Annotated Bibliography

Academic Peer Reviewed Journals:
"Gendered Expectations? Reconsidering Single Father's’ Child-Care Time."
The general point of this source is to point out the sociological aspect of the father's role in the child's life. The author analyzes the question whether or not single father's can "mother." This source connects to the cultural artifact "Finding Nemo". I am going to analyze the movie in the near future. It is relate able to the movie because Nemo's father had to play both the role of the father, and the mother in his life. This article includes data representation from studies that involved samples single fathers in America. "There is consensus that single fathers are more involved with their children than are married fathers (Cooksey & Fondell, 1996; Hawkins et al., 2006)." This quote is relevant to my artifact because Nemo's father had to be incredibly involved in his life. I will be able to compare the role of his father to these studies to further analyze the movie.

Hook, Jennifer L. and Satvika Chalasani. "Gendered Expectations? Reconsidering Single Fathers’ Child-Care Time." Journal of Marriage & Family, vol. 70, no. 4, Nov. 2008, pp. 978-990. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00540.x.

"Single Fatherhood."
The main idea of this academic journal is to gain further insight on single fathers. It is based of a study of a group of single fathers and conducted to gain objective and subjective facts about their life. "Consequently, social workers and others who are concerned about the quality of family life have little information about the experiences of such fathers and their children."(Mendes). This quote is important because the single father is a phenomenon and not much information is giving on it. I would like to further analyze the question, why is no one talking about this? I think the question is relevant to my topic because Finding Nemo had been released only in 2003. I believe this movie sent a good message about the singe father and aided relief to those who may question otherwise.

Mendes, Helen A. "Single Fatherhood." Social Work, vol. 21, no. 4, July 1976, p. 308. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=5273297&site=ehost-live.

Credible Sources:
"Single Father Homes On The Rise."
This source's general purpose is to point out the fact that the single father phenomenon is growing. I've picked this source because it is an recent article. Also, it gives facts about the single father regarding information from the U.S. census. There are good quotes in the article as well. For example, Darryl Pure, a psychologist from Chicago says that "Single fathers need help just as much as single fathers." He also states that the single father just has a harder time asking. He is a reliable person to obtain this information from because he also has sole custody of three children. "This is relate able to Nemo because his father was such a big influence on his life, and some times felt like it would be easier with trusting help to watch Nemo. From this source I will be able to discuss the relationship between the single father phenomenon and Nemo. Also, I will be able to point out how the phenomenon is just know being more researched and acknowledge.

Armas, Genaro C. "Single-Father Homes on the Rise." ABC News. ABC News Network, 18 May 2017. Web. 19 Apr. 2017. 

"The Changing Role Of The Modern Day Father."

The main idea of this source is to provide facts about why exactly single father's are becoming more popular and normal in today's society.The APA has conducted studies upon single fathers of all ethnic backgrounds and concluded how the affection and involvement can promote the child's social and emotional development."Fatherly love helps children develop a sense of their place in the world, which helps their social, emotional and cognitive development and functioning." ("The Changing Role of the Modern Day Father.") This information connects with my artifact because Nemo and his father had a strong relationship, yet he still disobeyed him. I can further analyze what the over protectiveness may have done to Nemo to make him lash out. It will also allow me to discuss positive qualities of the single father today from a psychological standpoint. 

"The Changing Role of the Modern Day Father." American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2017.

 

