unit 8

This topic is about ‘Drugs and Guns’ written by Peter Hawthorne in Time magazine on 10 December 2001. The South Africa’s President, Thabo Mbeki was in dilemma to choose whether weapon or drugs to AIDS suffers. At the end, Mbeki has chosen weapon than the drugs. This is because the country has politic problems. For him, the weapons are most important to make sure the country is safety. The Mbeki government spends $6 billion to buy the weapon. It seems that the president think more toward the politic rather than their people who suffer AIDS especially pregnant women and children. Even though, NGO offered to freely provide antiretroviral drugs to suffers, but Mbeki government never took the offer. Overall of the story, the action of the president is positive to ensure the country is safe, but it had given more negative effect toward the people on that country.

For me, this article is hard to understand because there are many high lexis words in the article and I never know about the words. Due to this, I have taken a lot of time to understand the article and it also force me to read more than one time to get the main point in the article. If I can suggest to the writer, I want him to write the article in different way. As an example arrange the paragraph properly because in this article seems no paragraph at all. A paragraph was arranged nearly to each other. It makes me confuse about the paragraph and also bored.

unit 7

In the unit 7, we have done the critical review of dieting. In the text, the writer use the current issues that were relate with the phenomenon of weight control based on the recent research. The text was taken from ‘What you change and what you can’t’ in The Complete guide to self-improvement, by Martin Seligman. In ‘Dieting’ Seligman inform the dangerous of weight loss control and provide the warning to the readers that they should not believe what the commercially-driven claimed them. The article aims to inform, warn and reassure people concerned about their weight and not using any expensive loss product that sometimes not give any good result but give them bad effect.

From the whole text the reader include me can see how hard Seligman argues about loss weight product. He said that the product does not give the advantage to the consumers but it was harmful for them. While the producer earn their living using the money that they get from sell the product. Consumers are victims of the false information put out by the weigh loss industry and of more general believe about maintaining the ’natural weight’. In the text, Seligman give some advice to the overweight readers.

In the article the reader can see how the writer arrange the point that may help the readers to seek for the main point that are important to them to know. The text is not like other reading that I have learned because although it was long but every paragraph identifies the different element that I need to focus. As an example, in paragraph 2, it had identified the audience. While in the paragraph 3, it focuses on the rhetorical function. It is very hard to me to understand the text in the first reading because it is so long and also use the words that I never seen before. So, to understand the article, I need to do the reading more times.

unit 6

In unit 6, it focuses on the topic Invention of the baby snatchers by Walter Kirn in Time Magazine on 26 August 2002. In US the cases of the kidnapping children are increase day by day. Because of this there are a lot of initiative are taken by media to solve this case. These cases sometimes become at the top of national newscasts. Other than that, the way sign was flashes as a part of a special child alert programmer. This program in one of the initiative to decrease the number of kidnapping cases in US. By mass alerts, it has succeeded in bringing home one or two child. Although there are a lot of ways are taken, but kidnapping children has still happen. In the article, the writer advises the parents to be extra careful to their children. Like what the writer writes ‘The fear and confusion unleashed by the abduction stories can’t be express as math’. In the article also, the writer use the cases of children that have missing. For example the writer uses the recent child missing cases where two best friends, Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells on August 4. Then, their bodies have been found 30 km away, and two people were arrested in the connection with the case. In the article the writer wishes that all the public will concern or alert with the issues and also give their help. From my view into this topic, the entire person should play their roles. There are some words that I never know are using in the text. It needs me to open the dictionary to find the meaning. Other that that, I need to read the text many time to understand the massage from the writer. Because in some paragraph in the text has their own massage to the reader.

Unit 5...

In the unit 5, I have learned how to identify audience and impact when reading a text. Basically, every article that the writer writes has their own intended audience because the audience that they intend more understands the massage in the article when they read it. In reading 5.2, it focuses the article ‘Out Of Puff’ by Kelly Baker. The article is about stop from smoking. It has discussed about women smokers and the impact that they get from smoking for example lung cancer, cancer of cervix and vulva and menstrual problems. The articles also discuss how the smokers can get away from smoking, when there are still have people smoke around them.

From the article, we can know to whom the article was written. The targeted audience for the article is smokers itself, because in the article, the writer write the about the impact that someone get when they smoke. Other than that, the article is also for tobacco company, they should not think about their income only. The article also for government because they have a responsible to limit the production of ciggie and they also have rights to increase the price of ciggie. Due to this, the total of smokers can be decrease.

The article also discuss about what the smoking does to the smoker. Like the writer wrote in the article, the women smokers can have an impact on fertility and menstruation as well as harm unborn babies. It is some tips that the writer give to the smokers to quit from smoke.

Unit 4

This unit focuses on argument and evidence. After learn this unit I notice that not all of the text have include argument and evidence. In the reading 4.3, it is concerned with the issue of evidence. From this reading I also have how the writer uses the evidence to support his argument. in this reading, the writer use the case of the kidnapping of the infant son of Charles Lindberg and examines the evidence to make a conclusion. Other than that, I learn that, we could always ask ourselves ‘what is evidence’ before make a conclusion. If the evidence is confused, we must to wait for other evidence. The next chapter, I have learned the definition of statistic. The statistic is intended to caution the readers into a more into a more informed response to the texts that links facts and figures.

The article ‘Burning out at nine’ in the reading 4.2 is about children that have overscheduled. in the text, the writer write some argument and each argument has supported by evidence. It was hard to me to understand the crooked and fallacious thinking. It needs me to read more than one time to understand it. From my reading, I understand that crooked and fallacious thinking is not only evidence of illogical mental process and poor communication. But it use to persuade people to ward particular belief or course of action.

unit 3..

In this unit, it focus on posisioning in critical literacy.Positioning is how does the writer construct the participant in the text and how is the reader constructed. In reading 3.1, the article is very intresting. From reading the article,I can see how the writer discribe about the participant.For example, in reading 3.1, the reader can see how the writer discribe about Scarlett's who was not accepted to be at school because of her disabilities. When I learn this unit, i hope it can help me to develop my skll in writing the positioning for critical writing later.

what I have learned in unit 2...

In unit 2, I have learned about the role of perspective in determining a critical understanding of the text. Perspective is the stance does the writer take in the text. It was the further practice of skills for me to apply in critical literacy. in reading 2.2, it is about the topic’ Language, perspective, ideology’, written by Lee,D. the article explain how important language in writing. The way of language that we used can reveal our ideology or perspective.

in reading 2.3, the readers will know the writer’s values, attitudes, and perspective by the words that the writer use, sentence structure and other pattern of language. It is interesting in writing portfolio of ‘Battling the bullies’, in reading 2.1 compare with writing portfolio for reading 1.1 because I am already learned how to put the correct answers under the p-particular heading. Before this I am confused between the perspective and positioning, but now, after learned about it I know which one perspective and which is not. From the article ‘Battling the bullies’, the reader will know the writer perspective toward the topic base on the words that the writer used. in this units, it is more difficult words that I found. Such as, paradigmatic and syntagmatic. Paradigmatic means the relating of choice or pattern of words in sentence structure. While, syntagmatic is the relating of choice or pattern of sentence structure.