http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/asia/in-india-missing-school-to-work-in-the-mine.html?hp&_r=0
On February 2013, Gardiner Harris writes about the condition of life for some children living in India. He starts off by describing all the little details of the children who work on mines, he describes their clothing to the emotion they constantly feel. The writer uses different statistics to show how poverty, corruption, among other things are common in India, making it hard to have a simple and pleasant life, specially in places like Meghalaya. Meghalaya, as Harris describes it, is an isolated state that is located between China, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Gardiner Harris uses exemplification by telling different stories of kids and teenagers who do have any other chance is life, kids that can't see a future ahead of them. He also wrote about an orphan child who was forced to work at the mines.
Harris' purpose in writing this essay was to make those situations known by people all over the world. He uses exemplification and statistics to make people want to change this situation in any way. He clearly believes in a change that can only be done by the people, by every person doing something to help kids and teenagers in need.
Monday, February 25, 2013
26. The Invisible World All Around Us
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/02/the-invisible-worlds-all-around-us/273444/
Alexis C. Madrigal affirms that the microscopic world all around us deserves more marvel than people usually recognize. Madrigal starts off by acknowledging how much the microscopes have changed our lives and that we can no longer even imagine life without it. He relates to the feature for Aeon magazine, by Phillip Ball, and quotes a main selection to inform how extreme and wondrous the invention of the microscope had been for the human kind; not just technologically, but theologically as well. However, he quotes, that "there was nothing especially new about the idea of invisible worlds and creatures" because "belief in immaterial spirits, angels and demons was still widespread." Madrigal includes that people "drew on what they knew, religion, superstition, or even simply human life" since they had not yet a way of interpreting such microscopic wonders. Madrigal supports this statement with a text from the "late 19th century," quoting that a physicist George Johnstone Stoney claimed "that the physical universe is really an infinite series of worlds within words" and that scientist Edmund Fournier d'Albe believed that the microscopic world were mad of tiny 'infra-men,' making up a scale of a whole new world within us. In conclusion, Madrigal implies that the technology and the wonder of the microscopic world has "not received a sufficient amount of attention as a probe for meaning." This he accomplishes especially by comparing with people's typical marveling reaction at the "stars and galaxies that we now know exist," while there is a world just as wondrous, right in front of us.
Madrigal's purpose of presenting this article is to point attention and recognition toward the fascinating microscopic world and the technology which have led us to it. Madrigal relies heavily on the text from the past to demonstrate the actual impact of the revealing of the microscopic world to the human kind in a more realistic and intimate level. He intends this article toward an audience with basic understanding of the biological and microscopical discoveries in human history. With a level of factual writing that is easily understood, Madrigal focuses on the impacts of the microscopical technology on people rather than in science. He is able to effectively convey his purpose of appreciating the discovery of the microscopic world.
Alexis C. Madrigal affirms that the microscopic world all around us deserves more marvel than people usually recognize. Madrigal starts off by acknowledging how much the microscopes have changed our lives and that we can no longer even imagine life without it. He relates to the feature for Aeon magazine, by Phillip Ball, and quotes a main selection to inform how extreme and wondrous the invention of the microscope had been for the human kind; not just technologically, but theologically as well. However, he quotes, that "there was nothing especially new about the idea of invisible worlds and creatures" because "belief in immaterial spirits, angels and demons was still widespread." Madrigal includes that people "drew on what they knew, religion, superstition, or even simply human life" since they had not yet a way of interpreting such microscopic wonders. Madrigal supports this statement with a text from the "late 19th century," quoting that a physicist George Johnstone Stoney claimed "that the physical universe is really an infinite series of worlds within words" and that scientist Edmund Fournier d'Albe believed that the microscopic world were mad of tiny 'infra-men,' making up a scale of a whole new world within us. In conclusion, Madrigal implies that the technology and the wonder of the microscopic world has "not received a sufficient amount of attention as a probe for meaning." This he accomplishes especially by comparing with people's typical marveling reaction at the "stars and galaxies that we now know exist," while there is a world just as wondrous, right in front of us.
Madrigal's purpose of presenting this article is to point attention and recognition toward the fascinating microscopic world and the technology which have led us to it. Madrigal relies heavily on the text from the past to demonstrate the actual impact of the revealing of the microscopic world to the human kind in a more realistic and intimate level. He intends this article toward an audience with basic understanding of the biological and microscopical discoveries in human history. With a level of factual writing that is easily understood, Madrigal focuses on the impacts of the microscopical technology on people rather than in science. He is able to effectively convey his purpose of appreciating the discovery of the microscopic world.
26. 2 Palestinian Teenagers Hurt Amid Israeli Gunfire at Protest
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/middleeast/2-palestinian-youths-hurt-in-clashes-with-israel.html?ref=world
In this article, Jodi Rudoren writes about the two teenagers that were hurt at a protest. He begins writing by describing in more details what has happened: on Monday, two teenagers were badly hurt in Jerusalem, by Israeli soldiers that were trying to stop clashes and protests in West Bank that had been continued for the fifth day because of a Palestinian who had died in Israeli jail over last weekend. For this reason, the Palestinian president, spoke that they were going to make chaos instead of working towards peace. According to some Palestinian officers, said that this Mr. Jaradat had died while he was being tortured during interrogations. The writer, in this article, continues writing by mentioning the impact of this protest that it is having on people from other countries. For example, Rudoren writes about U.S Consulate General who said that a demonstration is always dangerous and warned U.S citizens to be aware of their surroundings all the time and to avoid large crowds. Then the writer ends the article by explaining the two teengers' condition according to the doctor. While the 13 years old is going through a surgery, the 19 years old is in an extremely dangerous situation.
The purpose of this article is to inform the readers around the world about a small protest, that is going on in Jerusalem, which has caused serious injury on two Palestinian teenagers. To purchase his purpose, Rudoren uses various different rhetorical devices. The diction of the writer, especially in the first paragraph, draws the readers' attention. For example he uses words such as "seriously" to emphasize the fact that this incident was something that had a huge impact on many people. Besides that, he uses allusions to Mr. Abbas, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Egyptian foreign minister, and some others.
In this article, Jodi Rudoren writes about the two teenagers that were hurt at a protest. He begins writing by describing in more details what has happened: on Monday, two teenagers were badly hurt in Jerusalem, by Israeli soldiers that were trying to stop clashes and protests in West Bank that had been continued for the fifth day because of a Palestinian who had died in Israeli jail over last weekend. For this reason, the Palestinian president, spoke that they were going to make chaos instead of working towards peace. According to some Palestinian officers, said that this Mr. Jaradat had died while he was being tortured during interrogations. The writer, in this article, continues writing by mentioning the impact of this protest that it is having on people from other countries. For example, Rudoren writes about U.S Consulate General who said that a demonstration is always dangerous and warned U.S citizens to be aware of their surroundings all the time and to avoid large crowds. Then the writer ends the article by explaining the two teengers' condition according to the doctor. While the 13 years old is going through a surgery, the 19 years old is in an extremely dangerous situation.
The purpose of this article is to inform the readers around the world about a small protest, that is going on in Jerusalem, which has caused serious injury on two Palestinian teenagers. To purchase his purpose, Rudoren uses various different rhetorical devices. The diction of the writer, especially in the first paragraph, draws the readers' attention. For example he uses words such as "seriously" to emphasize the fact that this incident was something that had a huge impact on many people. Besides that, he uses allusions to Mr. Abbas, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Egyptian foreign minister, and some others.
26.Children Work In India Mines Despite a Ban
In india underaged children face reality of life.Just two months before full implementation of a landmark 2010 law mandating that all Indian children between the ages of 6 and 14 be in school, some 28 million are working instead, according to Unicef. Child workers can be found everywhere — in shops, in kitchens, on farms, in factories and on construction sites. In the coming days Parliament may consider yet another law to ban child labor, but even activists say more laws, while welcome, may do little to solve one of India’s most intractable problems.Poverty, corruption, decrepit schools and absentee teachers are among the causes,
"Suresh Thapa, 17, said that he has worked in the mines near his family’s shack “since he was a kid,” and that he expects his four younger brothers to follow suit. He and his family lives in a tiny tarp-and-stick shack near the mines. They have no running water, toilet or indoor heating."
if they don't work in the mines these children would have no other jobs and no other way to feed themselves. The presence of children in Meghalaya’s mines is no secret.
The author portrays the sad reality the children in India are facing.He puts an humiliating tone to this article on how the indian government should feel embarassed that the children working in the mines are no secret and that it is serious for violating the laws of keeping children under 18 in school. the author uses exemplfiication to support his argument that something has to be done
"Suresh Thapa, 17, said that he has worked in the mines near his family’s shack “since he was a kid,” and that he expects his four younger brothers to follow suit. He and his family lives in a tiny tarp-and-stick shack near the mines. They have no running water, toilet or indoor heating."
if they don't work in the mines these children would have no other jobs and no other way to feed themselves. The presence of children in Meghalaya’s mines is no secret.
The author portrays the sad reality the children in India are facing.He puts an humiliating tone to this article on how the indian government should feel embarassed that the children working in the mines are no secret and that it is serious for violating the laws of keeping children under 18 in school. the author uses exemplfiication to support his argument that something has to be done
26. Customers are disappearing
http://www.salon.com/2013/02/25/customers_are_disappearing/
Robert Reich writes to the Salon on February 25th about the increasing unemployement rate in Washington. Reich begins the article by using a rhetorical question to show a basic principle of economy: the more you sell, the more you hire, and vice-versa. He then begins to explain the two types of existing costumers, the individual and the government. Then, Reich explains how both of these costumers are consuming less and less material due to their low income and in order to lower their spending budget. The author alludes to the Great Depression and closes the article by heavily insulting the government and its lack of logical reason in dealing with this current problem.
Reich's purpose with this article is to criticize the government and its tactics when dealing with economic and social issues such as unemployement. He uses references to past crisis, such as the Great Depression and clearly shows his intentions as he says: "It used to be that when consumers spent less, government stepped into the breach and spent more in order to keep people employed. That’s what we were supposed to have learned from the Great Depression."
Robert Reich writes to the Salon on February 25th about the increasing unemployement rate in Washington. Reich begins the article by using a rhetorical question to show a basic principle of economy: the more you sell, the more you hire, and vice-versa. He then begins to explain the two types of existing costumers, the individual and the government. Then, Reich explains how both of these costumers are consuming less and less material due to their low income and in order to lower their spending budget. The author alludes to the Great Depression and closes the article by heavily insulting the government and its lack of logical reason in dealing with this current problem.
Reich's purpose with this article is to criticize the government and its tactics when dealing with economic and social issues such as unemployement. He uses references to past crisis, such as the Great Depression and clearly shows his intentions as he says: "It used to be that when consumers spent less, government stepped into the breach and spent more in order to keep people employed. That’s what we were supposed to have learned from the Great Depression."
26. Wine Everyday
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/02/at-least-7-glasses-of-wine-each-week/273473/
The article "At Least 7 Glasses of Wine Each Week" written by James Hamblin talks about how after almost five years of endless research, scientists and researchers have finally come up with a new, controversial theory: a low fat diet is not recommended. The article says that a well balanced Mediterranean diet consisting of olives, nuts, olive oil, fruits and vegetables all helped reduce risks of a heart attack or stroke. There is a community in Loma, California which has a higher life span than the average American; a series of tests and researches have led to the conclusion that not always a low fat diet is best to live longer.
