Stereotypical News Article

I thought Robbin’s “article” and was very witty and entertaining and made me forget I was even reading an article. He brings up some good points about popular scientific articles when he mentions an author’s use of “weasel-words” to remain vague, the addition of the picture to keep audiences interest every 400 hundred words, and the necessity to have a human interest section to really reach the public. I was surprised to find that the popular article I have chosen, from the magazine Scientific American, did not utilize some of these strategies. The only hint at clichés would be in the authors attempt to remain vague about his findings by adding in “weasel-words” such as “many scientists” and extremely vague headlines such as “surprising findings from popular studies.”

Also the article is four pages long and there is a picture for every page proving the idea that readers need pictures or visual aids to remain interested in a long scientific article. Some are educational, pictures of ancient human’s geographical movements, and others are put in simply to grab reader’s attention, a man’s face formed from colorful legos depicting human changes. These, however, are the only connections I can make from my article to Robbin’s parody. This may be due to the fact that the magazine I have chosen is at a somewhat higher level than other certain education or science magazines and the article was written by an evolutionary biologist and not a regular journalist. The voice and tone of the overall article seems to be very intellectual and informative, meant for well educated adults hoping to further their own understanding of recent scientific data. Robbin’s is obviously trying to reach a specific type of audience that read scientific articles regularly and recognize the patterns he discusses. These tendencies are discussed, however, in a very lighthearted, jovial manner letting the audience know that he is not serious.

Scholarly Article

The two articles I have chosen for the second essay involve recent human evolution. My popular article is from a magazine I physically bought therefore I don’t have a link for it. The link for my scholarly article is:   

http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=11&hid=8&sid=af97f182-3299-4ef3-9ebd-cbcbf86d6de3%40sessionmgr104 

Within the past ten years the advances in molecular genetic technology have given way to a major breakthrough in all evolutionary studies but most prominently within the field of human evolution.  New statistics and data on different kinds of DNA variations in human populations have been pouring in and scientists are beginning to understand the importance and value of this variation for future medicine and developmental biology. This also helps scientists fully understand the history of our species. Certain markers, Haploid markers, found on DNA and y chromosomes have proven very valuable in creating the model for evolution of modern humans. Also results from earlier research on specific proteins have been supported by more sophisticated DNA analysis. The evolution of both human genes with language and slowly evolving cultural traits, along with the genetic evolution of some commensal relationships and parasites that have stuck with modern humans since our expansion and movement from Africa to the rest of the world, supports the theory of genetic evolution. This expansion across the globe has caused a sharp increase in the number of modern humans and can be attributed to the gradual sophistication in tools, art, religion, and language since our predecessors. Advances in multidisciplinary research are what make our superior understanding of human’s evolutionary history possible. 

APA Citing:

L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Marcus W. Feldman (2003, March 2). The application of molecular genetic approaches to the study of human evolution. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=11&hid=8&sid=af97f182-3299-4ef3-9ebd-cbcbf86d6de3%40sessionmgr104

I have some concerns about this second essay and the research it involves but as I read my articles more and more I realize that I understand more than I originally thought. I had only skimmed both articles before and came to the hasty conclusion that they were nothing alike and that I would have nothing to discuss in my paper. This was quickly proven untrue when I sat down and really read through each paper. I now know that the reason I thought they were dissimilar was because they talk about different aspects of the same thing. The popular article mentions the noticeable changes in humans brought on by evolution such as skin color or Tibetan people's ability to tolerate high altitudes. The scholarly article discusses the unnoticeable changes that have occurred within the body on DNA strands and proteins. There may be some difficulties in making connections between my two articles because I hardly understand either of them (mostly the scholarly article). The more I read them though the clearer they will become so I am not that concerned. I am actually very pleased to find that each article has the same picture depicting a similar scientific finding just in different formats. The scholarly picture is much more advanced than the popular one which reflects the intended audience’s knowledge. I plan to set up my paper with an introduction, a few body paragraphs, and a conclusion. I will choose a couple main differences, perhaps four, and have those become my body paragraphs.

Discussion Forum

I don’t really have a very strong opinion of the discussion forum. I neither loved it nor hated it. To me it was just another assignment. I did the required reading and answered the questions that were required. I did think the article was relevant to what we are discussing in class at this time and what our next essay will be on. I feel this next essay will be a lot more challenging than the last due to the new APA format and the citation and paraphrasing requirements. Also I need all the help I can get when it comes to writing about science and picking out topics about science. Therefore, the articles helped me understand how scientific writing can address different audiences and how to interpret this type of writing.

