Alex Grealish
Discourse Analysis (3)
University of California - Berkeley. "Poor Children's Brain Activity Resembles That Of Stroke Victims, EEG Shows." ScienceDaily 6 December 2008. 28 February 2011
This article is about a study preformed on "normal 9- and 10-year-olds differing only in socioeconomic status" using an electroencephalography which "uses electrodes on the scalp and held in place by a cap to measure underlying brain activity". The study showed that these children from low income families "have detectable differences in the response of their prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that is critical for problem solving and creativity" then those who come from high socioeconomic incomes. The kids were to watch pictures on a screen and press a button in response to a change or realization of what it was they saw. The information gathered was a dramatic difference in those from low income families. These results showed them that those from a low income have lower responses. Scientist believe this frontal lobe activity could have direct connections to behavioral differences with the kids as well. This outcomes of these children were frighteningly similar to those response of "people who have had a portion of their frontal lobe destroyed by a stroke". It is believed that stress and environmental conditions are to blame for these problems.
The article is very unbiased. It mentions the facts and restates multiple times that the results don't apply to every situation. I don't believe it's it trying to sway my opinion one way or another. It wants to just give out the information found and try and help the children, and people affected. I believe it connects very well with what babysteps. The healthy growth of children is important to everyone there and this article helps show people ways these kids are affected and how to learn to fix the problem or stop it entirely.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Extended Bibliographies 1,2,3
Alex Grealish
Richard Samuelson
English 102
30 January 2011
Extended Bibliography (1)
Raising Rents Challenge Families
1.Pratt, Renee. "Foreclosures, Unemployment Compel Many to Seek Housing Assistance." Rising Rents
Challenge Families | The Tennessean | Tennessean.com(12 Jan. 2011). The Tennessean. 12 Jan. 2011.
Web. 31 Jan. 2011.
2. Pratt writes about the many factors that low income families struggle with, the main one being housing
costs, such as low-housing, primarily funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(Pratt cost, 4)” that the people struggle with because, “there are long waiting lists for these programs
(Pratt, 4)” .Metro Social Services is a services that helps them with their basic needs to they can worry
less about the small things and focus on more important things. It is thought that the families spend the
majority of their income on housing leaving less money for other essential items. With the raising cost
of housing people are at higher risk of becoming homeless. Housing that is the decently affordable are
mostly located in dangerous areas putting them at risk with dangerous people and toxins. This service
has been getting calls to help with, “child care, economic opportunity, food, health, housing, neighborhood
development and work-force development”.
3. This article is bias in that it gives you facts from mostly one side. The facts support that the people
are spending the majority of their money on housing, the housing costs are rising, and unemployment
rates. They are trying to make a point that we need to do something about what’s happening by giving us
all the facts but not from both sides. They don’t mention percentages on how the government is helping
and what they are doing to try and change this, or if they even are trying. It is an affective website in that
they make the information clear and to the point and easy to help by giving lots of information on how the
service is helping.
4. This site helps me to see what it is that these low income families have to deal with. The stress of
having to worry about such an important thing as a house before you can worry about the small things
that matter just as much would be unbelievably scary. Whose to say a bed or food is less important
than shelter. That kind of decision would be hard to make. These families have to make those kinds of
decisions and that would be awful. If we could help with the smaller things so that they could focus more
on housing, that little bit could go along way.
5. This article was very helpful. I felt it coming from a news site and with lots of facts
and numbers also made me trust it more. I like the emphasis they place on how much
these families have to stress about housing makes me want to take the weight off their
shoulders about the little things. Babysteps is definitely something that can help them
do just that for them. That’s one less thing for them to stay up at night and worry about.
Those are the little things that can help someone tremendously .
Alex Grealish
Richard Samuelson
English 102
7 February 2011
Extended Bibliography (2)
1. Weitoft, Gunilla Ringbäck (2008). "Health and social outcomes among children in low-
income families and families receiving social assistance—A Swedish national cohort
study.". Social science & medicine (1982) (0277-9536), 66 (1), p. 14.