The author uses several different rhetorical devices throughout the writing. The author's choice of words for the title already captures the readers attention. The author uses argumentation and backs it up with real evidence from experts. The author also makes use of allusion to several things: Ikaria, Greece, Loma, California, and also mentions the name of the source of information: Dr. Steven Nissen, Gina Kolata, The New York Times, New England Journal of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic. The author also puts nutricional values of different kinds of Mediterranean foods and says that that kind of diet could increase life span up to 30% (use of statistics).
The article "At Least 7 Glasses of Wine Each Week" written by James Hamblin talks about how after almost five years of endless research, scientists and researchers have finally come up with a new, controversial theory: a low fat diet is not recommended. The article says that a well balanced Mediterranean diet consisting of olives, nuts, olive oil, fruits and vegetables all helped reduce risks of a heart attack or stroke. There is a community in Loma, California which has a higher life span than the average American; a series of tests and researches have led to the conclusion that not always a low fat diet is best to live longer.
The author uses several different rhetorical devices throughout the writing. The author's choice of words for the title already captures the readers attention. The author uses argumentation and backs it up with real evidence from experts. The author also makes use of allusion to several things: Ikaria, Greece, Loma, California, and also mentions the name of the source of information: Dr. Steven Nissen, Gina Kolata, The New York Times, New England Journal of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic. The author also puts nutricional values of different kinds of Mediterranean foods and says that that kind of diet could increase life span up to 30% (use of statistics).
26. The X Factor
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/television/2011/09/the_x_factor.html
Troy Patterson writes an article on September 22, 2011; informing readers about The X Factor. He starts his article, by explaining the competition that American Idol will have from now on; "The heir to American Idol arrives." He says that now, the X Factor presented "the biggest prize un the history of television." Patterson introduces his readers to the judges who will be critiquing the future stars; including main judge Simon Cowell. Patterson goes on to show many people who have auditioned for the X Factor, and how many of them will make it to the last round. He finalizes his article explaining that many times there are auditions who make people even vomit, but taking that out most are like a melody to your ears.
In this article Patterson tries to promote The X Factor to be something very enthusiastic to all people who love TV shows that portray reality. His diction throughout the article is very strong; they way he speaks of the TV show, it seams that he has watched it before and may even be a huge fan. He explains and emphasizes, that just like another reality show, there are some disappointing moments in the show, but it's part of the experience. Patterson Uses may examples to prove his point, on how "any one who is anyone," should watch the show. He chose a picture with two girls in the back, that portrays a little bit how the show is, and what its for. He has as caption of the picture, "Singers compete for $5 million on X Factor," showing that they show is not only entertaining but showing how people go there to win, its a competition.
26.Scientists Think They've Found a Lost Continent in the Indian Ocean
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/02/25/lost_continent_of_mauritia_nature_geoscience_paper_finds_microcontinent.html
In Will Oremus' article, "Scientists Think They've Found a Lost Continent in the Indian Ocean," he reveals the possibility of the discovery of a lost continent at the Indian Ocean. He starts his article by referring to William Blake and comparing his discovery of the universe through a grain of sand and geologists discovery of a continent. Oremus shows proof that the minerals they found called Zircon comes from older, conitnental crust. Some geologists think that a part of Mauritius must have crumbled when Madagascar was drifitng apart. Other geologists thinkargues that these minerals must have fallen from"from a ship's ballast or modern construction materials." Another interesting fact of where Zircons was found is that there is a stronger magnetic field than expected and these could hint other places where landmasses could have fallen. Oremus ends his article by suggesting that geologists may have found the key to find the fallen landmasses.
The author's purpose in writing this article is to reveal a discovery that geologists made and the possible future discoveries of landmasses. This article's audience would be geologists and everyone who is interested in geology. Oremus is able to show the different opinions of geologists. Some think that the Zircons are not a solid proof, since the mineral Zircon could have accidentally fallen into the ocean. While others think that it is a big proof, along with the stronger-than-expected magnetic forces.
In Will Oremus' article, "Scientists Think They've Found a Lost Continent in the Indian Ocean," he reveals the possibility of the discovery of a lost continent at the Indian Ocean. He starts his article by referring to William Blake and comparing his discovery of the universe through a grain of sand and geologists discovery of a continent. Oremus shows proof that the minerals they found called Zircon comes from older, conitnental crust. Some geologists think that a part of Mauritius must have crumbled when Madagascar was drifitng apart. Other geologists thinkargues that these minerals must have fallen from"from a ship's ballast or modern construction materials." Another interesting fact of where Zircons was found is that there is a stronger magnetic field than expected and these could hint other places where landmasses could have fallen. Oremus ends his article by suggesting that geologists may have found the key to find the fallen landmasses.
The author's purpose in writing this article is to reveal a discovery that geologists made and the possible future discoveries of landmasses. This article's audience would be geologists and everyone who is interested in geology. Oremus is able to show the different opinions of geologists. Some think that the Zircons are not a solid proof, since the mineral Zircon could have accidentally fallen into the ocean. While others think that it is a big proof, along with the stronger-than-expected magnetic forces.
26. "Why don't Americans (Knowingly) Eat Horse Meat?
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/explainer/2011/10/slaughtering_horses_for_meat_is_banned_in_the_u_s_why_.html
On February 25, Brian Palmer wrote a health article talking about why Americans don't eat horse meat. TheUnited States has prohibited slaughtering horses since 2007 yet many farmers complain because only America doesn't eat horse meat. The reason is simple, we love our horses and have developed a relationship with them that doesn't allow us to eat them, even though we allow ourselves to eat pigs, cows, and chickens. Horse meat is found in France, Sweden, and man other European countries. Also, a popular view among historians is that banning horse meat helped distinguish between Christians and pagans while others believe was to save horses for times of war. People who have eaten horse meat before say it is better than beef, sweeter and more tender, while others don't think it tastes good.
Palmer's purpose for writing this article is to show awareness to the people who don't et horses and to show how it is becoming a popular meat in other countries except America. Palmer uses a lot historical facts, including countries and past kings and how eating horse or not eating horse meat evolved. He allows the reader to understand why we treat horses differently from pigs, chickens, and cows.
On February 25, Brian Palmer wrote a health article talking about why Americans don't eat horse meat. TheUnited States has prohibited slaughtering horses since 2007 yet many farmers complain because only America doesn't eat horse meat. The reason is simple, we love our horses and have developed a relationship with them that doesn't allow us to eat them, even though we allow ourselves to eat pigs, cows, and chickens. Horse meat is found in France, Sweden, and man other European countries. Also, a popular view among historians is that banning horse meat helped distinguish between Christians and pagans while others believe was to save horses for times of war. People who have eaten horse meat before say it is better than beef, sweeter and more tender, while others don't think it tastes good.
Palmer's purpose for writing this article is to show awareness to the people who don't et horses and to show how it is becoming a popular meat in other countries except America. Palmer uses a lot historical facts, including countries and past kings and how eating horse or not eating horse meat evolved. He allows the reader to understand why we treat horses differently from pigs, chickens, and cows.
26. The War on Drugs Is a War on Kids
http://www.thenation.com/article/172895/war-drugs-war-kids
College students will use medicinal marijuana and other
drugs close to tests. But at the same time poor public schools, young children
are watched daily by police with drug sniffing dogs, get full body pat downs,
and have lockers searched all in a search for contraband. The war on drugs is
similar to Jim Crow: economic inequality, culture myths, and political
opportunism. The war on drugs has become a war on children. There have been
many odd plights. In Meridian Mississippi, children as young as ten were being
taken to jail for wearing the wrong colored socks or disturbances in class.
According to the New York Civil Liberties Union, about 77 percent of New York’s
school police interventions are for small non-criminal things such as being
lake or eating food outside the cafeteria. Only about 4 percent of police
interventions are responses to “major crimes against persons.” Teachers can do
little against this abuse of the children. With risk of losing their job they
are pretty much helpless. A principle was arrested for intervening as the in
school officers took away an honor student. While most of the targets are
children of color, all kids are in danger.
The article by Patricia J. Williams is a bit odd. Her title
is eye catching but misleading. There is more about children being arrested but
she says little about drugs in general. There are strong words like segregation
and Jim Crow to describe the injustices. Williams also brings up recent events
such as the Newtown shooting incident. She makes a comparison guns and drugs.
Williams’s article is odd and confusing at times. Her organization is random
and while she has good points she places them wrong.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
26. Is it Crazy To Charge People To Send You Email?
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/project_syndicate/2013/02/too_much_email_a_crazy_way_to_cut_down_on_inbox_clutter.html
Slate Magazine wrote on Feb 24th, about setting price limits on sending emails. Esther Dyson, the author of the article argues that the "main question is why should anyone pay to send e-mail when they can do so for free," introduced in the sixth paragraph of the article. She started her article with questions, and how clutters add to one's own list of "to-do things." Using the pronoun "you" throughout the article, Dyson established a more personal relationship with the reader, as if she were having a conversation with him or her. The use of questions was especially effective in her purpose, which was to persuade her audience to agree with her. Not only did she "talk" to the reader through her article, but also supported her argument, and displayed her knowledge regarding the issue discussed, as evident in the many examples she used, such as "Facebook," "Twitter," "LinkedIn," "Google," "Yahoo," "Microsoft," and others.
Dyson's main purpose in writing this article was to persuade the readers to agree with her, that recipients should set prices in the emails that are sent to them. The audience seems to be email users in general, especially businessmen and other company workers who often send emails. Her stand in the issue is not clearly evident until last paragraph of the article, which makes the audience read the article until the end. Her diction was simple to understand, and she varied her sentence structures throughout her article. Long sentences were descriptive and full of supporting examples, while shorter ones were direct to the point Dyson wanted to make. Furthermore, towards the end of the article, Dyson proposed a solution when she said, "To start you can simply set your price at, say, $1, along with a list of people who can reach you for free." She further explains her solution, and how it might affect the amount of incoming emails. In the last paragraph of the article, Dyson explained how some would take advantage of this system, but soon contradicts herself to reinforce the main goal, which is to make senders consider more carefully what kinds and to whom they send emails. Overall, the rhetorical tecniques Dyson used successfully made the article effective in showing her stand, her audience, and most importantly, argue her points.
Slate Magazine wrote on Feb 24th, about setting price limits on sending emails. Esther Dyson, the author of the article argues that the "main question is why should anyone pay to send e-mail when they can do so for free," introduced in the sixth paragraph of the article. She started her article with questions, and how clutters add to one's own list of "to-do things." Using the pronoun "you" throughout the article, Dyson established a more personal relationship with the reader, as if she were having a conversation with him or her. The use of questions was especially effective in her purpose, which was to persuade her audience to agree with her. Not only did she "talk" to the reader through her article, but also supported her argument, and displayed her knowledge regarding the issue discussed, as evident in the many examples she used, such as "Facebook," "Twitter," "LinkedIn," "Google," "Yahoo," "Microsoft," and others.
