¶ … Charles Onyango-Obbo (2015) writes in the New York Times about al-Shabab, the terrorist group from Somalia that killed 147 Christians in Kenya this past week. Four of their gunmen stormed the Garissa University, took hostages and executed all of those people. The author outlines what this attack means for the story of terrorism in East Africa. This group, al-Shabab, is base in Somalia but has come under attack there by the African Union and American airstrikes. Their response has now been to filter across the border into Kenya and engage in terrorism there.
The author notes that there are some interesting political dimensions to such attacks. Al-Shabab has taken it upon themselves to sow the seeds of conflict between the ethnic Somalis living in the north of Kenya and the Kenyan government, which is predominantly Christian. The sectarian violence is seen as a specific provocation. The author also notes that terrorism has become more important to the group. Where once it held territory and had to function as a de facto government, now al-Shabab is free from having to anything but act as terrorists.
The audience for this article is the Western reader. The author is a newspaperman in Africa, but this writing is intended for the Western audience that the New York Times serves. As a guest commentary, the article serves to provide Western readers with a little bit of contextual information about al-Shabab. The reader will have heard about this latest attack, but may not have any context of what factors underpin this attack. The author therefore is presenting some background. There is no real call to action in this article, but it seems evidence that the author wishes to raise the alarm, about the prevalence and violence level of this group. The author wishes the West to realize the severity of the threat, in particular the ambitions of the group to incite a broader ethnic conflict in the region.
For me, reading the article was the most important thing. I wanted to pick up as much information as I could, directly from the text. The article was relatively simple, contextually, so this approach worked well enough. I believe that the article provided some insight, but its purpose could have been served by having a stronger central narrative, and with richer, more complex insights built into that narrative. The average New York Times reader can handle that level of complexity -- the author may have written this piece with a different publication in mind.
Unit 3 Discussion
I would say that a sure-fire way to create writer's block is to set out very vague guidelines, with lots of conditional statements. I actually cannot gather from these instructions what exactly I am supposed to be writing about. First, the instructions reference a future assignment. Then, they relate to "a field of interest," and there is no guidance provided as to what the article should be about. And in a world with tens of millions of articles online, I'm thinking I wouldn't mind a little clarity on what I'm aiming for so I can narrow it down a touch. Basically, there is nothing concrete on which to go. For a writer, this is either going to be incredibly liberating or incredibly frustrating. For some people, it helps to be pointed in a specific direction. The pre-writing step here is to figure out what on earth I am supposed to be writing about, because I have no idea.
I guess I am supposed to break down an article for some ideas, but what would I write? A counterpoint to the article? A follow-up? There are a lot of directions, and I'm a pretty low-context communicator. In essence, I need it spelled out. So I guess my audience right now is the instructor, and I am expressing a little bit of frustration at the vagueness of the assignment. This isn't prewriting in the sense that I am freewriting to gather ideas, but maybe I am prewriting as a cathartic exercise. When the real assignment arrives and I know what I'm supposed to do, I will do that. Until then, I remain confused.
Unit 2 Assignment
Hmmm…this sounds exactly like the previous assignment. Not good. I will grab a random article online, about being a doctor,...
I pulled an article from the New York Times, called New Law's Demands on Doctors Have Many Seeking a Network.
Introductory
The article is titled New Law's Demands on Doctors Have Many Seeking a Network, and it was written by Amy Goodnough and published in the New York Times. The audience is the readership of the New York Times, which means people outside of the
medical profession. The author is discussing an issue related to the profession, and the public debate about the impact that the Affordable Care Act is going to have on the
health care system. The article essentially follows up on numerous articles that were published prior to the ACA's enactment that predicted dire things for the industry. The author is following up to see what is actually happening.
Body
The author talks to a few patients and
physicians in an attempt to determine some of the impacts on the health care system of the Affordable Care Act. She notes that many physicians, fearing that their workload would be overwhelming with a rush of newly-insured patients, have gone to work for larger health care companies, essentially exiting private practice. Some physicians expressed significant concern about their ability to survive in private practice, in particular in the face of rising demand and lower payouts. The efficiency afforded by the larger health care providers is a
business model much more suited to the current health care environment.
The author's arguments are supported mainly with anecdotal evidence. The author interviewed a couple of physicians and patients, and their experiences are used as the focal point of the article. From a writing perspective, this can be very effective, as it personalizes the issues at hand for the audience. Remember that in this case the audience is not in the industry and may not have much way to conceptualize the issues that the industry faces. An article aimed at the professional audience would have used
statistics to demonstrate the author's point, but the style here is more effective. The main weakness in the article is that it is too long-winded. The points are made early, but the author seems determined to utilize all of the information gathered to tell as many stories as possible. There is a fair bit of superfluous detail - that the doctor's office has a Pilates studio next door is not exactly relevant to the narrative. Otherwise, it is effective, it just needs a few hundred words culled.
Conclusion
Goodnough seeks to tell the stories of the people on the front lines of ACA implementation, the doctors and the patients. The expected influx in patients with the coming of the ACA has led to some changes in the industry. The author does a good job of presenting some anecdotal evidence to relate the changes to the audience outside of the industry, albeit sometimes in a rather long-winded manner.
Unit 1 Journal
Writing for me is all about getting the point across. One of my best efforts was a
cover letter. I wanted the job and I got the job. I was able to convey in that letter some compelling arguments in my favor. I think that it was effective because I was able to elaborate my points better than I could if I was talking to the interviewer. With the time and
space to put my ideas together, I feel the result was a superior product. The biggest thing that I learned from this experience was that I can write well. I just need to sit down, take the time, and have a real focus. The fact that I was determined to get this job was the reason I took that much more seriously than other writing. So I learned that when I put my mind to it, I can write well and have
success. It probably wasn't even that good, but it was the first time I'd had that sort of positive experience from anything I'd written, so it stands out.
Unit 3 Journal
I think an email would be more effective. People read email. As a mode of
communication, it is immediate, and is normal. Also, an email can be long. It's not a text -- you can take your time and spell out your thoughts and ideas. If I wanted to convey an emotional argument, I would probably just call them. But to get some rational thoughts down, I think email is a very effective form. You only want to spend a paragraph or two making your case -- you don't want to belabor the point or you will lose the audience. I would definitely just want to offer up a little bit of encouragement, tell them that they are doing the right thing, and maybe relate something from my own (positive) experience. Talking about…
