TOW #10: "Night Falls, and 5Pointz, a Graffiti Mecca, Is Whited Out in Queens" by Sara Buckley and Marc Santora

Generally, graffiti is frowned upon and criticized by society for being vandalism. 5Pointz, however, was different. Located in Queens, New York, this location featured the work of national and international writers from around the world on the walls of an abandoned warehouse, and subsequently became a landmark amongst tourists. Unfortunately, the beloved spot was not legally proclaimed a landmark, which might have offered some protection, and, amidst anguish and sorrow, has been scheduled for demolition in order to build high-rise apartments. This article was published recently following the City Council’s decision allowing demolition, which also happened to be during Banksy’s “month-long residency” in New York.

The authors, Cara Buckley and Marc Santora, are both writers for the New York Times. Their purpose in writing this article seems to be a farewell to 5Pointz, an action imitated by many other news sources. Since a lot of the readers of the New York Times are from New York, they are probably familiar with this site and have similar feelings for the death of it. Conversely, there are probably a lot of people who have never heard of 5Pointz, and, possibly due to a lack of understanding, have no sympathy for the colorful walls. Despite this, Buckley and Santora composed an article that was both informative and emotional.

I believe that they did achieve their purpose in this article, mainly through appealing to pathos. Though this story had the potential for an unbiased report, Buckley and Santora focused mainly on the artists and supporters point of view instead of the owner’s, Mr. Wolkoff. Using multiple quotes from this group, the story became sentimental and appealed to the audience’s emotions as a means of persuasion. Though I had no prior knowledge of the existence of 5pointz, I certainly feel empathetic towards all of the writers and artists who put hours of effort into their art, which is now hidden behind a ghostly whitewash.

One view of 5Pointz, only capturing a small portion of the art on this building.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/nyregion/5pointz-a-graffiti-mecca-in-queens-is-wiped-clean-overnight.html?pagewanted=2&rref=nyregion&hpw

TOW #9: "Can an Algorithm Write a Better News Story Than a Human Reporter?" by Steven Levy

Living in the age of computers, talk of non-humans doing a human’s job has become common. In the article “Can an Algorithm Write a Better News Story Than a Human Reporter?”, Steven Levy, a senior writer at Wired Magazine, discusses this issue, specifically focusing on journalism. A company called Narrative Science, being one of these major contributors to computer-generated articles, was the main inspiration for this piece. Levy explains that the company uses a set of algorithms to analyze data on the internet of a certain event, retrieve what is important, and compose an article that is surprisingly accurate and not too distinguishable from that of a human. While Narrative Science CTO and cofounder Kristain Hammond assures the public that it is not designed to take over the industry and put people out of work, Levy expresses his partial disbelief in this, mainly through the repeated use of the phrase, “At least not yet.”

This was one of the strategies that really helped create a balance between unbiased reporting and the author’s opinion, since the use of this phrase did not interfere with the actual information. Moreover, his ability to state his feelings toward the subject can be accredited to the context and audience. As this was published in Wired magazine, which mainly focuses on how new technologies affect the world, the topic of this article is right at home. Given the goal of Wired, its audience, and therefore Levy’s audience is probably made up of people interested in design and creation, and would most likely be more agreeable to Levy’s perspective.           

Because Levy managed to appeal to his audience’s ideals, he was able to effectively inform them of this issue in order to create an interest in this potential problem. Therefore, his purpose of warning the journalism industry and consumers about robot reporters was achieved.

IRB Intro Post #2: Quiet by Susan Cain

Quiet is a book in which Susan Cain argues on the value of introverts to society, who, according to her, are under-appreciated. She justifies her argument using specific examples of people and events to show how are way of life has been largely influenced by people who, as defined on the sleeve of the book, "prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying, who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion".

            After reading the rest of this blurb, I get the sense that this book will be in a similar format to blink. This is something that I didn't know upon choosing this book, I mainly decided on it based on the title and subtitle: “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking”. Since I would consider myself more introverted than extroverted, the main appeal of this book comes from the fact that it portrays introverts in a positive light. Therefore, I hope that I will gain a better knowledge of what skills or qualities introverts possess that separates them from the rest of the world.

TOW #8: blink by Malcolm Gladwell (IRB post)

After reading more of blink, I have really started to grasp the way in which Malcolm Gladwell tends to structure his books. There is a very heavy emphasis on anecdotes and examples, which range in when they occurred and who they involved. During this portion of blink, Gladwell continued to develop his idea of thin-slicing, and used stories about diagnosing heart attacks at Cook County Hospital to commanding a US Marine Corps Company in Vietnam to recognizing an artist’s talent in New York City. Because most of the actual text is either describing or analyzing an example, anecdotes are the major, and perhaps only, notable rhetorical device utilized by Gladwell. They perform their task well, however, as the diversity of the stories caters to the many different personalities that make up Gladwell’s audience. Although many readers of blink may have come from his work in The New York Times, the national praise achieved by this book has expanded his audience to all people who might not necessarily have an interest in statistical analysis, but have an interest in curious theories that alter our perceptions of society.  After all, it seems that Gladwell’s main purpose throughout this book is stating a thesis that supports the validity of thin-slicing, and uses example after example to persuade his readers to accept this doctrine. There doesn't appear to be any real hidden agenda or other implicit purpose; this book reads kind of like a newspaper article, a very long and drawn out newspaper article. Gladwell’s career as a newspaper writer also influences the context of blink. In addition, it is his second book, so it was published on the basis that everyone already had certain expectations for it. Personally, I think that blink lived up to these, because it maintains the format and style with which Outliers, his first book, was written, and it similarly made a persuasive argument on an interesting and little-known theory.