Analyzing Arguments

Nancy Kalish's article in The New York Times has as thesis that waking up too early is bad for students. The author claim that waking up much before 8 a.m. make the first class of the morning a waste, because a lot of children fall asleep or don't even show up. In addition, Kalish states that insufficient sleep is linked to obesity and to learning issues like  attention deficit. Other important premises are the examples given of schools that delayed the their start times. The results of this action were the increasing attendance and scores of the students. Besides, the author also says that the number of teenagers involves in car crashes dropped. 

I believe that Nacy Kalish established logical premises, which, then, became very persuasive. Thus, the accuracy of her premises guarantee the truth of her conclusion. In other words, the arguments are valid and strong. Therefore, waking up too early is bad for students indeed. 

Kalish, Nancy (2008, Jan 14). The Early Bird Gets the Bad Grade. The New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/opinion/14kalish.html

Synthesis

As children and teenagers are playing more video games, people are directly proportional talking more about them. Some people say that computer games are bad for children. Walker states that the majority of the games have violence as their principal theme and they are becoming increasingly realistic and explicit. However, Smith opposes saying that many computer games are non-violent, like 'The Sims'. I believe that only violent games are bad for children, because they don't have fixed values and thoughts yet, and they can be influenced by this type of games.

• Smith, A. J. (2003). Synthesis. Retrieved October 20, 2008 from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The English Language Centre Web site: http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/eap/synthesis.htm

• Walker, A. (2001). Computer games and adolescent aggression. In N. Peters (Ed.), Research into the effects of computer games (pp. 108-124). London: St Martin’s Press.

Summarizing

Moreau, Elise. (2012, Jul 9). Study reveals space travel may slow ageing process. Slash Gear. Retrieved July 7, 2012, from http://www.slashgear.com


The code for living longer may just have found by scientists who analyzed Caenorhabditis elegans worms. This species of worm is very important in space travel research because it has a lot in common with humans in the way muscles deteriorate. After a mission to the International Space Station, a study revealed five genes in the worm showed reduced activity, changing how they aged. Moreau quotes Szewczyk, who said that these genes are involved in how the metabolism adapt to the environment and that "muscle tends to shrink in space". The study also revealed that a decrease in the production of polyglutamine aggregates protein of the warms, which plays a role in the aging of the muscle, occurred. Thus, it is possible that spaceflight slows the process of ageing.

Documentation

Pratice 2!

1. Wheelwright, J. (2001, March). Don't eat again. Discover, 22, 36-43.