Practicing Summary & Paraphrase

Practicing Summary & Paraphrase

In this blog post, I will provide a quote from the original source that illustrates the author's perspective and message for his work. Then, I will paraphrase it in my own words. Lastly, I will summarize it in one sentence. This activity will be beneficial while writing my draft because paraphrasing and summarizing are important in essays in order to give variety in the way the context is provided to the audience.

Original Source

"Scientists are divided in their views on the issue of artificial sweetener safety. In scientific as well as in lay publications, supporting studies are often widely referenced while the opposing results are de-emphasized or dismissed. So this review aims to explore the health controversy over perceived benefits of sugar substitutes."

My Paraphrase of Original Source

Scientists have split viewpoints on the controversy on the safety of artificial sweeteners. In publication, research that supports artificial sweeteners are more largely emphasized than the opposing results.

My Summary of the Original Source

Many scientists have opposing viewpoints on the safety of artificial sweeteners; however, their research mainly focuses on the benefits of artificial sweeteners and does not highlight the harms of artificial sweeteners.

Draft Thesis Statements

Draft Thesis Statements

In this blog post, I will share the 2 working theses that I have created. I will tell my reader what I think about my working thesis statement(s) and explain what I think might be difficult or what might be easy about developing my project from this point forward. 

Anderson, Paul. "Funny Pictures - Thesis still not done, huh?" 4/11/11 via flickr.
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

Thesis 1

Arguments in Nutrition are often fueled on one's perception of facts and evidence. After reading Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits, I realized that the author wrote about both sides of his argument, but focused more toward his views against artificial sweeteners.

Thesis 2

Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits's author utlizes facts and evidence to inform his audience about both viewpoints in the controversy of artificial sugars. However, he wants the audience to realize that the harms of artificial sweeteners are more severe and should be more emphasized than their perceived benefits.

Explanation

I think both my theses explains how the author is attempting to achieve a specific purpose. I mentioned in both of them that his purpose is to present information, facts, and evidence that proves that artificial sweeteners have some benefits, but they have more harms that are often overlooked. Many people are unaware about the harms of artificial sugars. Therefore, the author wants to inform the people about this.

While I am writing to my audience, I will try to address the author and his purpose. I need to convey and explain the way he tried to address his audience in order to teach my audience how to construct their argument using this source as the example. Therefore, I need to show my audience how his choice in explaining one side more than the other is the method is uses to express his side of the argument without actually directly rejecting the perceived benefits. I think my best thesis was the second one because of my words choice, and my better explanation of how the author addresses his argument.

Reflection

I read Olivia Wann's blog post because I know that she is writing about a nutrition argument as well. I think she was able to develop her second thesis the best because she addresses how the author addresses the audience while addressing her own audience. I think this is important because we need to illustrate how authors in our field convey their message. After reading Olivia's, I feel slightly more confident because I was doubting that I was doing it right. I have never written a rhetorical analysis in this manner before, so I was unsure if I had approached it properly.

After reading Joki Potkonjak's blog post, I questioned the length of my own. Even though hers I felt were too lengthy, I wonder whether or not mine are too short. She fit a lot of information into her thesis, which I think was good because it set a specific tone for the paper. I think it is important to utilize both audiences in order to convey our message. I think after reading hers, I feel more confident. I still am questioning mine. However, I think that I somehow manage to make my theses not too long or too short.

Analyzing My Audience

Analyzing My Audience

In this blog post, I will analyze my audience by answering the six bulleted questions in the "Identifying Your Audience" on Student’s Guide page 41.

Who am I writing for? What are the audience's beliefs and assumptions?

I am writing for new and incoming students in the dietetics program. These students likely do not know how to deconstruct or analyze an argument in the discipline. The audience probably is likely to agree with what I have to say because I am older and more knowledgable than they are. My age and task of teaching them provides me some credibility.

What position might they take on this issue? How will I need to respond to this position?

I would assume that they would side with me. However, I am going to assume that there are going to be a mixed number of people for and against artificial sweeteners. In order to respond to them, I am going to state both sides of the argument. They will then have to decide what they believe in more. However, I will respond more with the harms and seriousness of fake sugars because fake sugars are actually detrimental to one's health.

What will they want to know?

The will want to know both sides of the argument. In order to do this, I will list and explain all of the perceived benefits and harms to health of artificial sugars. I plan on explaining to them that fake sugars are more bad than beneficial because there is more evidence against it than for it.