Dyson's main purpose in writing this article was to persuade the readers to agree with her, that recipients should set prices in the emails that are sent to them. The audience seems to be email users in general, especially businessmen and other company workers who often send emails. Her stand in the issue is not clearly evident until last paragraph of the article, which makes the audience read the article until the end. Her diction was simple to understand, and she varied her sentence structures throughout her article. Long sentences were descriptive and full of supporting examples, while shorter ones were direct to the point Dyson wanted to make. Furthermore, towards the end of the article, Dyson proposed a solution when she said, "To start you can simply set your price at, say, $1, along with a list of people who can reach you for free." She further explains her solution, and how it might affect the amount of incoming emails. In the last paragraph of the article, Dyson explained how some would take advantage of this system, but soon contradicts herself to reinforce the main goal, which is to make senders consider more carefully what kinds and to whom they send emails. Overall, the rhetorical tecniques Dyson used successfully made the article effective in showing her stand, her audience, and most importantly, argue her points.
26. When Mutant Mosquitoes Attack
In this article, Maggie Koerth-Baker discusses how new solutions to problems can cause pose new problems. She talks specifically about ways to deal with disease-spreading mosquitos. One solution which lowered the spread by 20 percent were nets. Nets prevent mosquitos from entering households through the windows. However, scientists observed that Malaria-spreading mosquitos, most of which feed at night, began adapting to nets by feeding at earlier times. Another example is how scientists are trying to implant the genes that fight off Malaria present in rats into mosquitoes themselves. That way, the mosquitos bodies would neutralize the disease before spreading it to humans. However, this could lead to a breed of mosquitoes that can't be controlled by today's techniques.
The author alludes to "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" to illustrate her point that new solutions may pose new problems and that the scientific community doesn't always take this into consideration.
The author alludes to "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" to illustrate her point that new solutions may pose new problems and that the scientific community doesn't always take this into consideration.
26. Why Some People Are More Likely to Catch a Cold
http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/22/why-some-people-are-more-likely-to-catch-a-cold/
This
article is very short, but contains some very interesting information that some
people may find useful. Writer Yue Wang
discusses how some people may be more likely to catch a cold than others. Wang uses a couple of sources and quotes for
her small article, seeing that she did not need much on this topic, colds,
after all, are not the worst thing that could happen to a person.
Seeing
that Wang is an intern and this is the only article of hers cached on time’s
website, it would not be fair to be harsh with her. She could have done a little better in how
she produced her information; it was a bit dull to read. She did, though, go to the length to gather
information from a journal, CBS News, and Researcher Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie
Mellon University about her subject.
26. Why $46 Billion in Pentagon Cuts Shouldn't Make Us Less Safe
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/02/why-46-billion-in-pentagon-cuts-shouldnt-make-us-less-safe/273408/
On February 22nd, The Atlantic posted an
article on the cuts being made on the Pentagon’s budget. The author writes
against those who say that the $46 billion dollar cuts will weaken the U.S.
military forces. He starts by describing and quoting what these people say
regarding the cuts and then explains that they make “cuts to their budget seem
scary”. He gives statistics to show that even with this lowering of the budget
the U.S. will still be spending more than it had been during the Cold War.
Other charts show that the U.S. spends more than several times the amount of
money other countries invest in their own military and has many more air craft
carriers than those of several countries combined. One of the reasons the
author says these officials are against the cuts is because “many people in the
upper echelons of the military-industrial complex are corrupt”. He then ends by
saying that if $46 billion dollars in cuts is enough to threaten national
security, then the military is really in the need of improvements.
The author’s purpose in writing this article was to
persuade his audience that these on the military budget are not going to
massively harm the U.S. national security. His main strategy is using
statistics to exemplify how these changes will affect the military compared to
previous years and to the investment other countries do in this department. He
uses hypophoras and establishes common ground with the readers when he says
that what the officials say seem to make the cuts appear to be extremely
harmful.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
25. Facebook Says Hackers Breached Its Computers
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/facebook-admits-it-was-hacked/?ref=technology
In this article, Nicole Perlroth writes about facebook that has announced that hackers have breached its computers just like they did do twitter some weeks ago. First, the writer draws the readers' attention by explaining to the them how this has happened to both twitter and facebook by the same hackers. When facebook employees visited a site for mobile developers, their computers were infected with malfare. According to Facebook company, they have not found any evidence that Facebook user data was compromised yet, however, on Feb 1, 250,000 Twitter users were accessed by the hackers. Then Perlroth goes on by describing how the hackers might have been able to do this. Probably they were able to use the security hole in Oracle’s Java software to steal information. Then he ends the article by explaining how these things are common nowadays, since personal informations are in the social networks. The rate of the attack is very high and even The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have been hacked. People say that there are two types of companies: "Those that have been hacked and those that don’t know they’ve been hacked."
The purpose of this article is to inform that the hackers are attacking through various types of social networks and is also warning the readers to be careful about their personal informations in them. The writer uses numbers/strategies and seems to use hyperbole and tone of exaggeration to surprise the readers. This way the readers will be more careful and be aware that the personal informations in the social networks can lead to serious problems and dangers. In addition to that, the writer mentions that these kinds of things are happening to numerous of American companies, so that the readers can be careful with all of the companies, even the ones that they think that are not vulnerable.
In this article, Nicole Perlroth writes about facebook that has announced that hackers have breached its computers just like they did do twitter some weeks ago. First, the writer draws the readers' attention by explaining to the them how this has happened to both twitter and facebook by the same hackers. When facebook employees visited a site for mobile developers, their computers were infected with malfare. According to Facebook company, they have not found any evidence that Facebook user data was compromised yet, however, on Feb 1, 250,000 Twitter users were accessed by the hackers. Then Perlroth goes on by describing how the hackers might have been able to do this. Probably they were able to use the security hole in Oracle’s Java software to steal information. Then he ends the article by explaining how these things are common nowadays, since personal informations are in the social networks. The rate of the attack is very high and even The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post have been hacked. People say that there are two types of companies: "Those that have been hacked and those that don’t know they’ve been hacked."
The purpose of this article is to inform that the hackers are attacking through various types of social networks and is also warning the readers to be careful about their personal informations in them. The writer uses numbers/strategies and seems to use hyperbole and tone of exaggeration to surprise the readers. This way the readers will be more careful and be aware that the personal informations in the social networks can lead to serious problems and dangers. In addition to that, the writer mentions that these kinds of things are happening to numerous of American companies, so that the readers can be careful with all of the companies, even the ones that they think that are not vulnerable.
25. It’s Neuromagic: How Penn and Teller Are Helping Brain Science (and Vice Versa)
http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/14/its-neuromagic-how-penn-and-teller-are-helping-brain-science-and-vice-versa/
A connection between a magical game and brain science, who
would have thought that they could so greatly affect each other? Interestingly enough, they are actually
greatly connected, and this article tries to explain how one person discovered
how.
On first sight, this article looks fun and enjoyable, but I
found that it is a bit confusing and lacks some details that could have made it
easier. Finding the connection between
things is always interesting and can cause imagination to flourish, but this
article, by Nolan Feeney, just does not have it. The purpose of the article is to describe the
relationship between a magic trick and something scientific, but it does not
entirely make sense. It does, however,
bring up how multitasking is practically impossible, and thus, magic tricks can
happen.
25. Extremists exploit woman who died from abortion complications
http://www.salon.com/2013/02/17/extremists_exploit_woman_who_died_from_abortion_complications_partner/
Steven Hsieh writes to the Salon on February the 17th about the protest held on last Monday at a funeral of a 29-year-old who died from abortion complications. Hsieh begins the article by describing the movement and who was involved in it, comparing the whole thing to the well-known Baptist Church's funeral picketing. Then the author cites a few people who took part in the movement and briefly comments on their sayings. Hsieh argues with one of the citations, made by Rev. Patrick Mahoney, using Psalms 52:2 to condemn their lack of respect and their negative choice of words when dealing with the tragedy.
Hsieh's intentions with this article are very clear when it comes to his choice of adjectives and diction, as he specifically refers to the group protesting as "anti-choice activists" and to their message and actions as "repulsive" and "exploitation." The author wants to condemn their movement and to persuade the reader to feel the same, as he'll find the movement as extreme disrespect and a dishumane action.
Steven Hsieh writes to the Salon on February the 17th about the protest held on last Monday at a funeral of a 29-year-old who died from abortion complications. Hsieh begins the article by describing the movement and who was involved in it, comparing the whole thing to the well-known Baptist Church's funeral picketing. Then the author cites a few people who took part in the movement and briefly comments on their sayings. Hsieh argues with one of the citations, made by Rev. Patrick Mahoney, using Psalms 52:2 to condemn their lack of respect and their negative choice of words when dealing with the tragedy.
Hsieh's intentions with this article are very clear when it comes to his choice of adjectives and diction, as he specifically refers to the group protesting as "anti-choice activists" and to their message and actions as "repulsive" and "exploitation." The author wants to condemn their movement and to persuade the reader to feel the same, as he'll find the movement as extreme disrespect and a dishumane action.
25. Masked Intruders Raid Greek Gold Mining Company
http://world.time.com/2013/02/17/masked-intruders-raid-greek-gold-mining-company/
According to authorities, Sunday night 40 masked attackers
raided the facilities of a prospective gold mine in northern Greek. They set
offices and machinery alight. For a while there has been some opposition to
setting up a gold mine and processing plant at Skouries in the Halkidiki
peninsula. Some residents who object say that there will be a destruction of
the environment and the pristine forest which would lead to the loss of
tourism. Also, other local activities would be lost. Hellas Gold, the mining
company, is 95 percent owned by a Canadian mining company called Eldorado Gold
Inc. The Greek government has been eager for foreign investments due to its
financial troubles. But there have bend disputes that led to protest and even
teargas or firebombs used. A police officer reported that the intruders tied
two security guards together, drenched them in gasoline, and then threatened to
set them on fire. One guard was kicked so badly that he needed hospital
treatment for bruising and respiratory problems. So far, police have detained
about 27 people for questioning early Sunday morning but all of them were
eventually released. Supporters of the mine say that 1,200 jobs have been
created in the area which has had long term unemployment. Angelos Deliyovas, a mine employee, said “Who are they who come
here and burn everything and threaten our lives? We care for our livelihood and
our lives. We have families and kids. The state should tell us what they are
going to do about this.” Many see the foreign investment as a vital help for
Greece’s economic problems.
The author, Costas Kantouris, uses this article to inform of
the happenings in Greece. There is background information given about the
incident. Both sides of the argument about the mine are presented such as how
some people are worried about the loss of forest and local activities which
include raising livestock, fishing, as well as farming. However, Kantouris also
provides the pro-mining arguments which include making jobs for a finically struggling
Greece. Greece’s dire economic problem is pointed and explained as well .The
additional information Kantouris gives helps to show why the attackers might
have attacked. Close to the end of the article, Kantouris tells about the mine
and the plans for it.
25. Stronger Gun-Control Measures Clear First Votes in the Colorado House
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/us/gun-control-laws-clear-initial-hurdle-in-colorado.html?hpw
Dan Frosch started his article published on February 16th, talking about the laws over restrictions on gun owners in the state of Colorado, "a state that has lived under the shadow of two of the worst mass shootings in United States history." Frosch included that fact that the state's House of Representatives were given approval of two important considerations - demand of background checks and placement of limits on ammunition magazines. The author argued that Colorado was a state which dealed more strictly with gun laws than any other state due to the "Columbine school shooting in 1999," and the increased influence of the Democratic lawmakers. Next, the author briefly recaped the debate on the issue between the Republicans and Democrats, where the latter proposed guin bills and were deciding on which one cleared legislative committees. Frosch concluded the article talking about two other bills that were preliminary approved by House lawmakers. One was concealing weapons on college campuses, and the other was charging gun buyers for background checks.
