Yong+Xiang

Day 1 Hi, I am looking at these two aspects of my essays.

1) Structuring persuasive arguments in expositions [| http://www.writingcentre.ubc.ca/workshop/tools/argument.htm][|http://www.writingcentre.ubc.ca/workshop/tools/cmnflc.htm]

This website specifically discusses 4 ways in which you can write persuasive arguments: Appeal to emotions, appeal to reason, appeal to authority and appeal to good character. Allow me to list one of the points that I have came across: When appealing to authority, it is important to select arguments from authorties which are current, reliable, but does not mean that he/she needs to be famous. Famous people does not equate to reliable people.

2) Paraphrasing [] We have to understand the text and think about what the author is trying to express while we paraphrase a passage. This page also provides examples to allow me to understand how much the paraphrased example differs from the plagarised text.

Day 2 GM food - boon or bane Boon - Something that is helpful which improves the quality of live. Bane - a cause of continual trouble or unhappiness.

What is GM Food? []GM food are food that are derived from Genetically Modified Organisms. The use of Selective Breeding can not only cause a type of plant (e.g. Maize) to be extremely resistant to a particular type of herbicide, it can also produce food (e.g. Egg) which is has higher nutritional content (e.g. lower cholestrol). Although there are many controveries pertaining to the use of GM food especially in Europe, GM food have not caused human health defects or adverse health consequences.

Controveries of GM Food? [] [] [] I face the same problem as Edwin that if we read too much resources online just before writing, it gets me more confused. I face problems such as putting information from two articles together, then linking back to my given point. Sometimes, the worst problem is that these information I put together does not answer my point and hence does not develop any of my paragraph.

Dangers: []

Stand: Will be considering: boon

Paragraph: Although the implications of GM products have been widely debated in the European community, I believe that GM products have extensive medical and health benefits to an invididual. Consumers of GM food have reached more than 4.5 billion people in recent years. To curb with the growing population in the near future, GM food must be cultivated to increase its yield and to provide people with sufficient food and necessary nuitrents. Naqvi (2009) have indicated that corns and soybeans have higher nuitritional values than non-GM corns. With 6 times more Vitamin Cs and 2 times extra folate in a GM corn, it enables people to lead a healthier lifestyle. GM food helps people living in Third World Countries suffer from nutrient deficiency. For example, Rice does not contain adequate amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent malnutrition especially in Third world countries. However, when rice is genetically engineered to contain additional vitamins and minerals such as iron, nutrient deficiencies among impoverished people in these countries could be alleviated. Nutrionally-enhanced products through Genetical Engineering has brought about a large number of benefits. Hence, its production should be highly encouraged.

Day 3: Comments (Han Quan): "GM food helps people living in Third World Countries suffer from nutrient deficiency." You mean GM results in these people to suffer from nutrient deficiency? Or u mean "GM food helps people living in Third World Countries suffering from nutrient deficiency." ? I think it makes quite a lot of difference. As with "To curb with the growing population in the near future", i think "to deal with" seems to be better.

Gordon: Hey Yong Xiang, you stated "consumers of GM food have reached more than 4.5 billion people in recent years" and it is an useful information but I think you should add on the significance of this statistic. The 4.5 billion people is not the same as the growing population. I don't really know what else to comment on but generally it is okay I guess. You may want to discuss more about the significance of the statistics and alleviating impoverishment etc. Will make the argument sound more convincing.

Day 4: I have expected to make a couple of changes to the paragraph. This also includes stating who Naqvi (2009) because we have to state who the authority is to make my paragraph more convincing. Furthermore, the last sentence "Hence, its production should be highly encouraged" does not link to any part of the paragraph, there seem to be a logical leap between the Second last and last sentence. Vitamins Cs and extra folate DOES NOT enable people to lead a healthier lifestyle. Instead, it enables people to lead a more nutritional lifestyle.

Edited paragraph:

Although the implications of GM products have been widely debated in the European community, I believe that GM products have extensive medical and health benefits to an invididual. Consumers of GM food have reached more than 4.5 billion people in recent years. It is estimated among several scholars that the percentage of consumers of GM food will steadily increase in the next 20 to 30 years. To curb with the growing population in the near future, GM food must be cultivated to increase its yield and to provide people with sufficient food and necessary nutrients. Shaista Naqvi, a scholar from the University of Carlifornia, produced a research paper which indicates that corns and soybeans have higher nuitritional values than non-GM corns. With 6 times more Vitamin Cs and 2 times extra folate in a GM corn, it enables people to lead a more nutritional lifestyle. Furthermore, the consumption of GM food reduces nutrient deficiency especially among people living in 3rd world countries. For example, rice does not contain adequate amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent malnutrition especially in third world countries. However, when rice is genetically cultivated to contain additional vitamins and minerals such as iron, it opens the way for the development of nutritionally complete cereals to benefit the world's poorest people. From the examples above, n utrionally-enhanced products through genetical engineering has brought about a large number of benefits. These benefits outweighed the disadvantages of GM food. Hence, its production should be highly encouraged.

Reflection: I believe this method of learning is somewhat slow, but it is a new experience. I certainly favour Mrs Yong's differentiated learning. Friends, like me, who are weak in English can learn at a different pace. Using wikispaces to structure our expository gives us the chance to learn from each other's work, which is mutually beneficial among all students. We should encourage the use of IT learning and use various media to learn English next time.