Two Articles free essay sample

For this assignment, you will compose two short critical essays explaining and evaluating arguments by other authors. This assignment allows you to analyze an issue from a variety of perspectives and assess arguments for or against the issue. By focusing your attention on how the original authors use evidence and reasoning to construct and support their positions, you can recognize the value of critical thinking in public discourse. Read the two articles Predictive Probes, and New Test Tells Whom a Crippling Disease Will Hit—and When from the textbook and write two separate analytical summaries. These articles can be found in the chapter titled: Deciding to accept an argument: Compare the evidence. This assignment has two parts. Part 1—First Article Write an analytical summary of the article focusing on the article’s main claims. Include the following: †¢Identify the three ways the author uses evidence to support assertions. †¢Identify the places where evidence is employed as well as how the author uses this evidence. We will write a custom essay sample on Two Articles or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Discuss evidence as the reason vs. the support for the reason. Also discuss evidence as dependent on the issue/context. †¢Analyze how the author signals this usage through elements such as word choices, transitions, or logical connections. Part 2—Second Article Write an analytical summary of the article focusing on the article’s main claims. Include the following: †¢Identify the author’s use of the three elements: experiment, correlation, and speculation to support assertions. †¢Analyze how the author signals the use of these elements through language. For example, word choices, transitions, or logical connections. Write a 4–5-page paper in Word format. Apply APA standards to citation of sources. Use the following file naming convention: LastnameFirstInitial_M3_A2. doc. 1. What kind of evidence would you expect in the following arguments? †¢a. An argument that people who eat a special diet will have less chance of getting cancer. †¢b. An argument that God exists. †¢c. An argument that human cells secrete some substance under certain conditions. †¢d. An argument that stealing is unethical. †¢e. An argument that owning a pet tends to lower one’s blood pressure. Answers (a) evidence after the fact; (b) philosophical evidence (a general principle, for instance that the universe is orderly); (c) direct scientific experimentation; (d) philosophical evidence; (e) evidence after the fact 2. Underline the language in the following argument that you believe indicates that it does (or does not) admit its limits. It’s an obvious fact that living in the suburbs is better than city life. Everyone knows that cities are far more polluted and dangerous. And of course, people don’t even know their neighbors. On the other hand, suburbs are peaceful havens from the workaday world. READINGS The following two articles show breathtaking advances in the ability to detect whether a person will suffer from a particular genetic disease. The first article contains references to all three types of evidence discussed in this chapter. Compare the language used to depict direct experimentation, after-the-fact evidence, and values questions. Predictive probes by Jerry E. Bishop Several years ago, Nancy Wexler’s mother died of Huntington’s disease, a hereditary and always-fatal affliction that strikes in midlife. Since then, Ms. Wexler, the 38-year-old president of the Hereditary Diseases Foundation in Santa Monica, Calif. , has lived with the uncertainty of whether she, too, inherited the deadly gene. That uncertainty may soon be resolved. A few months ago, scientists announced they were on the verge of completing a new test to detect the gene for Huntington’s disease (formerly called Huntington’s chorea). But deciding whether to submit herself to the test is an anguishing choice for Ms. Wexler. â€Å"If I came out lucky, taking the test would be terrific, of course,† she says. But if I came out unlucky, well †¦Ã¢â‚¬  Her dilemma is an extreme example of the kind thousands of Americans will face in the not-too-distant future as scientists learn how to pinpoint genes that cause or predispose a person to a future illness. The test to detect the Huntington’s disease gene should be ready within one to two years. Researchers already have detected some of the gene s that can lead to premature heart attacks and, in the near future, hope to spot those that could predispose a person to breast or colon cancer. Eventually, scientists believe they will be able to detect genes leading to diabetes, depression, schizophrenia and the premature senility called Alzheimer’s disease. New Test Tells Whom a Crippling Disease Will Hit—and When Amy Jo Snider, a college senior, has put her career plans and romantic life on hold until she settles a gnawing question about her genetic legacy. During her Christmas break, the Charleston, SC, student plans to be tested for a gene that causes ataxia, a disease without a cure that destroys the brain cells governing muscle control. The disorder crippled and ultimately killed her father in middle age. Because of a recent breakthrough in genetic research, the 21-year-old Miss Snider will be able to find out whether she inherited the disease, and, if so, how soon and how hard ataxia may strike her. â€Å"I want to be tested before I start to show symptoms,† she says unflinchingly. â€Å"I’m graduating in May, and I have to start planning my life. † As agonizing as the knowledge might be, she says the uncertainty is worse. â€Å"If I’m in limbo, it’s not fair to people around me,† she says. â€Å"I can’t deal with not knowing. †