Frosch's main purpose of writing this article was to inform, mostly the residents of Colorado, about the state's proposals to new restrictions in gun controll. The author did not use complicated diction, which made it easier for anyone to read and understand the article. Though he wrote in an unbiased tone, it would be possible to say he supported the Republicans as evident in the examples he provided, which were mostly quotes and from Republican representatives. The author also talked about specific topics, such as the number of rounds in a magazine, which clearly portrayed his understanding in the issue. His conclusion though, seemed kind of abrupt and sudden after just having talked about two other proposals made by the Democratic party.
Dan Frosch started his article published on February 16th, talking about the laws over restrictions on gun owners in the state of Colorado, "a state that has lived under the shadow of two of the worst mass shootings in United States history." Frosch included that fact that the state's House of Representatives were given approval of two important considerations - demand of background checks and placement of limits on ammunition magazines. The author argued that Colorado was a state which dealed more strictly with gun laws than any other state due to the "Columbine school shooting in 1999," and the increased influence of the Democratic lawmakers. Next, the author briefly recaped the debate on the issue between the Republicans and Democrats, where the latter proposed guin bills and were deciding on which one cleared legislative committees. Frosch concluded the article talking about two other bills that were preliminary approved by House lawmakers. One was concealing weapons on college campuses, and the other was charging gun buyers for background checks.
Frosch's main purpose of writing this article was to inform, mostly the residents of Colorado, about the state's proposals to new restrictions in gun controll. The author did not use complicated diction, which made it easier for anyone to read and understand the article. Though he wrote in an unbiased tone, it would be possible to say he supported the Republicans as evident in the examples he provided, which were mostly quotes and from Republican representatives. The author also talked about specific topics, such as the number of rounds in a magazine, which clearly portrayed his understanding in the issue. His conclusion though, seemed kind of abrupt and sudden after just having talked about two other proposals made by the Democratic party.
25. A Secret for a Happy Valentine's Day
http://www.slate.com/blogs/scocca/2011/02/14/a_secret_for_a_happy_valentine_s_day_a_confidential_message_to_the_guy_who_was_just_in_the_elevator_and_to_other_guys_who_may_be_in_his_situation.html
On February 14th, Tom Scocca wrote a note to all guys explaining to them how to make their valentines date a lot better and simple. He starts the note by giving away some of his characteristics. Scocca tell them how a date usually goes, on valentines day. He begins to explain some small details that the guy may not notice but the girl will notice, even though she won't say it. Scocca tells the guy that the girl already has so many things to carry, that it wouldn't kill the guy to carry her puts. He even says that maybe the guy thinks that it is cheesy and will be embarrassed to carry it, but don't be because it is totally normal. Scocca says that since she is used to it she will probably not even ask, but if you do get it from her, it will take her by surprise making her very happy, and will appreciate what he did. He ends his note by saying, that the farther the evening goes, and her purse keeps falling off her shaders the ore she will get annoyed and that is a tragedy no one wants to happen. "Take the bag. Happy Valentine's Day."
In this note Scocca explains to the readers; who are most likely man, that there is no problem in taking the women's purse, they will appreciate it. He uses very strong diction and is very sure about what he says. He uses examples, that make the note more entrusting and makes the readers picture the scenario more clearly. Scocca emphasizes on how no one would like to end a beautiful night with a beautiful girl, as a tragedy. By following his instructions he guaranties she will be happy and that the date will go even better then they would imagine. Scocca contrasts the colors in the sky with the clouds to creat a more evening and calm look to the situation, creation a climax point. He ends his note by saying not to just take the bag but offer to carry it, but not hoping she'll say no, but say it like you mean it. Scocca's main idea was to give a good tip for a better Valentine's day, and his main audience was to the guy in the elevator and many other guys who may be or where in this same situation once.
25. If You Don't Want Girls Judged by Their Hemlines, Stop Judging Them by Their Hemlines
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/02/15/dress_codes_for_girls_they_don_t_teach_self_respect_only_respecting_girls.html
In the article "If You Don't Want Girls Judged by Their Hemlines, Stop Judging Them by Their Hemlines," journalist Amanda Marcotte asserts that girls should be taught to respect themselves by respecting them, not by punishing and humiliating them for their outfits. In her introduction, Marcotte hooks the audience's attention by arousing wonder on why "Middle school teacher Jessica Lahey is very concerned about her students." While she apprises her own credibility by citing a middle school teacher, she presents the audience with the topic issue in a more intimate level, from the view of a school teacher. Marcotte rewords the common idea that girls must wear clothes that "cover it up" if they do have respect for themselves, as a "notion that a woman loses her claim to respect if she shows an overt interest in sexuality," and calls it "sexism." Marcotte cites L.V. Anderson's acknowledgement (from a recent article) that most girls "will get tired of playing around with the tacky clothes" anyway, to support her argument that teaching the girls should be done by "ignoring their bodies completely and getting directly to the work of cherishing those minds and those hearts instead." For deeper understanding of her assertion, Marcotte also provides an example with disapproving comments about Beyonce's outfit in her Super Bowl show, that "telling women to cover it up is just as surely a form of sexual objectification as telling women to take it off."Marcotte effectively conveys her message mainly by using a middle school teacher's philosophies as her example, and citing other articles to support her facts and claims.
Amanda Marcotte's audience for this article is the general readership of non-specialists with an interest in the topic, including parents, teenagers, teachers, or observers of such issue. Marcotte's purpose is to persuade the audience that the best way to tell the girls that they don't have to expose their bodies to be noticed is by "acting like you believe it's true." The title, "If you don't want girls judged by their hemlines, Stop judging them by their hemlines," also directly reflects this purpose.
In the article "If You Don't Want Girls Judged by Their Hemlines, Stop Judging Them by Their Hemlines," journalist Amanda Marcotte asserts that girls should be taught to respect themselves by respecting them, not by punishing and humiliating them for their outfits. In her introduction, Marcotte hooks the audience's attention by arousing wonder on why "Middle school teacher Jessica Lahey is very concerned about her students." While she apprises her own credibility by citing a middle school teacher, she presents the audience with the topic issue in a more intimate level, from the view of a school teacher. Marcotte rewords the common idea that girls must wear clothes that "cover it up" if they do have respect for themselves, as a "notion that a woman loses her claim to respect if she shows an overt interest in sexuality," and calls it "sexism." Marcotte cites L.V. Anderson's acknowledgement (from a recent article) that most girls "will get tired of playing around with the tacky clothes" anyway, to support her argument that teaching the girls should be done by "ignoring their bodies completely and getting directly to the work of cherishing those minds and those hearts instead." For deeper understanding of her assertion, Marcotte also provides an example with disapproving comments about Beyonce's outfit in her Super Bowl show, that "telling women to cover it up is just as surely a form of sexual objectification as telling women to take it off."Marcotte effectively conveys her message mainly by using a middle school teacher's philosophies as her example, and citing other articles to support her facts and claims.
Amanda Marcotte's audience for this article is the general readership of non-specialists with an interest in the topic, including parents, teenagers, teachers, or observers of such issue. Marcotte's purpose is to persuade the audience that the best way to tell the girls that they don't have to expose their bodies to be noticed is by "acting like you believe it's true." The title, "If you don't want girls judged by their hemlines, Stop judging them by their hemlines," also directly reflects this purpose.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
25. Getting Preschool Education Right
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/16/opinion/getting-obamas-preschool-education-plan-right.html?hp
On February
15th, an article was published on The New York Times regarding
President Obama’s plan to invest on and improve preschool education. The author
introduces the topic by saying how Obama’s project has received a lot of
criticism from the Republicans. He then
cites the problems with strategies that try to improve preschool education such
as the effectiveness of the project and the costs of these programs. He also
says what these programs should look like by explaining the effectiveness of a
previous project conducted in the 1960s. After that, the author says what Obama
has done to start this initiative, giving details on the program such as its
range (“4-year-olds from families at or below 200 percent of the poverty level”)
and the source of funds (“cost-sharing partnership with the states”). The
author seems to support the president’s project by emphasizing on its upsides
and criticizing those who object right out of the gate to this program.
The author’s
purpose was to inform his readers and persuade them to agree with his belief
that the project to invest on preschool education is something worth
supporting. He creates some common ground with people who disagree with the
program by talking about the difficulties in designing an effective education
plan and compares them to one that worked really well in the past. He provides
the readers with information regarding the current progress in the issue and details
about the project itself. However, he does not assure the credibility of his
sources, but only says “officials have said”, “preschool researchers say”, “Countless
studies have found”. In order to persuade a stronger audience, more statistics
and their origins would be necessary.
Friday, February 15, 2013
25. "Democratic Lawmakers: Getting birth control should be as easy as 'ABC'
http://www.salon.com/2013/02/15/democratic_lawmakers_getting_birth_control_should_be_as_easy_as_abc/
On February 15, Katie Mcdonough wrote an article on the topic of birth control. There has always been a huge controversy on the subject of birth control. The White House goes back and forth on whether private companies should provide birth control to their women workers. However, the big problem that gets in the way are the Pharmacists. Therefore Senator Lautenberg and Republican Maloney have come up the "Access to Birth Control" (ABC) Act. This is the second time they law is trying to be made. ABC allows individual pharmacists to refuse to fill a prescription, but also ensure that all pharmacies will fill all prescriptions even if it has to be done by a different person. If this bill is passed it will help women get birth control in a faster manner. As Madonough said there should be no religious interference over this subject because it should be none of their business.
The reason Mcdonough wrote this article was to inform her readers about this new bill trying to be passed which would make the lives of women a lot easier. She provides a good paragraph on just the law itself, providing much detail and how it will work if passed. It seems that throughout the article she takes the side of birth control because in the end she agrees with a quote from the "women of Salt n' Pepper" saying that it is none of the pharmacists business if a woman wants to use birth control.
On February 15, Katie Mcdonough wrote an article on the topic of birth control. There has always been a huge controversy on the subject of birth control. The White House goes back and forth on whether private companies should provide birth control to their women workers. However, the big problem that gets in the way are the Pharmacists. Therefore Senator Lautenberg and Republican Maloney have come up the "Access to Birth Control" (ABC) Act. This is the second time they law is trying to be made. ABC allows individual pharmacists to refuse to fill a prescription, but also ensure that all pharmacies will fill all prescriptions even if it has to be done by a different person. If this bill is passed it will help women get birth control in a faster manner. As Madonough said there should be no religious interference over this subject because it should be none of their business.
The reason Mcdonough wrote this article was to inform her readers about this new bill trying to be passed which would make the lives of women a lot easier. She provides a good paragraph on just the law itself, providing much detail and how it will work if passed. It seems that throughout the article she takes the side of birth control because in the end she agrees with a quote from the "women of Salt n' Pepper" saying that it is none of the pharmacists business if a woman wants to use birth control.
