I’m impressed by the author’s use of memorable days, such as Halloween, Thanksgiving day, Christmas day, and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, to show the duration of the
Jonathan Safran Foer’s Let them Eat Dog is a comical persuasive essay about the arbitrary boundaries that society places over the consumption of animals. He successfully points out the almost silly rules certain cultures place over eating certain animals, using the example that Americans generally viewing “eating ‘man’s best friend’ … as taboo”. (Foer 332) There are many different cultures around the world, each of which have their own general beliefs and social norms. One of these norms is what people should or should not eat.
Wallace includes the methods of preparing lobster, a discussion of whether the lobsters can feel pain, and describes PETA protesters giving out pamphlets advising festival goers to not eat the food. Over the course of the article, it changes from being informational about the actual festival, to a rhetorical question about the treatment of the animals that we as humans consume. I didn’t quite know how I felt about this article when I finished reading. Although Wallace is clearly confused and uncertain about his position, with all the lengthy footnotes, he does go to great lengths to weigh both sides of the argument. (if you can even call it that)
A variety of factors affected the widespread adoption of V-notching. V-notching is inherently a collective action dilemma, as was briefly described when discussing lobster as a CPR, one that can be modeled by the prisoner’s dilemma game. Lobstermen that do not take the time to V-notch lobster still benefit from the protected breeders that result from others V-notching lobster. However, if every individual assumes that other lobstermen are V-notching, then the protective qualities of the norm will diminish as adherence to it drops off. In this case, the opposite occurred.
We are all familiar with the notion of “pleasure.” Simple pleasures are ever-present in our lives but complex, extended pleasures are fulfilling yet fleeting. They bring about intense experiences to gratify our desires, although they are not a necessity, in the same way slaughtering and plating an overhunted species is not absolutely imperative. However, despite my own belief that an endangered species is not to be poached upon, I commend Liz Alderman for completing “Chefs Fight for Songbird” in a way in which she successfully set key points from both sides of the arguments while also discreetly and strategically establishing and backing her own position in the feud. For those completely unfamiliar with the topic, Alderman might be able to
This short story explains and questions how people find eating animals morally acceptable. Steiner 's short story explains that whenever people think these animals are being treated respectfully they are being ignorant to the fact of how these animals are truly treated; Steiner brings up the fact of how an animals typical horrid life is and how it transitions from its horrid life to being killed by a butcher in a matter of seconds. Moreover, Steiner also adheres to the topic of how unacceptable, it is to kill these animals just for human consumption. Steiner 's purpose in writing this short story is to display to us the fact that eating any animal is not only wrong, but it is just downright unacceptable as it is mass murder of these innocent animals. Finally, Steiner tries to define at his best, what a strict vegan truly
Namit Arora, author of the article “On Eating Animals”, harshly captures the inhumane production of meat in America with repulsive imagery and shocking details. Arora, writer at thehumanist.com, reveals the immediate attention that Americans give to their pets and news-famous animals like Molly a runaway cow, yet they neglect to realize the millions of livestock being killed daily. With an accusatory and critical tone Arora condemns the hypocrisy of those who are pro-life for animals, but they still consume meat products. In return, this clarifies the injustice towards these animals for his American readers and global viewers. Namit Arora’s devastating imagery underscores the brutality of American actions towards innocent animals with descriptions such as, “the cow, bellowing miserably and hobbling like a drunk for several seconds before collapsing” and, “...died on the street in a pool of blood.”
The consumption of animal meat is highly accepted in today’s society, however, the methods, in which the animals are killed are sometimes questioned for their cruelty. David Wallace, in considering the Lobster, takes the readers to the Maine Lobster Festival, where the consumption of lobsters is exploited, and the festival's attendees celebrate these acts. However, the essay goes furthermore than narrating the lobster’s festival, because through sensory details, and different techniques, he makes the readers question society’s morality. By stressing the cruelty it takes boiling lobsters alive, Wallace is capable of creating a sense of awareness in society decisions that demonstrate their corrupted morality, and how it affects directly others (like lobsters)
There are many events prior to the 1900s that could be construed as turning points in American history. Columbus’s discovery of America in the 1490s and the American Revolution from 1770 to 1779, for instance, are quite important in this way. However, the Industrial Revolution was a far more significant turning point. The American Industrial Revolution began around 1790 when Samuel Slater was inspired by British industrial success and brought the idea to the United States. Once it began, the Industrial Revolution did not just bring success.
Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals is a book about persuasion. Foer seeks to convince his readers to take any step in reducing what he believes is the injustice of harming animals. To achieve this, Foer employs many persuasion techniques and often changes his approach when he targets specific groups. His strategies include establishing himself as an ethical authority and appealing to his readers’ emotions, morals, and reason.
On page 60, footnote 8 compares the pegging/banding of lobsters’ claws to the debeaking of broiler chickens, the cropping of swines’ tails, and the dehorning of cattle. Recognizing that the reader will likely fail to see the impact of the banding, Foster Wallace provides the comparison of other similar practices that will likely be more promptly deemed unacceptable. Under footnote 14, Foster Wallace extends the comparison, driving the reader to understand the distinction made between the consumption of mammals and non-mammals that is notable in speech. When describing mammals as food, we use separate words to distinguish them as creatures and dishes, such as “cow” and “beef,” and “pig” and “pork.” However, non-mammals share the same names in the wild and on menus, such as “shrimp,” “salmon,” and “lobster.”
The people around us and our surroundings shouldn’t change who we are because we all have our own personalities and our own ways of doing things. David Foster Wallace, author of “Ticket to the Fair,” grew up a couple of hours from down state Springfield but moved to the east coast is writing a articles on the Illinois state fair. As he goes through the days of the fair he realizes thing are different from the East Coast, and that the people are not what he expected. The way people treat David makes him act different toward people. “Lacking a real journalist’s killer instinct, I’ve been jostled way to the back, and my view is observed by the towering hair of Ms. Illinois country fair, whose function here is unclear.”
In An Animal’s Place, Michael Pollan describes the growing acknowledgement of animal rights, particularly America’s decision between vegetarianism and meat-eating. However, this growing sense of sentiment towards animals is coupled with a growing sense of brutality in farms and science labs. According to Pollan, the lacking respect for specific species of animals lies in the fact that they are absent from human’s everyday lives; enabling them to avoid acknowledgment of what they are doing when partaking in brutality towards animals. He presents arguments for why vegetarianism would make sense in certain instances and why it would not and ultimately lead to the decision of eating-meat while treating the animals fairly in the process. Pollan
In the article, “Is It Possible to be a Conscientious Meat Eater”, the authors argue that processed meat can greatly affect the many things in our everyday life. Sunaura and Alexander’s argument is significantly unreliable because of the certain professions both authors yield. As stated in the article “Sunaura is an artist, writer, and activist in Oakland.” “Alexander’s profession is studying philosophy, and ethics in Athens, Georgia.” This shows that neither of them are qualified to argue in the subject of conscientious meat eaters.
Charles Darwin was a naturalist in the 1800’s that went to Christ College to study natural history. He was accepted for the Naturalist position on the HMS Beagle and soon was on a 5-year voyage around the world. He had an amazing opportunity to collect many specimens for his scientific study, but one of the most important stops was in the Galapagos Archipelago. His findings led him to speculate and found the revolutionary theory of evolution. Natural Selection is a notable part of Evolution, which is a very well known theory that is excepted by many scientist as fact.