Source Review 1

    In this blog post I will preform a source review of a scholarly article. The article has been written by John P. Pinocchio and is titled "Profile of the Single Father: A Thematic Integration of the Literature.") I have selected this article in particular because it is from 1983 and exposes early findings and the beginning of research conducted on the single father. It includes thematic analysis and literature to profile the single father. The article is based on findings from research and psychological and sociological aspects are included as well. I think this article is important because the first evidence and analysis of this profile is important and acts as a building block for further research. In today's time, we are aware that the single father phenomenon is growing and becoming more normalized. In the future, I will be comparing this research with my analysis of the movie titled "Finding Nemo". Therefor, I will be focusing more on the single father who is not dealing with a divorce and is just simply taking on the role alone.
    The overall purpose of this article is to provide a profile of the single father. All of the findings in the article would be considered new for the time is was published. During this decade, the beginning of research has been conducted for a better understanding of single fathers. It was a growing phenomenon then, but now the single father house holds are even more prominent. This research article is important because it gives further understanding of the single father. The article includes the psychological makeup, personal problems, interpersonal difficulties, and  life-style to the furthest extent of the research findings.
    The research methodology in this article includes the interview technique and data collection of a small sample size of single fathers. A 1976 study completed  by Atkin and Rubin shows that the single father with a child goes through a period of stress resulting from the role adjustment, similar to the father's who do not have custody. After this, a study from 1978 that included 128 single fathers shows that the father feels inadequate when attempting to be single parent. However, the age of the child as well as intimacy of family members are important influences in the father's successful to parent. Also, many studies indicate that single fathers who raise their children alone have a great personal satisfaction and growth. In the same year, a research study conclude by Bartz and Witcher with 34 single fathers concludes that the father's gain and experience more openness and support from people in the same situation as them. But, the single father's adjustment is a stressful position to be in since society has no real expectations or rules how the parent alone. The lack of resources create stress for the father. Therefor, the stressful impact of responsibility is solely in the father's power to preform their duties. A study from 1978 from Kesget and Rosenthal suggest qualities of the father's personal feelings and development. They have found that the father's relationship with his child has a significant impact on the way he self-defines. Also, how the loss of the relationship would severely impact his integrity. The article is filled with many more studies, but they mainly focused on divorced father's. The article also includes a section about how the father can proper receive counseling if need be. That section is not in my interest because it has no correlation with my proposing research analysis.
     All of the information presented in this article is helpful towards my research. This article is considered a basis for all further research conducted on single fathers. It is a good building block and reference for me to use in my essay. The research finding's in this article is important and valid. The article is based on many research findings from the mid 70's-80's. This is when the phenomenon started to grow the most. Today, it is much more accepted. However, I believe the feelings and emotional process the father undertakes is still very similar. I agree with all the conclusions of the research because from self-experience I can visibly see the qualities of the single father. I also agree that the divorced father and single father go through different feelings and processes. The article contributes to advances in my knowledge on this topic because I had not been aware of all of these findings and their conclusions prior to this article. Also, I can relate these specific research findings to my future essay on "Finding Nemo.)

Pichitino, John P. “Profile of the Single Father: A Thematic Integration of the Literature.” Jan. 1983, pp. 295–299.

Research Proposal

    My topic for my research includes further analysis of the movie "Finding Nemo." I have picked this topic as a cultural artifact because it is well known and extremely popular. I have seen this movie as a young child, and recently the sequel "Finding Dory" has been released. This movie may hold more importance to other people, but it was a huge hit when it came out in 2003. Finding Nemo is the 4th most successful pixar movie, but Finding Dory came in first place. This movie is popular because of the emotional appeal is leaves on the audience.
     Some possible ways to analysis this artifact is through the message it teaches and the qualities involved with the characters. For example,  in the beggining of Finding Nemo, there was a mass murder. The larger fish swoop into their home and ate Nemo's mother, and all of his siblings. Now, his father is an overprotective single man left to raise his son alone. Because of the incident, Nemo's had been deformed. His one fin is shorter than the other and this is another reason why his father is overprotective of him. This also makes Nemo ostracized and difficult for him to fit in with the other kids. Other than this, the movie shows the danger of strangers and young children being alone. Nemo gets kidnapped and this sends his father on a crazy chase for him. During this chase he runs into another fish who has a mental disability. Her name is Dory and she has short-term memory loss. Together, they swim through dangerous waters and even run into the mafioso. While this is happening, Nemo is locked up in the fish tank. Aside from not being a criminal, the fish tank represents a jail. All the fish in the tank with Nemo have become crazy from being trapped in it. While inside the jail, they are aware death is coming. The death that they are afraid of is a human girl named Darla. In regards to all of this information, I have chose to pick out three things and anaylisis them into further detail. I will be choosing the single father household, the deformity of the child, and the kidnapping that occurs.