25.Shock Wave of Fireball Meteor Rattles Siberia, Injuring 1,000
in Moscow this friday morning experienced an abnormality. looking at the window many students and other people who worked near could clearly see a white fume in the sky that passed like a jet, however it came to mind that it could be really a jet or a missile, but it contrary to their guesses it was a fireball meteor that injured thousand of people it was an apocalyptic cenario."Around 1,200 people, 200 of them children, were injured, mostly by glass that exploded into schools and workplaces, according to Russia’s Interior Ministry. Others suffered skull trauma and broken bones as scientists tried to piece together the chain of events that led to Friday’s disaster , on the very day a small asteroid passed close to Earth This meteor was unusual because its material was so hard it may have been made of iron, the statement said which allowed some small fragments, or meteorites, perhaps 5 percent of the meteor’s mass, to reach the Earth’s surface. Nothing similar has been recorded in Russian territory since 2002.
this passage is very clear at what it is trying to say, it gave exact numbers of the injuries, statemente of the injured people and th opinion of whar the interior ministry had to say about it and how the scientists quickly researached on what the materials where made out of informing everyone of the news and describing the apocalyptic cenario
this passage is very clear at what it is trying to say, it gave exact numbers of the injuries, statemente of the injured people and th opinion of whar the interior ministry had to say about it and how the scientists quickly researached on what the materials where made out of informing everyone of the news and describing the apocalyptic cenario
Thursday, February 14, 2013
24. Pope Says He Will Be ‘Hidden to the World’ in Retirement
In this article, Elisabetta Povoledo writes about the pope Benedict XVI's retirement and how he is going to be "hidden to the world". First, he starts the essay by describing the pope's announcement. It was four days ago, and he is the first pope to step down willingly in almost 600 years. He said that even though he is retiring, he believes that he is going to be always close to the catholic people, and they are going to be close to him. Then the writer goes on by mentioning some problems that pope had in the past, that people think might be the reason why he is retiring. Father Lombardi, for example, confirmed that pope had had an accident in March and had hurt his head. Also Vatican confirmed that pope had cardinal problems and had changed his batteries some days ago. However, the pope denied all of those reasons, and said that these things did not impact his decisions. Then the Poveledo ends the article by writing about the Father Martin's opinion about the pope Benedict ( “This is a man of God who at the end of his public role transmits his vision of the church and relationship with the church") and about Benedicts stance towards the relationship between Catholic and Jewish faith.
The purpose of this article was to explain the pope's retirement, which has surprised many people. Like mentioned in the article, it is the first time in nearly 600 years, which is the reason why millions of people were in panic. The essay seems to be mostly to the Catholics, since they were the ones that were in panic. The writer seems to be trying to "calm down" the Catholics, by explaining about all kinds of rumors that people have been spreading about the reason why the pope wanted retirement. He explains that all of these rumors are not true, and mentions people such as Father Martin that says that pope is the man of God and still transmits his vision of the church and relationship with the church.
The purpose of this article was to explain the pope's retirement, which has surprised many people. Like mentioned in the article, it is the first time in nearly 600 years, which is the reason why millions of people were in panic. The essay seems to be mostly to the Catholics, since they were the ones that were in panic. The writer seems to be trying to "calm down" the Catholics, by explaining about all kinds of rumors that people have been spreading about the reason why the pope wanted retirement. He explains that all of these rumors are not true, and mentions people such as Father Martin that says that pope is the man of God and still transmits his vision of the church and relationship with the church.
24. Leaked hospital report includes dark details of Savita Halappanavar’s death
http://www.salon.com/2013/02/14/leaked_hospital_report_includes_dark_details_of_savita_halapanavars_death/
Katie McDonough writes to the Salon on February the 14th about the horrible death of Savita Halappanavars and the causes that led to it. McDonough begins the article by reporting the demise of the 31 year old woman in the last week. She talks about Halappanavars condition when she first got into the hospital: the doctors informed the lady she was miscarrying, and when an abortion was requested, the hospital denied it claiming Ireland´s strict laws wouldn´t allow it to happen. Afiving after giving an overall summary of what happened to the deceased, the author goes into details on what happened at that hospital during the time Halappanavars was in there; with a checklist, McDonough describes the hospital´s imprudent lack of care. She closes the article by telling what measures are being taken on the case.
McDonough´s intentions with the article are to both inform the reader about the specific case of Halappanavar and to bring awareness to the whole abortion issue and its strict, unflexible laws in Ireland. She achieves her purpose by being very objective, but still inserting her opinions discreetly through the use of negative adjectives and strong language.
Katie McDonough writes to the Salon on February the 14th about the horrible death of Savita Halappanavars and the causes that led to it. McDonough begins the article by reporting the demise of the 31 year old woman in the last week. She talks about Halappanavars condition when she first got into the hospital: the doctors informed the lady she was miscarrying, and when an abortion was requested, the hospital denied it claiming Ireland´s strict laws wouldn´t allow it to happen. Afiving after giving an overall summary of what happened to the deceased, the author goes into details on what happened at that hospital during the time Halappanavars was in there; with a checklist, McDonough describes the hospital´s imprudent lack of care. She closes the article by telling what measures are being taken on the case.
McDonough´s intentions with the article are to both inform the reader about the specific case of Halappanavar and to bring awareness to the whole abortion issue and its strict, unflexible laws in Ireland. She achieves her purpose by being very objective, but still inserting her opinions discreetly through the use of negative adjectives and strong language.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
24. What Is It Like To Have an LGBT Child?
http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2013/02/11/what_is_it_like_to_have_an_lgbt_child.html
Quora Contributor wrote on Feb 11 about the story of her son's life and how she felt about having a LGBT son. She introduced her topic saying Dave, her son, was "very definitely born gay," but in the next paragraph revealed her thoughts about her gay son saying she "didn't care." She then briefly continued to talk about her son's life in high school and after college, and how Dave introduced his boyfriend Rob to his mother and was moving in with Rob. Later on, Contributor talked about how she revealed that her son was gay to her daughter when she called, and how later Dave called back his mother unhappy of the situation. Though Contributor also revealed Dave's "sister didn't care either," and that she was happy for him, she explained how she felt bad for taking away something Dave considered very important. She also said Dave and Rob were soon going to marry, and that she was fine with it.
Contributor's purpose in writing this article was to describe what it was like having a gay son. She approached the audience in a narrative pattern, and included herself as one of the characters in it (first person narration). Her tone can be seen as one of acceptance to LGBT people, as evident in many of her phrases such as "Well, we didn't care," "I'm glad they get a chance to be like everyone else. But to me, it doesn't matter... and that's fine with me," and others. She seemed to be indifferent to the fact that her son is gay when she said "We always supported him because he was Dave, not because he was gay." The article was well organized, and she included personal thoughts along the narration to show the reader how she felt about a certain issue or situation.
Quora Contributor wrote on Feb 11 about the story of her son's life and how she felt about having a LGBT son. She introduced her topic saying Dave, her son, was "very definitely born gay," but in the next paragraph revealed her thoughts about her gay son saying she "didn't care." She then briefly continued to talk about her son's life in high school and after college, and how Dave introduced his boyfriend Rob to his mother and was moving in with Rob. Later on, Contributor talked about how she revealed that her son was gay to her daughter when she called, and how later Dave called back his mother unhappy of the situation. Though Contributor also revealed Dave's "sister didn't care either," and that she was happy for him, she explained how she felt bad for taking away something Dave considered very important. She also said Dave and Rob were soon going to marry, and that she was fine with it.
Contributor's purpose in writing this article was to describe what it was like having a gay son. She approached the audience in a narrative pattern, and included herself as one of the characters in it (first person narration). Her tone can be seen as one of acceptance to LGBT people, as evident in many of her phrases such as "Well, we didn't care," "I'm glad they get a chance to be like everyone else. But to me, it doesn't matter... and that's fine with me," and others. She seemed to be indifferent to the fact that her son is gay when she said "We always supported him because he was Dave, not because he was gay." The article was well organized, and she included personal thoughts along the narration to show the reader how she felt about a certain issue or situation.
24. Obama's Wish List
http://mobile.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2013/02/barack_obama_s_state_of_the_union_address_the_president_brought_a_lot_of.html?original_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slate.com%2F
On February 13th, John Dickerson writes an article about how president Barack Obama claims that the only thing holding him back, is the Republican party. Dickerson begins his article by stating that on Tuesday night Obama already declared many new ideas, but the people in the audience are blocking them. He states that the President repeatedly said "We can get this done," even though mNy know it won't get done. Dickerson continues to say that now, they are stuck between the "reckless chts vs. smart investment. He also says that Obama; despite him not being aggressive towards the Republicans, that aggression should be expected because of the leadership of the Republican Party. Dickerson says that Obama is know trying to get these new ideas passed by the Republicans, but all they think when they hear "investment" is spend. "The President is arguing for more government and the Republicans Re arguing for much less." Dickerson ends his article by stating how Obama ended his speech very smoothly but powerful, when he talks about the lost lives in the past year, and how they also deserve to vote.
Dickerson writes and article to inform readers on why President Obama has not yet acted. He tells us that Obama claims that the only thing holding him back is the Republican Party. Dickerson uses strong diction when he tried to prove that Obama has a point and there should be more of a government. He uses comparison and contrast when he talks about the Republicans vs. Obama, he states that Obama is wanting to invest a lot on his country, while the Republicans want something much less and that uses less money. To make his point stronger he states some of the suggestions like; universal pre-school, secondary education, Medicare, etc, by stating these suggestions he informs his main point, which is to promote Obama. The real message though, was that there are a lot of ideas but one simple problem, the Republicans.
25. Help Shy Kids
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/02/help-shy-kids-dont-punish-them/273075/
Susan Cain, the author of the article "Help Shy Kids - Don't Punish Them," is also the author of a book which tackles the idea that introverts have great power in a world so loud. The author says that introverts should have their voices heard and that grading them by the amount of participation was wrong. The author mentions another book which says that introverts need to speak up and push through their own fears and get out of their comfort zones so that later they can live with confidence. The author mentions also that there are introverts who actually fear social judgement and introverts who simply prefer a more quite environment. The author then lists several ways to help introverts: use media, make them interact more with peers, wait before calling on them, strategize, etc.
The author uses several rhetorical devices in her writing. Cain uses a very subjective language to try to persuade readers that shy kids need help and not punishment. The author also mentions other experts in the area but later uses compare and contrast between introverts who fear and introverts who are simply quiet. The author mentions recent studies from University of Michigan and San Diego State University in order to prove and support the argument that shy kids are more self centered, a quality which helps living in society like ours. The author mentions back to the famous Rosa Parks who was famous not for delivering a speech but simply by saying a single no. The author ends with the famous: actions speak louder than words.
Susan Cain, the author of the article "Help Shy Kids - Don't Punish Them," is also the author of a book which tackles the idea that introverts have great power in a world so loud. The author says that introverts should have their voices heard and that grading them by the amount of participation was wrong. The author mentions another book which says that introverts need to speak up and push through their own fears and get out of their comfort zones so that later they can live with confidence. The author mentions also that there are introverts who actually fear social judgement and introverts who simply prefer a more quite environment. The author then lists several ways to help introverts: use media, make them interact more with peers, wait before calling on them, strategize, etc.
The author uses several rhetorical devices in her writing. Cain uses a very subjective language to try to persuade readers that shy kids need help and not punishment. The author also mentions other experts in the area but later uses compare and contrast between introverts who fear and introverts who are simply quiet. The author mentions recent studies from University of Michigan and San Diego State University in order to prove and support the argument that shy kids are more self centered, a quality which helps living in society like ours. The author mentions back to the famous Rosa Parks who was famous not for delivering a speech but simply by saying a single no. The author ends with the famous: actions speak louder than words.