2. Weitoft states that statistics on children with families in long term social assistances
and their future health factors such as abuse with drugs and alcohol, suicides and
deaths, as well as their education compared to the rest of the population. It was
concluded that the families with the long term assistance were most affected so are
then opened too "evidence based prevention programs" in the areas in which they most
need help in. Weitoft also discovered that the health and social outcomes of the children
growing up in homes with long term social assistances were worse than those in just
low income houses.
3. The credibility of this article is very legitimate. The evidence, statistics and many
many observations are listed with reasoning behind every answer. The sources cited
are also very long and in lots of detail just like the whole rest of the article. There are
multiple tables throughout the article as well organizing the conclusions they have come
across.the author was not being bias in his writings. The document was full of facts and
numbers that helped support not just his hypothesis but what really goes on in families
with social assistances.
4.The author's ideas extend from my thoughts in that I would think people in low income
families would do better when in long term social assistances compared to those who
were not. But to their conclusions it was the opposite of what i had thought. I thought
what they found was very interesting, how it affects not only their social lives when they
are older but their physical well being too. The health issues associated to how they
were raised extended from my thoughts too.
5. Questions I have on my source would be the kinds of social assistances were used
by the families. I think that is a huge role in why the kids ended up in the ways that they
did. How involved were the social assistances too? Were they just meetings once a
month or which kinds? The factors are things I would have liked to have been defined
for me to more accurately understand why their conclusions were they way they were.
Alex Grealish
Richard Samuelson
English 102
7 February 2011
Extended Bibliography (3)
1. Cobb, Joletha. "Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Becoming Parents Again for
Our Children's Children." Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers' Network. 04 July
2007. Web. 09 Feb. 2011.
grandchildren-a25117>.
2. Cobb's article explains the hardships for grandparents raising children all over
again. The reasons for why they have to are among many different reasons, and the
difficulties of accepting the responsibilities of another child whether it was their choice
or not. These grandparents are sometimes physically not able to assume full care of the
grandchild either. They require full attention and dedication and the website gives ideas
to help them in joining or starting support groups with other grandparents going through
the same situations.
3. I believe this source is credible. They give challenges and difficulties found in
raising children for a second time, and offer ways of help through support groups.
On the side bars are links to references, and related articles and topics for people to
further research on. The site also offers support by telling feelings or obstacles the
grandparents might be having or going through, showing that there are others out there
going through the same thing.
4. For the article I question why they don't have more helpful links or support numbers
that they could be put into contact with rather than just ideas to get help. Ideas on how
to get help are nice but other information that could offer direct help would be better.
The author's ideas extend on my thoughts because it must be hard to go though raising
children after having been out of that kind of act for years or maybe even decades. The
emotional, physical and financial hardships all come back to them for another 18 years.
5. I feel the article could have gone into more depth and detail with how grandparents
are affected. Some numbers and statistics would have been nice to have a starting
number in my head to think about. There could have been more background information
so that the readers not personally affected by what the article was on could more better
understand it. As I had mentioned before, more helpful links would have been great. I
don't think it could have been that hard to cite and add into their article for the people
reading it who are affected by this, so why didn't they?
Unit 1 Refelction
Alex Grealish
In my past writings I’ve learned quite a lot about myself and how I think. I have
come to the conclusion that I think way faster than I type. My words never come out
right on paper, as they seem to do in my head. My writings are always too wordy
and confusing. I have a major problem with flow and communication with the reader.
Because of this I feel I lose the reader right away in my writings. Academic writings
in my past have been very structured with no room for wiggle. They were very rigid
and harshly graded, and I never seemed to do well. Because of this I felt the need to
add more words to help explain what it was I was trying to say. This did not help the
situation. The introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs were all composed of strict
guidelines in sentence numbering, content and word usage. My school tried to keep
writings strictly academic with no opinions or “voice,” added. This way of writing made it
very hard for me to understand what it was to keep your feelings out of your essays.
I am excited to see that in this class there is a lot of voice and opinion added into
our writing. The commentary and assessments we give help me to voice what it is I am
trying to say in my own words rather than just using sources from the articles. Hopefully
this all will then help with my wording issues in my essays. I used the MLA format in the
past, so I am familiar with it, my citations are not always completely accurate but are
pretty close.
