TOW #22: "Good Riddance, Fred Phelps" by David Von Drehle

The passing of Fred Phelps, leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, five days ago
  resulted in media and Internet fanfare.

On March 19th, Fred Phelps, one of the most infamous figures in American culture passed away at the age of eighty-four. His death was marked by Internet celebrations, extensive news coverage, and numerous obituaries, all detailing the history and hatefulness of Phelps's congregation, the Westboro Baptist Church. However, in "Good Riddance, Fred Phelps", an opinion piece featured in Time Magazine, David Von Drehle successfully argues that Phelps stood out not just because he was a fanatically religious, homophobic bigot, but because he had a desperate thirst for publicity and was skilled at getting it.
One of the most distinct features of Von Drehle's piece is his hostile tone. The tagline is "He was the kind of person no one wanted to be around", which grabs the reader's attention. Von Drehle opens the article with the words, "Fred Phelps, a colossal jerk, died... after a long life in which even his few admirable achievements... stemmed from a deeply disagreeable personality." He says the Westboro Baptist Church was an example of "dishonesty and shabbiness" and that Phelps' genius for publicity is "the reason not to despair over a life like Fred Phelps's." Von Drehle's tone makes it quite obvious to readers that even though he may be acclaiming Phelps's ability to get attention, he still believes that Phelps was a horrible human being.
In order to prove that Phelps proved himself to be an apt attention-seeker, Von Drehele describes the manner in which he did this. He talks about how using the word "church", making signs that said God, not Phelps, hated homosexuals, and bringing his family to protests made people identify Phelps and his followers with other religious conflicts and "gave the impression of numbers". The intensity of Phelps's beliefs, Von Drehle argues, made him seem all the more shocking and worthy of media coverage. To demonstrate the effectiveness of Phelps's efforts, Von Drehle mentions his own experience in the media: "... I watched as one journalist after another took Phelps's bait." It is clear from all of these examples that Phelps made garnering publicity into an art form, and that this set him apart from all of the other run-of-the-mill bigots that preach hateful messages.


Article link: http://time.com/32564/fred-phelps-westboro-baptist-obituary/

TOW #21: "Paul Ryan's Irish Amnesia" by Timothy Egan

American politician Paul Ryan often talks about the hardship
faced by his impoverished Irish ancestors, but writer Timothy
 Egan says that Ryan neglects and demeans today's lower classes.

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, and as usual, everyone is celebrating Irish heritage, even if they don't have a drop of green blood in their veins. One of those proud Irish-Americans is Paul Ryan, a Republican politician who is best known for running for Vice President in the 2012 election. While usually no one would bat an eye at his antics, writer Timothy Egan fiercely condemns him in his New York Times essay "Paul Ryan's Irish Amnesia". Egan claims that Ryan, who does not support programs that help the lower classes, has turned his back on his Irish heritage and now acts like the aristocratic British did during the horrible Irish potato famine. He successfully argues this stance by comparing quotes from Ryan and British officials and by inciting readers' passion with his heated tone.

To prove that Ryan has forgotten the suffering of his ancestors, Egan compares the British refusing to send food to the Irish to Ryan refusing to support programs that benefit the poor and working poor. Egan does this by using quotes. For instance, he quotes Sir Charles Trevelyan, the Englishman in charge of "helping the Irish": "'Dependence on charity is not to be made an agreeable mode of life". Over a century and a half later, Ryan stated, "We have this tailspin of culture... just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and culture of work." Egan argues that the similarity between the two statements is quite clear, as is Ryan's role in this class conflict: he, like nineteenth-century Englanders did, believes that the poor are lazy and that their hardship is their own fault.
Another interesting feature of Egan's piece is how furious he feels about the subject. When criticizing Ryan's views on helping the poor, he describes him as having "a head still stuffed with college-boy mush from Ayn Rand" and called his statements about the poor "heartless remarks". Later, Egan calls an untrue story Ryan told about a boy who wouldn't accept his free school lunch "garbage". Egan's tone makes it quite clear to readers how he feels about both Ryan's political views and his ignoring of his heritage. It also makes readers more interested in the article: it is much more entertaining to read something written by a person who is passionate about the topic, rather than by someone who does not care. 

Article link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/opinion/sunday/paul-ryans-irish-amnesia.html?_r=0

TOW #20: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

These are the members of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, who were
viciously murdered in 1959. Their tragic story is the subject of Truman 
Capote's famous work, In Cold Blood.

In 1959, the Clutters of Holcomb, Kansas, were viciously killed in their home. Their murders and the six-week search for their killers captivated the nation, including talented screenwriter, playwright, and author Truman Capote. While writing his book In Cold Blood, he faced a challenge different from any he had ever encountered before: he wanted to be a pioneer of what would later be called "non-fiction novel-writing". Such works typically involve a huge amount of factual journalistic research, but the information is retold using methods similar to those used by writers of fiction. By alternating the story of the victims with that of the perpetrators and including an abundance of quotes and other pieces of research, Capote successfully blends fiction and non-fiction to create an innovative and captivating piece of writing.
In Cold Blood can be referred to as two stories in one book, as it switches between its 'characters', the Clutters (and the police), and the murderers, Perry Smith and Richard Hancock. For example, Capote alternates descriptions of the Clutter family's last hours and of the preparations Smith and Hancock made before killing them. Later, details of the police investigation are interrupted with information as to what Smith and Hancock did while on the run. This kind of structure makes In Cold Blood seem more like a work of fiction, as it is similar to the way that many writers alternate the points of view in their novels. It also contrasts the peaceful Clutter family with the unstable murderers, and the seriousness of the Clutters' deaths with the indifference Smith and Hancock felt towards the crimes. 
In order to write as accurate an account as possible, Capote went to the town where the Clutters lived and took thousands of pages of notes, interviewing residents and police officers about the family and the investigation. In Cold Blood compiles all of this factual information, which is the most obvious non-fiction element of the novel. One of the people Capote interviewed was Clutter family friend Andy Erhart, who said of patriarch Herbert Clutter, "Everything Herb had, he earned- with the help of God... He was a modest man but a proud man, as he had a right to be" (Capote 79). One section of the book includes a letter written from the father of one of the murderers to a court, as he tried to explain that his son was not a bad person. Genuine things like these examples are not found in fictional works, and they balance out the features of In Cold Blood that are common in fiction, aiding Capote in his effort to produce a non-fiction novel.
Although In Cold Blood was first published in 1966, it has truly stood the test of time, serving as an excellent example of both non-fiction novel writing and crime writing. It can be appreciated for its journalistic and fictional elements and for its ability to explain the unthinkable: the senseless murders of an innocent family.