     I believe this artifact shows young children the dangers of the world, and the importance of having someone who loves/cares about you. It teaches many lessons to children, as well as adults. So far, I have found some research regarding this.  According to the the 2000 census, in 2.2 million households, fathers raise their children without a mother. That's about one household in 45.(Armas). Along with this information about single fathers, I have also researched the effects of overprotective parents on a child. This goes hand in hand with stranger danger and the kidnapping of Nemo because of the message that overprotective plays in the child's mind. Being overprotective makes the child think that the world as a whole is not a safe place. This may lead to further problems within the child.  I have more research to do in order to further analysis the artifact.

ARMAS, GENARO C. "Single-Father Homes on the Rise." ABC News. ABC News Network, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. 

 

 

"Pixar." Box Office Mojo. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. 

 

 

"Overprotective Parents Effects on Children." Overprotective Parents Effects on Children | 2KnowMySelf. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

 

 

Bagner, D. M. (2013). Father’s role in parent training for children with developmental delay. Journal of Family Psychology, 27(4), 650-657. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0033465 

 Brussoni, M. and L. L. Olsen. "The Perils of Overprotective Parenting: Fathers' Perspectives Explored." Child: Care, Health & Development, vol. 39, no. 2, Mar. 2013, pp. 237-245. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2214.2011.01361.x.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

    Through out my blog post I have talked about topics that include natural disasters, and climate change. Today, I am going to discuss a different, but also very important matter. A couple weeks ago I heard about something that nearly broke my heart. So, we all know that human waste and garbage ends up in the ocean. You may have seen pictures of the negative effects on marine life. But have you ever wondered where all that trash really ends up? When I was younger, I always thought that sharks ate anything and everything that was in the ocean. Even though this statement may have some truth, the garbage actually ends up in vortex's through out our oceans. They are referred to as "garbage patches". There is three main patches. One is called the Western Garbage Patch and it is located near Japan. Another is called the  Eastern Garbage Patch located between Hawaii and California. But, the one I will discuss today is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

    The Great Pacific Garbage patch was first discovered by oceanographer Charles Moore. He found the patch in 1997 while sailing the ocean. It is located from the West Coast of the U.S., all the way to Japan. The patch is so large because it is composed of both the Eastern, and Western patches. Their all related by the North Pacific Convergent Zone. This means warm water from the south meets with cool water from the Arctic and creates a path for the debris to travel. The spinning vortex of debris consist of 80% plastic. This is because this specific material is not biodegradable like the other pieces of trash that end up in the ocean. Over time, the plastics break down into tiny pieces called "micro plastics." Overall, the micro plastics create a murky texture to the water and integrate with larger items as well. Moore describes the patch as "minestrone, and all the little vegetables are different colored bits of plastic." ("Great Pacific Garbage Patch"). However, the top of the water isn't the only part that contains trash. Sadly, below the water contains just as much, if not more, trash. According to Oceanographers and ecologists,70% of marine debris actually sinks to the bottom of the ocean. ("Great Pacific Garbage Patch"). But, not even these experts can say how much trash actually lies within the Garbage Patch.

   So, what do we do to stop this? Truth is, the power of recycling and minimizing plastic packaging can make a difference. Also, you may want to volunteer in local beach cleanups. But at the minimal, please properly dispose of your waste and keep others aware of the garbage patch! For more information please click on the hyper links!

Society, National Geographic. "Great Pacific Garbage Patch." National Geographic Society. N.p., 09 Oct. 2012. Web. 05 Apr. 2017.

Blomberg, Lindsey. "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch." Http://web.a.ebscohost.com. N.p., May-June 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2017. 