The First Page

The First Page The First Page The First Page By Maeve Maddox One of the sessions at a writers conference I attended was set up like an episode of American Idol. Three New York agents played the part of the judges. Instead of performers, typed sheets of paper were the objects of their attention and wounding remarks. Conference participants submitted the first three pages of the novels they were working on. The agents said they would be able to tell from the first three pages whether or not the manuscript was worth reading further. In practice, none of the agents got past the first page of any 3-page submission. Some they read to the bottom of the first page, but then they started rejecting them before they got that far. Starts with dialogue. Toss. Starts with weather. Toss Theyre in an elevator! Toss Starts with a prologue! Toss. Then there was the submission that got tossed because the title had a misspelled word in it. If this writer cant bother to spell cemetery correctlyin the title, no lesswhy should I go any further with the rest of the manuscript?! Crumple, toss. That little demonstration makes me think that a writer must hook the reader with the first paragraph. Possibly even with the first sentence. Yes, there are plenty of successful novels that begin with prologues or weather, or dialogue. Theres probably at least one that begins in an elevator. Thats not the point. Agents have so many manuscripts coming at them that they develop reading habits to enable them to get through the slush at top speed. Anythinga misspelled word, faint type from a failing ink cartridge, an opening device the agent feels a personal dislike forcan send a manuscript plummeting into the waste basket. Agents want what readers want. Readers want a first paragraph that draws them into a world that already exists, not one that will be created as they go along. They want to find themselves in the midst of people who are involved in the life of that world, people they immediately want to know more about. Here are some opening lines from some novels chosen at random from my shelves. Would you want to read further? If so, why? (Diary format) 12th Day of September. I am commanded to write an account of my days: I am bit by fleas and plagued by family. That is all there is to say. -Catherine, Called Birdy, Karen Cushman. Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I cant be sure. -The Stranger, Albert Camus. When the power went I was finishing a ten-page report. My office turned black; the computer groaned to a halt. Helpless, I watched my words fade to a ghostly outline that glowed on the screen before vanishing, like the mocking grin of a Cheshire cat. -Tunnel Vision, Sara Paretsky. The small boys came early to the hanging. -Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett. Renowned curator Jacques Saunià ¨re staggered through the vaulted archway of the museums Grand Gallery. -The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown. The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit. -Uglies, Scott Westerfeld. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Homograph Examples40 Fish IdiomsList of Prefixes and Suffixes and their Meanings

Films Of The Mid-Seventies Era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Films Of The Mid-Seventies Era - Essay Example In the film, the character of Bobby Dupea is the archetype of numerous heroes from that period. Bobby is stuck in two worlds. He is a man who cannot fit into the American society and is making efforts to find a place which he truly belongs to. One of the outstanding features of the 1970s films was the character’s struggle to deal with the problem of alienation that was prevalent in America at that time. This emerged from the sixties when there was the rejection of both the working class and leisure class values. The film portrays how an individual is trying so hard to deal with the alienation problem without being a counter-culture hippie. The post-sixties era mostly exhibited the theme of alienation - a theme that defined the mid-seventies era. However, the films of the 1990s and 1980s era extremely reflected the alienation theme with the so bloody and violent action genre. The heroes in these movies are violent, anti-social and alienated. They generally have no societal respect. The first scenes of â€Å"Five Easy Pieces† show the main character Bobby as a typical oil mine worker. Bobby puts a lot of energy in his work to get his money. He spends his leisure time drinking beer, playing cards, watching television and bowling. He stays with his girlfriend, a beautiful waitress named Rayette Dipesto. At the beginning of the film, Bobby is reflected as a happy person, but further progress of the movie reveals a man dissatisfied with his life. Rayette clingy mature annoys Bobby so much. He loathes country music and dislikes the way his girlfriend lives her life through Tammy Wynette songs. Rayette seems to play songs for every occasion of her life. When they go out with their friends Stoney and Elton, Bobby could not enjoy the bowling. He is angry and highly competitive at Rayette’s inexperience in the game. At some point, he later cheats on his girlfriend with a woman named Sally Struthers.

