IRB Intro: "Four Seasons in Rome"

                Written by Anthony Doerr, a New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner, Four Seasons in Rome describes Doerr’s personal experience living in Rome for a year. After winning the Rome Prize for his earlier works, Doerr is given an opportunity to live in Rome for a Year with his wife and newborn twins. There, he falls in love with the city, its history, and its people. He and his wife raise their babies in a warm culture; learning unique parenting tips from the affectionate locals. This story seems very interesting to me, since I have always wanted to go to Rome and have family from there. 

TOW #16: "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (part 2)

                As one of the most well-known and influential autobiographies in American history, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou has greatly impacted readers for decades. It presents a vivid first person account on what it was like to grow up as a black female in the South and California during the 1930s and 40s. Through countless moves to different states, living with one relative and then another, and struggling to find a place that really fits her, Maya feels very insecure during her unstable childhood. This story speaks especially to young adults who are trying to find themselves like Angelou did, and who can relate to her awkwardness and insecurity. Angelou’s story is powerful and direct as a result of her choice in diction. She uses simple and blunt language to tell her life like what it was, allowing readers to easily connect to her experiences. When Maya transfers to yet another new school, she says “In the school itself I was disappointed to find that I was not the most brilliant or even nearly the most brilliant student. The white kids had better vocabularies than I and, what was more appalling, less fear in the classrooms. They never hesitated to hold up their  hands in response to a teacher’s question; even when they were wrong they were wrong aggressively, while I had to be certain about all my facts before I dared to call attention to myself” (Angelou 216). Without sugar coating it, Angelou verbalizes all the things teenagers feel deep inside but never want anyone to know about. She fearlessly and simply states her insecurities, leading her readers to connect to and admire her for her candidness. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a book that stands out from others because of the unique style used. Angelou very effectively educated the nation on the challenges she faced and overcame, and let millions of young adults know they could do the same. 

TOW #15: “The Tyranny of the Clock”

“The Tyranny of the Clock”, by George Woodcock, is a very fascinating piece about clocks and how they have effected society over time. As a political writer with many of his works leaning towards anarchist ideas, Woodcock argues in his article that the invention of the clock towards the end of the middle ages has caused much of the human race to be controlled by time. The modern world moves so fast that many people do not have enough time to enjoy themselves, relax, or experience new things. Instead, working adults and even students must give up their time, and subsequently, their freedom, to make a living. Woodcock first includes a great deal of logos in his piece, informing his audience of how the clock has evolved through ancient times, Medieval, Victorian, until it has gained complete control over the lives of many today. His use of metaphors and allusions allow his audience to think about something so common in their lives – watching the clock – in a different way. Woodcock connects the invention of the clock to the ancient Chinese invention of gunpowder in saying “The ancient Chinese, for example, invented gunpowder, which was developed by the military experts of the West and eventually led to the Chinese civilization itself being destroyed by the high explosives of modern warfare. Similarly, the supreme achievement of the ingenuity of the craftsmen in the medieval cities of Europe was the invention of the mechanical clock, which, with its revolutionary alteration of the concept of time, materially assisted the growth of exploiting capitalism and the destruction of medieval culture”. This presents an interesting idea that something humans invented will lead to their own demise. Clocks control our society and lives in ways we often don’t notice, but the truth is that they dictate much of our lives. George Woodcock did a very good job in his article of reminding his audience that human lives were not always controlled by the tick of machine and that, by resigning out lives to keeping to a strict schedule, we are denying ourselves complete freedom. 

TOW #14: On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning

                In his thoughtful short essay, “On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning”, Haruki Murakami captures what it is like to inexplicably fall in love with someone. His creative fiction and nonfiction works have won Murakami many awards in Japan, where his books are best sellers, and all over the world through translated versions of his books. While walking down a street in Tokyo one day in 1981, a woman walking by catches Murakami’s eye for seemingly no particular reason, and he cannot explain specifically why he is drawn to her since she is not outwardly especially beautiful. Yet he knows instantly once he sees her that this stranger is the “100% perfect girl” for him and panics because he wants to talk to her before she gets lost in the crowd. He thinks about what to say to her, but cannot come up with something in time. After she is gone, though, he thinks of a speech he wishes he could have told her before she was lost to him forever. Murakami uses vivid language to describe his experience and artfully expand an intense moment with beautiful details. He uses metaphors such as “Potentiality knocks on the door of my heart” to put into words all the possibilities he was feeling in that fleeting moment. He then narrates his thought process, saying, “How can I approach her? What should I say? “Good morning, miss. Do you think you could spare half an hour for a little conversation?” Ridiculous. I’d sound like an insurance salesman.” In order to emphasis the massive internal conflict and pressure he was feeling to reach out to the woman. The use of rhetorical questions, humor, and reasoning included in his thoughts makes the essay feel very authentic. The audience feels like they are inside of his head, allowing them to understand this rather abnormal and abstract experience that most of them probably have never had. Overall, this was a very deep and romantic piece attempting to explain why people sometimes feel inexpiable connections to strangers.