ILS1: Introduction to textual analysis Seminar 8 Activity 1: Rearrange each of the following paragraphs below into two coherent texts: JUMBLED TEXT 1 Earthquakes occur everywhere, his old home is in ruins, and nuclear war has destroyed much of the world. (As King wrote in an article for Marvel Spotlight, “Not good to fool with Father Time.”). The butterfly effect is the idea that small things can have non-linear impacts on a complex system. After years of stalking Lee Harvey Oswald, Jake manages to prevent him from shooting Kennedy. In addition to being a masterful work of speculative fiction, 11/22/63 is a classic example of how everything in the world is connected together. However long he stays in the past, only two minutes go by in the present. After a few visits and some experiments, Jake deduces that altering history is possible. And as John Gribbin writes in his cult-classic work Deep Simplicity, “some systems … are very sensitive to their starting conditions, so that a tiny difference in the initial ‘push’ you give them causes a big difference in where they end up, and there is feedback, so that what a system does affects its own behavior.” In one of Stephen King’s greatest works, 11/22/63, a young man named Jake discovers a portal in a diner’s pantry which leads back to 1958. The concept is imagined with a butterfly flapping its wings and causing a typhoon. Upon returning to the present, he expects to find the world improved as a result. Instead, the opposite has happened. Distraught, Jake returns to 1958 once again and resets history. He decides to live in the past until 1963 so he can prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, believing that this change will greatly benefit humanity. Of course, a single act like the butterfly flapping its wings cannot cause a typhoon. Small events can, however, serve as catalysts that act on starting conditions. JUMBLED TEXT 2 The word “talk” can sound like “aw.” “Moreover, when emotionally charged up or upset, internal restraints and self-control break down, leading to greater eating of unhealthy foods,” the study says. Given the current ubiquity of personal media players — the iPod appeared almost a decade ago — many researchers attribute this widespread hearing loss to exposure to sound played loudly and regularly through headphones. (Earbuds, in particular, don’t cancel as much noise from outside as do headphones that rest on or around the ear, so earbud users typically listen at higher volume to drown out interference.) Customers were 20 percent more likely to order fatty foods with the louder music. One in five teenagers in America can’t hear rustles or whispers, according to a study published in August in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers noted the differences in food orders when the music volume was raised from 55 decibels to 70 decibels. One in five teenagers in America can’t hear rustles or whispers, according to a study published in August in The Journal of the American Medical Association. Ambient music playing at a high volume at restaurants can create an exciting atmosphere and a quickened heart rate in customers. Indeed, the August report reinforces the findings of a 2008 European study of people who habitually blast MP3 players, including iPods and smartphones. Loud music at restaurants may be hurting your waistline along with your ears.
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A new study from the Association of Consumer Research shows that diners who are subjected to loud ambient music are more likely to order high-calorie foods. People with higher levels of excitement are more likely to order fatty foods, because sweet and fatty foods reduce high levels of energy, according to the study. These teenagers exhibit what’s known as slight hearing loss, which means they often can’t make out consonants like T’s or K’s, or the plinking of raindrops. According to that report, headphone users who listen to music at high volumes for more than an hour a day risk permanent hearing loss after five years. A new study from the Association of Consumer Research shows that diners who are subjected to loud ambient music are more likely to order high-calorie foods. The number of teenagers with hearing loss — from slight to severe — has jumped 33 percent since 1994.
Activity 2: Identify the logical fallacy in the following arguments: 1. Alien abductions must take place because no one has found any evidence to disprove the eye-witness accounts. a. Slippery slope b. Relativism c. Burden of Proof 2. We should not allow legislation to ban tobacco. After all, tobacco has been sold for 200 years in America. So, we have no reason to ban it now. a. Non Sequitur b. Bandwagon c. Absolutism 3. Bicycles are a means of transportation, and we all know that transportation is vital to American commerce. If we get rid of all the current bike lanes, there will be less bikes, hence less transportation. Getting rid of bicycle lanes would cripple American trade entirely. a. Non Sequitur b. Slippery Slope c. Post hoc ergo propter hoc 4. You will get pregnant if you kiss a boy. I've seen Sally kiss boys three times, and now she is pregnant. a. Post hoc ergo propter hoc b. Genetic Fallacy c. Burden of Proof 5. Friedrich Nietzche's attack on social welfare should not be taken seriously. He is said to have been a degenerate and it is a fact that he went insane. a. Genetic Fallacy b. Ad hominem c. Begging the claim 6. We must put God back in our schools, or else American society will degenerate.
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a. Bandwagon b. Either/or c. Red Herring 7. He is using unfair arguments because none of his arguments are equitable. Because they are not equitable, they are not just, and hence, unfair. a. Hasty generalization b. Begging the claim c. Relativism 8. Bob True is the best qualified candidate for tax assessor. I've known him eight years and he is an honorable man, a devout individual, and an outstanding father. a. Cherry picking b. Straw man c. Non Sequitur
Activity 3: Rewrite the following texts in the passive voice. TEXT 1 The critics have greeted with enthusiams "Turning Point", Marvin Marton's new play. They regard it as his most mature work. Morton wrote it after he had studied human behavior for a considerable time. On the opening night the audience called Morton onto the stage and applauded him loudly. They are staging the play at the Apollo Theatre where they expect thousands of people to see it. Film companies have asked Morton to write a script for a film based on the play. We don't know yet whether Morton will seriously consider the proposal. TEXT 2 Some people saw a UFO in the sky above London last night. They reported to the police. The army sent a helicopter to look at it more closely. The UFO shot the helicopter down and killed both men in it. People have given photographs of the UFO to the police. UFO experts are researching them as we speak. TEXT 3 After 20 years of civil war, the Lebanese government is rebulding Beirut. They will construct new offices and hotels. The authorities must also expand Beirut airport. Luckily, bombing did not destroy archaeological sites. By the year 2000, building companies will have completed most of the work. Lebanon's new look will attract many tourists in the future. A few tourist groups have already visited this Middle Eastern paradise.
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