Self Evaluation Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Self Evaluation - Personal Statement Example Even a person with no knowledge of health care and no sensitivity to diversity could understand the topic. The sentence from Page 4, "But healthcare is more than just medical equipment, hospitals, and adequate insurance. Healthcare is a competent staff that can relate to the patients and effectively care for them within the context of their own needs and desires", relates a focused thought that can get someone to start thinking differently about our health care system. It could be read by anyone and have the opportunity to inform them or change their mind. This has become a very important part or writing to me. 2.) My weakest essay was "The Literacy Behind Patient Care". The paper opens with a weak line telling the reader what the paper is about. It should have grabbed their attention and made them curious. Many of the sentences are not well constructed. This also holds true for the paragraphs that ramble and jump from idea to idea. Overall, the paper is difficult to read and its intentions are not clear. The essay spends too much time showing specific examples and does not clearly show the results of the examples or why they are important. 3.) To improve "The Literacy Behind Patient Care" I would first determine what I wanted the reader to take away from the essay. I wanted to demonstrate why patient literacy was important, not what it was. I would write a thesis that stated the patient literacy was important because it impacts a patient's well-being. I would then write an outline that explained all the ways that a patient can suffer from improper care. I would then construct each paragraph in the outline before starting to write. I would also spend more time revising the draft. I would have some other people, not necessarily students, read the paper and ask for their reaction. 4.) My revising and editing skills have greatly improved during this class. At the beginning I did not understand the necessity of revising a paper. I didn't even know what to look for when revising. Now, I can look at each paragraph as an independent topic, and how it relates to the paragraphs around it. I can look at the paragraph and see if it flows from opening to closing and is supported by evidence and facts. I also look at each sentence to see if it is grammatically correct and easy to read. These skills were unknown and overwhelming at the beginning of the course, but I now see they are steps in the writing process. Revising and editing each paragraph and each sentence has made the task less of an obstacle. Knowing the key points of transition and relevance has been important to improving my writing skills. I now revise and edit in pieces, rather than the entire paper at once. 5.) My writing was improved most by my concept of the writing process. In the beginning papers, I thought a person could just write their thoughts and that would be the end of the task. I now understand that I can write freely in a draft and go back and edit it. I don't feel pressured to get it exactly right the first time. The drafting and revising process has had a great impact on improving my papers. Also, the feedback and advice from other people has helped me. I am no longer shy about showing my essays and asking for an honest opinion. Making small changes in the language or correcting structural errors have made my papers more clear and easier to read. The writing center has also helped me to develop the technique and