 

 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pacific-garbage-patch-map_2010_noaamdp.jpg

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastikm%C3%BCll_in_den_Ozeanen

Rhetorical Analysis

On March 28th, 2017, Scott L. Montgomery, a writer for "Fortune" released an article titled, " Trump's Executive Order on Climate Change Is All About Power." The audience that this article is presented for might consist of American citizens, environmentalist, economist, politicians, and democrats. It's purpose is to persuade the people to realize that the P.O.T.U.S, Donald Trump, does not care about our earth's climate. In regards to this, his main concern only is his newly granted power among the U.S government and citizens. In this article, the writer includes specific rhetoric to convince the audience. This includes the use of ethos, pathos, and logos.

All through out the article, the writer includes ethos, pathos, and logos. For example, he builds up credibility for ethos by using the "name dropping" technique. He includes some important people that relate to the government, as well as climate-change agencies. Because the article is about Donald Trump, he also refers to back to Barack Obama and his Clean Power Plan (CPP). As well as former U.S presidents after Richard Nixon and their ignorance towards "energy-independence." After dropping these well known names, he includes information from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Aside from the writer's build up of ethos, he also includes a good amount of pathos. In reference to former president, Barack Obama, the writer states "He swam in shark-infested political waters for eight years, yet he helped empower the renewable energy sector and move forward a sensibility among people, businesses, and corporations that climate change is real, serious, and already having deadly impacts."(Montgomery). By including this sentence, he portrays feelings to the audience in regards to the dangerous outcomes of climate change that Donald Trump, as well as other republicans, have blatantly ignored. He also includes a sentence that words, "The CCP was developed within the embrace of the Clean Air Act—a hugely important law that has saved many lives since being signed in 1970—giving the EPA authority to regulate forms of airborne material deemed harmful to the public." ( Montgomery). From this sentence, we can see that he included pathos as well by referring to how many lives have been saved from the CAA. Also, the sentence includes logo's because he includes the years that the law has been in placed. Other than this, the writer includes more effective examples of logo's through out the article.

Towards the end of the article, Montgomery, includes logos to build up his opposing viewpoint to Trump's actions in office.  He includes important dates, (the one referred to in the above paragraph), numbers of co2 admissions, number of states involved, and the supreme court rulings.  For example, the writer states in regards to the CAA that, "Simply put, the plan consists of new standards for lowering carbon emissions from power plants, which produce close to 40% of all carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. The overall goal was to reduce emissions 32% below 2005 levels by the year 2030." (Montgomery). He uses this information to build his credibility and show the audience the influence of the CAA, as well as the positive effects of it.

Through out the article, Montgomery seems to use the three qualities of the rhetorical appeal almost equally. The effect of this is positive because he uses all of them well enough to build his credibility and persuade the audience. Overall, I would say his choice of ethos, pathos, and logos, were effective on his audience. His tone/mood of the article also had an effect. Because the writer's tone was alarming, concerning, and agitated, he was able create a stronger appeal to the reader. Through his tone/mood, he can present the audience with the true feelings regarding his topic/point. Overall, the writer was able to reach his purpose to convince the audience that Donald Trump does not care about our environment as much as he cares about his power above it.
http://fortune.com/2017/03/28/donald-trump-clean-power-plan-climate-change-executive-order-epa-environment/

Montgomery, Scott L. "Trump’s Executive Order on Climate Change Is All About Power." Fortune. N.p., 28 Mar. 2017. Web. 2 Apr. 2017. 

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trump_Circle.png 

 

 https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/File:Air_pollution_by_industrial_chimneys.jpg

 

 

