Does Microwaving Veggies Kill the Nutrients?

The best way to get noticed in the world now is through the internet media.  Many websites post new stories on their home pages trying to get consumers to read them if the headline catches their eye.  That’s exactly what Shape magazine did.  They posted an article entitled “Does microwaving kill the nutrients?”  The headline caught my attention because I along with many others am concerned with my health.  Plus, they posted the article on the Yahoo! homepage in the middle of the screen that scrolls through all of the top news stories for the day.  The benefits of posting it there are that it has the possibility to grab the viewer’s attention more by having color and having a catchy headline with only a teaser of what the article is about, whereas, a newspaper would be in black and white and is easily skimmed over.  

Right off the bat the article asks the headline questions and instantly tells the reader that microwaves do NOT kill nutrients.  This immediately satisfies the reader’s worries about what they have been eating for their whole life.  With this out of the way, the author focuses more on the positive effects of microwaves and teaching the reader how to get proper nutrients from vegetables.  

This method is a very effective way to raise people’s awareness about how to better take care of themselves.  It scares them into reading an article that they might have otherwise just skimmed over and just thought that microwaves were the best thing ever made.  Now the reader knows exactly what ways they can benefit from boiling, microwaving, or sautéing vegetables.  Also, with this internet article, it includes related stories with links in the article.  Those headlines could lead to the viewer learning even more to make him healthier. 

 http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/does-microwaving-veggies-kill-nutrients-190700707.html

And Justice for All by Khalil Bendib

At first, all you see is a two faced person but upon further examination you make out the symbols that the artist uses.  The lighter side of the picture depicts a blindfolded person with a sword in his hand turned down.  Symbolizing life is a more difficult task than symbolizing death, but with the white background and the white robes the illustrator is definitely using the white man’s version of life.  The right hand side of the picture is dark and gloomy, quite obviously the death side.  It contains the grim reaper bearing his scythe and the term “death row.”  Of course, after noticing all of the symbols then you start to see the writing on the side.  The lighter side is labeled “WHITES” and the darker side is labeled “COLORED.”  The illustrator wants the viewer to see how the justice system works.  He indicates that the prisoners were sentenced to death based on the color of their skin.  By opening up this window to the world he expands the thinking on racial bias.  It still exists today especially when there is judgment involved.  The problem with this bias is that it would save guilty lives and end innocent ones. 

Also, the vast contrast between black and white in the drawing already makes your mind associate with the illustrator’s point.  When you see black, you think of death and consequently also of the black culture.  Before you even read the words in the picture you already have an idea of what the cartoon is about.  This is a major problem for everyone involved if the mind already has an unknown racial bias. 

The Hunger Games

Many avid readers find that when their favorite books are turned into movies the movie does not show the book’s full depth and all of the details that make it great.  Fans have watched the Harry Potter and Twilight movies with devotion whether or not they were completely accurate.  But when movies like Eragon hit theaters, they disappointed fans everywhere.  The problem with the Hunger Games was that the book was so different from any other book out there that I was worried that the movie would not do it justice.  The Hunger Games is a story about a girl named Katniss who has to fight to the death in the Hunger Games with 23 other tributes from the other districts in order to save her sister, supply her district with food for a year, and save her own life.  That is such an oversimplification of the book that to truly understand what’s going on you would have to read the book.  However, I believe the movie did an excellent job of bringing the story to life.  It included most of the details which did not anger fans.  In the box office, it even did better than Twilight, which is always a plus.  The movie makers really did an excellent job with adapting the film.  In the book, Katniss thought a lot and most of the main story was in her head which could have been a problem for the filmmakers but they did an amazing job with including the details that were only in her head on the screen.  No meaning was lost.  Overall, with all of the action and suspense, I would say that this movie is for everyone.  I certainly enjoyed watching and I would recommend this movie as one of the best book adaptations to date.

Kids, Guns, and Television

The author of this picture very strategically placed every image within the picture entitled Kids, Guns, and Television.  A child is in front to start the viewer off with a heightened sense of compassion.  The child grabs the viewer’s attention and makes the viewer curious to find out what the rest of the image has to do with the child.  The child’s stance also indicates that he is looking at you with disapproval.  His head is cocked and his arms are crossed.  Also, he is not smiling like one would assume from a child in a picture.  The next biggest image in the picture is the gun within the T.V.  The gun is actually pointing at the child’s head which could make the viewer upset or angry depending on their view of guns.  The gun is placed within the T.V. to show how much violence there now is in television programs.  Everyone knows this is the ways things are nowadays but no one seems to care.  The author obviously cares about the violence and is trying to speak to the world through picture.  He further indicates that violence in television has a negative influence by his choice of background.  He puts the phrase “the tv made me do it” behind the other images so that is the last thing someone would see.  It leaves a strong message.  The violence in T.V. shows has a direct effect on children.  They are influenced by what they see and are tempted to try it even if it is morally wrong.  They see the guns and shooting and think that because it was on T.V. that it is a perfectly acceptable way to control life.  They were raised the way society wanted them to be raised and that could be potentially harmful or even life threatening.  The gun is aimed at the child to suggest that we are killing our children by showing them these shows that promote violence and guns because they will look at that and think it’s the way real life is supposed to be.