McGuire, Ryan. "Audience Seats Chairs Theater Gym Performance Sow" 10/04/14 via pixabay.
CC0 Public Domain License.

How might they react to my argument?

They will likely agree with me because I will provide them the resources to fight for both sides. However, my argument leans toward one side. In order to make an argument, it is important to state your thesis and claims.

How am I trying to relate or connect with my audience?

I know that I can relate and connect with my audience because they all have prior knowledge of nutrition. Nutrition is their passion. Therefore, I will discuss the nutritional aspects of the fake sugars. Also, I will connect the sugars back to their lives. I will mention the foods that contain the harmful sugars in order to make them realize that this is a serious issue.

Are there specific words, ideas, or modes presentation that will help me relate to them in this way?

I think graphic pictures of the negative effects and the amounts of sugars in their foods will shock them. It will create an urgency for them to be against artificial sugars. Not only will they want to be against it, but they will hopefully decrease their artificial sugar intakes as well. Lastly, I plan to use ethos, pathos, and logos in order to help them feel persuaded by my topic. I think that ethos, pathos, and logos are essential in any rhetorical analysis.

Reflection

I read Olivia Wann's blog post. In her post, she discussed the audience that the author of her source was trying to reach. She did not address the audience that she was trying to reach through her essay. I thought that this assignment was more about you and your audience and not necessarily about your author and theirs. Overall, she developed her ideas well and wrote about the same amount as I did.

I read Lia Ossanna's blog post. In her post, she discussed in detail the audience and how she will address the audience. I like how she specifically mentioned ethos, pathos, and logos, because they are essential in a rhetorical analysis. I think we spent about the same amount of time developing our audience post. However, she was more detailed and direct about her audience than I was. However, I think both seem to accomplish this post.

Cluster of Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits

Cluster of Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits

In this blog post, I am going to create a bubble map on Google docs. I will address the audience, opposing sides, and the details that help elaborate them. Click here to access my bubble map. I chose to use a picture of a honeycomb cluster because I thought it was punny :)

Waugsberg. "Honeycomb of honey bees with eggs and larvae. The walls of the cells have been removed. The larvae (drones) are about 3 or 4 days old." 4/22/07 via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0 License.

Analyzing Rhetorical Strategies in Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits

Analyzing Rhetorical Strategies in Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits

Appeals to Credibility or Character [Quote directly from your text when appropriate]

Which items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Credibility and Character (Ethos)" on page 182 can you recognize in your text?

The items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Credibility and Character (Ethos)" on page 182 that I can recognize in my text are, References to credible sources, Information about the author's expertise, and Acknowledgement of counterarguments and refutations to those arguments.

How and why would the author(s) use these strategies?

The author used references to credible sources in order to make his claims more reliable. If he did not support his claims with evidence from credible sources, then the context would seem all opinionated. The readers might question where he got the information from. Next, the information about the author's expertise made him credible because he is a very educated man who works in a school of medicine for the government. In other words, he is credible enough to be trusted by the government to work for them. He used this by stating facts and writing a journal that informed readers. The readers will think his education will make everything that he says credible. Lastly, he used acknowledgement of counterarguments and refutations to those arguments which made him credible because he was not biased or one-sided. He was able to deliver bother perspectives on sugar without seeming totally one-sided; even though, he is trying to voice that artificial sweeteners are bad.

How do these strategies affect the audience’s perception of the author's/authors' credibility and character?

These strategies affect the audience's perception of the author's credibility and character because they offer more information about the topic and promote him as someone of great knowledge. This makes the audience feel that what they are reading is valid. If someone uneducated and opinionated wrote this journal, they would not feel compelled to read or believe anything that this man would be saying. However, the audience is supposed to feel compelled to believe that the author knows his material and that he approaches it in a professional manner.

How does the use of these strategies impact the effectiveness of the text’s overall message?

The use of these strategies impacts the effectiveness of the text's overall message in a huge manner. If the author did not employ these strategies, the audience would have no urgency to listen to the author's message. The author's education, professionalism, and approach is what allows the reader to believe that the message that the author is trying to get across is acceptable.

Does/do the author(s) seem to have any biases or assumptions that might impact their credibility?

