Riley Kawola Portfolio

  Click here to watch me reflecting on my writing! 

                           Click here to view my analysis!  

  Click here to view my writing that analyzes this piece! 

            The New Yorker magazine is known for its vivid magazine covers, political cartoons, and depiction of popular social issues. One of their most recent magazine covers, “A Weight Lifted” by Barry Blitt is a cartoon representing a certain political issue. The image depicts a bald eagle carrying away former president Donald Trump in the sky. At first the image seems rather simple, but as you take a look there are a lot of little details that carry a big meaning. The background of the image is a baby blue, with subtle notes of white. The baby blue then fades down the page into a brown color. The blue takes up almost the entire page, except for a little bit of brown at the bottom. The background colors fade into each other easily, looking like a watercolor painting. The top half of the picture shows a bald eagle. The eagle is very large and takes up almost half of the page. The eagle is shown flying and stretched out. Its wings are angled above it...

 If there is one thing that society avoids discussing, it's the topic of death, especially the death of children. In the Op Doc Dying In Your Mother's Arms   Dr. Nadia Tremonti, a palliative care physician, who specializes in the death of infants talks about dying in a new light. Dealing with children who are approaching their last few days is no doubt a difficult job, but she brings comfort to families, and provides new ways to look at things differently. She spends a large amount of her time working with parents, and helping them with grief. She does not hide the truth, but delivers news in a sympathetic way. She explains to the parents that her job is to make sure that their child's time on Earth is as meaningful as possible. The documentary follows along Dr. Tremonti and her patients. While watching what the parents of these children go through, is heartbreaking, Dr. Tremonti's explanation of death helps to look at things from a different perspective. She said that ...

            Whether we realize it or not, toxic masculinity is plaguing the United States. In the movie  Tough Guise 2,  director Jackson Katz, describes what toxic masculinity is and how it is affecting men today. Personally, I had heard very little on the topic, and was shocked when I found out the truth about why many men behave the way they do.     Growing up as a girl, I was never shamed for crying or showing emotion. In fact, it was completely normal. But, I grew older and realized that men were not granted the same privileges. Katz explains why this is: toxic masculinity. From a young age boys are told to be tough and hide their emotions. And when they do show their emotions, they are called harsh nicknames and made fun of. Unfortunately, this type of behavior is cyclical, and roots back to old fashioned and outdated stereotypes. The idea that men need to constantly be tough and mighty, has very negative impacts. All of ...

In her TedTalk, Celeste Headlee talks about ways in which one can be a better conversationalist and gives ten rules one should follow when having a conversation. I personally found each rule helpful, and plan to implement as many as possible, but one in particular stood out to me. And I would like to share that rule with you. Headlee states "Don't Pontificate". She goes on to explain that everybody is an expert on something, and that you can learn from everyone. As I began to think about this, the impact of this quote really started to resonate with me. As I began to think, it became clear, that if everyone has something to learn, then everyone should be equal, and treated with the same respect. And this might seem like common sense, but it's shocking to see how many people view others "as below them". Handlee brings up great conversation points, but also shows how you should look at conversations as a learning experience. Handlee expresses a main concept th...