The Second Cold War-Timeline Analysis

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Alicia Brackel September 12, 2012 Page | 1

ENGL 357

Brooks

The Second Cold War:

An Analysis on The Bug Wars Timeline

Description

The Bug Wars is a timeline running from 1940 to 2005 that shows the battle between

bad bacteria and antibiotics. The bacteria that the timeline specifically looks at are

Staphylococcus aureus (which causes staph infections), Streptococcus pneumoniae (which

causes strep throat and pneumonia), and Escherichia coli(which causes meningitis). As new

antibiotics are discovered and designed, the bacteria are evolving in order to overcome the

drugs. The timeline maps the year in which the bacteria started resisting the different

antibiotics. In order to reinforce the fight between bacteria and antibiotics, the timeline has a

war theme.

The Bug Wars was published in the October 2005 edition of Wired magazine. Wired

magazine is a monthly magazine that reports on new and developing technology and the way it

is affecting the world in areas such as culture or politics. The author of The Bug Wars is

Patrick Di Justo, a contributor to Wired magazine. He reports mainly on science and technology

and writes the monthly Whats Inside columnfor Wired magazine (OReilly Media, 2012).


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Formal Analysis

Images and graphics are one way this timeline grabs a viewers attention. The main

image that grabs attention is the continuous image of the bacteria. Even though bacteria are

something that cannot be drawn realistically, the author represents the bacteria through video

game-like images. These images of the bacteria are detailed, but

abstract. McCloud uses a triangle to describe images. The three corners

of the triangle are abstract, realistic, and iconic. Images can fall on one

of the three corners or anywhere in between. On McClouds triangle

these images of the bacteria would be between the realistic corner and

the abstract corner. These images look nothing like true bacteria,

putting them in the abstract corner. The details, however, are realistic

rather than abstract or iconic. These images are similar to images we

have used to portray monsters. They show superhuman traits, such as

enormous muscles and frighteningly sharp teeth. These realistic details

give the bacteria the feeling of being scary and evil.

Patrick Di Justo uses other images in the timeline that make it

interesting. For each time a bacteria resists a drug, a skull and

crossbones is used to mark the time. Each time a new antibiotic is

discovered or designed, a red cross is used to mark the time. Both of

these images are icons that have meaning attached to them. The skull

and crossbones usually represent something poisonous. The red cross is

Abstract

Realistic Iconic


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often associated with medical aid and relief. Both of these images would be on the iconic

corner of the triangle. The same red cross is also on helicopters, tanks, and other things that

are used to fight the bad bacteria. This helps tie the timeline in with the battle images.

The textual material is somewhat limited. A description is given about the different

kinds of bacteria. These descriptions are brief, but concise. They are more informative and

scientific than narrative. For example, the description for staphylococcus aureus says it causes

everything from skin infections to toxic shock syndrome. More than half of all staph infections

found in intensive care units can be linked to a drug-resistant strain. These descriptions would

be placed on the realistic corner of the triangle. Another text block explains three different

ways the bacteria resist the drugs. These descriptions are a little more narrative than the

descriptions of the bacteria, describing the resistance with battle terms. For example, one

description says A bacteriums protein receptors morph so the antibiotic cant lock into them.

(Staph used this method to evade the penicillin family.) The title for this description is

Camouflage. Using words such as camouflage and evade make these descriptions a little

more narrative.

Closure


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more entertaining. Without the images, the audience would still understand the timeline, but

without the text, the audience would not know what the timeline is about.

Time in this timeline is represented as a straight line. Lines on the

timeline mark every year, while boxes with the year written in it mark

every five years. The length of each line is relatively short compared to length between two

lines. Because of this long space between the lines, the timeline could be compared to stitches.

The stitches help keep the timeline consistent with the overall war theme.

The color of the timeline helps reinforce the idea that a battle exists between bacteria

and antibiotics. It also helps to reinforce the realistic aspect of the timeline. By having the

timeline in color, the battle comes to life as cannons and

torpedoes are fired. The bacteria are green, a color often

associated with germs or slime. Having a gradient from a

lighter color to a darker color helps ground the battle

image. The text boxes explaining the three different

bacteria have a black background, while the box describing

antibiotics is white. The white background conveys a sense

of goodness and the black background conveys a sense of

evil. The heading for antibiotics is in a red font. This red

font with the white background gives it a medical feeling,

relating the text box to the overall war theme.


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Content Analysis

The main purpose of The Bug Wars is to persuade the readers that the bad bacteria

will eventually win the battle. Di Justo tries to persuade by giving facts about what has

happened in the past. By showing the readers all of the times the bacteria have resisted to

drugs, Di Justo is using logos to persuade that the readers that the bacteria will keep resisting.

The Bug Wars uses battle imagery to help support the main point. The bacteria are

portrayed as green scary monsters. We often associate monsters as evil. By portraying the

bacteria as evil monsters in battle action, Di Justo is emphasizing that it a battle exists between

bacteria and drugs. These battle images also help to make the timeline entertaining. They

make the timeline something that the audience will want to look at and read.

Evaluation

Overall this timeline was an effective way to persuade. The timeline is clear and can

easily be followed. It provides the right amount of information for the type of audience.

Because it is for a general audience rather than a medical audience, it gives good descriptions

of the bacteria and antibiotics that generally anyone could understand. The main purpose of

this timeline was to make a statement that the bacteria will keep resisting any kind of antibiotic

that we try and Di Justo clearly makes that statement. Through the use of images of the battle,

Di Justo helped the readers realize that a battle is truly going on. The urgency to fight the battle

was enhanced by the continuous panel, illustrating just how fast the bacteria are changing.

Even though the speed of the evolution may have been exaggerated in the image, it still clearly

makes the statement that we have to change our strategy in the fight against bad bacteria.


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References

Di Justo, P. (2005). The bug wars. Wired, 13(10), 52-53.

McCloud, S. (1993). Understanding comics: The invisible art. New York, Harper Collins.

O'Reilly Media. (2012). Patrick DiJusto. O'Reilly Community. Retrieved September 9, 2012 from

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/4994
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/4994http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/4994

The Second Cold War-Timeline Analysis

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