As for research and source use, I was nowhere as educated about the subject as
I am now. Before I was a big “Googler”. The Google search engine was my best friend,
I didn’t know of any other research basis to use. Credibility wasn’t a huge issue with
my past writings. My sources were mostly online sites with information that could have
been completely made up. Articles seemed to be the majority of my citations because
they were the most legitimate resources I could find through Google. Citing sources
was never a big issue as well. Easybib went hand in hand with Google in my writings.
Plugging in the URL and getting the citations out was an easy as copying and pasting it
in my bibliography. I’ve now discovered that’s not how it’s done. I’m sad to say Google
has now been replaced. The online Albersens Library is my new best friend forever. I
now can access articles that are peer reviewed and academically accepted.
I’ve learned now almost all I have learned is not correct. Luckily I have
the help of peer advisers to correct my flaws. Tiana mentions in my first extended
bibliography that I should “Use Quote”. This was very helpful to me. I went a whole
writing without one quotation! I talked about the authors list of many factors that low
income families struggle with” and quoted none of them. I then used the comments to
motivate me and quote how it’s the, “low-cost housing, primarily funded by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (Pratt, 4)” that the people struggle with
because, “there are long waiting lists for these programs (Pratt, 4)”
It was suggested to me that I go “more into detail about whether you thought
it was bias or not” in my assessment of the article. I used the, “THREE TOOLS TO
IMPROVE YOUR READING (Rossenwasser, 3)” to help me with my improvement of
this. My problem with not going into enough depth with the bias issue of the article was
because I did not know whether or not it was bias or was not bias. The steps improve
my reading helped me to understand what it was the writer was trying portray and
then allowed me to assess whether or not I found their opinion to by bias or not. With
these readings I then discovered that the author was not being bias in his writings. The
document was full of facts and numbers that helped support not just his hypothesis but
what really goes on in families with social assistances.
It is very helpful to have such easy access to the online text to refer back to, to
guide us through the process. Having learned to write the way I did, the understanding
of the reading was not as important as just getting the quotes you needed to prove
the point. In this class we have to understand every aspect of the reading. We are not
writing to just prove a point, but to analyze reflect and conclude. If you have problems
connecting with the author on what they are writing your going to have problems trying
to write the extended bibliography. This has been a very good learning experience
for me in that way. By finding whether or not it is bias you have to look at the article
from every angle and through different a “lens’” as Rossenwasser explains. This lens
idea is that to, “fully explore its usefulness for explaining features of your subject”
(Rossenwasser, 9). Your using the whole article when your doing your writings, not just
a couple quotes but the mood and tones of the author and readers as well.
Overall I feel so far I’ve learned to access databases and methods never
presented to me before. These will help me to clear up my writing and make it more
fluid. The “lens” and “tools to improve reading” focus my thinking on the writing as a
whole and making sense of it all. The extended bibliographies really opened up my
mind too new ways of analyzing everything I read and incorporating it into my writing.
CITED
Rossenwasser, David, and Jill Stephen. Reading Analytically. Print.
come to the conclusion that I think way faster than I type. My words never come out
right on paper, as they seem to do in my head. My writings are always too wordy
and confusing. I have a major problem with flow and communication with the reader.
Because of this I feel I lose the reader right away in my writings. Academic writings
in my past have been very structured with no room for wiggle. They were very rigid
and harshly graded, and I never seemed to do well. Because of this I felt the need to
add more words to help explain what it was I was trying to say. This did not help the
situation. The introduction, body, and concluding paragraphs were all composed of strict
guidelines in sentence numbering, content and word usage. My school tried to keep
writings strictly academic with no opinions or “voice,” added. This way of writing made it
very hard for me to understand what it was to keep your feelings out of your essays.
I am excited to see that in this class there is a lot of voice and opinion added into
our writing. The commentary and assessments we give help me to voice what it is I am
trying to say in my own words rather than just using sources from the articles. Hopefully
this all will then help with my wording issues in my essays. I used the MLA format in the
past, so I am familiar with it, my citations are not always completely accurate but are
pretty close.
As for research and source use, I was nowhere as educated about the subject as
I am now. Before I was a big “Googler”. The Google search engine was my best friend,
I didn’t know of any other research basis to use. Credibility wasn’t a huge issue with
my past writings. My sources were mostly online sites with information that could have
been completely made up. Articles seemed to be the majority of my citations because
they were the most legitimate resources I could find through Google. Citing sources
was never a big issue as well. Easybib went hand in hand with Google in my writings.
