TOW #25- The Cover Of Ender's Game

Goals:

·      Pick something I am interested in

·      Make sure to tie it back to the original thesis

            Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card has become known as one of the best science fiction novels of its time, become a best seller, and become translated into a movie. However, in order to acquire all of those accolades, the novel first had to bring in a variety of readers and generate revenue.  Card’s original cover utilizes contrasting colors and names of awards won in order to attract its readers.

            When one walks into a bookstore and searches through the shelves, the first thing one sees are the covers of all of the novels. By illustrating the cover to have contrasting colors, Ender’s Game is able to appear bold and stand out on a bookshelf. When it came out in 1985, the graphics of the cover would have been considered impressive and aesthetically pleasing. Thus, in comparison to all the other books that would have been shelved in that time period, the contrasting colors would have made it more prominent and thus attractive to readers.

            By adding the numerous awards that Ender’s Game received on the cover, Card is able to attract readers by illustrating that Ender’s Game is in fact a quality book. For example by adding that Card is a “New York Times Bestselling Author”, the book is able to appeal to readers who want to read something with literary value or just want to read a book written by a popular author. Thus, by including the diverse awards that both he and Ender’s Game have earned, Card is able to attract more people to read his book.

            Even though many say never to judge a book by its cover, that can often is exactly what common people do. Thus, in order to have a successful book, it is often necessary to also have a successful cover. Card accomplishes that on the cover of his book Ender’s Game by using contrasting colors to make his cover stand out, and by naming awards to attract literary interest. It is through these strategies that Card is ultimately able to attract his readers, and ultimately have a successful book.

           

            

IRB Intro Post #4- The Other Wes Moore

The book I am going to read this last marking period is The Other Wes Moore. The book details the lives of two boys with extremely similar backgrounds. However, one grew up to become successful while the other is serving a life sentence in prison for murder. The book, written by the more successful Wes Moore, attempts to discover why boys with such similar backgrounds came to know such different fates. I chose this book due to a recommendation from Mrs. Smith and due to interest in the topic itself. From this book, I hope to gain insight into why different people meet certain fates while reading a unique genre of both an autobiography and biography molded into one.

TOW #24- Lost Girls by Robert Kolker part 2

Goals:

 -Properly analyze the effect of strategies

-       Don’t over-explain

-       One sentence conclusion

            In a case that is left unsolved, families search for answers, and the community comes up with their own conspiracies to provide answers for a mystery. The book Lost Girls by Robert Kolker, a man who frequently writes on criminal justice issues, shows an example of an American Murder Mystery in which all of the above are true. The story cannot truly have an ending, as the mystery behind the story has not been solved, or concluded. In order to illustrate the lack of a conclusion to the mystery as he concludes his book, Kolker utilizes a timeline and map and almost allows his audience to draw their own conclusions.

            Immediately after the story itself concludes, Kolker implements a map in order to draw a full picture of all major sites of evidence and suspects. In this way, Kolker allows his readers a full visual through which the audience can see the case.  In criminal cases, the location of crimes can be used as evidence in and of themselves. Therefore, by placing a map at the end of the book, Kolker allows readers to use the map to draw their own conclusions as to what makes sense, and to see the crime as a whole. By including this map, and drawing the audience in to observe it, Kolker successfully is able to create a feeling of uncertainty that is still present in the case.

            Following the map, Kolker choses to include a timeline of all major events and thus display all known evidence. This timeline all leads to the “ending” in which Peter Hackett, a suspect, is the recipient of a wrongful death lawsuit. However, this timeline does not show the results of this lawsuit, and thus illustrates the inconclusiveness of the case. It is clear that despite this lawsuit, this case remains unsolved. By showing all events to his readers in a single timeline, Kolker is able to provide a final conclusion to his book, which accurately displays the feeling of the case: inconclusive.

            Robert Kolker was, through his book, able to successfully implement a map and a timeline in order to conclude his book in such a way that suited an unsolved case, while also allowing his audience to draw their own conclusions.