24. Gangnam Squabbles
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/02/gangnam-squabbles-why-asias-pop-music-superpowers-are-trading-disses/272847/
Patrick St. Michel, the author of "Gangnam Squabbles: Why Asia's Pop-Music Superpowers Are Trading Disses," starts out his article with a very interesting argument: tensions between musical fan bases have increased as much as political tension between South Korea, Japan, and China. There was a controversial article which said that kpop would soon stop being successful in 2013 and the reason was that now there was a lack of Korean kpop artists promoting in Japan; in other words, kpop was slowly vanishing. Jay Chou, a Taiwanese artist famous in the Chinese-pop industry told people to stop dancing the "gangnam style horse dance" and to not let kpop wave overcome chinese pop. Korean groups like SNSD and KARA have been getting a lot of attention in Japan but tensions have only heightened. There was a lot of controversy also when Japanese artists waved flags such as the Japanese imperial flag which was very offensive to the once politically controlled Korea. The political conflict now mixed with the cultural.
Patrik Michel used several rhetorical devices in his writing. He included the picture of a Japanese artist which had provoked a lot of offensive views due to its political meaning. The author was successful in portraying both the cause and the effect of such tensions. The cause was mainly due to the political history of Japan, Korea, and China and also the fact that kpop had been booming much more than the two other nations. As a result, tensions broke out between musical groups. The author also used several facts to exemplify his arguments and used dates and statistics too. The author included lot of examples such as artists.
Patrick St. Michel, the author of "Gangnam Squabbles: Why Asia's Pop-Music Superpowers Are Trading Disses," starts out his article with a very interesting argument: tensions between musical fan bases have increased as much as political tension between South Korea, Japan, and China. There was a controversial article which said that kpop would soon stop being successful in 2013 and the reason was that now there was a lack of Korean kpop artists promoting in Japan; in other words, kpop was slowly vanishing. Jay Chou, a Taiwanese artist famous in the Chinese-pop industry told people to stop dancing the "gangnam style horse dance" and to not let kpop wave overcome chinese pop. Korean groups like SNSD and KARA have been getting a lot of attention in Japan but tensions have only heightened. There was a lot of controversy also when Japanese artists waved flags such as the Japanese imperial flag which was very offensive to the once politically controlled Korea. The political conflict now mixed with the cultural.
Patrik Michel used several rhetorical devices in his writing. He included the picture of a Japanese artist which had provoked a lot of offensive views due to its political meaning. The author was successful in portraying both the cause and the effect of such tensions. The cause was mainly due to the political history of Japan, Korea, and China and also the fact that kpop had been booming much more than the two other nations. As a result, tensions broke out between musical groups. The author also used several facts to exemplify his arguments and used dates and statistics too. The author included lot of examples such as artists.
24. Trouble in Creationist Paradise
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/02/ken_ham_s_books_and_museums_creationist_empire_starts_to_crumble_as_we_celebrate.single.html
Mark Joseph Stern presents his article, "Trouble in Creationist Paradise," to argue, through noting the Creation Museum's decline in attendance, that creationism is an illogical, "blind faith," dedicated "to undermining our country's commitment to sound science." In his introduction, Stern defines young-Earth creationism as "the idea that God created the Earth and humans in their present form within the past 10,000 years," and signifies that "46 percent," including last year's Republican presidential contenders "including Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum," have expressed belief in it. As he presents these facts, Stern states with satire that it is "holding strong" although it "might contradict the opinion of 99.9 percent of scientists." Likewise, Stern relies on logos and pathos in his cynical assertions throughout his whole essay, displaying dominant use of a sarcastic, mocking tone to discredit Ken Ham's creationist arguments and his attempts to spread the belief. Stern arouses uneasy feelings about Christianity from his atheist audience against Ham by stating that, according to Ham, "evolution scientists ...have obfuscated these undeniable truths [of creationism] with sinful lies and slander," and that "this moral is accompanied by an image of adults being cast into the burning pits of hell." Stern further accuses Ham of attempting to "indoctrinate" and "threaten children with an afterlife in hell" and threatening "adults with a living hell" in his books. Stern also points out one of Ham's belief that the belief in evolution is partially responsible for secular humanism and many horrific events such as "abortion, pornography, gay marriage, lawlessness," and the Holocaust, drug overdoses, and homosexuality. Stern uses this examples to arouse disagreements among the readers, because such topics are generally often discussed and studied. At the end of the essay, Stern includes that Ham's "Creationist paradise" is facing trouble: there was "a 10 percent decline in attendance" and the"fundraising for the Ark Encounter" amusement park "has slowed to a crawl." This part of his essay has a figurative implication that creationism is inferior and destined to fail.
Mark Joseph Stern's intended audience for this article is very broad and includes the general public who has the minimum basic knowledge about evolution and its background knowledge. It appears that Stern also intends to help decide the stance of those people who have no certainty about their beliefs on this topic. Stern's purpose is to persuade the audience that Creationism is foolish and illogical and to advocate continuous censorship of the theories of intelligent design and creationism in the education facilities.
Mark Joseph Stern presents his article, "Trouble in Creationist Paradise," to argue, through noting the Creation Museum's decline in attendance, that creationism is an illogical, "blind faith," dedicated "to undermining our country's commitment to sound science." In his introduction, Stern defines young-Earth creationism as "the idea that God created the Earth and humans in their present form within the past 10,000 years," and signifies that "46 percent," including last year's Republican presidential contenders "including Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Santorum," have expressed belief in it. As he presents these facts, Stern states with satire that it is "holding strong" although it "might contradict the opinion of 99.9 percent of scientists." Likewise, Stern relies on logos and pathos in his cynical assertions throughout his whole essay, displaying dominant use of a sarcastic, mocking tone to discredit Ken Ham's creationist arguments and his attempts to spread the belief. Stern arouses uneasy feelings about Christianity from his atheist audience against Ham by stating that, according to Ham, "evolution scientists ...have obfuscated these undeniable truths [of creationism] with sinful lies and slander," and that "this moral is accompanied by an image of adults being cast into the burning pits of hell." Stern further accuses Ham of attempting to "indoctrinate" and "threaten children with an afterlife in hell" and threatening "adults with a living hell" in his books. Stern also points out one of Ham's belief that the belief in evolution is partially responsible for secular humanism and many horrific events such as "abortion, pornography, gay marriage, lawlessness," and the Holocaust, drug overdoses, and homosexuality. Stern uses this examples to arouse disagreements among the readers, because such topics are generally often discussed and studied. At the end of the essay, Stern includes that Ham's "Creationist paradise" is facing trouble: there was "a 10 percent decline in attendance" and the"fundraising for the Ark Encounter" amusement park "has slowed to a crawl." This part of his essay has a figurative implication that creationism is inferior and destined to fail.
Mark Joseph Stern's intended audience for this article is very broad and includes the general public who has the minimum basic knowledge about evolution and its background knowledge. It appears that Stern also intends to help decide the stance of those people who have no certainty about their beliefs on this topic. Stern's purpose is to persuade the audience that Creationism is foolish and illogical and to advocate continuous censorship of the theories of intelligent design and creationism in the education facilities.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan of South Korea, whose country holds the monthly rotating presidency of the Security Council, emerged from the meeting before noon to read a statement from all 15 members that they had “strongly condemned this test,” and were beginning to work immediately on “appropriate measures in a Security Council resolution.” He declined to specify what was envisioned but emphasized that all members, including North Korea’s ally and neighbor China, wanted action that would convince the north to “abandon its nuclea
Sunday, February 10, 2013
24.Marijuana Linked to Increased Stroke Risk
New studies seem to only add more confusion over the health
properties of marijuana. In a presentation of the American Stroke Association,
researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand found that smoking
marijuana increased the risk of having a stroke. Yet, research published in the
American Heart Journal said that
marijuana smokers were no more likely to die than people who had not smoked
cannabis. Barber said, “We know cannabis can cause
changes in blood pressure and heart rate that are associated with increased
stroke risk. Importantly, it can also cause heart palpitations, [a sign of
atrial fibrillation]. And atrial fibrillation is very strongly associated with
stroke.” Dr. Murray Mittleman of Harvard Medical School led a study. It followed
almost 4,000 heart attack survivors for up to 18 years to investigate patterns
between marijuana use and heart attack patterns.109 of the participants had
smoked marijuana at least once in the year before they were hospitalized.
During the study, 510 patients died which included 22 marijuana users. The
study did not find a relationship between the amount of cannabis used and the
risk of death. However, earlier research found that an hour after smoking
marijuana is associated with a two to five fold increase in the risk of a heart
attack. Overall, the findings from the studies highlight the confusing state of
marijuana research.
The author, Maia Szalavitz, references two studies. She also
tells some about a presentation of the American Stroke Association by the University
of Auckland in New Zealand. Also, findings from the American Heart Journal are given. She gives some info on strokes
and smoking. Szalavitz also quotes Dr. Alan Barber the lead author of the
University of Auckland. This article is more to inform people. People
interested in health might be interested in this.
24. Baby Boomers: Not the ‘Healthiest Generation’
Many people believe
that baby boomers are among the healthiest people born, because of their longer
life spans. What people do not seem to
know, though, is that these seemingly healthy people are actually more prone to
diseases and disorders than their parents and people born in the years
before. “Baby boomers are living longer, so I think there
may be presumptions from that they are the healthiest generation,” professor in
family medicine, Dr. Dana Kinga said. “But
they are not in excellent health while they are waiting around to live two to
three years longer. Unfortunately they may be living longer with a greater
burden of chronic disease, and more disability. It’s not exactly a good public
health outcome.”
Author Alice Park did a passable
job with her article. The article is a
bit short and has a lack of research noted and could provide more sources. There are many statistics show, comparing
health within generations, but the article seems to lack support. It does have support and the purpose is
pretty straight forward, but for this article, I would personally like to know
more. This article is good, but does not
seem to satisfy curiosity.
25. My Abortion Story
http://www.salon.com/2013/02/06/my_abortion_story/
In Jaqui Morton's article, "My Abortion Story," she talks about her life after she had an abortion. Morton has a 3-year old toddler, who she loves dearly and takes care of everyday, however, before him, she already had a child. Her other child was diagnosed with Trisomy 18, a rare disease. Most of the people who had this disease would most likely not survive and even if they did, they would live their entire life with medical attention and no independence. Morton reveals that she would watch interviews of mothers who went through similar cases. There was a mother who was forced to listen to her dying child's heartbeat before having the abortion. She felt sorry for the mother, since she couldn't possibly imagine how it would be like. Morton talks about her post-abortion stress, and she reveals her wishes toward society. She wished that woman wouldn't be left alone to cope with grief. Morton ends her article with "I’ve heard that the DNA of our children lives on in our bodies for 21 years. I don’t know if that’s true. But I think of her every day." These sentences shows her sorrows and sadness toward the abortion.
The author's purpose in writing this article is to remember her child. She reveals in her article that, "I usually write poetry when I feel alone. I try to find ways to honor that baby’s presence in our lives and I’m writing this story because I wouldn’t want her to feel so alone." She wishes to reveal to the public, people who are going through the same problem and having difficulty with abortions, her feelings toward her child who was never born. Morton is able to express her feelings very well and make the readers respect her.
In Jaqui Morton's article, "My Abortion Story," she talks about her life after she had an abortion. Morton has a 3-year old toddler, who she loves dearly and takes care of everyday, however, before him, she already had a child. Her other child was diagnosed with Trisomy 18, a rare disease. Most of the people who had this disease would most likely not survive and even if they did, they would live their entire life with medical attention and no independence. Morton reveals that she would watch interviews of mothers who went through similar cases. There was a mother who was forced to listen to her dying child's heartbeat before having the abortion. She felt sorry for the mother, since she couldn't possibly imagine how it would be like. Morton talks about her post-abortion stress, and she reveals her wishes toward society. She wished that woman wouldn't be left alone to cope with grief. Morton ends her article with "I’ve heard that the DNA of our children lives on in our bodies for 21 years. I don’t know if that’s true. But I think of her every day." These sentences shows her sorrows and sadness toward the abortion.