Arithmetic Mean and Five-step P-value Approach Essay Example for Free

Arithmetic Mean and Five-step P-value Approach Essay A manufacturer of chocolate candies uses machines to package candies as they move along a filling line. Although the packages are labeled as 8 ounces, the company wants the packages to contain a mean of 8. 17 ounces so that virtually none of the packages contain less than 8 ounces. A sample of 50 packages is selected periodically, and the packaging process is stopped if there is evidence that the mean amount packaged is different from 8. 17 ounces. Suppose that in a particular of 50 packages, the mean amount dispensed is 8. 159 ounces, with a sample standard deviation of 0. 051 A. Is there evidence that the population mean amount is different from 8. 17 ounces? (Use a 0. 05 level of significance. ) B. Determine the p-value and interpret its meaning. 9. 27 In New York State, savings banks are permitted to sell a form of life insurance called savings bank life insurance (SLBI). The approval process consists of underwriting, which includes a review of the application, a medical information bureau check, possible requests for additional medical information and medical exams, and a policy complication stage in which the policy pages are generated and sent to the bank for delivery. The ability to deliver approved policies to customers in a timely manner is critical to the profitability of this service. During a period of one month, a random sample of 27 approved policies is selected, and the total processing time, in days, is recorded (and stored in insurance): 73 19 16 28 31 56 45 17 22 18 91 92 50 51 69 A. In the past, the mean processing time was 45 days. At the 0. 05 level of significance, is there evidence that the mean processing time had changed from 45 days? B. What assumption about the population distribution is needed in order to conduct the t test in (a)? C. Construct a boxplot or a normal probability plot to evaluate the assumption made in (b). D. Do you think that the assumption needed in order to conduct the t test in (a) is valid? Explain. 93. 1 One operation of a steel mill is to cut pieces of steel into parts that are used in the same frame for front seats in an automobile. The steel is cut with a diamond saw and requires the resulting parts must be cut within ? ± 0. 005 inch of the length specified by the automobile company. The file Steel contains a sample of 100 steel parts. The measurement reported is the difference, in inches, between the actual length of the teel part, as measured by a laser measurement device, and the specified length of the steel part. For example, a value of -0. 002 represents a steel part that is 0. 002 inch shorter than the specified length. A. At the 0. 05 level of significance, is there evidence that the mean difference is not equal to 0. 0 inches? B. Construct a 95% confidence interval estimate of the population mean, Interpret this interval. C. Compare the conclusions reached in (a) and (b). D. Because n= 100, do you have to be concerned about the normally assumption needed for the t test and t interval? 9. 45 In recent year, the Federal Communications Commission reported that the mean wait for repairs for ATT customers was 25. 3 hours. In an effort to improve this service, suppose that a new repair service process was developed. This new process, used for a sample of 100 repairs, resulted in a sample mean of 22. 3 hours and a sample standard deviation of 8. 3 hours. A. Is there evidence that the population mean amount is less than 25. 3 hours? (Use a 0. 05 level of significance. ) B. Determine the p- value and interpret its meaning. 9. 47 You are the manager ot a restaurant that delivers pizza to college dormitory rooms. You have Just changed your delivery process in an effort to reduce the mean time between the order and completion of delivery from the current 25 minutes. A sample mean of 22. 4 minutes and a sample standard deviation of 6 minutes. A. Using the six- step critical value approach, at the 0. 05 level of significance, is there evidence that the population mean delivery time value of 25 minutes? B. At the 0. 05 level of significance, use the five-step p-value approach? C. Interpret the meaning of the p- value in (b). D. Compare your conclusions in (a) and (b). 9. 53 The U. S. Department of Education reports that 46% of full-time college students are employed while attending college (data extracted from The Condition of Education 2009, National Center for Education Statistics, nces. ed. gov). A recent survey of 60 full-time students at Miami University found that 29 were employed. A. Use the five- step p-value approach to hypothesis testing and a 0. 05 level of significance to determine whether the proportion of full-time students at Miami University is different that the national norm of 0. 6. B. Assume that the study found that 36 of the 60 full-time students were employed and repeat (a). Are the conclusions the same? 9. 55 One of the issues facing organizations is increasing diversity throughout the organization. One of the ways to evaluate an organizations success at increasing diversity is to compare the percentage of employees in the organization in a particular position with a specific background to the percentage in a position with that specific background in the general workforce. Recently, a large academic medical center determined that 9 of 17 employees in a particular position were female, whereas 55% of the employees for this position in the general workforce were female. At the 0. 05 level of significance, is there evidence that the proportion of females in this position at this medical center is different from what would be expected in the general workforce? 9. 57 One of the biggest issues facing e-retailers is the ability to reduce the proportion of customers who cancel their transaction after they have selected their products. It has been estimated that about half of prospective customers cancel their transactions after they have selected their products (data extracted from B. Tedeschi, E- Commerce, a Cure for Abandoned Shopping Carts: A Web Checkout System That Eliminates the Need for Multiple Screens, The New York Times, February 14, 2005, p. C3). Suppose that a company changed its Web site so that customers could use a single page checkout process rather than multiple pages. A sample of 500 customers who had selected their products were provided with the new checkout system.

