IHWJ #2

In Life On the MIssissippi by Mark Twain, many people could say that Horace Bixby is not a
great teacher for Twain. This argument could be supported by saying that Bixby curses too
much or has a temper. Some might also say that he teaches "backwards" because he will allow
Twain to make a mistake or get an answer wrong, and then Bixby will go on to curse or insult
him before actually giving him the lesson. These things could be seen as big weaknesses and
flaws within his teaching style.
I believe that, despite Bixby's unusual techniques, Bixby knows what he is doing. I see Twain as
ambitious and passionate for wanting to learn a job like this; however, Bixby sees this as well,
and Bixby might be trying to break him down and show him that there are so many things to
know about the pilot position. I believe Bixby is trying to show him that it is definitely not easy,
and it takes a lot of effort to learn these things. On page 35 of Life On the Mississippi, Twain
starts to realize this, and he says," I began to fear that piloting was not quite so romantic as I
had imagined it was; there was something very real and work-like about this new phase of it."
Twain says this as he realized that he was to leave the comfort of his bed in the middle of the
night to work, and he is definitely realizing that this incredible job that he wanted has aspects
that he never considered.
Like I said before, I think Bixby knows what he is doing, and I see this on page 37. On this page,
Bixby insults and scolds Twain for not knowing the answers to his questions about the next
points on their travels; Bixby even questions the idea of Twain becoming a pilot. I think that
there is a chance that Bixby knew that Twain wouldn't know these answers and that Twain had
not been listening before when he was naming off the points of travel. I believe that Bixby's
intentions were to show Twain that being a pilot means to know all of this information off the top
of his head and that it is much easier said than done.
Personally, I don't know if I would work well under his teaching style. I would appreciate the
underlying intentions of Bixby's teaching, but I don't think I would respond well to it. I understand
that it could make Twain a better pilot in the future, but I think I would lose interest and any hope
that I would do well in the profession later on.

IHWJ #9

1. Fake news is news that consists of lies presented as facts in order to reach a specific
audience. This is harmful because people will listen to almost anything that suits their opinions
and beliefs even without looking at multiple sources or fact checking anything; when this
happens, it spreads further and further which can lead to even more misinformation. The
propaganda technique, card stacking, is present in a lot of fake news because the fake news
will distort evidence and not tell the whole truth. The article says, "That was exactly the insight
on which Harris said he built his transient business: that people wanted to be fed evidence,
however implausible, to support their beliefs." This shows exactly how card stacking stacks
"evidence" or cards in the favor of the ideas they are pushing.
2. Harris was able to reach so many people and make so much money because he made his
story in favor of an opinion owned by a large group of people. It was able to spread so quickly
because it aligned with the thoughts they already had, and people love it when they find
confirmation that they were right about something. They love it so much they won't even fact
check the evidence. In his story, he used a lot of specific detail, so that also contributed to
people believing it. Personally, I don't think that I would blindly believe just any article. The
article makes a comment about Buzzfeeds news; I like Buzzfeed quizzes, and I even have the
app, but I just laugh at the news headlines. I buy Harris's claim that he did the article for money
because it was a huge amount of money. Most people that have a lot of debt and monthly costs
would also do many things for easy money.