TOW #10 - Nonfiction Text: A Pickle for the Knowing Ones or Plain Truth in a Homespun Dress by Timothy Dexter - 1802

Timothy Dexter was an American businessman noted for his writing and eccentricity. A largely uneducated man, Dexter’s business practices were considered peculiar. Later in his life he wrote an autobiography entitled A Pickle for the Knowing Ones or Plain Truth in a Homespun Dress. Dexter’s autobiography is a collection of correspondence and chronicles penned by Dexter and first self-published as an anthology in May of 1802. The book contained 8,847 words and 33,864 letters, but no punctuation and its capitalization seemed random. He complained about politicians, the clergy and his wife. In his autobiography, Timothy Dexter uses anecdotal tales of his life, as well as written outside sources to highlight his life.

At first, he handed his book out for free, but it became popular and was reprinted for sale eight times. In the second edition, Dexter added an extra page which consisted of 13 lines of punctuation marks with the instructions that readers could “peper and soolt it as they pleased.” His style of writing is poor, with little attention to spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. The preface of the autobiography, not written by dexter, highlights the eccentricities of his life, “Dexter got up a mock funeral, which with all but his family and a few associates was to pass as real. Various people in the town were invited by card, who came and found the family clad in mourning, and preparations for the funeral going forward. The burial service was read by a wag, who then pronounced a bombastic eulogy upon the deceased. The mourners moved in procession to the tomb in the garden, the coffin was deposited, and they returned to the large hall, where a sumptuous entertainment was provided. While the feast was going on, a loud noise attracted the guests to the kitchen, where they beheld the arisen Lord caning his wife for not having shed a tear during the ceremony! He entered the hall with the astonished mourners, in high spirits, joined in the rout, threw money from the window to the crowd of boys, and expressed his satisfaction with every thing except the indifference of his wife, and the silence of the bells” (Dexter 5). Through this anecdote, as well as the others that comprise the autobiography, Dexter’s eccentricities can be seen. Dexter achieves his purpose of highlighting his life experiences and business ventures in A Pickle for the Knowing Ones or Plain Truth in a Homespun Dress.

TOW #9: Visual Text - Syrian Refugee Political Cartoon

In the midst of a civil war, many Syrians have been left homeless. More than four million refugees have been displaced across the world. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have found their way to Europe. As the conflict in Syria drives these refugees out, some western European nations have been accepting refugees at large into their countries, whereas others have opposed to taking in the refugees. In this political cartoon, Syrian refugees are caught in the middle as a hand adorning the EU logo and a knife with IS (Islamic State) on the blade push the refugees back and forth, representing the current situation the migrants are in. The refugees have nowhere to go, as depicted in the cartoon. The IS inscribed knife represents their inability to return to their homes, for fear that they may be killed in the brutal Syrian civil war. The hand of the EU pushing the refugees back representing the unwillingness to accept the refugees of many European nations. In the aftermath of the recent terrorist attacks by ISIS in Paris, the attitude towards refugees and the response to ISIS may change. Countries previously more accepting of refugees, especially France, may have different policies towards refugees and national security as time goes on and the French people reel from the recent attacks. Just as the U.S. responded to 9/11 with the patriot act and the deployment of troops into the Middle East, France has closed its borders temporarily, heightening security. Only time will tell if this trend continues with France, as well as the rest of Europe, in the coming months and years.

IRB Intro Post #2: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

For my IRB this marking period, I am reading Unbroken. Unbroken is a biography of World War II hero Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic track star who survived a plane crash in the Pacific theater, spent 47 days drifting on a raft, and then survived more than two and a half years as a prisoner of war in three brutal Japanese prisoner-of-war camps. 

Kevin TOW #8 - IRB Post: Children of the Flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz by Lucette Matalon Lagnado

Dr. Josef Mengele was an infamous SS doctor who experimented on people, affecting them even after the war ended. Children of the Flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the Untold Story of the Twins of Auschwitz tells of Mengele’s life from his childhood to his death in Argentina in 1979. The book describes in detail, including first person accounts, of the horrible experiments conducted by Mengele on twins, and anyone else he found “interesting”, in the extermination camp at Auschwitz. The authors of this book, Lucette Lagnado and Sheila Dekel, wrote this book because they wanted the survivors of Mengele's experiments to have their story heard and remembered. It had been difficult for these people to come out and tell their stories-- many had told no one of their experiences, not even close loved ones. Many tried to forget what happened. In this book survivors recount their experiences with Mengele, describing painful injections and Mengele's two sided nature; being kind and gentle yet sadistic and cold-hearted. "Mengele once put a needle in my arm--only the needle, not the syringe. Blood started spurting out. He calmly placed the blood in a test tube. Then, he gave me a sugar cube," (Solomon Malik, 65). The use of testimonies from survivors of Mengele’s experiences makes the story feel more real. A personal connection is drawn to the story, the personal first person accounts allow the reader to understand the truly appalling conditions of Auschwitz and Mengele’s laboratory.  Even after the war, Mengele continues to influence the survivors lives, some of whom never get full closure due to him getting away. This book serves as an opportunity for the stories of those victims of Dr. Joseph Mengele to be heard.