Cover Letter Progress

Dear Portfolio Reader,

Taking Writing 102 with Professor Lucenko this semester has allowed me to grow as a writer. Throughout this course, I learned how to analyze a text, interpret an author’s motives, perform research using credible sources, using evidence to support my claims, citing sources in papers, and write on a higher level. These skills have changed the way I look at a text and produce claims/arguments in a more effective and efficient way.

In the past, I would be able to identify the techniques that are used in a text, but I would have a hard time figuring out why that technique was used and how it was used to develop the argument. So, I mainly summarized and provided my own opinion of the text rather than use evidence from the text to come up with a strong interpretation. I was able to learn how to analyze a writer’s text through his/her use of specific techniques and tools in this course. For example, in my analysis of “106 Science Claims and a Truckful of Baloney” by William Weed

Update on final essay

Some of my revision priorities including focusing on the topic in each paragraph and making sure they are not too long and focus on more than one thing. Sometimes, you have ideas and ideas about a specific point and you just keep writing which I did in my case, so I’m trying to find a way to split up the paragraphs to more clear and concise paragraphs. In addition, I’m trying to incorporate more sources to back up my claims more effectively. Sometimes, information from one article will not be enough to support your information and multiple sources might be needed. Finding well-credited sources is always an issue as well. I am focusing on the comments the professor has made on my paper and trying to improve with the feedback I have gotten.

Reflecting on the process.

During my time working on the researched argument, some challenges I have found were finding the right sources and determining how to incorporate them into my paper. In addition, I found many sources that conducted studies and experiments on the well-being of animals in zoos that were detailed and scholarly, so I had a hard time incorporating all that information into my paper. Many sources were one sided as they either completely were against or for animals being held in zoos, but I was happy to find one article that explained how zoos were not helping out the public in terms of education, but then it also explained what needed to be changed in order to benefit the public. It was different from the other articles that laid out all the negatives of animals being kept in zoos and saying zoos should not be allowed. I wasn’t afraid of not being able to find enough sources because I knew that many people have a strong opinion on animals with zoos and that there are many organizations out there that fight for animal rights. But I did find many articles that talked about an issue at one specific zoo and I had to decide how to incorporate it into my paper because one issue at one zoo doesn’t necessarily mean all zoos go through that issue and should have a bad image attached to them. I was able to learn a lot through my meeting with Professor Lucenko who pointed out problems in my argument such as generalization and helped point me in the right direction.

 

Research Proposal

Research Proposal

 

Introduction:

The subject I am going to research is animal captivity. I am trying to find out whether or not it is beneficial for wildlife animals to be captured and sent to zoos/parks. On one hand, many amusement parks and zoos believe that through acquiring animals and providing care and conservation for them, it helps provide better research and a better environment for them. On the other hand, organizations such as PETA believe that zoos/parks destroys animal’s natural habitat and have harmful effects on animals.

Rationale:

Recently, I went to SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida and had the chance to swim with dolphins. The connection that the trainers had with their dolphins was fascinating as they communicated really well with each other. The trainers consistently reinforced the fact that they do not force the dolphins to do anything and that everything they do is on their own will. In addition, I heard an interesting fact that when the dolphins get transported from one SeaWorld to another, they get transported in trucks and airplanes. I felt as if these conditions were harsh for the animals since it is nothing like their natural habitat and that they are isolated from other dolphins. I wanted to do more research on this whole issue and see if animals in these parks and other places like zoos benefit from it since the environment is nothing like their natural environment in the wild.

 

Research Plan:

I need to research many things like such as what differences occur in the animal’s life when they move from their wildlife environment into a whole other environment such as a zoo or park. I need to find out if there are any changes in interactions with other species, in their diet and what happens to their families. Most importantly, I need to figure out the conditions that they are living in and whether or not it has a positive or negative impact on the animals. I also want to know if the organizers of these zoos/parks alter animals in any way or what they do so that they make more business. I know that these zoos/parks try to imitate their natural environment. For example, at SeaWorld, the trainer was explaining to us about the dolphins and their pods and how each dolphin has a certain role in their pod just like out in the wild. I also want to find out if there are any laws/regulations regarding capturing wildlife animals and regarding how they should be treated at these zoos/parks.

Implication:

This topic and research is important because animals are a big part of our society and they share the world with us. Millions of people everywhere attend zoos/parks to view animals and see the entertainment that they provide. Little know what happens behind the scenes and what the animals go through, good or bad. I hope to educate more people about these zoos/parks and the role they play for animals and what the positive and negative aspects are. In addition, this research will help the public make their own judgment and opinions on the topic and thus support what’s right. This also matters because more and more animals recently are being taken from the animal to be put into these parks/zoos since the existing animals are getting old. This matters for the future because many animals can become endangered if these routines are constantly harmful for them.