This assignment reminded me of simply blogging our responses to a reading just on moodle instead of in blog form and with fewer words. It seems to be a mix between blogging and posting peer reviews. I did the discussion forum a little later than other students in the class. Instead of being on moodle during the time span of our class on Tuesday I had to do it an hour later which could have affected my experience. I didn’t have a conversation with a classmate because I missed the discussions that took place between five and seven. It might have been more exciting if I had interacted with the other classmates in real time than a couple of hours later. But I did not get this opportunity so the assignment seemed flat and like the others we have done in class.

I wouldn’t mind having more forum discussions in the future. However, I say this with the same attitude as saying I wouldn’t mind having another blog to write.  My in-the-middle opinion about the whole discussion forum is making this blog a little challenging because I do not feel like I have much to say about the matter. I don’t feel that there could be any improvements with the assignment. The concept of the assignment was straightforward and to the point which made it pretty easy. I did have a question on how to post our responses and how to begin a new topic but when I knew the answers to these questions the assignment was normal and simple.

So I have about a hundred words to go. This is a pretty challenging blog this week.  But this is an open blog which is meant to expose true feelings whether those feelings are strong or not. Unfortunately my feelings were not strong about this topic. I did like the discussion forum; don’t think my inability to write five hundred words on the assignment means I didn’t gain anything from the experience. Let’s see, oh, maybe next time we have a discussion forum I will begin a new topic. I will only do this if I feel very strongly about the topic being discussed and have something to add on the matter. Overall, I liked the assignment.

Entering the Conversation

Liberman’s blog on the nature of bad scientific writing can be very enlightening to audiences by showing them that even scientists can get data wrong. Most of the public that read topics involving science accept blindingly what the author is saying because they assume the author knows more than them. Or, if a writer of bad science uses a lot of numbers and equations, the public would accept his or her proposal because they simply get flustered at the sight of numbers.

While I was reading the textbook, Abusing Science, for my philosophy class I came across something that reflects this idea. The chapter was discussing how a Creationist named Henry Morris argued against the theory of evolution by using formulas and probability statistics to prove that mutations in genetic make ups are rare. Morris’s mathematical findings were proven false by evolutionary scientists meaning his writing was ‘bad science’ that others, who are less informed, could have believed. The evolutionary scientist that proved Morris wrong states “it is hard to resist the impression that all of Morris’s computations are designed to bamboozle those who become weak at the knees at the sight of numbers.” This relates to Liberman’s argument because it is yet another example of how scientists can write inaccurate information and have the public believe it.

Liberman uses the information in a scientific article written by Denis Campbell as evidence to argue his point. Campbell stated that omega-3 fatty acids counteract the effects of ADHD and help children concentrate and do better in school This was proven wrong by scientific experiments which showed that children did not do better in school after treatments of the fish oil making the article that stated it did “bad science.” This could be considered logical evidence because the author of the blog uses data from the findings of these experiments to argue his point. There is also a use of ethical evidence when Liberman attacks the authors of bad science by claiming that they are untrustworthy and their findings most of the time are incorrect. This evidence is helpful because it gives readers an example of how scientist can be wrong in their writings. If Liberman were to state his argument that bad science is written every day without supporting it with an example, readers would be skeptical of his proposal and think him too harsh.

The question Liberman then presents is “how can the ‘health correspondent’ for a serious intellectual newspaper be so incredibly careless? And why hasn't he been fired?” Firing the scientists that write about incorrect findings may be his solution to the problem but it is not mine. Science is a very tricky study and sometimes evidence may seem convincing at first which leads people to believe a conclusion to be true even if it is not. I believe that an important part of what makes a theory “scientific” is its ability to be proven false, or to be falsifiable, when new information comes along. Therefore, my solution would be to simply allow mistakes in scientific writing to be acceptable because science is an ever changing subject that can, and should, be proven false from time to time.

Open Writing

I have always known to censor what I put on the internet because it is permanently placed there for the world to see. That commercial where the girl keeps taking down an embarrassing photo from the school bulletin board, only for it to pop right back up every time, got its message across. If you haven’t seen that commercial disregard that last sentence. I use this discretion when I put pictures and comments on facebook and all other online websites, this blog included. If someone told me before school started that I would be writing in a blog daily I would have laughed at them because I never thought I would have my own blog on the internet. However, this English class requires blog entries so I am now aware of what I expose in each entry because I know anyone could have access to it. I would like to avoid getting into trouble over something I write in this blog therefore I read over each entry to make sure every point I make is appropriate for other people to read.

There are benefits to publishing one’s writing on the internet and I feel that we are exploiting these benefits in class. We are using the internet’s and blog’s accessibility to understand our peers ideas on certain topics discussed in class. This could have so many benefits as it allows anyone in the class to expand on their own ideas by reading their fellow students comments. This gives us a better understanding on topics we may otherwise struggle with such as rhetorical appeals and how to write our current essay. No other subject but English can give you the opportunity to see every other students understanding and approach to a certain topic discussed in class which is a major benefit to writing in a blog every week. Also other people, including students in different colleges with similar assignments, can view these blogs which may help them in their own English class. Due to these benefits I would say that we are full exploiting the use of public blogs.