Yes, the author has some bias toward artificial sugar being unhealthy because majority of the source was written about how it is harmful. I think he could have balanced out the benefits and harms more. However, he was trying to get the message across that artificial sugars are harmful. Therefore, this bias takes a little away from the text, but it helps bring his message across. In other words, no real harm is done.

Appeals to Emotion [Quote directly from your text when appropriate]

Which items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Emotion (Pathos)" on pages 182-3 can you recognize in your text?

The items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Emotion (Pathos)" on pages 182-3 I can recognize in my text are level of formality and shocking statistics.

What emotional responses is the author attempting to create?

His level of formality is trying to bring an emotional response that is captivating for the reader. He is very formal in how he presents his information due to his use of statistics and information. However, he compels the reader to read more because he writes in a formal but easy to read manner.  Through his use of shocking statistics, he wants to wake up society to the harms of artificial sugars. Most people perceive the benefits only, but not the harms that the chemicals can impose. Therefore, these statistics serve as means to make the audience agree with the harms of fake sugars and not eat them anymore.

Germeraad, Gert."Portrait of a Man." 4/15/11 via Wikimedia Commons.
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

What is the actual result?

Personally, I felt the need to stop eating fake sugars because there are way more negative statistics than positive ones. Also, the level of his formality makes him seem like he actually cares about mankind as a whole and not to only convey his message. I feel this way because reading his source made me feel compelled to follow his lead and acknowledge the information that he provided.

Are these emotions effective or ineffective for this particular audience and rhetorical situation?

These emotions are effective for this particular audience and rhetorical situation because they convey the message of emotions that he wants to convey. However, people nowadays do not care so much about artificial sugars because it has come so readily available to society. In other words, this single article has not had a huge impact the the audience or situation as a whole.

How do these emotional appeals affect the credibility of the author(s) or the logic of the text?

These emotional appeals make you question the credibility of the author because nowadays people are not really focuses on the harms of fake sugars. Many people continue to care. However, it does not remain to be as large of a debate as before. Also, I think that the logic is not flawed in this because these issues continue today and more people are effected than before. However, many people just choose not to acknowledge the harms associated with fake sugars. There needs to be more of an urgency created for the audience to wake and to feel a greater need to not consume fake sugars.

Appeals to Logic [Quote directly from your text when appropriate]

Which items on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Logic or Rational Decision Making (Logos)" on page 183 can you recognize in your text?

The item on the bulleted list of "Appeals to Logic or Rational Decision Making (Logos)" on page 183 I can recognize in my text is statistics.

What response is the author attempting to create by employing these strategies?

By employing the use of statistics, the author is trying to provide some actual evidence in order to back up his claims and other information that he has presented. He wants the audience to realize that this is a real issue that is occurring and that this needs to be addressed on a larger scale.

What is the actual result?

I think the statistics remain to be a very useful way to convey his message. I think the statistics and the main component of his work that allows the reader better insight and information on the issue at hand. I think if the author better explained the statistics instead of listening them, then he could have created a bigger response toward the importance of these statistics.

Are these strategies effective or ineffective for this particular audience and rhetorical situation?

I believe that this strategy was somewhat effective because most of his work consisted of statistics and information. Without statistics or information, his work would lack credibility, emotional response, and understanding. These statistics provided a base ground for the audience to grasp the enormity of this issue of fake sugars occurring.

Reflection

I read Olivia Wann's blog post. She utilized direct quotations, which I felt like I did not need because I was able to analyze the instances that he used his strategies very well. For her, direct quotation worked because she did not thoroughly analyze the text like I had. I think my post reflected that I spent more time than Olivia because mine was longer and had more examples. I felt like her post seemed rushed.

I also read Allison Perger's blog post. Her author utilized way more emotion than logic. It was the complete opposite strategy that my author used because he used way more logic than anything else. I think that my author used this approach because he needed to state the information to make the people more informed about the topic. However, Allison's author wanted the people to feel differently about family matters which is a very emotional topic. I think that Allison explained everything in great detail which was similar to mine.

Analyzing Message in Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits

Analyzing Message in Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits

In this blog post, I am going to analyze the message in Sugar substitutes: Health controversy over perceived benefits. 

Out of all the bullet points listed for "Message and Purpose" on page 181, which two or three seem most relevant to the goals of your text's author/s? Why?