The author's purpose in writing this article is to remember her child. She reveals in her article that, "I usually write poetry when I feel alone. I try to find ways to honor that baby’s presence in our lives and I’m writing this story because I wouldn’t want her to feel so alone." She wishes to reveal to the public, people who are going through the same problem and having difficulty with abortions, her feelings toward her child who was never born. Morton is able to express her feelings very well and make the readers respect her.
24. Mommy, can you put down your iPhone?
http://www.salon.com/2013/01/26/mommy_can_you_put_down_your_iphone/
In Toni Nagy's article, "Mommy, can you put down your iPhone?," she confess how technology is affecting her relationship with her newborn child and how she is taking measures against it. Nagy starts her article with her experience during the first months of when her baby girl is born. She reveals her negative feelings and admits that children are boring and annoying. Nagy shows that she always want to use her phone to have"Articles to read, seeing how many people liked my status update, friends to talk to, one more time with that status update, and Twitter feeds from celebrities." The author reveal that before she had a child, she never understood how parents could just shove a phone onto their child in a restaurant. However, now she understands it is a desperate measure to let the kid be quiet and not cause any commotion. In her last paragraph, Nagy reveals that to control her time using the phone, she has a phone curfew, where she takes care of her child and is exposed to other things. She also reveal that "Unless the future turns out to be a Zombie Apocalypse, humanity is only going to create a deeper reliance on technology, new media and social networking."
The author's purpose in writing this article is to show that technology is becoming a big part of people's lives. People depend on them to do everything, even to take care of their child. The author diction and syntax are unbelievable, it makes the reader doubt whether she is really a good mother. However, to her audience, which are most probably people who are facing the same problem as her, she is able to reveal her purpose of telling the truth about her feelings toward her child and how technology is also playing a big role in this problem.
In Toni Nagy's article, "Mommy, can you put down your iPhone?," she confess how technology is affecting her relationship with her newborn child and how she is taking measures against it. Nagy starts her article with her experience during the first months of when her baby girl is born. She reveals her negative feelings and admits that children are boring and annoying. Nagy shows that she always want to use her phone to have"Articles to read, seeing how many people liked my status update, friends to talk to, one more time with that status update, and Twitter feeds from celebrities." The author reveal that before she had a child, she never understood how parents could just shove a phone onto their child in a restaurant. However, now she understands it is a desperate measure to let the kid be quiet and not cause any commotion. In her last paragraph, Nagy reveals that to control her time using the phone, she has a phone curfew, where she takes care of her child and is exposed to other things. She also reveal that "Unless the future turns out to be a Zombie Apocalypse, humanity is only going to create a deeper reliance on technology, new media and social networking."
The author's purpose in writing this article is to show that technology is becoming a big part of people's lives. People depend on them to do everything, even to take care of their child. The author diction and syntax are unbelievable, it makes the reader doubt whether she is really a good mother. However, to her audience, which are most probably people who are facing the same problem as her, she is able to reveal her purpose of telling the truth about her feelings toward her child and how technology is also playing a big role in this problem.
24. "A Growing App Let's You See It, Then You Don't"
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/technology/snapchat-a-growing-app-lets-you-see-it-then-you-dont.html?pagewanted=2&ref=technology&_r=0
Jenna Wortham wrote an article on February 8 to the New York Times. Wortham begins talking about a new, popular app called Snapchat. This app allows you to send pictures and within seconds they are destroyed. This has become popular for that reason, the fact that they don't have pictures that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Many Facebook users are beginning to complain on all the advertising Facebook has. Snapchat has mainly become known as a way teenagers can send bad pictures with one another, without it haunting them back later. It has been shared through Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter which attracted even more users. Also, it is a more intimate way of communicating, showing emotions and not only words. However, since the age of the majority of users from Snapchat are young it has create somewhat of a problem due to the amount of negative content among them.
Wortham does a great job of explaining the situation at hand. She gives the reader well researched information about the application that continues to grow in the amount of users. This article can also help parents be more aware of their children's choices when dealing with a mobile device. The problem with this application is that none of the data is saved therefore young adults don't think twice before doing something that they should not do, which Wortham does a good job of showing to the reader.
Jenna Wortham wrote an article on February 8 to the New York Times. Wortham begins talking about a new, popular app called Snapchat. This app allows you to send pictures and within seconds they are destroyed. This has become popular for that reason, the fact that they don't have pictures that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Many Facebook users are beginning to complain on all the advertising Facebook has. Snapchat has mainly become known as a way teenagers can send bad pictures with one another, without it haunting them back later. It has been shared through Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter which attracted even more users. Also, it is a more intimate way of communicating, showing emotions and not only words. However, since the age of the majority of users from Snapchat are young it has create somewhat of a problem due to the amount of negative content among them.
Wortham does a great job of explaining the situation at hand. She gives the reader well researched information about the application that continues to grow in the amount of users. This article can also help parents be more aware of their children's choices when dealing with a mobile device. The problem with this application is that none of the data is saved therefore young adults don't think twice before doing something that they should not do, which Wortham does a good job of showing to the reader.
Saturday, February 9, 2013
24. Marco Rubio: Another Senator Who Doubts Global Warming
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/02/07/climate_change_marco_rubio_doubts_global_warming.html
In
the article Phil Plait wrote on February 7th, he criticizes Marco
Rubio for his response towards the global warming issue. Plait introduces by explaining
who Marco Rubio, a United States legislator, and says what angered him at
first. He even gave a link to a video showing Marco Rubio responding to the
question “Do you see global warming as a threat to Florida [Rubio’s home
state]?”. Plait supports the first part of Rubio’s response and provides
scientific evidence to back him up, but then he explains that such climate
changes are extremely rare. When Rubio’s says that he has seen reasonable
debate on the issue, Plait contradicts him by saying that these “debates” are
carried out by deniers of global warming “are not climate scientists, twist
data, leave out critical information, use cherry-picked graphs, and resort to
outrageous ad hominems to cast doubt on the reality of global warming.” He ends
by displaying his anger against people who deny global warming and says that “we
need to stop fiddling while the world burns, and start putting out this fire.”
The
author’s purpose in writing this article is to say how Marco Rubio is
unreasonable and is wrong with his opinion that global warming is directly
caused by human actions. Along with that, he also wants to persuade people who
agree with Rubio to realize that global warming is real and the drastic climate
changes are results of human actions. Plait uses a lot of evidence to support
his views, even the views he shares with Rubio. One would think Plait uses ad
hominem, attacking Marco Rubio, but he actually attacks his argument fervently
since he completely disagrees with him. The language is informal, using first
person and including the reader as well as using contractions. Plait is
effective to achieve his purpose since he uses direct language and a lot of
evidence to reject Rubio’s argument.
Friday, February 8, 2013
24.Just a storm? Not after the Hurricane
the year 2012 has been very tough for the northeasteners, early before this year the hurricane Sandy came by and they had been through many preparation by stocking up batteries and generation ,water ,food etc.. it brought along not only the storm but terror with it, making the americans vunerable. All the grocery stores were emptied out and lacked oil for automobiles At Brewers Hardware in Mamaroneck, N.Y., Anthony Lividini, the manager, said he was selling far more blizzard and power-failure supplies than usual for a winter storm, including generators that cost as much as $1,299. “People are getting nervous and coming out early because after Sandy they were unable to get supplies,” Mr. Lividini said.
this article involves many tense feelings involving the americans at the moment and gives adequate dictions . many exemplifications and many vivid feeling . it give actual explanations and real dialogues of how they are feeling right now, the author did a good job.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/nyregion/after-hurricane-sandy-preparing-for-snowstorm-with-new-urgency.html?hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/09/nyregion/after-hurricane-sandy-preparing-for-snowstorm-with-new-urgency.html?hp
Monday, February 4, 2013
23. Why Did Ray Lewis Have "Psalms 91" on His Undershirt?
http://mobile.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/02/03/ray_lewis_psalms_91_ravens_linebacker_s_super_bowl_undershirt_shoes_has.html
In this article Ohlheiser explains to the readers why the linebacker of the Ravens in his possibly last NFL game uses Psalms 91 on his shirt. She uses cause and effect showing that going through hardship may have resulted him to identify himself with this Psalms. She uses strong diction throughout her article explaining her point of view, and showing how Lewis has been enthusiastic and open about his faith, even to say that he most identifies with King David from the bible, because he is a flawed man but also is righteous and a warrior. Ohlheiser also states her opinion, whn saying that no one knows if he likes this verse because he identified with it, or if its because of past years injuries and fights. She ends her article very strong, by quoting the post-game interview phrase that Lewis said: "When God is for you, who can be against you?"
Sunday, February 3, 2013
23. Why Geeks Get Bullied
http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/01/why-geeks-get-bullied-its-not-necessarily-for-being-geeks/272723/
Noah Berlatsky writes the article "Why Geeks Get Bullied" to assert that bullying if often mainly evoked by class difference and unsatisfying gender role enactment. Berlatsky introduces his topic issue by narrating his own experience of being bullied in his childhood, not really because he was especially sensitive and dreamy, but because of belonging solely to a more privileged class than that of his peers. As he continues to use narration to demonstrate why bullying occurs, Berlatsky explains that a "geek" is probably bullied because of his different class, especially if it is of a more privileged. He also adds that another major cause is homophopia, though not just against kids who are gay. Those who don't seem, in variety of ways, to fulfill their gender roles are often made fun of, or bullied for that reason.
Berlatsky's purpose of presenting this article is to address the causes of bullying to be able to find a way to stop it. In the last sentence, he also uses the metaphor of the colored pieces of paper to represent the factors giving a chance for others to bully and make fun of, and states that "clutching those colored pieces of paper doesn't validate your worth. It just makes it harder to defend yourself." By adding this, Berlatsky implies that it is important to recognize the causes in order to stop the problem. He intends the article toward those readers who, perhaps, are bullied or have been bullied before to help them figure the reason why.
Noah Berlatsky writes the article "Why Geeks Get Bullied" to assert that bullying if often mainly evoked by class difference and unsatisfying gender role enactment. Berlatsky introduces his topic issue by narrating his own experience of being bullied in his childhood, not really because he was especially sensitive and dreamy, but because of belonging solely to a more privileged class than that of his peers. As he continues to use narration to demonstrate why bullying occurs, Berlatsky explains that a "geek" is probably bullied because of his different class, especially if it is of a more privileged. He also adds that another major cause is homophopia, though not just against kids who are gay. Those who don't seem, in variety of ways, to fulfill their gender roles are often made fun of, or bullied for that reason.
Berlatsky's purpose of presenting this article is to address the causes of bullying to be able to find a way to stop it. In the last sentence, he also uses the metaphor of the colored pieces of paper to represent the factors giving a chance for others to bully and make fun of, and states that "clutching those colored pieces of paper doesn't validate your worth. It just makes it harder to defend yourself." By adding this, Berlatsky implies that it is important to recognize the causes in order to stop the problem. He intends the article toward those readers who, perhaps, are bullied or have been bullied before to help them figure the reason why.