Changes in Soil Physical, Chemical, and Biological Properties Caused by

Changes in Soil Physical, Chemical, and Biological Properties Caused by Artificial Drainage of Wetlands Wetland soils are extremely varied. They are found from the tropics to the subarctic. They can be seasonal or year-round, freshwater or saltwater, organic or mineral. The one thing that all of them have in common is that for at least part of the year they are saturated with water. This saturation has a significant impact on the soil's physics, chemistry, and biota. However, over the past century more than half of all the wetlands in the United States has been drained for agriculture and other uses such as construction. When the soils are drained the physics, chemistry, and biota are drastically changed. This paper is an attempt to describe the changes in artificially drained soils and to consider a few of the consequences of these changes. The physical properties of saturated soils vary somewhat from wetland to wetland but are characterized by certain processes. One is the interaction of the soil with the watertable. Three patterns of possible groundwater flow have been considered: water could flow into the saturated areas from the surrounding area (discharge), making the saturated area the focal point; water could flow through swamps because of local relief (flow-through); or water could flow from the saturated zone into surrounding areas (recharge) possibly due to differential water use by plant communities or pumping (Crownover et al, p. 1199). There can also be vertical exchange of water between the groundwater and saturated soil. For example, capillary effects pull water upward into the soil from the water table. Besides the vertical and horizontal flow of water, the area of the soil taken up by water is important.... ...ater flow patterns through a cypress swamp-pine flatwood landscape: Soil Science Society of America Journal, 59, p. 1199-1206. Fausey, N.R., Brown, L.C., Belcher, H.W. and Kanwar, R.S., 1995, Drainage and water quality in the Great Lakes and cornbelt states: Journal of Irrigation Drainage Engineering, 121, p.283-288. Leventhal, E., 1990, Alternative uses of wetlands other than conventional farming in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska: EPA/171/R-92/006, 145 p. McBride, M. B., 1994, Environmental Chemistry of Soils: New York, Oxford University Press, 406 p. Mitsch, W.J. and Gosselink, J.G., Wetlands: New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 537 p. Schipper, L.A., Harfoot, C.G., McFarlane, P.N., and Cooper, A.B., Anaerobic decomposition and denitrification during plant decomposition in an organic soil: Journal of Environmental Quality, 23, p. 923-928.

High school education Essay

We can all say education is a big requisite in life, but do we really spend the appropriate time to it? . We sure not†¦, at least I didn’t for a couple of years. Freshman year on high school could be hat year you would never forget. Becomes a new life style, met new people, new hobbies, and new interests. Basically turns out to your biggest change in life. My high school education could of say it was more fun and adventurous than those kids who actually are focus to graduate with a high GPA, get an efficient scholarship, and attend to a reputable university. I started out my freshman year good. I was attending to class, participating and doing class work, I was doing homework. I had no problems, then after my freshman year was over I had many friends that I was expected. Then I got to meet my true friends which I still hang out and do crazy stuff. My sophomore and junior year I went out of control laterally. I never was in school, just to go get my free lunch because, who didn’t liked to be in lunch? Right. To be clearer, anywhere was a better place than school. Yeah I had so much fun, memories than I would never forget, unexpected trips, water balloons fights, ride horsing, and four wheeling, ditching parties, even run away from cops. But like how it needed to happened, it happened. My slacking in grades would be known eventually by my mom. There’s one thing that I’ll be always glad for, I have the most overprotective mom in the world. Her reaction was immediately that the next day she knew about I was not going to school, she was there talking to the principle asking him to make a stop of it. All the trouble that I was into, and all the talks my mom and I had, it made my mind expand to reality and to convince myself that I was not doing good in school and that would affect my future. I catch up my senior year picking up my GPA and grades to proudly get thehigh school education and be able to register at CNM. College is a different level than high school by too much. Here you cannot take the risk to slack not even a little. If you slack not showing up, or not turning homework, grades are really affected. College has help me to raise myself as an adult and take proprieties first. That you are who build your future, that hard work always pays off. I’m thankful to attend to college.