Some students may be uncomfortable with the idea of twenty of their peers, and in a sense the world, viewing and judging their writing. This could be considered a challenge to the openness of these blogs and hurt a person’s writing abilities. I know at first I was hesitant about the idea of every other student reading my blogs and making comments on them but we have a nice class that only gives constructive criticism about each blog. Or they say really nice things which make writing these blogs sort of fun. It also allows me to read and write nice things about other people’s blogs which is also fun. So the challenge of being hesitant about the publicity of each blog can be addressed by having confidence in your own writing abilities and taking the time to read other students blogs which may sound similar to your own. Open writing can be difficult but the benefits it presents, such as constructive criticism and new ideas are great rewards.

Feedback and Critique

I think I am as good at offering criticism as any other student in this course. Most of the students have taken an AP English course, including myself; therefore we all have a good foundation regarding reading and writing. My English course had timed writings every week on prompts we wouldn’t know about until the day of the assignment. After we would write these papers we would edit them either in pairs, groups, or as a class. This practice has definitely helped me for doing peer reviews now and makes me somewhat qualified to give criticism. I don’t know what good constructive criticism looks like. I have just finished reading the peer reviews for my own paper and think all of the remarks are educational and helpful. The reason I say I can’t recognize constructive criticism is because a few of my classmates have stated opposite opinions about certain parts of my essay. One person argues that certain sentences are strong while another says the same sentence is unnecessary in my paper. Those are two very opposite opinions but when I hear their reasoning’s I agree with both. This obviously makes me a little rocky in the comprehension of criticism, be it positive or negative.

I believe I can produce good criticism; as good as any other student in the course. I believe that I have had lots of practice throughout high school which has helped me understand how to give criticism without offending the writer. Then again, many other students in this course could have taken an intense English class in high school as well giving them just as much experience. The trick is to include a positive comment for every two negative comments when reviewing another person’s paper. That way you get all the problems discussed and fix while adding in a positive phrases to show that you still have a high opinion of the work. I have been given a lot of critique throughout my history of writing and I don’t think I could pinpoint any one statement that truly changed y writing. Each critique has been extremely helpful for what I was working on at the moment but never stays in my memory past the assignments due date. If I had to choose a critique it would be something my 11th grade English teacher told me. I was never good a spelling and I’m still pretty bad (thank goodness for spell-check) and this teacher noticed this in my essays right away. I always tried to impress her with big vocabulary words but I never knew how to spell them so I just sounded it out and made an educated guess. Well she took me aside one day and said “Ashley, if you don’t know how to spell something don’t use it in your writing. Only use words you are confident with.” I realized that using high vocabulary in an essay will only make your writing sound more sophisticated if you spell them correctly. I still use that advice today.

Shitty First Drafts

After reading Anne Lamott’s essay I wanted to try writing about anything, school lunches included. I absolutely agree with her advice about writing just to write and not worrying about how the first draft sounds or the voices in your head telling you what to say. I think the main reason why most students hate writing so much is because they have a hard time just getting the first sentence out due to the fear that it won’t be perfect. Just the other day my roommate Megan asked me what I blog about all day for my English class and how I could ever take the time to sit down and write so much. I told her that I liked writing and the stuff we blog about is sometimes interesting. I also tell her about the material if I am particularly proud of what I wrote and truly interested in it, like some English loving nerd. When I was telling her about the bathroom blog though she said something that really made me think about how other students, who may not like writing, view this act. She said, “See I would never know how to start writing about bathrooms, I would be stuck on the first sentence forever.” This relates to Lamott’s ideas about perfectionism in writing because that is exactly how my roommate writes. She approaches her writing assignments as if the first draft is the only draft she can turn in for her one and only final grade. This means that right away every word has to be perfect which ultimately ruins the creative flow of writing stunting the essay’s progression altogether. Many students approach writing in a similar way which is why most complain when their English teacher assigns a lengthy essay. They think it will take forever because they spend all their time making it perfect right away.

Its situations like this when I’m glad I take the time to write in my journal each day. I never know where my entries are headed and I never stop to think about anyone else opinions about my writing because I know no one else will be reading it. This allows me to utilize Lamott’s strategy all the time which makes it easier to utilize it for actual assignments. I think Lamott’s strategies are great practices because it gets students writing, something that would not otherwise happen. Writing is like any other activity that takes practice. The more you write the easier it will become which is why writing about school lunches, even if it’s not the assignment due, can be beneficial because it will make writing an actual assignment easier. I didn’t have too many writing anxieties for this upcoming draft because I knew it was simply a draft. I did want to make it as close to the final copy as possible for the fear that I wouldn’t have time to change or add a lot later. But this article reminded me that it is a first draft and it won’t be perfect, so I won’t worry too much.