Plugging in the URL and getting the citations out was an easy as copying and pasting it
in my bibliography. I’ve now discovered that’s not how it’s done. I’m sad to say Google
has now been replaced. The online Albersens Library is my new best friend forever. I
now can access articles that are peer reviewed and academically accepted.
I’ve learned now almost all I have learned is not correct. Luckily I have
the help of peer advisers to correct my flaws. Tiana mentions in my first extended
bibliography that I should “Use Quote”. This was very helpful to me. I went a whole
writing without one quotation! I talked about the authors list of many factors that low
income families struggle with” and quoted none of them. I then used the comments to
motivate me and quote how it’s the, “low-cost housing, primarily funded by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (Pratt, 4)” that the people struggle with
because, “there are long waiting lists for these programs (Pratt, 4)”
It was suggested to me that I go “more into detail about whether you thought
it was bias or not” in my assessment of the article. I used the, “THREE TOOLS TO
IMPROVE YOUR READING (Rossenwasser, 3)” to help me with my improvement of
this. My problem with not going into enough depth with the bias issue of the article was
because I did not know whether or not it was bias or was not bias. The steps improve
my reading helped me to understand what it was the writer was trying portray and
then allowed me to assess whether or not I found their opinion to by bias or not. With
these readings I then discovered that the author was not being bias in his writings. The
document was full of facts and numbers that helped support not just his hypothesis but
what really goes on in families with social assistances.
It is very helpful to have such easy access to the online text to refer back to, to
guide us through the process. Having learned to write the way I did, the understanding
of the reading was not as important as just getting the quotes you needed to prove
the point. In this class we have to understand every aspect of the reading. We are not
writing to just prove a point, but to analyze reflect and conclude. If you have problems
connecting with the author on what they are writing your going to have problems trying
to write the extended bibliography. This has been a very good learning experience
for me in that way. By finding whether or not it is bias you have to look at the article
from every angle and through different a “lens’” as Rossenwasser explains. This lens
idea is that to, “fully explore its usefulness for explaining features of your subject”
(Rossenwasser, 9). Your using the whole article when your doing your writings, not just
a couple quotes but the mood and tones of the author and readers as well.
Overall I feel so far I’ve learned to access databases and methods never
presented to me before. These will help me to clear up my writing and make it more
fluid. The “lens” and “tools to improve reading” focus my thinking on the writing as a
whole and making sense of it all. The extended bibliographies really opened up my
mind too new ways of analyzing everything I read and incorporating it into my writing.
CITED
Rossenwasser, David, and Jill Stephen. Reading Analytically. Print.
Discourse Analysis (1)
Alex Grealish
Discourse Analysis (1)
Kaiser, Amy P., and Cathy H. Qi. "Behavior Problems of Preschool Children from
Low-income Families: Review of the Literature. - Topics in Early Childhood Special
Education | HighBeam Research - FREE Trial." Research - Articles - Journals | Find
Research Fast at HighBeam Research. 22 Dec. 2003. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.
Volunteering at babysteps we worked directly in the groups with the women and
some of the babies themselves. We talked about behaviors they might teach their
children as they grow and how they were effected by those behaviors themselves
growing up. This interested me to look up the major behavioral issues low income
families deal with will raising their children. I found an article, Behavior problems of
preschool children from low-income families where authors Qi, and Kaiser, studied
almost 3,000 preschool children and their problems with behavior. Working with
the mothers at babysteps we talked alot on how it is you can 'spoil' your child and
what it is a spoiled children really means. The group discussed issues children are
challenged with and how the mothers can work with that. They gave examples of how
they themselves felt spoiled and what it was they would change. Qi and Kaiser found
that, "children from behavior clinics (Keenan & Watschlag, 2000) and children with
adolescent mothers who were at risk for substance abuse (Elden, 1999) had (higher)
rates of problem behavior" (Kaiser, 11).
Discourse Analysis (1)
Kaiser, Amy P., and Cathy H. Qi. "Behavior Problems of Preschool Children from
Low-income Families: Review of the Literature. - Topics in Early Childhood Special
Education | HighBeam Research - FREE Trial." Research - Articles - Journals | Find
Research Fast at HighBeam Research. 22 Dec. 2003. Web. 22 Feb. 2011.
