jlingram27-blog

[jlingram27-blog]

Summary of My Conference

At the conference I feel like I did get a lot of clarity on the next step. You looked at the conflict I wrote on my proposal and let me know that there are really no tangents in research. You told me that there is always a way to tie it back to my thesis if I really dig. Also, I asked where I should start with my Draft and said it depends on the person. I think I might try to start in the body and write some of those paragraphs and then I would move into the introductory paragraph. In the past, I found out that the first paragraph will constantly change, and it really cannot be done in the first write. At the end of the conference, I told you that I thought that it would be beneficial for the class to have periods where we can work on our drafts. You insured me that the topic that I had picked I would be able to get it into the seven to nine pages and there would not be fluff. I learned that in class we are going to learn about ways to keep the words in my essay meaningful. You said that once everyone gets more into their draft, we will have another conference to check where I am at. Something I will keep will be the research that I did on microplastics and I will find a way to make that work in my paper. I will probably keep the same time I am allotting for this assignment because I think it is working for me so far. I also do want to keep most of the research that I have found surrounding my working thesis and finding a place where it fits in. I am making sure to take my time with this and not to procrastinate. If I run into a blockage in the future, I will make sure to use the Writing Center or to come to see you to talk it through. I am glad in class we are going to discuss more on starting the draft and ways to conjure up more information that strengthens the thesis.

[jlingram27-blog]

1. His claim is that fast food restaurants are not including nutritional facts on their packaging and this is preventing people from making the healthy choice and it is increasing the rate of obesity.

2. One of the places that Zinczenko provided support for his claim is when he told about a time in his childhood when his mother was working long hours and he had to use his own money to buy his food. Since he did not have a lot of money he was stuck choosing between which fast food option he wanted to get each night because that is all he could afford. Another example is when the author went into the details of how many calories are in each part of the chicken salad. This is an example of Verifiable evidence because anyone could go behind him and find out the same information. The last support that Zinczenko included in his article is when he wrote how the percentage of obesity related diabetes diagnosis’ have gone up twenty five percent in the last sixteen years. 

3. The support that had more analysis behind it was the personal experience that he included in the middle of the article. The author uses this support to show that the choice of fast food id not just because it tastes good but it could also be because there is a lack of funds. He shows that not all families were able to have the mom at home to cook a meal or to have the ability to have money to make the healthy choice.

4.  The one counterargument that I saw in this article was a short fragment in a sentence that said, “Some fast-food purveyors will provide calorie information on request, but even that can be hard to understand,” (Zinczenko, ”Don't Blame the Eater”). This statement is Zinczenko saying that some fast food establishments do provide the nutritional facts that people need to have. He immediately in the same sentence shuts that statement down by saying they may be hard to understand. The way they show it on the label it may confuse some consumers with how many calories they are actually consuming.

[jlingram27-blog]

Villarrubia-Gómez, Patricia, et al. “Marine Plastic Pollution as a Planetary Boundary Threat – The Drifting Piece in the Sustainability Puzzle.” Marine Policy, Pergamon, 7 Dec. 2017, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X17305456#bib44.

Since the plastic production has exploded since the 1950s the pollution in areas such as the ocean has increased also.  Gomez, Cornell, and Fabres explain in the article that there is no chance for the micro-plastics to be collected but instead the focus should be on stopping this pollution at the source. On earth there are 5 gyres or in simple terms plastic waste collections in the ocean that has migrated to the area. These gyres are located outside of popular, urban cities such as Benga Bay and the South China Sea where the dumping occurs the most. The plastic pieces floating that are less than 5 mm are also little buoys for organisms such as a virus or a dangerous algae to travel. A potential alga could spread and destroy coral formations for invade on plants that some fish rely on.  The plastic bits in the ocean do not pose as large of a harm with the piece itself but what how it was made does. Plastic consists of polymers and when these polymers are shaped into bottles and bags they are introduced to toxic substances that could kill the fish such as flame retardant.

In the article, “Marine plastic pollution as a planetary boundary threat – The drifting piece in the sustainability puzzle” by Gomez, Corrnell, and Fabrez are arguing for both sides for the argument. By this it is meant that the writers use quotes from scientists that do not support their argument and then they tell what they think of it. This article is meant for those who want to educate themselves more on Marine Pollution and for people who may not agree with the writer because it has so many counterpoints in the article. The purpose of this article is to educate everyone on what plastic pollution is doing to the marine environment. The message is relatively like the last article that I pulled but it is in more detail. It goes to the depth that no one has gone before mentioning the plastic can become hosts to alga bloom and many viruses and microbial communities. The way that the authors go through each subject is a way that is very understanding and is an easy read. They use imagery to give a picture for the audience to relate to what they are reading. This article does not appear as biased because it is on a website that allows for most research to be published. In their website they say they love publishing new articles that come at a topic from an angle not many has been approached.  

