As we all know, the fuss over climate change and global warming have grown into overwhelming amounts. Many have said that humans are the main cause of global warming; this is very far from the truth. As we have seen in the past, the Earth fluctuates through its own natural stages of warming up and cooling down since the prehistoric times. Scientists have been promoting the belief that our use of cars and other "harmful" technology is detrimental to the world due to release of gases such as carbon dioxide. They have said that we are wasting our resources and should be conserving them for the future generations. Because of this, people are actually recycling and using less electricity because they believe that if they don't, the world will reach an end. “Even if global warming were true, we have no actual proof that humans even contribute to it,” says one Republican Congresswoman. "The amount of funding needed to even do all the things environmentalists want to is just too enormous. Most of these researchers are coming up with these ideas and they aren't even climate scientists; what makes the situation worse is the fact they haven't shown any evidence to their claims. I can assure you that we would know if we were affecting the Earth in a negative way. We've seen little to no sight of major weather increase in the last decade. Obviously, the majority does not know what they are talking about. If I can't see it, I don't believe it!" With the growing problems, paper bags are now being instituted into grocery markets nowadays; this is wrong because now we have to mass produce paper and plastic bags just to give people the option between the two. People are even riding bikes a lot more, particularly in the United States. "It's so silly how people actually are riding bikes because they think cars are hurting the ozone," says an anonymous male U.S. citizen. "Okay, maybe carbon dioxide is causing ozone depletion; so what? That still doesn't make me want to ride bikes. Why would I want to tire myself out every time I want to get somewhere? People are literally riding miles and miles for no reason at all; global warming has become a hindrance in their transportation. Why would you force people to work their way around everywhere? If I wanted to workout, I would go to the gym! While they are all going around riding bikes all day, I'll be riding my new Maserati!" Scientists are pushing for mayors in cities to start encouraging recycling and reusing. Recycling bins are starting to be being placed all over towns and cities in attempts for people to stop throwing away plastic. Researchers are saying that plastic bags are hurting animals who mistaken the bags for food, and that plastic bags also hurt the environment. However, many argue that it is necessary to kill animals to survive and that we already kill them for food. It shouldn't be our fault birds and other predators eat plastic bags. Also, there doesn't seem to be any noticeable drastic damage to the ecosystem so why does it matter? Our world is perfectly fine the way it is. Climatic change is a natural occurring event that occurs many times throughout our history dating back to times such as the Ice Age. Instead of repudiating it, we should actually embrace it. In the near future, we will finally be able to visit Antarctica, something we would never have been able to do regularly in another time period. ReflectionI chose to use global warming as my problem because its something that I personally feel very passionate about. I believe that global warming is very real and that each year it seems like the weather is becoming more and more unpredictable. I feel that we shouldn't try to pretend that problems don't exist; we should confront them with a solution. The satirical argument I created is one that is saying that global warming is not harmful to us at all, masking the true argument which is that it is indeed harmful. People who don't catch sarcasm quickly probably wouldn't get that this was a satire because you have to really be able to spot when sarcasm is present in the article. I chose to create a news article because I felt it would deliver a lot better than a song or video. In my article, I provide a lot of serious situations like the death of animals while still providing a little comedy to make the reader chuckle. I had a point, which was to show how silly it is to believe this, and I showed sarcasm such as when I explained us being able to one day travel to Antarctica on a regular basis. In the article, I presented an understatement when the male U.S. citizen says, "Okay, maybe carbon dioxide is causing ozone depletion...", a moment of verbal irony when the Republican mentions that most researchers aren't even climate scientists while she is a politician who practically knows nothing about science, and finally a parody that was meant for the Bill Nye and Republican Congresswoman Blackburn debate on climate change.
