than being conservative on what she says. "Clinton did her share of Second Amendment signifying to rural whites in her failed effort to derail Obama in the last race... But this time, she has stressed her commitment to new gun safety measures. But the cautious Hillary Clinton... could have been reticent to make gun safety a central theme, had Sanders not been in the race." (Para. 10).  What Axelrod does by comparing her views on gun control from now, to when she was running in 2008, he effectively proves that through creating a strong opposition, Bernie Sanders has attributed to forming a new Hillary Clinton, who stands strongly behind her ideas, making her a better fit to become president one day. 

Vocab List #1 - 11/17/2015

Chiasmus:

• Context: One of two rhetorical devices that I will choose per week that can be found on Mr. Yost's list of devices.
• “The land was ours before we were the land’s” - Robert Frost 
• My Guess: Two ideas that cross reference each other
• Dictionary Definition: a figure of speech in which two successive phrases or clauses are parallel in syntax, but reverse the order of the analogous words.
• Mnemonic device: Greek word "chi" which is written as an X, meaning criss-cross
• My Example: Do I love you because you're beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you

Diacope: 

• Context: One of two rhetorical devices that I will choose per week that can be found on Mr. Yost's list of devices.
• We will do it, I tell you; we will do it. We give thanks to Thee, O God, we give thanks (Psalm 75:1).
• My Guess: The repetition of a clause at the beginning and end of a sentence
• Dictionary Definition: repetition of a word or phrase after an intervening word or phrase: word/phrase X, . . ., word/phrase X. 
• Example in Other Context: "He was with a woman. A tall, beautiful, well-dressed woman."
• My Example: I can't believe I dunked, it was crazy, I dunked!"

Posterity:

• Context: "Endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity." (Thoreau)
• My Guess: The future of a certain thing, such as government
• Dictionary Definition: Succeeding or future generations collectively
• Connotation: Positive
• History: 1350-1400, posterity comes from the Latin word posteritās, meaning coming after

Alacrity: 

• Context: "... Furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way." (Thoreau)
• My Guess: Quickness, or efficiency
• Dictionary Definition: Cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingness
• Connotation: Positive
• My Sentence: When his mom approached him about his suffering grades, he showed his alacrity by going to get extra help in STARS tutoring. 

Furtive:

• Context: "Furtive boys in pink shirts hanging about on washday after school." (Walker)
• My Guess: Exuberant, flashy
• Dictionary Definition: attempting to avoid notice or attention, typically because of guilt 
• Mnemonic Device: Fur hides skin, just like furtive people try to hide being noticed
• My Sentence: The furtive girl was quick brilliant, but never raised her hand, thinking people would make fun of her high pitched voice.

Egalitarian:

• Context: Was the Constitution more based off of Egalitarian ideas, or elitist ideas? (AP Guidebook) 
• My Guess: Someone seeking equality in society
• Dictionary Definition: of, relating to, or believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities
• Mnemonic Device: Egal is very similar to equal
• Connotation: Positive

Equivocate: 

• Context: 100 Words Every College Student Should Know website
• My Guess: Language that is hard to understand
• Dictionary Definition: use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself
• Connotation: Negative
• My Sentence: When the son got home past curfew, he had to equivocate, in order to conceal the truth about where he actually was, knowing that it would get him in trouble. 

Loquacious: 

• Context: "Donald Trump is quite the loquacious politician. He speaks his mind freely, and effectively." 
• My Guess: Expressive of his ideas without fear of backlash
• Dictionary Definition: tending to talk a great deal; talkative.
• My Sentence: When I met the new kid in school, he was very loquacious, considering he didn't know many people around him. 
• Connotation: Positive, but could be negative in different context

Provocative:

• Context: Kanye West Song
• (No one knows what it means, but it's provocative)
  No, it's not, it's gross
  (It gets the people going!)
• My Guess: Motivational
• Dictionary Definition: causing annoyance, anger, or another strong reaction, especially deliberately
• Mnemonic Device: Provocative, relates to the word provoke, which is what a provocative phrase or word does
• Sentence: Some people found Donald Trump's ideas on foreign policy, especially illegal immigrants, to be quite provocative.

Ubiquitous: 

• Context: 100 Words Every College Student Should Know website
• My Guess: A common thought between a group of people
• Dictionary Definition: present, appearing, or found everywhere.
• My Sentence: The fog that appeared in the waking hours of the day was ubiquitous, and made it difficult to see over 10 feet in front of you. 
• History: First known use was 1579, and was derived from the Latin word ubique meaning everywhere

IRB Post #2 - Unbroken

For my second IRB of the year, I've decided to stay on the course of World War II books, and have chosen Unbroken written by Laura Hillenbrand. In a biography on Louis Zamperini, we will learn about his life as a track star, along with his life as a prisoner of war in Japanese Internment Camps. Hillenbrand will go in depth on how he went from a nobody, to eventually one of the greatest runners of his time; taking us through his experience as an Olympian trying to set the world record for fastest mile time. In addition, the audience will also learn about his historic survival after being stranded for 47 days in the Pacific. I have chosen to read this biography due to the fact that I am an avid fan of WWII stories, but this one in particular stood out to me due to Louis' unique background before enlisting in the military. By reading this book, I hope to gain is to learn more about life as a WWII soldier, and to also learn the ideals of how perseverance and determination leads to the unlikely survival of a man in harsh conditions.

TOW # 8 - The Catcher Was a Spy (Pt. 2)

      During the first half of the biography of the extraordinary Moe Berg, I noticed the trend being that Moe was more than just your average baseball player. Throughout the second half of the book The Catcher Was a Spy, that trend seemingly continued as it was a focal point for author Nicholas Dawidoff. The majority of the second half of the book was an interesting combination of baseball, personal life, and war stories. One of the main things that stood out to me was the section of the book that strictly discussed the issue of Moe moving in with different people, whether it be a teammate, a reporter, or someone he met at a local bar. Considering that Dawidoff's purpose was to bring new light to the life of Moe Berg, these anecdotes certainly helped solidify this idea. All-time great Yankee, Joe DiMaggio was one of the people that was on the giving end of a place to reside.  "They walked through the snow together to DiMaggio’s suite at the Madison Hotel. Berg stayed for six weeks." (Location 4436). However, he would then move on to another home. "A pair of bachelors— Milton Richman, who covered the Mets for UPI, and his brother, Arthur, a baseball reporter for the Daily Mirror— also liked hosting Berg..." (Location 4436). Usually, baseball players were looked up upon in society. They were the ones with the fame and the fortune. However, the use of the anecdotes by Dawidoff proves that Berg wasn't just your everyday successful baseball player.
      Relating back to my first post, another way that Dawidoff achieves his purpose is by using intellectual jargon whenever he could get the chance. His brother, who was a successful man, would always speak highly of Moe. "Dr. Sam saw that Berg could talk about anything from physics to geology to semantics, or he could hold forth on the origin, development, and essential characteristics of Siamese cats." (Location 4520). Continuing with the trend of the first half of the book, Dawidoff reiterates how once again, Moe was something more than just an athlete. He was a rarely intelligent man, who could speak many languages, and was brilliant in many subjects. Through the use of unique anecdotes from people close to Moe, and intellectual diction, Dawidoff effectively illustrates his purpose, which is that Moe was more than just a star baseball player from New Jersey.