 

 

“Animals in Entertainment: Cruel Spectacles.” Campaigns and Programs –. N.p., n.d. Web. April 03, 2014.

“Animals Used for Entertainment.” PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. April 03, 2014.

Resource Annotation

BERGER, A. “Activity Patterns, Chronobiology And The Assessment Of Stress And Welfare In Zoo And Wild Animals.” International Zoo Yearbook 45.1 (2011): 80-90. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.

 

This journal is about the different activity patterns and daily cycles of animals and see how different factors contribute to the stress and welfare of animals. It talks about how chronobiology investigations can provide tremendous insight on well-being of animals as it can determine stresses and disturbances. The journal also talks about how different environmental conditions effect animals’ well-being.

 

I am planning on using this journal to show how these different environmental habitats that zoos set up for animals can disrupt an animals health and well-being. In addition, this journal provides many examples of specific animals and how different factors have affected them which I plan on incorporating into my researched argument.

Pro/Con Claims

Topic: Wildlife Animal Captivity

Tentative Question: Is it beneficial for wildlife animals to be captured and sent to amusement parks?

Main Argument: It is not beneficial for wildlife animals to be captured and sent to amusement parks for their purposes.

Claims:

1. Ruins the animal’s family

Capturing animals ruins a family because mothers and babies can get separated.

2. Animal’s live a life of confinement.

Many animals that are captured and sent to zoos or marines park are deprived of their natural habitat/environment and thus ruining their social interaction with other animals.

3. Harsh conditions

Animals sent to parks and zoos live in confined spaces and go through harsh training if they are needed to perform

4. Favoritism over new young-born animals.

Old animals get auctioned off or in worst cases get sent to a slaughter house.

Counterclaims:

1. Saves injured wildlife animals.

2. Research and conservation of the animals has led to better care.

3. Many educational benefits.

4. Breeding programs help those in trouble

Research Topics

Is it beneficial or harmful for animals to have interactions with people?

I want to research this topic because I recently had the chance to interact with dolphins and see their trainers work and play with them. It was a nice experience to see how the trainers communicate with the dolphins and get them to do stuff as well as get them to interact with us. To see two different species being able to interact with one another when they don’t speak the same language or live in the same environment was interesting to me. Through my experience, I already know that it is probably beneficial for the animals to have interactions with people as it is the case with dolphins. The trainers constantly reiterated to us that they never force the dolphins to do anything and that they always give them a choice. If they do not want to put on a show for spectators on a specific day, they will not force the dolphin to go out there. I need to find out how it is beneficial for animals to have interactions as well as the harmful effects if there is any. I also need to distinguish between different types of animals and the way they interact with people. Many people are skeptical with humans trying to control animals and force them to do things while others are fascinated by the communication between the two different species. Many people believe that animals should only interact with animals and not let humans interfere with their lifestyle. Through my essay I’d like to reach out to people that have an interest in wildlife and are intrigued by animals and how they can connect with us. In addition, I’d like to target pet owners as well. These readers should care about my essay because animals are a big part of society and play an important role in our ecosystem.

Comparative Analysis

In today’s world, many things are overlooked and not given the attention needed. In “Saving Ethiopia’s “Church Forests””, by T. DeLene Beeland and “Man discovers a new life-form at a South African truck stop” by Rob Dunn, the authors discuss the importance of church forests and the importance of discovering overlooked species, respectively. Both authors use narrative and description in order to help portray their stories.

In ‘Saving Ethiopia’s “Church Forests”” by T. DeLene Beeland, she begins right away with a comparison between fundamental Christians who believe that humans have a right to use earth and its resources while on the other hand, followers of Ethopian churches believe that they should maintain a home for all of God’s creatures around where they worship. This comparison provides the reader with different views on the subject being talked about. She then goes on to describe the concept of church forests because many people might not know what church forests are or have heard of them. She transitions into talking about awareness for church forests by concluding that they are “poorly studied”. She introduces an Ethopian forest researcher Alemayehu Wassie Eshete and described that he “wept from frustration” when she questioned him about what he was going to do next on coptic forests. This illustrates the lack of attention that the forests receive and the need for more attention to preserve them. Beeland includes a picture of a church forest in the article which just shows a circular shape of trees with the surrounding areas being completely empty to clearly illustrate that this is a problem. It appeals to the reader’s emotion as to how many trees have been destroyed and nothing has been done to save them. In addition, Beeland adds Youtube videos of the process of her and many other scientists trying to assess the insect biodiversity and the economic importance of the tree species to provide further insight for the reader on exactly what is going on. By describing how children were interested in their field work, it goes to show how people shouldn’t overlook the importance of forests as it effects all of us.