Global warming is becoming an increasing issue in the world. Climate change is occurring, as we can see from the rise in sea level due to melting of polar glaciers and from the growing intensity of catastrophic hurricanes. A trend of increasing droughts and winter storms are even said to be linked to global warming, along with the depletion of the Earth's ozone layer; the rise in the use of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, and methane are all said to be contributing to ozone depletion. The last few decades have been the warmest Earth's seen since 1850. Unless we take extreme, necessary precautions to prevent further destruction, it's only going to get worse. Sadly, a large portion of people, mostly in the United States, don't believe that global warming even exists; most of those who do believe global warming is real feel that humans aren't a contributing factor. They say that global warming has been occurring even before the age of man, claiming that it is a natural cycle that has fluctuated from the ice ages to now. They even have said we can't possibly know since we can't rely on the thermometers of previous times which could be inaccurate. National Geographic has reputed that we can use other sources for information about climate, such as trees which tell us about the environmental conditions throughout its years based on its rings. (Is Global Warming Real?) Climate change is real and its only getting worse. Within the scientific community, there is no debate; global warming is happening and it is because of human interference. Though natural amounts of carbon dioxide have varied, today's carbon dioxide levels are higher than its ever been in the past 800,000 years, being more than 40 percent of what we would consider to be normal. Climate change is real and its only getting worse. Within the scientific community, there is no debate; global warming is happening and it is because of human interference. Though natural amounts of carbon dioxide have varied, today's carbon dioxide levels are higher than its ever been in the past 800,000 years, being more than 40 percent of what we would consider to be normal. Works Cited
"How are humans responsible for global warming?" Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund. Web. 19 February 2014. http://www.edf.org/climate/human-activity-is-causing-global-warming "Are humans responsible for global warming?" Web. 19 February 2014. http://www.debate.org/opinions/are-humans-responsible-for-global-warming "Is Global Warming Real?" National Geographic. National Geographic. Web. 19 February 2014. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-real/ Mullin creates an epic scene of this new apocalyptic world as well as sets a great tone for the story, as shown in this passage. He uses words "lifelessly" and "mummifying" to create a deep, dark feel for the readers. Mullin uses phrases in parenthesis to emphasize the observations of the protagonist such as, "I saw the front of the car ... a guy (or girl, it was impossible to tell) sat in there, head leaning lifelessly...". Mullin uses short sentences, most likely to create dramatic effect for example when he writes, "But after that, I avoided looking into wrecked cars." Mullin only uses declarative sentence types in this passage most likely to establish a sadness and despair feeling. Sentences seem to be kept structured with simple and complex sentences. These simple sentences correlate directly with the main character and his thought process, thus forming a character readers can connect to. The fact Mullin uses simple common teenage language also unites teenage readers to the character, creating a more emotionally riveting story for them as well. From this, we can see how Mullin plans on attracting people to indulge in his novel, particularly teenagers. Dating your mom by ian frazierI found this writing by Ian Frazier to be very funny. Frazier uses the relationship between mother and son and twists it by describing it as romantic. Frazier tells hows the son tries to attract his mother but feels guilty for his father, providing a great comical scene for the readers. Also, Frazier describes the loving son complimenting his mother on her appearance, alarming the reader as something absurd. While reading, I slowly began to realize the message Frazier was trying to convey. The irony is that people tend to think that emotions or love towards one's parents is disgusting, which is unusual because parents are so loving for their children. Of course Frazier exaggerates this by changing the interpretation from family love to romance to gain the attention of the reader for a more dramatic and comical effect. From this, I believe this writing to be a satire. The message Frazier is presenting is that there is nothing wrong showing appreciation and love for one's parents, exploiting how silly people are for believing otherwise. High school students demand wars in easier-to-find countriesThis was definitely one of the most funny writing of the four I've read. The author did an excellent job showing how teenagers actually talk in this satire; yes, I do believe this is a satire because it expresses how uneducated young people are about worldly affairs. Most of the education in the United States is centered on America and not much else. Students don't really learn in detail about the world until they take world history in sophomore year. I really laughed at the part where they compared the situation to a video game; that sounds like someone would do something like that. In terms of literary devices, I would say he/she presented an instance of an understatement in the part where the article stated "people claim we don't know as much geography as our parents and grandparents..." How to write about africa by binyavanga wainainaBinyavanga Wainaina's cleverness in this excerpt from Granta 92: The View from Africa is very astounding to me, making it one of the best satirical pieces I've ever read. Wainaina's makes fun of the typical stereotype that Africa is a poor country that is in desperate need from Western assistance. This work is complete genius as Wainaina describes the scenes of Africa that usually come to one's mind, making the readers chuckle about how silly all of it really is. An example of this is when she describes the people with "naked breasts (young, old, conservative, recently raped, big, small) or mutilated genitals, or enhanced genitals. Or any kind of genitals. And dead bodies. Or, better, naked dead bodies. And especially rotting naked dead bodies." This writing is filled with tons of hyperboles of the thoughts of Africa by the western nations. Miss kindergarten america by carol SchacterThis writing by Carol Schacter I found to be quite interesting. I believe this also was a satire because it describes how a little girl, who participates in beauty pageants, is forced into growing up and is focused on beauty way too early than she should, presented when it says "she had stopped eating cookies and ice cream and started smoking. Then she had really lost a lot of weight. Daddy called it 'baby fat' and said leave it alone, but Mommy said after all, the child is five and it's about time she thought about her shape." I think the idea Carol is trying to show is that little girls should enjoy being young instead of rushing to become adults, mostly resulted by the parents in this case who pressure the young girl in beauty pageants. I believe parody is being used because the author is making of fun of the life of pageant girls.
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