The Subconscious Brain

              Benedict Carey, a journalist for the New York Times, wrote an article in 2007 titled Who’s Minding the Mind? He’s worked at The Times since 2004, and from 2007-2010, Carey was the mind columnist for Science Times.  Prior to this he’d worked at The Los Angeles Times writing about health, medicine and brain science.

                In Who’s Minding the Mind? Carey discusses various psychological studies carried out having to do with the behavioral nature of the subconscious. He explains, through studies by professors at Yale, Stanford, Florida State and more, that the brain acts based on cues it receives from the subconscious. Sometimes those cues line up with what the conscious brain thinks it should be doing and sometimes they do not. These studies attempt to explain why a person can begin doing one task and, halfway through, quit and begin doing something totally different without fully understanding why.

                Carey writes to the audience of readers at the New York Times and other individuals interested in medicine, science, and psychology. He is an effective writer to this audience because he explains complicated scientific terms and reasoning in a way that any reader could understand. For example, he briefly discusses the role the prefrontal cortex plays in memory and deliberate vs. subconscious actions. By first explaining that the prefrontal cortex was one of the first evolved traits in early humans, he provides added detail and context that allows readers to understand how this particular piece of the brain became so complicated and important in the role it plays.

                A rhetorical device used often in this article is the inclusion of multiple ‘asides’. Through these asides, Carey is able to explain various studies. For example, he explains an interesting study in which students were asked to sit in a room and eat a biscuit. When the faint smell of cleaning product was present, the students cleaned up their biscuit crumbs three times more than when it was not. These asides provide many examples that help to flesh out his overall purpose; however, they are not wholly beneficial. In my opinion, Carey didn’t always explain these studies enough and it made the article a tad difficult to follow at times.

 

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/health/psychology/31subl.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

World's Highest Standard of Living

 

 

          This picture appeared in an issue of LIFE magazine in February of 1937. It was taken by Margaret Bourke-White, a prominent photographer of that era. She was the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of the Soviet Industry, the first female war correspondent, the first female permitted to work in war zones, and the first female photographer for LIFE magazine (her photo being featured on the cover of the first-ever issue). What is known about the photograph above is that its subjects were supposedly flood victims. Other details have been lost with time and this makes discerning Bourke-White's purpose difficult. Many analysts speculate that she was trying to highlight the irony of the "American Way". As a nation, we've promoted this country to be "hope for the hopeless" and full of infinite opportunity. In reality, things aren't always so peachy. The Great Depression serves as the perfect example for a time that the "American Way" failed those relying on it. The 1930s also failed to recognize non-whites as part of the "American Way". Middle-class families were always depicted as white and well off, while any other demographic was pushed aside. Publishing this photo would have been very controversial because it drudged up the economic and racial issues that government was trying to minimize in the eyes of the public. This mural could even be deemed a form of propaganda. Its message is a blatant contradiction to the suffering taking place around it (i.e. the Great Depression). This photograph was meant for readers of LIFE magazine, but I believe Bourke-White's intended audience was larger than that. I believe she hoped this photo would become popular among an intellectual body that saw flaws in the system and would try to fix them. She predominantly used the rhetorical device of irony to get her message across. I feel as though she achieved her purpose because even 70 years later photography analysts still look to this picture as an effective example of political commentary on a very controversial issue. 

 

Source: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2008/05/31/worlds-highest-standard-of-living-if-youre-white-and-not-poor/

Sybil Exposed: The Extradordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case