A Big White Nightmare

    Monday, March 27th, a fatal tragedy stuck suddenly 100 miles north from Tokyo, Japan. Just below the 6,300 foot peek of Mount Chausu, at a ski resort, about 60 high school students were training how to avoid avalanches for the annual early-spring climb. These students were involved in a mountaineer club at one of the seven high schools from Tochigi Prefecture. According to their website, the school district has one of the top mountaineering clubs, and won an award for competitive climbing 8 years running.
    During their three day excursion, the area experienced an unusual amount of snow fall. The weather bureau had issued an avalanche warning a day earlier,on Sunday, but the students were just urged to use caution. According to the Tochigi branch of the Japanese national weather service, warmer temperatures on Monday made the mountain unstable. While training for the climb, one survivor claims "everything turned white." The avalanche occurred quickly and left about 40 people injured and 8 dead. The branch of the Tochigi Government that is responsible for dealing with natural disaster stated that all the victims were men, and found with out vital signs. The weather conditions made it difficult for emergency helicopters to land at the scene of the avalanche.
    As a result of this tragedy, the board of education had changed the rules for the mountaineer club. For now on, the students are to only practicing on much lower and safer hills. Personally I believe that the club should not be a part of their high schools at all. It seems to me like this club is extremely unsafe, and the people in charged are not particularly worried about the lives of the kids involved. For instance, they were well aware of the avalanche warning, yet they continued to allow hiking on the mountain. It is a shame that it took a tragedy like this to make the school realize their journey's can be a great risk. How ever, in this moment, they were extremely unlucky. Together, the clubs have become more sorry and less safe. For the full story, you can read more here.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/27/world/asia/japan-avalanche-tochigi-deaths.html?_r=0

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Avalanche
 "Avalanche." Avalanche - Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rogers_Pass_avalanche_disaster_5_March_1910.jpg

 
 Soble, Jonathan. "Japan Avalanche Kills 8 Teenage Mountaineers on School Trip." The New York Times. The New York Times, 27 Mar. 2017. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

 

The Greenpeace USA Discourse Community.

1.) "A discourse community has a broadly agreed upon set of common public goals."
    The common public goal for Greenpeace is quite obvious. They are on a mission to expose environmental issues globally, as well as promote solutions to these problems. The problems they are working on include saving the arctic, protecting forest, fighting global warming, protecting oceans, living toxic-free, promoting sustainable food, and defending democracy. Greenpeace hopes to promote these solutions in order to create a more peaceful/safe environment/planet.
2.) "A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among it's members.
    One of the community's mechanisms of intercommunication includes Green Wire. On this website they share upcoming events, emails, and members to communicate with in the organization.The discourse community of Greenpeace also attend meetings, rallies, and marches.
3.)"A discourse community uses it's participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information/feedback."
     The discourse community of Greenpeace has multiple blogs. In the blogs, they have topics on news/media, events, groups, and members. In order to view the member's blog, you must first become one. Then you are able to share your thoughts/information with other member's of the community.
4.) "A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of it's aims."
     Aside from their meetings, blogs, marches, and rallies, the community also shares it's information via twitter, face book, youtube, instagram, and emails.
5.) "In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired a specific lexis."
    On their website they refer to different items as "green." For example, "green internet". Not many people would understand this if they were outside of the Greenpeace community. However, green internet involves environmentally safer, and less energized technology to reduce environmental impact. They also include a section on the website that is titled "movement news". Almost self explanatory, but this section includes news that involves Greenpeace. Movement news makes you feel a certain type of way, whether it's positive or negative, it effects your feelings. Another lexis that they have is "front line." This stands for the people of the Greenpeace community that publicly fight for their goals.
6.) "A discourse community has a threshold of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discourse expertise. 
    In the discourse community, Greenpeace has a wide range of members. They include members, interneships, volunteers, the front line, board members, and issue experts. Their issue experts include 17 members both male and female. Together, they possess a wide range of back rounds that include science, law, politics, and advocacy.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Greenpeace_logo.svg/2000px-Greenpeace_logo.svg.png
"File:Greenpeace Logo.svg." File:Greenpeace Logo.svg - Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017. 

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/dinocom/3275714010
Alves, Dinho. "An. Greenpeace _ "Woman Nature"." Flickr. Yahoo!, 13 Feb. 2009. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.
Check it out! 
  "Greenpeace USA." Greenpeace USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/

"Home | Greenpeace Greenwire USA." Home | Greenpeace Greenwire USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017.

https://greenwire.greenpeace.org/usa/en/

The Storm Shall Rise With The Temperature.