In “Man discovers a new life-form at a South African truck stop” by Rob Dunn, he starts his article by progressing to the bigger topic. From discovering a new order, Dunn goes on to discovering a new order, something that is far more significant. He narrates the actions of Oliver Zombro, a German biologist and the whole process of him discovering new species. Dunn intensifies certain actions for instance by saying “After a whole day nothing had been found, not a single clue. Then things changed.” This shines more light onto discovering new things and how important it is. Dunn describes the discovery as “Someone turned a leaf and under it was, lo and behold, a single individual. It hung there as though it had been waiting for centuries.” which shows that practically anyone can discover new species if they just take the time out of their day to look. This goes to show that there are many objects in plain sight, but we just don’t care enough to look for them.

Why Can’t We Save Them All?

In Michelle Nijhuis’ “Conservation Triage” and “Where Will Species Live?”, the last two paragraphs of both articles reflect on the overlying problem of the whole idea of having to chose which animal species to save and not being able to save all of them. In “Conservation Triage”, she quotes Nagle saying “knowing that an extinction was  something we could have stopped and chose not to — I think that’s where people kind of gulp and don’t want to go down that road.” She then goes on to add that the whole point of the triage system is to solve that problem of making decisions on which species to save. Here, Nijhuis seems to be saying that the triage system is something necessary and that it is probably impossible to save every single species. She is implying that the decisions must be made even though there lies the guilt in making the decision to not save some species. So she ends the last paragraph by saying “So perhaps it’s time to mkae your pick. Who gets to board your ark?” to present to you the problems that the professionals face.

In “Where Will Species Live?”, Nijhuis targets the consciousness of people in making those decisions. She quotes Nagle saying that “the exhortation to save all species remains a worthy and perhaps even necessary, goal.” She throws in an analogy to compare a medic in the battlefield who is willing to attempt to save lives even though saving all lives is not likely to these people who are making the choices to suggest that they should attempt to rescue all the species.

Michelle Nijhuis writes two articles on conservation of species, but each article is directed toward a different audience. “Conservation Triage” was published in Slate Magazine while her other article “Which Species Will Live?” was published in Scientific American. Slate Magazine is an online magazine that focuses on news, politics and culture while Scientific American is an American popular science magazine that solely focuses on scientific information even having Albert Einstein contributing articles. Just by this information, one can tell that the information presented in each article are going to be different.

In “Conservation Triage” by Michelle Nijhuis, the audience shapes the article because she realizes that readers of Slate Magazine might not be interested in science, so she uses rhetorical strategies such as many rhetorical questions to attract the readers. In addition, she starts off the article with a what would you do type of situation in order to grab interest from the reader. She throws many questions at the reader such as “Which species will you save?” and “The most beautiful … or just the tastiest?” Due to the broad range of readers, she briefly touches up on some details about conservation and different solutions, but does not go into detail like she does in “Which Species Will Live?”. Her paragraphs are short, concise and  straight to the point. She addresses the problem in one paragraph and splits up the different solutions into their own paragraphs as well. She realizes that long and very informative based paragraphs will probably cause readers of Slate Magazine to lose interest. She adds a picture of the bald eagle on the top of her article and explains that “Politically controversial species attract more funding, as do those with symbolic value, like bald eagles.” It adds a sense of decision making that is involved in the whole process of saving species and that not all species can be saved.

On the other hand “Where Species Will Live?” is very informative and detailed. In that article there is even a description on Michelle Nijhuis saying that “As a 2011 Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellow, she researched strategies for protecting critically endangered species.” This gives background information on Nijhuis and provides her with credibility to her audience who are interested in science. Right off the bat, she is very attentive on the actions that occur in conference rooms. She writes 4 paragraphs just on conference room actions/procedures which is much different than the amount of information and detail in “Conservation Triage” She then builds a foundation on her article by talking about the history of the Endangered Species Act. On page 77, she adds a statement in the middle of the page saying “Sooner or later a vulnerable species will be too hard to save. Yet many conservationists remain uncomfortable making the final, fateful decisions that triage requires.” This reiterates the main problem that they face today. She talks in a very informative manner on specific companies and people and the efforts they have been trying to make.