Landry's Pundits

Joanna Weiss “‘The Help’: America pats itself on the back” The Boston Globe August 16, 2011 In “‘The Help’: America pats itself on the back,” Joanna Weiss analyzes ‘The Help’ and makes an intriguing comparison between the novel and Obama’s political power. Weiss describes the plot of The Help and goes into particular themes and ideas that the book portrays. For example, Weiss touches on “the social dynamic when poor women raise rich children as their own, then become their employees.” Furthermore, Weiss states that Americans “yearn for validation” and enjoy seeing the impact of good intentions. At this point, Weiss compares this ideal with the position of Barack Obama as president. Barack’s win in the 2008 Presidential Election exemplifies how Americans feel morally good with the idea that a black man can be president. Weiss closes with posing the thought that Obama represents how far America has come with the acceptance of race. Obama is the first black president, yet he is...

Joanna Weiss "About-face on the perp walk" But public opinion renders judgment, even when legal system cannot The Boston Globe August 27, 2011 http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/08/27/about_face_on_the_perp_walk/ In “About-face on the perp walk,” written by Joanna Weiss, she addresses a highly controversial topic– the accusations of rape against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He was arrested in May of 2010 for sexual assault, and since then, prosecutors dropped the charges because the apparent victim had lied previously about similar accusations. Weiss states that her initial reaction to the case was wrong. However, she leaves the reader with the feeling that the situation is unfinished and that we will never know the real story. Weiss writes with an informal tone as she begins the article with this statement: “SO I was wrong about the perp walk.” She writes very personally, and it sounds as though she is having a conversation w...

Joanna Weiss The answer: Zero in on reading The Boston Globe August 30, 2011 http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/08/30/the_answer_zero_in_on_reading/ The importance of reading is highlighted in Joanna Weiss’s article, “The answer: Zero in on reading.” She begins with an appeal to pathos as she describes the stress that parents face when school starts. Some parents worry that their children are being overworked and do not have enough free time, while others fear that their children are receiving a good education. The author includes this achievement gap to display the urgency for a different way to test other than standardized testing. The solution is a reading proficiency test by third grade. Weiss backs her claim with ample evidence, including her appeal to logos. A person’s reading skill level by third grade affects the decisions a person makes long term. For example, Weiss states, “inadequate third-grade reading skills are linked to b...

Joanna Weiss "Battling children’s obesity" Are avocados good for you? What about plain cereal? Parental food myths are part of a larger problem in our culture The Boston Globe September 6, 2011 http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/09/06/battling_childrens_obesity/ In Joanna Weiss’s “Battling children’s obesity,” she describes how children’s obesity is becoming an epidemic of sorts. Children’s obesity has one primary cause: the lack of nutritional education. Parents have the wrong ideas about what or what not to feed their children. She discusses the stigma of nutrition that the supermarkets and food industry display and how incorrect they are. Throughout the article, she quotes Dr. David Ludwig, who works at the child-obesity clinic at Children’s Hospital. Weiss follows the story of 10-year-old Ezra Fellman-Balu’s visit to Dr. Ludwig. In Ezra’s case, he was exercising regularly and eating what the majority of people think a...