Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Blog Post #1

     Part 1:
   
        The ability to effectively summarize a text is a valuable skill both in this class as well as in our future academic lives. This is because the critical reading skills required to extrapolate the most important details and ideas from an author's work are extremely useful in many ways other than just the summarization of a text. Understanding facets of a text such as the author's purpose, audience, or overall rhetoric allows for a deeper understanding of the article than would be possible without the critical reading skills to discern them, and this ability only grows more useful as the texts increase in length or complexity.
   
       The benefits of well developed critical thinking/reading skills extend beyond the classroom as well. In the 21st century we now have more access than ever before to a vast pool of information about every topic imaginable, as well as every possible viewpoint regarding those issues. In this frenetic world of seemingly ever-interchangeable facts and opinions, the ability to critically examine a text (in whatever form it may take) is one of the most important skills required to be a well informed and positively contributing member of society.



      I believe the above video illustrates this idea well. Misleading information such as what is presented by the online article in the video is all too common. The article claims that North Dakota State penitentiary policy restricts deportation of immigrants detained for violent crimes, yet when questioned state officials refuted that this was simply not true. If a person were to read this article without thinking critically about it's claims and the evidence (or lack thereof) that supports them, they might be convinced of something that has no basis in fact.
    
       Seth Davis's article "Should College Athletes be Paid? Why, They Already Are" provides another example of how the omission of certain facts can give a text an unfair bias. Though his article is a far less extreme case than in the video above, Davis only includes facts and figures that help his argument and leaves out any possible counterpoint that would be difficult for him to refute. 

Part 2:

     In his article "Should College Athletes be Paid, Why, They Already Are", sports writer Seth Davis attempts to refute many of the points made in an earlier article written by Taylor Branch regarding the unjust compensation received  by many college athletes for their efforts. Davis also seeks to provide evidence that supports his opinion of the issue; that college athletes are in fact compensated very well for their work. Davis begins his article by attempting to damage the credibility and impact of Branch's writing. He does this by quoting an article warning of the corruption and fraud plaguing college athletics, however he intentionally misleads his reader by not providing an author or date. By then revealing that the quote is in fact from an academic journal printed over a century ago, Davis hopes to dismiss the prevailing idea that the content of Branch's article is particularly new or shocking in nature. The bulk of Davis's article then proceeds to refute or lessen the impact of a great many points made by Branch, either by providing evidence to the contrary of what Branch claims or by pointing out important facts and statistics omitted by Branch that harm Branch's narrative of the issue. Near the end of his text, Davis concedes briefly that Branch does an admirable job of dissecting court cases against the NCAA, but even then concludes that Branch only muddles the issue by attempting to tie it to a larger civil rights struggle. Davis ends his article with a final sarcastic jab at Branch's likening of the free tuition received by college athletes to slavery and emphatically dismisses the importance and impact of Branch's article a final time.

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