non fiction critcal analysis

Non Fiction Critical Analysis

In the article “return of the measles” from upfront magazine, it talks about hoe people are surprised that the measles are coming back. And that some people choose to have shots for it.  I noticed that the author uses many things to convince the reader that this is happening. One very strong way the author does this is by using statistics. This helps the reader understand the text because it helps us understand the dangerousness of the measles.

In the article, it talks about how the measles are a real thing and that they are coming back. They start off by the reader that America thought that it was eliminated in 2000, but we recently got a surprise that they were in fact, not eliminated, and are coming back. It all started with in an outbreak in popular amusment park, Disney world. Many people were concerned. Also, some people with terminal illnesses would be in a lot of danger if they were infected the measles. The article really talks about how some people choose not to get shots because “they don’t like the chemicals going in their/their kids bodies” the author uses statstics to show how these people are affect themselves and others, and how that is bad.

The strongest way the author shows the dangerousness of the measles is statistics. Statistics help the reader understand the text because they make the problem seem worse. Without statistics, the reader would never get an actual sense of how bad the measles are. They would just know that they are bad, but they wouldn’t have a rating of how bad the situation is. They would only be hearing someone else’s opinion of the sickness. When people are given statistics, they are alowed to heave their own opinion based on facts.

To conclude, using statistics is very different than just using facts. Statistics are cold numbers that have no opinion whatsoever, so that people can base their own thoughts off of that. This can help the reader understand the text better and the whole claim of the article, which was the measles is a very dangerous disease, and people who choose not to get shots, are putting themselves, and other people’s lives in danger. And that isn’t fair.

ya book blog post 3/15/15

Ya Book Blog Post 3/15/15

            In the book “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things” by Carolyn Macker, the overweight, Virginia Shreves goes through many problems. Towards the end, she learns to stay strong, notices many horrible things about her family members, and gains confidence. Virginia goes through many changes.

            One change Virginia goes through is she learns to stay strong. Virginia goes on a diet to make her parents proud, which is something she didn’t even want to do in the first place. Food was like a friend to her when she was having hard times, which was a lot. For her to give it up like that just to impress people, was very strong of her. Another reason Virginia is strong is because when her brother, Byron, who she looks up to as a role model called her fat, she wanted to cut herself, but she didn’t. This is strong because she had such an easy opportunity to. Also, she had been going through a very hard time, and it was brave of her to not cut herself.

            Another change Virginia goes through is she notices many horrible things about her family members. For example, she notices that her brother is an awful person, not only because she raped an innocent girl, and didn’t feel bad, but because he is even mean to her. He knows that that’s what she hates most about herself. That was really the moment she noticed that her brother is not only a cruel brother, but a cruel person in general. She also notices a bad trait about her father. That he only thinks skinny women can be beautiful. He doesn’t have to think everyone is beautiful, but to say everyone who is fat is ugly, is really rude and mean. This fact really hits Virginia when she proudly tells her father she is going on a diet, and he says “You’ve got a pretty face. Just think of how much pretty you would be if you were skinny” this shows how her own dad thinks that she’s ugly, just because she’s fat.

            Finally, Virginia goes through a huge change by gaining confidence in herself. One way she does this, is her best friend (and only friend) moved to Washington from New York in the beginning of the year. For Thanksgiving, her best friend, Shannon invites her to Washington over the break. Virginia asks her mother if she can go, but her mother says no, meanwhile, her brother is going to Paris over the break, and that’s a “completely different story” since her mother doesn’t let her go to Washington, she decides to go to a ticket seller herself, and use her savings account to buy her own non-refundable ticket to Washington. This took a lot of courage, because that was her own, hard earned money that she spent half of, and if her parents said no, it would have gone to waste. But, Virginia felt happy, because it gave her a sense of power, like she could do things on her own. Another way Virginia gains confidence is when she is in Washington, she gets an eyebrow piercing. This is going completely against her parents. Also, as Virginia says in the book, she doesn’t like anything drawing attention to her face because she thinks it is ugly. Doing this made her more self-assured with her face. Also, many people notice and compliment her new piercing, which boosts her self-esteem even more.

            Virginia goes through many changes throughout the book, such as realizing her brother is a bad person, her father is demining to women, and she gains confidence. Noticing these kinds can really  make a person’s life turn upside down, like Virginia Shreves’ life did.