    Heat waves, hurricanes, earth quakes, volcanoes, tsunami's, and many more natural disasters happen on our planet today. In nature, shifts in the weather or temperature may cause these disasters to happen more frequently. Today, we are faced with the problem of global warming. The overall increase of earth's temperature has a direct link with these disasters. In this blog post, I will discuss the natural disaster of a hurricane.
    A hurricane is a violet, cyclonic, tropical storm that brings an abundance of rain fall, as well as high winds. ("Hurricane"). The wind speed of the storm could excess to up to 72 miles per hour, much faster than you can legally drive down the high way. Hurricanes are important because they significantly create tons of damage to an area, as well as bring many deaths. Hurricanes are emotionally, physically, and economically damaging. They are mostly local to the southern coast of America, in places like the Gulf of Mexico, or the Caribbean Sea. The Atlantic Hurricane season starts June 1st and ends November 30th. During these months, citizens and scientist must be on high alert for one of these disasters.
     However, global warming has been around since the industrial revolution. It is a growing phenomenon and is starting to become more recognized/important today. The climate changing and becoming warmer has a direct correlation with hurricanes. Hurricanes gain their speeds and energy from warm water. Therefor, the increase in the hurricane activity is linked to the warmer ocean temperatures. Scientist project that hurricanes intensity and frequency will continue to expand along with earth/ocean temperature rising. Also, because the ice glaciers are melting, the sea level is rising. This could lead to very severe flooding the next time a storm approaches. According to the International Panel on Climate Change, they predict that global warming will cause sea levels to rise from .11 all the way to .77mm by 2100. Because of this, smaller storms may create just as much damage as larger storms. If we do not try to put an end to global warming or take action to reduce it, then we, as humans, will have to suffer through these natural disasters, such as a hurricane.
     
    

"Hurricane Katrina." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 Mar. 2017. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Katrina-noaaGOES12.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/US_Navy_050709-N-0000B-002_A_Navy_security_team_eases_their_way_through_water_and_debris_at_NAS_Key_West%5Ersquo,s_Truman_Annex_as_Hurricane-
_Dennis_passes_the_southernmost_tip_of_the_base_Saturday_morning.jpg

"Understanding the Link Between Climate Change and Extreme Weather." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 19 Oct. 2016. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.

https://www.epa.gov/climate-change-science/understanding-link-between-climate-change-and-extreme-weather
 Center, National Hurricane. "National Hurricane Center." National Hurricane Center. N.p., 01 Jan. 2001. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
   http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
 "The Impact of Climate Change on Natural Disasters." NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
  http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/RisingCost/rising_cost5.php
 "Hurricane." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hurricane

The Good and Bad Qualties of a Short Documentary.

    I chose to watch a video documentary on global warming and natural disasters. The title is called " A News Show About Climate Change and Natural Disasters",  and it is presented by "The Atlantic" website. In this five minute video the women shares important world news about these two pertaining factors. She mentions disasters that include rain, snow, and dust all the way from Asia to Europe, and then North America. In the beginning she mentioned global warming's correlation with natural disasters, but didn't elaborate on that specific topic until the end of the video. Included in this short documentary is a few good and bad qualities.
    She begins the video describing a flood in Thailand that has killed many people, over 500 in fact. She also shares the total damage cost that is predicted to be about 4 million. She states her sources from getting this information and they were credible. Along with describing the incident in Thailand, the video includes good and precise visuals to see the real damage.
    I believe it is important for us to know about extreme weather all around the globe. Although, the women began the video by describing Thailand, I believe she should of started with the problems of natural disasters in the U.S then moved onto other countries. How ever, she was still successful in presenting the information to us. Not only did she describe what the disaster was, but also how it effected the people and community of the particular area. I also believe that it would of been effective for her to describe how they deal with the natural disaster before it hits, but she described the aftermath frequently.
    Towards the end of the video the women says that certain regions around the globe will experience more violent weather in the future. However, she does not specify what regions that will be. After this, the video finally begins to describe the correlation between climate change and natural disasters. Overall, I would not recommend someone to watch this short documentary unless they were specifically interested in natural disasters. This is because global warming isn't mentioned through out the whole video. But, the information that was presented can be considered credible and accurate.

