TOW 10

            Woodrow Wilson, the former U.S. President, was a racist? William Keylor, in his article titled “Should we scrub all memorials to Woodrow Wilson?,” addresses a counterargument and utilizes rhetorical questions in order to get Princeton administrators to reconsider their decision to rename buildings honoring Wilson. Keylor wrote an article in 2013 which shed light on Wilson’s racial prejudices, making him a credible source for this topic.

            Keylor issues “a note of caution about the campaign to remove [Wilson] from the Princeton campus and elsewhere in the country” by, first, acknowledging a counterargument. He admits that the President once remarked that “Segregation is not humiliating” and deemed the film Birth of a Nation, which celebrates the “Ku Klux Klan as a courageous defender of the Southern way of life,” as “a splendid production.” After acknowledging that the President was indeed racist, Keylor insists that we also “recognize the positive side of his legacy: the federal income tax…and other notable achievements.” Pointing out the positive aspects of Woodrow’s presidency after acknowledging the counterargument allows the audience to overlook Woodrow’s racial mindset, ultimately adding strength to Keylor’s argument that Wilson still deserves to be honored—which is further strengthened with Keylor’s rhetorical questioning.

            Thomas Jefferson, one of America’s most honored citizens, was a slaveholder. Keylor forces his audience to reconsider their plan to dismantle Woodrow’s memorials when he asks if we should “rename out capital and pull down the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial because they honor presidents who were slaveholders?” This question gives his audience an ultimatum: either leave Wilson’s memorials as is, or dismantle them and then reconsider honoring the people who contributed greatly to the founding of our beloved nation. Washington and Jefferson are two names that are branded into our identity because of our association with America. By pointing out that these two idols also had racial mindsets, Keylor forces his readers to diminish their anger with Wilson and therefore reconsider ridding Wilson’s honor.

            Keylor’s rhetorical questioning and rebuttal of a counterargument successfully allow him to present a strong argument in favor of keeping the names of buildings that honor President Woodrow Wilson.

           

TOW 9- One Bouquet of Fleeting Beauty, Please

            The standard gift for any celebration-worthy event is a bouquet of flowers. Alisha Gordner, a flower-shop worker and writer, discusses the relationship between her and her customers. In her article, “One Bouquet of Fleeting Beauty, Please,” Alisha Gordner shares personal anecdotes and an emotion-packed conclusive sentence to force her readers to recognize the silver lining in the fleeting cloud of impermanence.

            Gordner begins by telling her readers about some of the amazing people she has met and the messages they attach to the bouquets they buy. She asserts that she would “scoff at messages that seemed too sugary, trite or boring” but still recognizes the significance of “the gesture,” because when her boyfriend committed suicide, “people sent cards.” This woeful tale adds to the credibility of her message by showing she has experience with these things. It also appeals to pathos by allowing her readers to feel sympathy for her, which will make her message stick in their minds because her story will stick there, too. The story of her experience in losing her boyfriend shows her message in action. She shares many “precious moments made all the more precious by the fact that they have already come and gone” and acknowledges that there are memories that have blurred over time. She justifies the fading of these memories by recognizing that “there would always be more,” ultimately showing her readers how extremely natural change is. In the conclusion of her article, Gordner shares her favorite flower, the “tulip magnolia,” which only blooms for “a matter of weeks.” A woman who works with flowers chooses a flower with a fleeting presence as her favorite. This sentiment effectively concludes her argument and shows her readers “how startlingly beautiful impermanence can be.”

            Overall, Gordner’s strong conclusive sentence and personal anecdotes effectively show her readers the perfection in impermanence. Gordner’s message should remain in our minds, too. We often dwell on the details and try to memorize our memories, when in reality we should be looking forward to the details that are yet to come. Oh, there is so much to look forward to, we just don’t know the exact details of it all… and maybe we never will… and that is OK.

 

           

IRB Intro #2

     For my second independent reading book, I chose the book "Death Be Not Proud" by John Gunther. As I was browsing Mr. Yost's library in the beginning of the year, this was one of the books that I happened to pick up and preview. I fell in love with the story after reading the summary on the back and a couple pages in the first chapter. I am a sucker for sob stories. It is a memoir written about John Gunther's son, who died of cancer at a young age. I am interested in hearing the story and also deciphering the message that Gunther is attempting to send, and how he does so. I am looking forward to reading this book.