23. My fake college syllabus
http://www.salon.com/2013/01/26/my_fake_college_syllabus/
Adam Mansbach writes on January the 25th a fake college syllabus to the Salon. The whole article is separated into topics, as a normal syllabus: course description, books, contact information, grading policy, exams, academic honesty and office hours. Each have a brief description of what these will truly be like throughout the semester. Mansbach uses the standard layout, but his word choice is hardly standard. He's direct and blunt on his expectations, showing the students, and the reader, what a semester in a given course is really like.
Mansbach purpose is extremely clear when analyzing the diction chosen and his tone: the author uses satire to show how college professors and students tend to play disguised roles in class. The professors pretend to not notice things and to follow the supposed college protocol while students try their best to maintain a low profile and do as little as possible, giving "lame" excuses or acting as if they're somewhat special and worthy of the professor's recognition. Mansbach captures the essence of today's college experience in class and portrays his opinion through the article: college and classes are no longer an environment for learning and creating good, memorable professionals, it is rather a stage where all those involved play a specific role and get by it day by day.
Adam Mansbach writes on January the 25th a fake college syllabus to the Salon. The whole article is separated into topics, as a normal syllabus: course description, books, contact information, grading policy, exams, academic honesty and office hours. Each have a brief description of what these will truly be like throughout the semester. Mansbach uses the standard layout, but his word choice is hardly standard. He's direct and blunt on his expectations, showing the students, and the reader, what a semester in a given course is really like.
Mansbach purpose is extremely clear when analyzing the diction chosen and his tone: the author uses satire to show how college professors and students tend to play disguised roles in class. The professors pretend to not notice things and to follow the supposed college protocol while students try their best to maintain a low profile and do as little as possible, giving "lame" excuses or acting as if they're somewhat special and worthy of the professor's recognition. Mansbach captures the essence of today's college experience in class and portrays his opinion through the article: college and classes are no longer an environment for learning and creating good, memorable professionals, it is rather a stage where all those involved play a specific role and get by it day by day.
23. R.I.P Research in Motion
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/01/30/research_in_motion_changes_name_to_blackberry_unveils_new_blackberry.html
Will Oremus, the author of "Research In Motion is Dead. Long Live Blackberry?," tackles a very interesting event: the launching of the Blackberry 10 and the announcement of RIM's death and the rebirth of Blackberry. Actually, Research In Motion was renamed Blackberry and the company also unveiled a new software and two new smartphones which have decent hardware and inner specifications and price in order to compete with other leading smartphones such as the iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy. However, the author questions the company's ability to launch new devices which could possibly save the company but is hardly certain. The company is investing its efforts to capture consumer's hearts with user-friendliness notably the new Blackberry Hub and Blackberry Balance which are apps which help users easily access emails and textmessages. The company's shares which were $150 are now under $15. The company also will launch the Blackberry 10 to almost all countries and has also hired Alicia Keys as the global creative director for the company.
The author uses several rhetorical devices to achieve his purpose. The purpose of the writing seems to be informative: Research In Motion has changed its name to Blackberry and has been doing efforts to launch new smartphones to revive itself from the downfall. The author uses exemplification and a few facts to create the view that Blackberry is indeed in crisis but it's trying to live. The author includes statistics to show that the company's shares have dropped drastically and also quotes. The author also uses satire in the last sentence by stating: "Has the world learned nothing from Polaroid and Lady Gaga?" after stating that the company had hired Alicia Keys. The author also includes some specs from new Blackberry phones and software to show it still has some chance to live long.
Will Oremus, the author of "Research In Motion is Dead. Long Live Blackberry?," tackles a very interesting event: the launching of the Blackberry 10 and the announcement of RIM's death and the rebirth of Blackberry. Actually, Research In Motion was renamed Blackberry and the company also unveiled a new software and two new smartphones which have decent hardware and inner specifications and price in order to compete with other leading smartphones such as the iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy. However, the author questions the company's ability to launch new devices which could possibly save the company but is hardly certain. The company is investing its efforts to capture consumer's hearts with user-friendliness notably the new Blackberry Hub and Blackberry Balance which are apps which help users easily access emails and textmessages. The company's shares which were $150 are now under $15. The company also will launch the Blackberry 10 to almost all countries and has also hired Alicia Keys as the global creative director for the company.
The author uses several rhetorical devices to achieve his purpose. The purpose of the writing seems to be informative: Research In Motion has changed its name to Blackberry and has been doing efforts to launch new smartphones to revive itself from the downfall. The author uses exemplification and a few facts to create the view that Blackberry is indeed in crisis but it's trying to live. The author includes statistics to show that the company's shares have dropped drastically and also quotes. The author also uses satire in the last sentence by stating: "Has the world learned nothing from Polaroid and Lady Gaga?" after stating that the company had hired Alicia Keys. The author also includes some specs from new Blackberry phones and software to show it still has some chance to live long.
23.Drowned in a Stream of Prescriptions
although adderall has given many positive responses to people who truly struggle with A.D.H.D it is becoming a serious issues of young teens like Richard Fee who has hanged himself due to the addictive medications, where teenagers fake their simptoms to take these drugs. leading a healthy young 24 man into psychiatric breakdown.Very few people who misuse stimulants devolve into psychotic or suicidal addicts. even richards physicians claimed that A.D.H.D can fail patients especiallly the young adults.Young adults are by far the fastest-growing segment of people taking A.D.H.D medications.
“Any step along the way, someone could have helped him — they were just handing out drugs,” is what richard's father has claimed. as this becomes an hot issue it is important for the public to say something.
this article dealt with and big issue that is rising in the united states, they used clear evidence and most importantly supported it will percise data of how the amount of adderall dependant adults were growing leading the audience into thinking how something meant to be good, became such a devastating pill. the author does a good job at describing how faking the symptoms lead to many deaths by young adults
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/us/concerns-about-adhd-practices-and-amphetamine-addiction.html?ref=health&_r=0
“Any step along the way, someone could have helped him — they were just handing out drugs,” is what richard's father has claimed. as this becomes an hot issue it is important for the public to say something.
this article dealt with and big issue that is rising in the united states, they used clear evidence and most importantly supported it will percise data of how the amount of adderall dependant adults were growing leading the audience into thinking how something meant to be good, became such a devastating pill. the author does a good job at describing how faking the symptoms lead to many deaths by young adults
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/03/us/concerns-about-adhd-practices-and-amphetamine-addiction.html?ref=health&_r=0
23. Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens in Northern Iraqi City
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/04/world/middleeast/suicide-attack-kills-dozens-in-northern-iraq.html?ref=world&_r=0
In this article, Yasir Ghazi writes about the suicide bomber that killed some people in northern Iraqi City. First, the author begins the article by describing the incident in details. On Sunday morning, in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, a suicide bomber attacked a police headquarter and killed at least 36 people and wounded 105. Then the Ghazi continues writing and quotes some policemen that were present when the bomb exploded. For an instance, Nauza Mohamed, one of the police officers, said that the bomber was wearing a police uniform and driving the police car. Then the article is ended by mentioning that there is no group that is taking the responsability immediately for the attack, and that this attack was the third in recent weeks in that area.
The purpose of this article is simply to inform the readers about the suicide bombers that killed many in Iraqi City. Nowadays, many people that are not in contact with these countries, do not know that these attackers still exist. However, just as the Ghazi's article says, this attack was the third of the same week, which means that these attacks are not rare in countries like Iraq. This article being in the nytimes, informs about the existence of suicide bombers and the danger that people in these countries are in.
23. Why Parents Need to Let Their Children Fail
Teachers sometimes face the problem of “overprotective”
parents who do their children’s school work for them. However, this over
protectiveness leaves children in a helpless state. They seem destined to have
an anxious adulthood and lacking the emotional state to deal with setbacks or
failures. In a Queensland University study by Judith Locke she describes “overparenting”
as a, “misguided attempt to improve their child’s current and future personal
and academic success.” There are some
parents who do silly things for their kids but the most troublesome acts will
hurt the children academically. These
parents do not let their children solve their own problems. The parents are too
willing to rush to their kids every need. The children are not able to learn to
take responsibility nor the consequences of their actions because their
protective parents will not let them.
The author, Jessica Lahey, begins with a lengthy description
of her past experience with parents doing all their kids work. This introduces
the problem in a way to catch the reader’s interest. Lahey tries to connect with possible readers
who are frustrated teachers by including that there are many teachers facing overprotective
parents. In the article Lahey uses cause and effect to show what will happen to
kids whose parents will not let them fail. Lahey also includes a study from
Queensland University by Judith Locke.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
23. When the Music Stopped
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/opinion/after-the-brazil-nightclub-fire.html?_r=2&
In Antonio Xerxenesky's article, "When the Music Stopped," he discusses about the nightclub fire that happened in Santa Maria, Brazil. It was a disastrous incident where 235 people from 15-20 years old died and many are still in critical situation in the hospital. Xerxenesky starts out by describing the tragedy. He also talk about the response of brazilians to this incident. Many people feel sorry for the families and friends of the victim and wishes that justice may be brought to those who caused so many people to die. However, Xerxenesky also reveal the black side of the brazilian society, there are some facebook users who thinks that this kind of incident is nothing compared to what happens in Africa and don't respect the dead. Other people also joked that these teenagers deserved to die , since they were hearing sertanejo. Xerxenesky continues to show many bad examples of brazilians action toward the fire. He ends his article by showing that there are many people who wish to make laws to stop young people from hanging out late at night. However, he also say that it is going to be hard, since there are many cities, such as Sao Paulo, who are known for their leisure attitude Therefore, using the nightclub fire as a pretext to stop these young people will be very wrong.
The author's purpose in writing this article is to reveal the negative reactions of brazilians after seeing the incident that occurred in Santa Maria. He also wants to reveal that people will use this incident as a pretext to stop young people to have fun at night. He wrote this article for people who are interested in the nightclub fire and to those who want to know the aftereffect. The author is able to show his purpose clearly and prove it using different points. He is able to make the reader wonder about what he discussed and agree with him.
In Antonio Xerxenesky's article, "When the Music Stopped," he discusses about the nightclub fire that happened in Santa Maria, Brazil. It was a disastrous incident where 235 people from 15-20 years old died and many are still in critical situation in the hospital. Xerxenesky starts out by describing the tragedy. He also talk about the response of brazilians to this incident. Many people feel sorry for the families and friends of the victim and wishes that justice may be brought to those who caused so many people to die. However, Xerxenesky also reveal the black side of the brazilian society, there are some facebook users who thinks that this kind of incident is nothing compared to what happens in Africa and don't respect the dead. Other people also joked that these teenagers deserved to die , since they were hearing sertanejo. Xerxenesky continues to show many bad examples of brazilians action toward the fire. He ends his article by showing that there are many people who wish to make laws to stop young people from hanging out late at night. However, he also say that it is going to be hard, since there are many cities, such as Sao Paulo, who are known for their leisure attitude Therefore, using the nightclub fire as a pretext to stop these young people will be very wrong.
The author's purpose in writing this article is to reveal the negative reactions of brazilians after seeing the incident that occurred in Santa Maria. He also wants to reveal that people will use this incident as a pretext to stop young people to have fun at night. He wrote this article for people who are interested in the nightclub fire and to those who want to know the aftereffect. The author is able to show his purpose clearly and prove it using different points. He is able to make the reader wonder about what he discussed and agree with him.
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