https://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/248604/a-news-show-about-climate-change-and-natural-disasters/ 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Flooding_in_the_US_Midwest_June_2008.jpg
Citation:

Baldegg, Kasia Cieplak-Mayr Von. "A News Show About Climate Change and Natural Disasters." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

The Shift

    A couple weeks ago in the middle of February started to change the way I felt about warm weather. I woke up early that morning to the sun shining through my windows and the birds chirping by the trees. Earlier that week, I took notice that the weather would reach of 70 degrees today.  This excited others, but not me. I don't enjoy cold weather or abundances of snow fall, but this weather was not something to be happy about. It's February, usually the coldest month of the year. As a kid, my mother would always bundle me up with multiple socks, gloves, a scarf, maybe even a hat. But one thing I never had to give up was my heavy winter jacket. Except for that day.
    I got ready for school, ate my breakfast, and headed out. As soon as I opened the door, the warmth of the sun immediately took over me. It felt good, there was no wind, no clouds, just the sun beating down onto my body, flooding my veins with vitamin D. It smelt like spring, maybe even summer. The smell of sunshine and fresh air combined together made its way through my nostrils, traveling to my brain and suddenly relaxed me. I noticed some of the flowers begin to bloom in my garden. But then, I came back to reality and realize this was not normal. I figured the ground hog may have been wrong this year. But, I made this excuse only to make myself feel better.
   Throughout that day I seen many people praise the warm weather, and only a few question it. However, this made me want question it even more. Global warming is something I've just recently I've took interest in. Not because of other people opinions, not because of what I hear on the news, but because I have seen it firsthand. This lead me into some extensive research about our climate. I found more facts and discovered the effects that other regions are experiencing. Glaciers melting, ocean becoming more acidic, the damns breaking, the snowfall decreasing, all of these are real problems. For the rest of the day I tried to share my research and opinion with as many people as possible just for a chance for them to notice that this is really happening.
     Later that night, the temperatures starting to decrease as the sun went down, just like always. However, this night was different than the rest of the winter. It was not because the day was extremely warm, but because of what the night actually brought to us. There had been rumors that there was going to be a snow fall, but who could believe that while they are sitting outside soaking up the sun? There have been multiple occasions where the meteorologist is wrong, I swore that this had to of been one of them.
    The next morning, I woke up to an even bigger surprise. I woke up early to a text from work telling me that the store will remain closed until further notice. Immediately, I had to look out the window. What do I know? The ground, the trees, my car, the streets, all covered in snow. I'm shocked, how could this be possible? I asked myself, my friends, my families, and they all didn't seem to see this bigger picture. It had to be climate change. The shift in our weather globally. This year there had been all time highs followed directly by all-time lows. I didn't take this experience lightly. Ever since I have been more proactive to climate change more than ever. It had opened my eyes like never before. The earth is ours, we must treat it good in order to be treated good back.

https://static.pexels.com/photos/37001/pexels-photo.jpg

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Personal Inquiry

    The topic for my blog is the relationship between global warming(climate change) and natural disasters. Global warming is a term that refers to the over all increase of earth's atmosphere.("Global Warming"). You may be more familiar with a natural disaster, but it is an event of nature that has catastrophic consequences. ("Natural Disaster"). Examples of this includes tsunamis,earth quakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, mud slides, etc.  In this blog I will explore different realms of the issue and clarify my point that the factors have positive correlation. Through out my post I will explore the phenomenon of global warming and the occurrences of natural disasters as an outcome to them.
    This subject should not only relevant and important to me, but to the world as a whole. These events in nature not only effect our environment, and ecosystems, but also our homes and our lives. This subject has more recently grown onto me when I began to notice first hand that our climate has increased over the years. Although I have only been on this earth for two decades, I've took notice that winter is getting shorter and snow fall is becoming more rare. Recently, in PA, we had a Friday of 70 degrees and a Saturday at 30 degrees with an abundance of snow fall. Personally, this does not seem usual to me, and I am interested in the bigger problem of this.

