TOW #16: A Dark History: The Roman Emperors by Michael Kerrigan part 2

            This week I completed my reading of A Dark History: The Roman Emperors, by respected historical author Michael Kerrigan. The detailed accounts of the scandals in the everyday life of an ancient Roman emperor are just as riveting throughout the second half of the book as they were in the first. The latter half of this historical discourse covers the “Five Good Emperors”, Rome’s notorious emperor Commodus, and the “Year of Shame”, amongst other things. Published recently in 2008, this book gives the common first-world reader a modern look on some of history’s most storied rulers and ancient events. With astonishing descriptions and vivid imagery, the second half of A Dark History: The Roman Emperors powerfully wraps up hundreds of years of historical accounts, and leaves the reader with a lasting impression of the grandeur and complexity of ancient Rome. Though the purpose of the first half of the text (to provide the reader with a modern account of ancient Roman history) carries through to the end of the accounts, another purpose also emerges in the second part. Through usage of vivid imagery, the author aims to show that the scandals of the ancients, while sometimes shocking and socially inappropriate by current standards, are not such a far cry from modern life. Kerrigan’s elaborate descriptions of political upheavals and tempestuous relationships can be very reminiscent of affairs in relatively recent times. For example, the details of the reign of the murderous emperor Titus invoke some similarities to 20^th century political figure Adolf Hitler. Both harbored a deep hatred for Jews, and set out on a personal quest to exterminate the “Jewish problem”. Being able to make this connection due to Kerrigan’s imagery allows the reader to see how being informed about the ancient Roman emperors can be very useful and relevant in modern times. Being that I was able to make this connection, I would definitely say that Kerrigan was effective in his usage of rhetorical strategies to achieve his purpose.  

TOW #15: Happy waitress even happier after receiving astounding tip by: Lauren Tuck

            As I opened up my Safari browser to begin work on my post this week, an uplifting-looking article on the Yahoo homepage caught my eye. “Happy Waitress Even Happier After Receiving Astounding Tip”, written by Yahoo Shine Staff member Lauren Tuck, turned out to be a sunny little article highlighting a random act of kindness. Last week in Lincoln, Nebraska an 18-year old server at a Cracker Barrel was rewarded for her positive attitude and touching life story with a 6,000 tip from two unnamed male patrons. After asking for the restaurant’s grumpiest server and being told that no such server was present, the two men were directed towards Abigail Sailors. Sailors, known as the establishment’s happiest waitress, confided in the men that she was a student at a college in North Dakota, struggling to pay for her own education. Upon hearing that Sailors was going to be unable to return to school for her spring semester due to her inability to pay tuition, one of the men revealed himself to be an alumni of the same college and presented Sailors with the astounding gift of 5,000 for tuition and an additional 1,000 for any other needs. Sailors is the most recent recipient in the nationwide craze of leaving extremely generous tips for servers as a random act of kindness.

            The text is directed towards members of the general American public. Tuck appeals to the emotions of the average American in this piece through the usage of an anecdote taken from waitress Abigail Sailors, describing her difficult childhood being shuffled through the foster care system. Sailors’ tale, which she had recounted to the two men, involves being split up from her siblings multiple times and abused before being adopted by Susi and John Sailors. The inclusion of this anecdote is particularly effective in conveying the author’s main purpose, which is that random acts of kindness by strangers are an extremely positive thing to put out into the world, and can really change someone’s life. Tuck is attempting to give readers of this article a renewed hope for the goodness of mankind. I was inspired and moved by this article, and therefore would definitely say that the author was successful.