12. Why the Taliban fears Teenage Girls

This article is about the shooting of Malala Yousafzai, a fourteen year old who is a well known advocate for female education. She was shot in the neck on the way home to school and the group responsible for this, the Pakistani Taliban, openly took the responsibility and claimed that she was "guilty of promoting Western culture in Pashtun areas." Yousafzai was brought to the hospital and the bullet was removed from her head, but the Taliban has promised that if she recovers, they will try to kill her again. The article explains how she became known for blogging about life under the Taliban at the age of eleven and how she was awarded a National Youth Peace Prize last year. According to the author, a teenage girl speaking for female education is one of the scariest things for the Taliban. He says that if there were more people like Malala Yousafzai, who are advocates of progress, education and enlightenment, the Taliban would have no future. The substance of Yousafazai's ideas are what really frightens the Taliban. Studies have shown that educating girls is the closest solution for countries that suffer from poverty, instability and general inequity. It is in a country with these conditions that groups like the Taliban thrive. For the ideas of Malala Yousafazai to spread would have meant the possible end of the Taliban.
The author of this article is William J. Dobson and he does an excellent job in getting his point across. The main purpose of this article was to explain why terrorist groups like the Taliban are scared of feminist teenagers, and through examples and statistics, he does exactly that. Dobson uses a formal tone to talk about the young Malala Yousafzai and through the statistics and research he did about the positive effects of female in education in society the reader knows that his information is valid and that this article is not solely based on opinions and theories. Dobson is also writing to an older audience, who knows about the situation in Pakistan and how oppressed the people are. This article was a success in terms of explaining why the Taliban fears teenage girls.

12. You Can Now Go to College in Germany for Free, No Matter Where You’re From

Yep. As of now, state-run universities in Germany will cost nothing. The good news doesn't only apply to Germans though, the tuition ban goes for international students too. However, ''campus life'' in Germany differs a lot from that of in the U.S.. There are only classrooms and libraries there, barely any extracurricular activities to get involved with. No dorms as well. Students either with their parents or in independent apartment shares. Also, while you can choose from a variety of courses in American colleges and decide what you want during your junior year, in Germany you apply for a specific program and focus only on that. There's no such thing as "expanding your horizons." Tuition may be free, however, Germany has higher tax investment in all thing public though, which is something to keep in mind before sending your kids there. This system is not better than the one in the U.S., it's just different. Many people can't afford college and having them for free is a huge investment and motivation for students to want to attend them. Maybe several colleges in the U.S should adopt this method and see whether or not education in the country is improved.
Rebecca Shuman, author of this article, does a great job explaining how colleges are now free in Germany. She introduces and explains the topic, and then goes on to explain how it differs from the U.S. She adds a bit of humor during the introduction by using German words which, because of the context, are understandable. The way she compares how colleges from both nations differ is concise and gives the readers a good understanding of the two methods of education. She is not biased and doesn't uphold either system, however, she does conclude by saying it'd be nice if the U.S. found a way to make education there a better bargain than a round-trip airfare to Munich.


http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/10/10/germany_college_is_free_there_even_for_foreign_students_why.html

#12 "Why It Matters That Michelle Obama Finally Wore Oscar de la Renta"

“The fact that Michelle Obama wore Oscar de la Renta on Wednesday at the cocktail party after her White House Fashion Education Workshop may not, at first, seem like a big deal.” It’s true. It does not seem like a big deal. However, it does actually matter. Oscar de la Renta is a well known and liked designer not only by celebrities, but also by the people that are related to the government and White House, such as Hilary Clinton and Laura Bush. However, it seems to be that the current first lady, Michelle Obama, does not really favor him. For the last seven years, she has never worn de la Renta. At first it could be justified by her lack of wearing designer for events, but within a few years, she was already wearing big names such as Ralph Lauren and Carolina Herrera. It could only be inferred as an omission towards Oscar de la Renta. So now comes in the question of why it matters. Michelle Obama decided to wear de la Renta at the after party of her White House Fashion Education Workshop, where numerous designers and “industry insiders” were present. By wearing his dress, she acknowledged the house (the brand) and its place in the American fashion industry. She was also sending a message to the “industry insiders” that whatever tension between the designer and her was rumored, it was not true. It was also, “perhaps, a covert nod to Mrs. Clinton, who is famously close to the designer (and whose maybe-possible presidential campaign Mr. de la Renta has already endorsed).” This might seem as reading too much into a piece of clothing. However, it is almost assuring that the first lady’s wearing of the designer was indeed to send a message, since she had never, in 7 years, worn him and when she did, it was in front of most of the Unites States fashion world.

             The article was very easy to read and comprehend. The author, Vanessa Friedman, used very casual yet polished language, and kept the article concise and direct. Friedman spices her article up by being somewhat funny and entertaining when she utilizes rhetorical questions and dramatic spacing in between paragraphs. Her not-so-strict form of approaching the subject gives just enough amounts of edge and drama to her article, which captivates the reader. Overall, her article is well written, being very interesting, concise, and easy to comprehend. 

http://runway.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/why-it-matters-that-michelle-obama-finally-wore-oscar-de-la-renta/?_php=true&_type=blogs&ref=fashion&_r=0

12. Why Nobody Puts Cheddar on Pizza

The article begins straight out with explaining what chemically happens when a pizza is baked. The water in the cheese mixed with the oil and fat begins to boil but has no place to escape as vapor so i causes the cheese to bubble. However, this process is different depending on the kind of cheese used. A cheese "with high moisture content and low fat content" will produce large bubbles causing the cheese to brown which is the "best part of a pizza"(3). This is why mozzarella is the best cheese for pizza because it is low-fat, high-moisture, bendable, and "brownable" (4). There is a camera and software used to measure the browning of different cheeses on pizza. The scientists would put grated cheese on the pizza and bake it for a certain time. They would then measure how much it browned and then put it through a series of tests. Mozzarella proved to be the best cheese for the job.

