10 Questions

10 Questions

1.      Why do opinions vary so much about the effects of dental amalgam on overall health?

2.      Is there really anything wrong with dental amalgam?

3.      Is amalgam in fact a better material?

4.      Should we continue using it in modern dentistry?

5.      Where did the claims of the adverse health effects really come from?

6.      Who are the people who claim to have suffered adverse health effects?

7.      What would be the negative implications for the dental field if amalgam was banned?

8.      Would there be any positive implications for the dental field if amalgam was banned?

9.      Would patients be receiving the same quality of care?

10.  Are there any negative health implications in regards to composite filling material?

Good Reasons Rhetorical Precis

Chapter 7

In Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer’s book “Good Reasons”, they claim that when writing about an argument, several different approaches are often needed to achieve the same goal. These authors use a very good example about the ways drunk driving could be prevented, and they also use another less convincing example regarding diversity. The authors are trying to show different approaches to an argument in order to teach students to write in a more complex way. The authors are clearly writing to college students in order to educate and give resources to be better writers.

Chapter 9

In Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer’s book “Good Reasons”, they imply that causal arguments are much more complex than they sometimes seem to be. These authors talked about the three basic forms that arguments can take and the four methods of identifying a cause to support their assertion. The authors gave great information and steps on building a better causal argument in order to teach students to become more complex writers. Faigley and Selzer are clearly writing with a college student’s focus in mind as is obvious by the textbook feel of their work. 

Opinion on Free Information

There are a lot of great things out there in life that are free, and there are also a lot of great things out there that people have no problem paying for. So what should be free and what should have a price? I never had thought about it too much until this point. I pay for music, movies, and cable tv because those are luxuries in life for me. However, it’s nice to know that if one day I can’t afford to pay for cable anymore, there are other sources out there and I could still watch tv for free. I feel like in that particular case it is nothing more than a preference.

So what is different when it comes to information rather than entertainment? For me, I do believe that information should be free. I think that people all around the world from every different lifestyle should have the option to learn and to read scholarly articles whether it’s in order to complete a research assignment or whether it’s just because that person wants to increase their knowledge. Whether or not you can readily access information should not be a choice that you pay for or subscribe to. Information should be readily available and accessible for free.

Scholars are not paid to write articles for various journals so why should the researcher have to pay to read these articles? Although I understand that there are always going to be certain costs in order to publish those journals, I think that they could be financed in some other way, such as how google uses advertising to pay for it’s free service. If some other teqnique was used to supplement the income needed to publish these journals, people from all around could do research more easily and maybe that would make the world a more knowledgeable place. You shouldn’t have to rely on being able to afford to subscribe to these journals, and you shouldn’t have to rely on being a college student to have access. Information and the opportunity to gain knowledge should always be free.

 

Rhetorical Precis on Woodworth Article

Margaret K. Woodworth in her article “The Rhetorical Précis” (1988) asserts that teaching the rhetorical précis technique in composition classes is extremely beneficial to the students for better reading/writing comprehension. The author used a questionnaire as proof that students were having less difficulty understanding what they were reading, students thought it was helpful in writing, and students were using the technique for other classes when a rhetorical précis was not required. Her purpose is to highlight the advantages of using the rhetorical précis technique in order to see it used in all composition courses. Woodworth has used a professional, informational tone to appeal to her audience of teachers.

 

 

“The Rhetorical Précis.” Jstor, 1988. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

Rhetorical Precis

In his article “Aaron Swartz, Coder and Activist, Dead at 26,” (2013) Kevin Poulsen seems to imply that Aaron’s depression and recent suicide was a result of his desire to provide the public with documents that he felt should be available free of charge. Although many seemed to think of Aaron as a bright coder with worthy causes, his illegal activity at MIT prompted an arrest and a pending trial. Poulsen’s purpose for this article was to show that what Aaron was doing was illegal in order to show other activists that illegal activity is not the best answer. Poulsen seems to have a broad audience; trying to reach any other activists and also trying to set the record straight to all readers.