A Sad End to an Amazing Life

             Jim Holt’s article “Code-breaker” was published in the February 2006 issue of The New Yorker.  The article takes a look at the mysterious life and death of research scientist Alan Turing.  Holt attempts to convince his reader of the possibility that Turing’s death could have been a murder rather than a suicide.  There are instances of both pathos and ethos in Holt’s piece but neither of these is actually persuasive.

While there may be a question of murder, no strong examples or clues are fully convincing.  Turing was supposedly killed by ingesting an apple laced with cyanide.   Two examples in Holt’s (2008) article refer to Turing’s fascination with apples being used as an instrument of death (p.339 & 346).  By pointing this out Holt is likely convincing his audience that Turing did kill himself.   Holt also points out that “the only person who seems to have had doubts was Turing’s mother”.  Turing’s mother may not be the most credible source as any mother would have a hard time believing that their child would purposefully kill himself. 

The use of the emotional appeal is apparent in the idea of Turing as “a gay martyr”. Holt relies on David Leavitt’s biography of Turing a fair amount in this article.  Leavitt is known to use gay protagonists in his writing and is obviously sensitive towards Turing’s struggles as a homosexual man living in a period of non-acceptance. 

Near the end of the article Holt asks if Turing’s death was a form of martyrdom (p.346).   “Was it the perfect suicide....or, more improbably, the perfect murder?”(p.346)  At this point it is hard for the reader to form an opinion one way or another.  Holt’s article brings up more questions than it does answers.

Whether Turing’s death was a suicide, murder, or even an accident, his life was adversely affected by the homophobic mentality of society.  There has obviously been progression in this area, but has this mentality changed completely to acceptance of a person’s choice of sexuality?

Holt, J. (2008). Code-breaker.  In Ackley, K., Blank, G., & Hume, S. (Eds).  

Perspectives on contemporary issues. (pp. 337-346). Toronto: Nelson. 

This Has to Change

Jennifer Turpin enlightens the readers of “Women Confronting War” to the brutal roles that women play in war.  Turpin unveils the truth about women as the casualty, the refugee, the sexually exploited and violated, and the victim of domestic violence.  In this piece Turpin aims to make it clear that women are hugely impacted by war and that gender inequality still exists and could even be a cause of war (Turpin, p.324).  The intention of “Women Confronting War” is to blow away the assumptions that a number of people have in regards to women and their function in war.

Turpin effectively uses ethos in this piece of writing.  The introductory head note indicates that Turpin is highly credible considering her position at the University of San Francisco as well as her associated faculty position at the European University Center for Peace Studies.  She is an educated woman with a clear, concise writing style.  In each section Turpin brings up pertinent aspects of the effects of war on woman and uses credible sources to support her cause. 

The first aspect of her argument is the issue of wartime casualties.  Turpin states that women as civilians have a higher chance of being killed in war than soldiers do.  At first it seems a ridiculous statement, but the statistics that she uses to support this claim generate a compelling argument.  “While 50 percent of World War II’s casualties were civilians..... by 1990 it was a staggering 90 percent” (Turpin, p.325).

Another significant point that Turpin brings up is the fact that woman and girls make up four-fifths of the refugees displaced by war (Turpin, p.325).  This certainly puts the relationship between women and war in to perspective.  How could a person reasonably suggest that women are being “protected by “their” men” through war when they read this overwhelming statistic (Turpin, p.324)?

The example that I find the most powerful and disturbing is fact that numerous acts of sexual violence are committed during war.  At this point in the piece, Turpin makes use of the rhetorical appeal pathos.  She uses stories and situations to prove her argument that gender inequality is still in existence.  We are told of mass rapes for the purpose of ethnic cleansing, female political activists being “raped repeatedly by multiple rapists”, and even a twelve year old girl being raped by several United States Marines (Turpin, p.326).  The response of military personnel could easily be mistaken for acceptance of this brutal treatment of women, and even more so of wartime prostitution.

Turpin successfully impresses upon her reader the impact of war on women and the great need for gender equality.

War impacts women in astounding ways.  What can be done to achieve gender equality in the context of war?

Reference:
Turpin, J. (n.d.) Women confronting war.  In Ackley, K., Blank, G., & Hume, S. (Eds).    
             Perspectives on contemporary issues. (pp. 324-329). Toronto: Nelson

Media Coverage: Eye Opening or Misleading?

Gary Kleck brings up some very well thought out points regarding violence and the media in his essay “There Are No Lessons to Be Learned from Littleton”.  Kleck states that regulations and solutions cannot be based on freak occurrences of violence akin to Littleton as they are generally immaterial and could possibly produce difficulties.  Throughout the essay Kleck maintains that it is inaccurate to try to find a reason for violent crime by using out of the ordinary acts of violence, as each occurrence is quite different in detail.  Kleck also points out that one of the repercussions of mass shootings in schools is a surge of emotion and fear in our society; the media plays on these feelings of horror and a media whirlwind ensues.

Kleck brings up the fact that recent trends do not support the media’s reports that gun violence is growing.  This is an effective example as people who read or watch the media coverage may easily get the impression that this is an emergent issue.  By giving six different examples that indicate a decline in gun violence and mass murders, Kleck does not leave much room for disagreement. 

It is also difficult to disagree with Kleck’s point that finding a solution for these bizarre occurrences of gun violence is not necessarily helpful as each occurrence differs in aspect.  For example: in each mass shooting that Kleck writes about, all of the gunmen acquired their guns in different ways.  How is it possible to solve this problem by adding more gun control if there is no obvious flaw in the current gun control regulations? 

Kleck’s use of the appeal to reason is very successful.  He uses relevant facts and does not rely on the use of emotion to persuade his reader.  Using pathos in his essay would not be all that effective considering one of the points he makes is in regards to the emotion that is played upon by the media in the aftermath of these tragedies.  By choosing to use a logical argument he increases the validity of this point.

Kleck uses a clear and informative writing technique in this essay.  His use of language proves that he is both intelligent and well-informed.  I found his argument convincing and his ideas thought-provoking.

 How important is it to question the portrayal of events in the media and the motives behind those portrayals?

Unconvinced

Sissela Bok’s excerpt titled “Aggression:  The Impact of Media Violence” is not very convincing.  Bok uses the Logos appeal, however, not effectively.  After reading the title I expected to read solid evidence regarding the issue of media violence and its contribution to aggression.  I found that Bok’s thesis was somewhat convoluted and more of a discussion as opposed to a statement.  Bok attempts to convince the reader of the correlation between aggression and media violence, but her sources do not come across as credible or factual. 

The first instance of this is Bok’s use of John Grisham as an example.  Grisham’s friend was murdered by a young woman and her boyfriend after the couple repeatedly watched Oliver Stone’s film Natural Born Killers.  Grisham reacts by writing “in protest against the film” and proposing legal action by relating films to breast implants as being “products.”  Bok goes on to write about the fact that Grisham himself has written many books that have been converted to films and contain violence.  This gives the impression that Grisham’s protest is based purely on emotions which does not help Bok’s cause. 

Bok chooses to use psychiatrist Brandon S. Centerwall’s studies of “white homicide” in this piece.  These studies show that violence has risen with the launch of television.  This also is a weak example as “his conclusions have been criticized for not taking into account other factors, such as population changes during the time period studied, that might also play a role in changing crime rates.”

While this piece made me think about the issue of aggression and how it relates to the portrayal of violence in the media, I am not convinced one way or another. 

Can television be properly viewed as increasing aggression when you consider the numerous historical examples of violence and aggression?  Consider Ghengis Khan and many others.