Labels In The Climate Debate By Justin Gillis

The article is titled Verbal Warming: Labels in the Climate Debate, by Justin Gillis, from the New York Times. Upon reading, the author is presenting information on “how pro-climate change scientists are petitioning news media in changing the current climate label from “climate skeptics” to “climate deniers.” In evaluating the text within the article, the qualitative measures of text complexity would be extremely demanding in student comprehension regarding the meaning, structure, and language/knowledge.

The text exhibits multiple levels of complex meanings within the article. Students would struggle with differentiating between the different meanings in the text. The text's meanings and purpose are climate change labels, the climate change debate, and the ‘science’ surround climate change. Moreover, in comprehending implicit-purpose, the text leans in favoring climate change. The text provides cynical adjectives in associating the term “deniers.” Words like “manipulating data,” “phony skeptics,” “ludicrous claims,” “cherry-picking,” and “Holocaust” are used relating to

The text uses flashbacks and flash-forwards. The text starts with current time then jumps back decades ago then to a year ago. Also, the qualitative measure with the graphics is propagandized. Appendix A states “graphics tend to be simple and either unnecessary or merely supplementary to the meaning of texts of low complexity” (p.5). In the text, structure a dismal graphic with the word “Skeptic” include an automobile, airplanes, and smokestacks excreting puffs of carbon dioxide. The middle graphic depicts a consequential view showing the Aurora Australis with a colony of emperor penguins in Antarctica. Lastly, the bottom picture depicts a cheerful graphic with the word “Denier” surrounded by reindeer, rabbit, and butterflies which demonstrates the newly deserved label