Volunteering at babysteps we worked directly in the groups with the women and
some of the babies themselves. We talked about behaviors they might teach their
children as they grow and how they were effected by those behaviors themselves
growing up. This interested me to look up the major behavioral issues low income
families deal with will raising their children. I found an article, Behavior problems of
preschool children from low-income families where authors Qi, and Kaiser, studied
almost 3,000 preschool children and their problems with behavior. Working with
the mothers at babysteps we talked alot on how it is you can 'spoil' your child and
what it is a spoiled children really means. The group discussed issues children are
challenged with and how the mothers can work with that. They gave examples of how
they themselves felt spoiled and what it was they would change. Qi and Kaiser found
that, "children from behavior clinics (Keenan & Watschlag, 2000) and children with
adolescent mothers who were at risk for substance abuse (Elden, 1999) had (higher)
rates of problem behavior" (Kaiser, 11).
Discourse Analysis (2)
Alex Grealish
Discourse Analysis (2)
Alden, Anton. "Long Term Effects of Public Housing on Children". Livestrong.com. Web.
23 August 2010
Anton talks about the "long-term negative effects" (Anton, 1) factors that children
face growing up in low income housing. The limited educational opportunities they face
living in such areas can then lead to employment difficulties as they move on. The
health issues that children face is another problem. These people don't have the
adequate amount of money to bring their kids to the doctor as often as needed. It is
mentioned by Anton that the cheap lead paints used in this housing if not treated
efficiently and promptly can lead to long term issues. The last factor that Anton brings
up and the one I feel most closely connects with my question is that of the exposer to
crime. The areas low income housing are located in can bring dangerous people and
opportunities in things like gangs and crime. Being surrounded and raised in
environments that have such things can affect the behaviors of children. There is a lot
of pressure to give in to the bad around them and do the wrong things. They have to
adapt to there surroundings, and this can be done so in such a way that changes them
for the worse.
I feel this article has much to do with babysteps in that the families in the
programs cannot always afford the best neighborhoods. On such low incomes its hard
to be picky and there are more important things such as food and shelter that come
first. These children are then more likely to be surrounded by these toxic environments
and more susceptible to giving in to the bad behaviors they see. I don't think this article
is being bias. There isn't any opinion stated, just facts and possibilities. The authors
ideas extended from mine when she states that these effects, "follow children
throughout their lives" (Anton, 1). This statement can definitely apply to the behavioral
aspect of the children in these situations. A question I have on the article would be what
are some specific examples that can support what the article is saying.
Discourse Analysis (2)
Alden, Anton. "Long Term Effects of Public Housing on Children". Livestrong.com. Web.
23 August 2010
Anton talks about the "long-term negative effects" (Anton, 1) factors that children
face growing up in low income housing. The limited educational opportunities they face
living in such areas can then lead to employment difficulties as they move on. The
health issues that children face is another problem. These people don't have the
adequate amount of money to bring their kids to the doctor as often as needed. It is
mentioned by Anton that the cheap lead paints used in this housing if not treated
efficiently and promptly can lead to long term issues. The last factor that Anton brings
up and the one I feel most closely connects with my question is that of the exposer to
crime. The areas low income housing are located in can bring dangerous people and
opportunities in things like gangs and crime. Being surrounded and raised in
environments that have such things can affect the behaviors of children. There is a lot
of pressure to give in to the bad around them and do the wrong things. They have to
adapt to there surroundings, and this can be done so in such a way that changes them
for the worse.
I feel this article has much to do with babysteps in that the families in the
programs cannot always afford the best neighborhoods. On such low incomes its hard
to be picky and there are more important things such as food and shelter that come
first. These children are then more likely to be surrounded by these toxic environments
and more susceptible to giving in to the bad behaviors they see. I don't think this article
is being bias. There isn't any opinion stated, just facts and possibilities. The authors
ideas extended from mine when she states that these effects, "follow children
throughout their lives" (Anton, 1). This statement can definitely apply to the behavioral
aspect of the children in these situations. A question I have on the article would be what
are some specific examples that can support what the article is saying.
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