What Is It?

A rhetorical analysis is when one breaks apart and interprets a piece of media, be it a magazine ad or television show, and distinguishes the parts that appeal to logos, pathos, and ethos. Then he or she reflects on how the use of these rhetorical strategies affects the intended audience and whether the media was effective or ineffective. The purpose of a rhetorical analysis is to become better aware of the media that surrounds us every day in order to make informed decisions and create accurate opinions about what we see. We also use rhetoric to draw forth the main points in a persuasive text or media to help us come to our opinions and ideas. Distinguishing the message, addressing all three appeals on the rhetorical triangle, distinguishing who the intended audience is, and deciding how effective or ineffective the advertisement is must be put into and discussed when attempting a rhetorical analysis. An analysis should be set up in a similar way as what I have just mentioned or in order of what is most important for the specific piece of media that is being analyzed. The set up should be detailed and contain the writer’s personal opinion of what the piece of media means and how it influences them.


I plan to organize my analysis in the order that I have mention in the last paragraph beginning with the message and ending with the effectiveness of the advertisement in general. My introduction paragraphs will introduce the advertisement and why I have chosen to write my rhetorical paper on it. This will included a description of the magazine advertisement stating who is in it, how they are interacting, and where they are placed in regard to one another. It will also state my opinion on the ad and whether I think it is effective or not followed up with my points on why I feel it is positive or negative. The next parts of my paper will defend my opinions and arguments toward the piece of media, which will take up more than a few paragraphs. Within these paragraphs I would like to discuss how the use or lack of use, of pathos, ethos, and logos help or hurt the media and how the intended audience will interpret the media as well. While discussing the audience I will mention how different people may view and interpret the magazine ad in different ways depending on their personal beliefs and opinions. I would then like to discuss the company that produced the advertisement. I will include what the company stands for or believes in and how the media negatively or positively affected their name and logo. Hopefully these topics will take up a good amount of the paper leaving me with only the conclusion. My conclusion will reinforce all my earlier points about the media stating again what the advertisement consists of and who the audience is. I would then like to add my personal opinion of the media and how I personally viewed it when first coming across it. I do have a personal story I would like to share that relates to the media and will explain why I feel the way I do about its message.

WWII Propaganda Posters

While browsing over the World War Two propaganda posters I immediately noticed a difference between media then compared to media today. I find that the approach on how to display media and influence the nation’s population has changed since this war greatly. One thing that caught my attention right away was how the majority of the posters asked something of each person living in America. These posters suggested conserving certain materials like waste fats and hot water, buying war bonds, getting a war job, keeping quiet about military plans, joining a car club to save gas, and even eating nutritious food to stay healthy. This list, I’m sure, could be even longer and people may have followed these tasks then to do their part for the war effort. I personally don’t believe these advertisements would work on today’s population in America for one main reason. It is extremely hard in this day and age to get people to change their lifestyles, especially their time schedule and eating habits. If a sign like the “Eat the Right Food” poster shown was hung today very few people would even give it a second glance on their way to a fast food drive-through. I also think the posters suggesting one shorten his or her showers and return old waste fat would be ineffective because it would too inconvenient within a person’s busy schedule. In short I think America today has become too lazy for poster like this to be effective. I have yet to see a piece of media that asks people to conserve material or change their eating habits for the current war in Iraq.


Another reason why these posters might not work today is simply the fact that they are plain posters and not commercials or web pop-ups instead. In the 1940’s posters caught people’s attention because it was one of the only ways to spread media but because we have more advanced technology today people would disregard posters as a thing of the past. Also current forms of media such as television shows and internet media can express more thought and incorporate more rhetoric within the advertisement because of the advancement in technology. Now that media has evolved in the last 60 years media creators have incorporated a different style to how they persuaded populations. After looking at come media for a number of current problems I noticed that media today focuses a lot more on logos and pathos as opposed to ethos. The World War Two posters focused very heavily on ethos and trusting the government when they tell people to improve their morals and conserve material for soldiers. The poster suggests that a person is not a true American citizen until they have started a car club or found a place at a war job, otherwise appealing to their sense of ethics. Most media for the Iraq war today appeals to logos giving numbers or statistics to the amount of causalities or survey numbers. Also pathos plays an important role in media today. Most advertisements for the BP oil spill showed pictures of animals covered in oil and unable to move which defiantly pulls at a viewers heart strings. These issues are what Americans today are concerned with or afraid of.