The bullet "Inform the reader about a topic that is often misunderstood?" seems relevant to the goals of the author because many people perceive artificial sugars as beneficial. They have no calories and have a low glycemic index. However, they are really harmful to people because they cause tooth decay along with many other negative health effects.

The bullet "Persuade an audience of something" is relevant to the goals of the author because he wants to reader to believe that artificial sweeteners are harmful for our health. The author does not want the reader to believe only in the perceived benefits of fake sugars.

The bullet "Move the readers to feel a certain way?" is relevant to the goal of the author because he wants the people to feel compelled not to eat artificial sugars because they are harmful to our health. If more people felt this way, then less people would be consuming fake sugars.

 Faanes, Einar. "Communication_sender-message-receiver.png." 1/23/06 via Wikimedia Commons.
GNU Free Documentation License.

Which bullet points do NOT seem relevant to the goals of your text's author/s? Why not?

The bullet "Advocate for change?" is not relevant to the goals of the text because the author is not telling everyone to just not eat fake sugars. He presented the information to them in hopes of making them want to change, but he never specifically says he thinks that they should change their ways.

Also, the bullet "analyze, synthesize, interpret?" is not relevant to the goals of the text because the author is not analyzing the data or interpreting it. He merely tells the reader the information about the harms and the benefits, but he never says anything very analytical about the topic of artificial sugars.

Are there nuances and layers to the message the author(s)/speaker(s) is/are trying to get across? If so, what are they? If not, why not?

I do not think that there are any nuances to block the messages he is trying to get across because the majority of his writing discusses the harms of the chemicals that in artificial sweeteners.

Analyzing My Own Assumptions

Analyzing My Own Assumptions

In this blog post, I am going to analyze my assumptions based on the culture of the text. I am going to connect the culture of the text back to today's culture and society.

What cultural or social values, beliefs, etc., do we share with the society or culture in which the text was written? Why have they endured?

We continue to debate over the benefits and harmful effects of artificial sugar. Many people think that artificial sugar is better for them because it has less calories. On the other hand, many people also know the harm of artificial sugar because they avoid it due to it lowering metabolism and containing chemicals. Theses beliefs have endured because people are not informed. Many people believe what they want to hear, and some people merely do not care about the possible health risks. Personally, I stay away from artificial sugars because they lower metabolism.

What cultural or social values, beliefs, etc., do we not share? Why not?

We do not share the same beliefs that artificial sugars are evil because many people still consume them. Even though many people know they are harmful, they still consume them. I feel like they have become more of a social norm than they were before. Before, many people were curious about the risks, but now many products contain fake sugars, so people think that it is okay to consume them because they are still alive after eating so much.

Filer, Andrew. "Assumption, Minnesota." 9/27/06 via flickr.
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.

If the text is written in a culture distant or different from our own, what social values, beliefs, etc., can we not see in our own culture?

I do not think that the culture was totally different or distant from our own. I noticed that the article had many references to American research. Therefore, the culture involved our own. However, I noticed that back when the article was written, there seemed to be more of a concern of the health risks that still are present now. This could be due to the increased availability of artificial sweeteners like I mentioned in the previous response.

If the text is written in our culture but in a different historical time, how have the social values, beliefs, etc., developed or changed over time?

Like I mentioned above, people do not see as much harm in the artificial sugars anymore because of the increased availability of them. Many foods contain them, and we do not even realize it. Usually, they are the names on the ingredient labels that are not pronounceable. These sugars are in all kinds of foods nowadays. They are in "sugar-free" food especially. It is important for people in society to be cautious of this. However, many people are unaware of this and their adverse long-term implications.

Reflection

I read Austin See's blog post. I realized that him and I both have issues that occur in the US. He mentioned that the American culture is "reinforced". I think that was a good way of putting it because my topic involved this as well. However, the harms of artificial sugars do not seem to be as reinforced as his issue because artificial sugars have been increasingly more available. Therefore, the issues behind them are hidden.

I also read Olivia Wan's blog post. I think she put a lot of opinion in hers. She really did not seem to like paying more for non-GMOs. However, I disagree with her because it is better to pay now for the food than to pay later with your health (in the hospital). For example, I always try my best to get organic and non-GMO foods because my grandmother had gotten a cancerous growth from the pesticides in lettuce. Even though it is not GMO related, I think supporting a cause such as better REAL food for Americans is ideal. If there was more of a demand, the prices would not be as high.