problem. 
    In regards to this topic, I plan to explore different aspects of this topic. It will include the reasons why this is happening, the precautions we can take, the result of the phenomenon, and ways to protect yourself during a natural disaster. My main focus will be on how the two factors correlate with one another. To make it more interesting, I will like to branch off into different subtopics regarding the main point through out my post. These will include information from NASA, EPA, and more credible, government sources. My over all purpose is to show the relationship between the two events.
   Through my blogging, I hope to learn new information. I am aware that both global warming and natural disasters are a problem and potential threat to the us and our environments. But, I would like to learn new information regarding the topic. For example, I am interested in how to reduce the issue and get more people involved. I expect to discover interesting facts and information, as well as specific outcomes and effects of both. I also hope that through my research and blogging I learn more about my topic and can understand the science and existing factors behind the two events. In a different aspect I am open minded and am interested in hearing different view points regarding the matter.
     For my readers, you should know that this topic is something I feel strongly about and have become more interested in within the past year or so. You should also keep an open mind while reading my blog and take it with a grain of salt. This topic may not be something that's easy to understand, but I will do my best to make it legible for every one. Also, keep in mind that this is something that effects every one, not just certain people or certain regions of the world.

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Citations:

"Global Warming." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017. 

 "Natural Disaster." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

 

Literacy Debate

    In 2008, the NY times released an article called "Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?". The article discusses whether or not reading online is considered "real reading" and  also whether or not it's beneficial to students.  In my opinion, online reading and writing is considered digital literacy. From text, to tweets, to blogs, to articles, all online forms of writing are digital literacy. This differs from traditional literacy because it is not on a hard copy of paper or in a book.
     There are some issues that are acknowledged about reading online. People wonder if this should be considered real reading. Also, whether or not this is beneficial to children/students. In the article, a sentence states that "Traditionalists warn that digital reading is the intellectual equivalent of empty calories." ( Rich 12) This means that it is not good for you and doesn't help you in any way. I disagree, I believe that reading online can be just as good as reading a book. Also, the knowledge you acquire from a great book can be found online. The Internet has every genre, and everything imaginable to suit one's reading desires.
    In contrast to the issues of online reading, there are many benefits as well. One benefit is the fact that the internet can please every ones reading preferences.  It is easy to find online stories and typically doesn't take as long to read as a book. Also, in today's time, many children are more familiar with the computer. This helps because they may feel more comfortable reading from an online source rather than a book. Also, online reading takes place in the simplest of ways and it is better for children to do this rather than watch television. Online reading can also help readers develop skills such as locating information quickly/accurately, bringing together information, and interpreting pictures/videos. This is a way for struggling readers to practice and become stronger. For example, a boy named Hunter who struggled with dyslexia turned to online reading because he felt like the book had to many unnecessary details and he struggled with that. So, for some people digital literacy is an important form of learning.
    While reading this article, one major point stuck out the most to me. In the case of the dyslexic boy named hunter, I was surprised to find out his test scores. On his traditional reading test, he scored below average in the lowest 10 percent.  But, on the digital test he scored in the top quartile range. While most of the other students were the opposite and did poorly on his part of the exam. This shows that digital literacy is in fact more helpful for some people. For the students who struggle with traditional reading, there is still hope. They are able to read online and still obtain important information/skills.
    Lastly, this piece relates to "Pencils to Pixels" in more than one way. First, both articles are about digital literacy in contrast to traditional. In "Pencils to Pixels" the author described how we came to computers from the very first form of writing. Included with that, the author makes sure to add in the details about how traditionalist were afraid to move on to the next invention in terror of it changing things for the worse. In this article, I find the same thing to be true. Educators/ School boards seemed to be concerned with whether or not digital literacy is actually helpful for children. They seemed to be geared more towards the negative connotation rather then the positives. They feel as if the traditional way of doing things is the best and gains the most information/knowledge, even if this is not actually true. Another similarity of the two articles is that both are comparing digital literacy to traditional literacy. In conclusion, digital literacy is a growing subject and traditionalist will have to adapt to the new age of literacy.