[jlingram27-blog]

1. Plastic Pollution or Plastic Waste

2a “New Link in the Food Chain. Marine Plastic Pollution and Seafood Safety” s an research article. This article was posted on a site called Environmental Health Perspectives and there are posts on here monthly from original research around the globe.

b. From searching on Google Scholar I found that I definitely want to stay in the broad topic of plastics and I might have found a way to narrow the funnel a little bit. When I researched I started to get into marine plastic waste and how that was effecting the environment in the oceans and other water ways. I found this very interesting; the article talks about some chemical compounds that are actually binding with the micro-plastics to make this highly toxic compound to fish and coral. This makes me want to look into this more because I love chemistry and exploring ow one thing will react with another.

c. The author of this article is Nate Seltenrich and he is an award winning freelance journalist which means he is self employed and does not work for a big company such as CNN or Channel 2. He writes in print and online in other sites such as High Country News, Sierra, and the San Francisco Chronicle. His topics heavily rely on the environment and science related subjects. The website, Environmental Health Perspectives is not biased in any way from my reading because it is there for the purpose of posting original research and so that many writers can have an outlet to share what they have found.

2.  The issue of plastic waste in the ocean is becoming more of a problem in an exponential time. The plastics in the water are breaking down to a molecular level from long term heat exposure, and from them coming into contact with waves and fish. The size of these particle can go from 1 to 5 millimeters so it would be difficult to filter out of the ocean at this size. The different things found in plastic other than BPA are going deeper than the surface because these micro-plastics are negatively buoyant which means they will sink. The Gyre’s authors found these micro-plastics in every sample that they took and this is from near shore areas and in the open ocean with pieces that were less than 5 millimeters wide. Micro beads are very abundant in the ocean because they can spill from ships and are commonly found in facial washes. The tiny appearance of these plastic particles make it difficult for fish to distinguish this from their food so they ingest it same as larger fish mistaking the micro-beads as fish eggs.

Works Cited

Seltenrich, Nate. “New Link in the Food Chain? Marine Plastic Pollution and Seafood Safety.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1 Feb. 2015, ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.123-a34.

In Seltenrich’s article, “ New Link in the Food Chain? Marine Plastic Pollution and Seafood Safety,” he is breaking down the issue of plastic pollution in the ocean to a point where everyone can understand. His audience for this article could be someone who is vaguely familiar with plastic pollution and wants to know more or one who does not agree with the issue and needs persuading. This article was published in 2015 which was when many scientists stated to say how plastic was becoming a problem and when recycling became more prevalent. With a topic like this that is heavily reliant on research it might sound like a boring thing to read but I actually found it easy read and follow. The purpose of this article to to inform people that the issue of not recycling is not only affecting land but the plastics are running into the sea and making entire islands. This is also affecting fish and getting into them which could in turn go into us if the amount of plastic in the ocean continually increases. He relays the message through giving the reader visuals such as the fish that was cut open and had plastics in its stomach. This allows for the audience to see it and know that this is an actual issue. With this Seltenrich uses ethos by using the knowledge that he has and knowledge he learns from research of the 30 sources he used makes them strengthen his thesis. Logos is used by the way that he formats his writing so that the reader can follow along. When he was mentioning the micro-plastics he went through the process that plastic breaks down to a size of 5 millimeters or less.

[jlingram27-blog]

1a.The author of this article is John D. Sutter and he is a climate change enthusiast. He has been working with CNN for 11 years as a climate change analyst. Most of his writings included climate change in some sort of way. He also has a job as a National Geographic Explorer and has countless awards for his research, such as a Livingston Award, Pea Body Award, and the IRE Award. Ome of the other topics that Sutton writes about is human rights and social change. 

b. This article was published on the CNN website which has been seen as a far-left news station. I first heard that CNN was Liberal from my family which is pretty neutral with politics. Especially on the topic of global warming, it is a liberal topic to be talked about. You can tell in this article without knowing about the political views of CNN that they are a liberal station. Not once in the article does it give a counter-argument that would appeal to the more republic audience. He is just sharing strictly his views which could be a negative on his writing. 

c.  From this article, I feel as if the audience is just aimed at Liberals who are educated about the issue of global warming and people who are maybe on the fence about Global Warming being an actual issue. I don't think it is for the conservative audience because as I said above there is no counter-argument.

