Monster Galaxy May Have Been Stirred Up by Black-Hole Mischief

     NASA's Hubble Telescope, a project of international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency, has recently obtained a new view of an elliptical galaxy that that astronomers believe to have been "puffed up" because of black holes in its core. This galaxy is approximately ten times wider in diameter than the Milky Way and is part of the Abell 2261 cluster. Astronomers believe this galaxy is bloated, because there are two black holes are closely orbiting each other collectively having the mass of billions of suns. A black hole is a region of space having a gravitational field so intense that no matter or radiation can escape. The astronomers think that if one of the black holes was native to the galaxy, the second hole would have been added from a smaller galaxy that was gobbled up by the massive galaxy.
     This article came from Science Daily, an American news website for scientific articles. The articles are selected from news releases by universities and other research institutions, making this source credible. The context surrounding this text is the newly taken pictures from NASA's Space Hubble Telescope.  
     Because it is more of a scientific article, there are no detected rhetorical devices found in this article.
     This article was written for other scientists, mainly astronomers. The reader can tell this by the jargon used such as "black hole," "galaxy," and "theory of general relativity." The purpose of the article was to explain several theories surrounding the existance of an incredibly large galaxy. I think the author did an okay job of explaining these theories, because even though a fellow astronomer would be able to comprehend what the author was saying, the average reader would have difficulty understanding what the author was talking about. Even though analogies are used such as "Expecting to find a black hole in every galaxy is sort of like expecting to find a pit inside a peach," the article is still very complex.

EU summit leaves controversial issues untouched

EU summit leaves controversial issues untouched by Ian Traynor was published in England's The Guardian. The Guardian, a British daily newspaper, has been in print since 1821, and its sister newspaper, The Guardian Weekly, circulates world-wide, making this a credible source.

     The article describes how the most recent European Union [EU] summit on Friday October 19th, 2012 failed to address the issue of stabilizing the euro, the EU's single currency. The main issue surrounding the controversy at the summit was deciding how best to formulate a new single supervisory, the European Central Bank. Disagreements between France, Germany, and Spain representatives means that it will be at least a year until the EU can tackle the european debt crisis. The European Union remains unable to currently resolve this issue and there are some important decisions that will not be dealt with until the next meeting in December.

     The author’s purpose is to inform his european audience about what is being done to confront the debt crisis in Europe. Greece is attempting to leave the EU and return to the drachma, its prior currency; however because of Greece’s debt, if they were to secede, the Central European Bank would lose a lot of money, and Spain, Italy, and Portugal would attempt to leave the union as well. Because of Ian Traynor’s use of diction and control of language, he is able to achieve his purpose. Traynor’s explanation of the events occurring at the summit uses simple yet intelligent language to help make a confusing topic uncomplicated.  This use of ethos helps the author to establish credibility with the audience. 

Andrea Hudy: KU's Secret Weapon

Andrea Hudy, one of the few female strength and conditioning trainers to work at the Division 1 level, has had a very successful career. At first, she was underestimated by her coworkers, but Hudy was able to prove herself worthy of working at that level. She helped to produce more than two dozen NBA players at Kansas and Connecticut, where she worked from 1995-2004. With this and many more accomplishments, Hudy definitely reached her goal in helping people care about exercise.
     Andrea Hudy: KU's Secret Weapon by Jason King, from ESPN.com (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network), is a credible sports reporting source.
     The author's purpose is to show that you should never underestimate a person because a lot of the time they will surprise you. This purpose is achieved through the author's highlighting of Andrea Hudy's successful career as a strength and conditioning trainer for Connecticut University and Kansas University, where she helped to win many NCAA titles.
     The context of this article is Kansas University's recent Mach Madness successes including past season's Final Four run as well as achievements in other collegiate sports.
     One retorical device used in this article is ethos, because the author is able to show the credibility of Hudy. By describing her victories, "She's helped transform 7-footer Jeff Withey from a frail, 210-pounder who could hardly get on the court into a sturdy, aggressive banger who set a record for blocks in a single NCAA tournament," her role in Connecticut and Kansas winning NCAA titles, and her education, Jason King makes it clear how successful she is at her job.

Angela’s Ashes Post #1: Chapters 1-3

The first three chapters of Frank McCourt’s book, Angela’s Ashes, describe Frank’s early childhood in New York and his beginning years in Limerick, Ireland. Francis McCourt is born and baptized in Brooklyn, New York, along with three younger brothers: Malachy, and the twins, Eugene and Oliver. When Margaret, their youngest sister, dies, the McCourts move back to Ireland. Angela, Frank’s mother, falls into depression after her only daughter dies. More troubles plague the McCourts when they move back to Ireland; Angela has a miscarriage, the twins, Oliver and Eugene, die, and Malachy (Frank’s father) continues to drink away the dole money.
     The purpose of Angela’s Ashes is to convey poverty and hardships of life in Ireland. A combination of the famine, lack of jobs, and religious conflicts, and the author explains Ireland as a country stuck with nowhere to go. A mature audience is needed to appreciate Frank McCourt's stark picture of poverty and family relationships. The memoir's context is the suffering going on for the impoverished in Ireland in the 1930s, these trials including losing three siblings, getting typhoid fever, and gnawing hunger.
     There are certainly many anecdotes in this memoir, and McCourt goes off on many tangents in the beginning to explain his parents’ background. Pathos is also used in Angela’s Ashes, but not in the conventional sense. McCourt remains oddly detached from his childhood and writes with such a matter-of-fact tone making him not whiny, but the tragic events happening to him makes the reader feel sympathy for him all the same.
     Angela’s Ashes has also won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, the ABBY Award and the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Biography, thus making the book quite credible.

 

A Date Which Will Live In Infamy

http://youtu.be/3VqQAf74fsE

In the midst of the World War II, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. In response to the surprise attack, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered a speech the next day in Washington D.C. entitled Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation. As the president of the United States, This speech was written for American citizens, and its purpose was to inform the American people what occurred in Hawaii on December 7th, 1941. 

     In President Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation, the president lists Japan’s unprovoked attacks on Hawaii’s naval base, Pearl Harbor and includes details as to why America should declare war on Japan. Explaining that it was unprovoked, he also lists the names of the other countries the Japanese army attacked. President Roosevelt stresses to the people that no matter what happens, in the end the United States will come out victorious. At the end of his speech, the president asks congress to declare war on Japan, and after the terrible attack, the United States felt as if they could no longer remain detached from the war that was going on in Europe. 

     The first line in this sentence is a rhetorical device. "December 7th, 1941: a date which will live in infamy," is an emotionally charged opener that appeals to pathos. Other rhetorical devices include anaphora (last night... last night...) and repetition of the idea of  victory, which is also an appeal to pathos.