          Sybil Exposed was written by Debbie Nathan in 2010. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, editor, and translator that specializes in writing about immigration, the U.S.-Mexican border, and sexual politics and sex panics (especially those prevalent in the 1980s). In this work she cites dozens of sources and hardly ever makes a claim without backing it up with something she's garnered from her extensive research of the "Sybil case". I believe her to be a credible source because of the way she chronologically details (in the book's introduction) how she came to know so much on the subject matter and because of the notes/bibliography she includes at the end. This topic is clearly something she is both devoted to and an expert in. The portion of Sybil Exposed that I have read introduces the fact and fiction of the fanatisized psychological pandemic of the '80s. In summary, a prominent psychiatrist named Dr. Cornelia Wilbur partnered with a journalist named Flora Rheta Schreiber and her patient Shirley Mason to write a book about Shirley's young life and psychoanalysis. Shirley's pseudonym for the book was "Sybil" and she was the first-ever patient to be officially diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder, or MPD. Supposedly, her symptoms came from severe childhood trauma brought on by her abusive mother. However, the stories are so horrendous and exaggerated it was thought that some may be fabricated when the case was restudied in the '90s. By detailing Shirley's real upbringing, much of which is dictated by her Seventh Day Adventist backgroud, Nathan serves to show that some of Wilbur's "facts" presented in the original Sybil novel are likely actually fiction. This book is written to any audience interested in the Sybil case or, more generally, the nature of early psychology and psychoanalysts of the 1980's. Nathan relies heavily on logos and often presents facts in chronological sequence, explains their reasoning, then presents her personal opinion/arguments based upon what she's just told the reader. She also has very strong word choice, and even if she is presenting facts in a certian segments, her use of adjectives often give away her personal opinion on a subject. For example, she uses the word "barbaric" to describe the mother's treatment of Shirley during childhood. Nathan also describes how she was as a young girl. This helps the reader to understand why she first became interested in the Sybil case while also making her more relatable to a younger audience. Although I haven't finished the book, Nathan's arguments have started out extremely strong and I predict she will accomplish her purpose of uncovering the truth about Sybil/Shirley by the end of the book. Likely she will pursue the argument that although Shirley exhibited signs of MPD, many of Dr. Wilbur's accounts were exaggerated because the psychologist craved credibility, fame, and fortune.

The Struggle for Girls in Congo

          Amnesty International released a special report with this front page:

    
          The article was written by Marie Claire in October of 2010 and details heartbreaking accounts of the sexual violence experienced by young girls of Congo. Since the start of their civil war 16 years ago, rape has been used as a tactic by Guerilla soldiers to demoralize entire towns. Amnesty reports that half of their rape cases worldwide are in the Democratic Republic of Congo and half of those cases involve victims under 15. In Congolese culture, woman who have been sexually violated are considered "soiled" and societal pressure causes their husbands to leave them (often to raise children on their own). Amnesty International is a human rights organization that often lobbies for political and religious prisoners, so although this article strays a bit from their usual purpose, they are still a very credible source for issues involving human rights. The front page references a three-minute film that was shown in English cinemas between movies in 2010 titles Unwatchable. The short film essentially encompassed the military assualt on a civilian home during which a young English girl is brutally sexually assaulted by soldiers and her parents killed. The film was produced by British "Hollywood", but largely publicized by Amnesty because its aim was similar to their own. The purpose of both this article and that film was to show Westerners that rape in the Congo is more relatable than they may think-- that the people being victimized are no different than their mother, sister, or daughter. I think drawing a parallel between these two cultures is an incredible idea to increase awareness of such a pressing issue. I haven't seen the film, but I believe this article was affective because of the personal accounts described (appealing to pathos) and the author's unique way of connecting to the audience using comparison.


http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_22145.pdf

A Piece from Banksy's "Cut It Out"

 

 

          This piece appears in the book Cut It Out, written by an English graffiti artist named Banksy. "Banksy" is obviously the artist's pseudonym, most likely adopted because his method of expression is a tad unconventional. He expresses his views of the world through public defacement, photographs it, then adds accompanying comments once he's compiled his favorites. These favorites are published in works like Cut It Out, which specifically served to express Banksy's view that society as a whole does not pay enough attention to various humanitarian issues. Accompanying this photograph he writes:

 

“The human race is the most stupid and unfair kind of race. A lot of the runners don’t even get decent sneakers or clean drinking water. Some runners are born with a massive head start, every possible help along the way and still the referees seem to be on their side. It’s not surprising a lot of people have given up compeating altogether and gone to sit in the grandstand, eat junk and shout abuse.
What the human race needs is a lot more streakers.” 

 

His audience is any viewer on the street or reader of his books but for the majority of his pieces it is clear that his purpose is for the reader to take action against various inhumanitarian things occuring. This particular piece features a child as the subject which portrays innocence, helplessness, and vulnerability. It would be difficult to pass by this on the street without stopping to read the child's plea. By appealing to an audiences pathos, or emotions, I feel as though Banksy accomplished his purpose.