Society is Dead: We have Retreated into the iWorld

Andrew Sullivan colorfully displays his views on the new technology such as the iPod, iPad, iPhone, etc.  He argues that by using and iPod, you are essentially creating your own bubble and do not recognize the social behavior that is expected of you like a polite hello when you catch someone’s eye.  Sullivan ends his analysis with a very definitive opinion.  Obviously, iPods are bad for you socially.

Sullivan demonstrates awareness of his audience very clearly and accurately when he “talks.”  He refers to the reader as “you” like he is speaking to him directly, which in fact he is.  He chose to speak directly to the reader because he knew that his article would have power over almost everyone.  Almost everyone has an iPod now and even if they did not, they have an opinion on it.  In order to not offend anyone, Sullivan constructs his argument very carefully.  He does not begin by stating his reasons why iPods are bad, but instead captures the reader’s attention with New York City.  By easing into his topic and stating his observations first, he makes the reader open his mind to the possibility that iPods could be potentially hurtful to the quality of society.

Sullivan also creates an effective argument by citing his own experiences.  He shows the reader that he is a credible source.  He is not someone who just wants to get rid of all the new technology because he personally does not like it, but he is someone who truly loves his iPod and can understand the bad qualities it possesses.  Once he opened up to the outside world he found that he could connect more with the people around him.  Everyone else should too.

Old Movies in 3D?

The movie industry is making a big push back to the 3D movie line.  Back when it was new and therefore cool, everyone would go see a new movie in 3D, but the buzz has dwindled down considerably since then.  There simply is not as big of a demand for 3D movies anymore.  So why would they bring back old movies but put them in 3D?  It makes a lot of money.  It is more likely that people will pay the extra money to go see their favorite old movie in a theater with the big screen than go see a new movie in 3D anymore.  They are willing to pay the extra $3 or so for the glasses because they want to enjoy the experience.  They are forgetting that the old movies are not equipped for 3D.  They have very little 3D effects in them unlike the movies made for 3D showings. 

Disney first tested the waters with The Lion King in 3D.  It was a huge success considering The Lion King is a major favorite Disney classic loved by most people.  Plus, the movie targeted people of all ages.  Adults would take their children to see the movie because they had never seen it in theaters the first time and children love Disney movies.  Also, teenagers who grew up with Disney went to see it because they are still a child at heart.  To target the older audiences and people who simply do not appreciate Disney movies, they are making Star Wars and the Titanic in 3D.  I am sure that those movies will be Box Office hits too considering their appeal to the masses.

There is really no valid reason for converting those old movies into 3D.  The movie industry is only doing it out of greed.  Instead of coming up with new interesting stories, they have made it a habit of bringing up old ones hoping that the population will respond satisfactorily (which they have).  Unfortunately, this means that more movies are going to be converted into 3D format and less creativity will be happening.

Is a high school education too oriented toward standardized testing?

Cartoons are a very effective form of communication between the artist and the reader.  The artist can express his ideas on a topic that he feels is controversial without droning on and on about how it can be fixed.  He simply states what he feels is necessary and moves on.  The cartoon that Daryl Cagle drew in the text is a slam on the way the education system works.  He drew an interview of what seems to be a first time employee and a human resources person.  Asking a simple question such as “How has high school prepared your for this job?” only gets a scantron answer from the interviewee.  The scantron represents how most schools test the intelligence of a person. However, by doing this, the schools really only test the students ability to pick out the correct answer out of four. 

Cagle does an excellent job presenting his views of high school education to the reader.  The interviewee has a dumbfounded look on his face like he has no idea how high school prepared him for the real world.  Cagle’s cartoon elicits a clear and strong emotional response from parents and generally people everywhere.  When someone points out a flaw in the educational system, people everywhere go crazy and try to find ways to get the government to change public schooling.  Without this cartoon, I doubt anyone would know that that is what goes on in public high schools.  Cagle illustrates that scantrons are not the best form for teachers to make students show their knowledge because it cannot be applied to the real world in their future jobs.  Overall, his message is very clear and visually stimulating.