The tone of the author in this article is very light and casual. It feels like a friend telling you about something interesting he read on the internet. However, the author does provide backup evidence for his claim that mozzarella is the best cheese for pizza. He uses sources like BBC and even quotes the Journal of Food Science. It was a fun topic that was interesting to read about. The author did not make the article long so that it bored the reader. It was short, simple, and to the point.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/10/scientists-explain-why-nobody-puts-cheddar-on-pizza/381356/

12. How Clowns Became Terrifying

Author Sophie Gilbert begins the piece with a summary of the main villain in the Season 4 Premiere of American Horror Story: a clown named Twisty. She then proceeds to investigate where the irrational fear of clowns — coulrophobia — and the depiction of them as evil beings originated from. Two of the characteristics that may contribute to the common mistrust and wariness towards clowns are their unpredictable nature and their makeup. Clowns and jesters have always been known to disregard the accepted norms of society; they throw pies, squirt water, make fools of themselves. Seeing them break the rules of common sense makes readers wonder what other boundaries they'll cross. Also, their makeup — bright, fixed smiles that hide what expression is underneath — leads us to wonder "what's behind the mask." Gilbert believes that the first instance that traumatized people regarding clowns could be the report of John Wayne Gacy, clown by day, murderer by night. She then lists other examples that increasingly villified the image of clowns; Edgar Allan Poe's court jester who lit the king on fire, Stephen King's Pennywise the Clown in "It," Jack Nicholson as the Joker, among others. To Sophia Gilbert, there is only one place where clowns can still be appreciated and useful, and that is in children's hospitals, where studies have shown that clowns actually calm patients down.
Sophia Gilber's article is structured such that she uses historical examples involving clowns to support each of her points. This is a very effective way of convincing the reader of her argument. However, by doing so, her examples no longer follow a chronological order, which in the case of this article may leave the reader confused, particularly when Gilbert lists the growing number of "evil" clowns. Once past this, her article is very strongly built, and her supprting examples are actually used very well. She cites several studies and other writers, which add to the credibility of her piece, and she also makes several appeals to subjectivity and emotion, getting the reader to associate with her argumentation. These techniques do a good job of keeping the reader interested, as well as bringing unity to the piece. Overall a very good article, and an interesting analysis on a popular subject.

http://m.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/10/how-clowns-became-terrifying/381306/

12. What I Learned When My Children Fell Apart In Front of Me

In this article, Amy Julia Becker starts by talking about how she has been working on a book called "Small Talk," where she gathers 8 writers and talk about their small talk. However, in this article, she only talks about one writer, Sarah Hagerty. Hagerty is a married women that has adopted four children. She explains how one day, one of her most emotionally stabilised daughter, suddenly started to question about her adoption. She asked, “Why did my birth mommy leave me?” Then, her siblings also started to cry and asked, “Why did my birth mommy have to die? Why didn’t I ever get to know her?” and “Why is God letting my birth mommy die?” Hagerty was shocked, she didn't expect her children to suddenly start to cry. However, with this occurrent, she learned something else. She learned that the pain that her children were  receiving isn't a curse, but a blessing. She talked about how that occurrent was an invitation from God, so that the children would accept Him.

Becker does a good job explaining the story of what happened to Hagerty. She starts by introducing why she is writing the paper. Then, she adds the story where the children fell apart in front of their mother. Becker also does a good job explaining why Hagerty adopted that many children, because she wasn't able to bear children. Finally, Becker explains the story from Hagerty's point of view. She talks about how she never though that God was bad, but she has thought that God was bad to her. However, with the mess that happened in the car, she learned her lesson. Becker explains clearly that Hagerty learned why God gives pain to people, and how we should view that as a blessing. Therefore, even adults can learn important things from children.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/amyjuliabecker/2014/october/what-i-learned-when-my-children-fell-apart-in-front-of-me.html

11. Our Divided Country

Henry J. Fletcher, an author at the Atlantic, writes a very explicit and short article about America and its people groups. He writes that with the number of foreigners in America being greater than the number of actual Americans, the country is divided and in the face of war, could not possibly stand. The way to make foreigners Americans is to make their culture, from their country of origin, fade away. For without this, the people's loyalty would still be to their own country and not to America. This factor of the vast number of immigrants, is the reason for the lack of unity in the country. In the face of tension between America and another country, the foreigners in America would become traitorous to the U.S.
The article is written very explicitly, straight to the point with not beating around the bush. He writes in a very paranoid manner claiming that America is in danger due to the large number of disloyal immigrants. He does not include any examples or anecdotes and simply states the problem, why it is a problem, and the possible "solution"
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http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/08/our-divided-country/373434/