d. The purpose of this article is to inform Liberals and people on the fence about how global warming is affecting us now and how we are doing absolutely nothing to stop the problem. It is getting to where we are having superstorms and no one is thinking that maybe this is not normal and best of all the one way we were combatting the issue, the Parris Agreement, was taken away by Trump.

e. Sutter is using a great amount of pathos by using specific examples of Global warming and he wants the audience to feel something. He wants them to be concerned about global warming and get them motivated to do something about it. Another tool I see Sutter use in the article is logos because the way that he forms his arguments is very logical’ makes sense. He stealthily mentions some ethos by writing, “ As a journalist who's been covering climate for years, I've been part of that deadline trend,” (Sutton, 7). He is telling the audience that he has much experience in this field and so the information that he is giving are not things that he pulled out of his pockets. 

2.  This article is a biased source because Suttor just talks about pro-Global Warming facts. He does not address the people who do not believe it and why they should. He has been studying climate change for over 11 years so he has strong feelings about this topic. He provides copious examples that have facts he has researched about Global Warming. One instance that reads as biased would be when Suttor writes, “ Weather forms in that climate-changed world. Hurricanes intensify more rapidly; wildfires grow larger and more threatening...” (Suttor, 28). He states this as a known fact but doesn't stop to explain it further for the ones that do not believe Global warming. This is a common trait Suttor does when he introducing a new statistic; he states something and then moves one to the next point. This, of course, tightens his audience that will be willing to read his research. 

3. I still credit the author to say that his article is right. He put much research into this with the help of his knowledge that he had prior and made a solid argument. The sources that he uses do seem to belong there and are not just put there for work count. He also uses diction that everyone would be able to understand and follow along. I'm not sure if right means in the context or if the article as a whole or grammatically? He uses all the right tools to do continually let his thesis flow through his words. From this article, I learned some things that I had never knew before about how climate change may be affecting the world.

4. I have indifferent feelings about biased sources because it could help you prove a point because the writer is still heavily educated on an interesting topic. The negative is that he does not make a counter so I do not think with this specific article it would be one for a research paper. I remember reading that on a syllabus that when making a research paper it is not recommended to use sources that do not address both sides. This is not saying that Suttor could have other articles that are not biased that could be used. He could have an informational article such as one of the dying coral named,  “ When the coral disappears, so will they”. This article reads more like a story but it is less biased. 

[jlingram27-blog]

Blog Post #1

1a. Sherry Turkle is a professor of Social Studies of Science and Technology who created the initiative at MIT for Technology and Self in 2001. She received a Doctorate degree at Harvard in Sociology and Personality Psychology and is currently a clinical psychologist.

b.  This article was published in 2018 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT for short at the professors' workplace... 

c.  I believe that this article is directed towards adults and also young adults to inform them of what technology is doing the upcoming generation's empathy capacity. It might also be directed towards expecting parents.

d. The purpose of this article is to persuade young adults and parents to not get very sucked up into technology. For young adults, the purpose is to make them be more present and to convince them that technology is not the only way to communicate with others. Technology brings one away from having the face to face conversations and experiencing relationships. For expecting parents it is more an article to inform them what technology is doing to the kids of this generation and how it is taking away their empathy so technology time should be limited when their kid gets to that age.

e. Turkle is attempting to get her point across by using logos and pulling sources to prove how technology shows no empathy and how it is sucking away the empathy of this generation. This is shown with her early example  She is also using pathos as well because turkle is a clinical psychologist. She uses her own knowledge to make some points of her own. She speaks of a personal experience when she was in a nursing home and saw the robot assisting the elderly and trying to sympathizing with them even though they had no real emotion. Most of the examples Turkle gave in this article were placed to make the audience feel pity and want to stop people from becoming dependent on technology.

2. In the article “The Assault on Empathy” Sherry Turkle addresses the issue of the evolution of technology and how there are limits as to what it can do. She briefly talks about artificial intelligence and how there is not a way for scientists to ever get a robot to have feelings because they would be artificial. Robots can not step into the shoes of a human to go through the same experiences and know how certain situations feel; it will always be programmed. What robots are showing in today's world is a superficial connection and they give responses that are not genuine. As robots are attempting to gain empathy the children of this new generation are losing theirs. The use of technology with children makes them act more like robots. Turkle mentions how they are losing their ability to show emotion and to care because they text instead of talk face to face. Without the experiences of having the face to face relationships, the children will lose the ability that robots are trying to evolve to have today.