CRCB - Chapter 6

Summary

Details are used to support ideas and arguments. Major details support the main idea and minor details support the main details. Details are usually presented as who, what, where why and how. Details can be facts, opinions, illustrations and explanations. Distinguishing between major and minor details is necessary to understand the author’s viewpoint. In testing this an important factor. Remembering every single detail is unimportant, but identifying the main idea and details is.

Exercises

1. The author describes the United States as what?

A carnival

2. Why does Phil Donahue offer no apology about airing his show on children with progeria?

He says he shows these disfigured children in order to humanize people who have suffered.

3. What does Sally Jesse Raphael say about her show?

It demonstrates man’s triumph over adversity.

4. What, according to the author, is contributing to out cultural demise?

Diminished interest in serious news

5. What is the overall main idea of this essay?

This essay’s main idea is that talk shows are central to America’s cultural demise.

6. What, according to the author, made sideshows more acceptable than talk shows?

Sideshows at least made no pretense about the voyeurism.

7. According to the author, whose fault is it that talk shows provide shockingly titillating stories?

The public, for watching them

8. What does the author consider “real entertainment”?

The author believes that talk shows can be substantive and interesting. That would be “real entertainment.”

9. According to the author, why do we watch talk shows?

We watch in order to be titillated, looking for a high.

CRCB - Chapter 5

Summary

Finding the main idea is important to understanding an author’s writing. This is different from the topic, but the two are closely related. For example Barak Obama may be a topic but his positions may be the main idea. There are supporting details, such as his voting record and quotes. It is the job of the reader to put together these details to form an impression. Look for word clues that support, contrast and emphasize. Main ideas can be explicit or implied.

Exercises

1. The wasp has to provide her egg with

A live tarantula.

2. Which of the following statements is true?

Each species of pepsis require a certain species of tarantula, and the wasp will not attack the wrong species.

3. What happen after the wasp digs a grave?

The wasp feels the tarantula once more with her antennae.

4. What happen after a wasp drops a spider into the grave?

She stays by the grave.

5. How does the tarantula species survive?

The tarantulas have more babies than the wasps.

6. What is the main idea from the excerpt?

The wasp attacks and paralyses the tarantula in order to reproduce.

7. What does the tarantula do when the wasp explores it?

The tarantula is tolerant.

8. How does the wasp attack the tarantula?

The wasp forces the tarantula into a corner, grabs a leg with her jaws and thrusts the sting into a soft spot, injecting poison.

9. Why doesn’t the wasp kill the tarantula completely?

The wasp needs the tarantula to survive to provide food for her offspring when it hatches.

10. What answer does the author give for the tarantula’s unusually compliant behavior?

No clear answer is available, but it may be that a tarantula is not inclined to attack unless cornered.

TFY - Chapter 3

Summary

This chapter impressed upon me that facts are not absolute, but reality as perceived by an individual. What is considered true is subject to change as more is known or belief systems change. There is a need to verify and demonstrate facts in order to give them credibility. Facts represent objective reality, and not opinions or assumptions. We cannot let our feelings and beliefs taint our understanding of facts, however feelings may cause us to look deeper into a matter. To get at the truth we must rely on our own judgment and not let peer pressure interfere. This seems to happen a lot in universities where “political correctness” often overrides debate. While relying on our own judgment, we must still allow for our own limitations and be prepared to change our minds if reality dictates. It can be painful sometimes to admit that you were wrong

Exercises

1. Why do you think that U.S. credit card debt has increased 6,000 percent since 1968?

Credit card use has increased for emergencies such as unemployment, medical problems and family breakups.

2. In this excerpt the authors represent some facts about the reasons families go into credit card debt counter to what is commonly believed. Which of these facts surprised you?

I was surprised at the low amount of impulse-shopping related to credit-card debt.

3. The title of this book is The Two-Income Trap. In this excerpt, the authors do not fully explain why they consider two incomes to be a trap. However, what entrapment aspects are discussed here?

The authors claim that a bidding war has inflated middle-class life. Perhaps they mean that two incomes mean higher mortgages. Otherwise they are ambiguous on this point.

4. According to these two authors, how have credit cards come to serve as “safety nets” for American families?

Credit cards are used for medical emergencies, unemployment and family breakups.

5. According to these authors what facts point to the major causes of debt in middle-class America?

Financial difficulties from emergencies lead to higher credit card use, which can spiral out of control, forcing families to take out second mortgages.

CRCB - Chapter 2

Summary

There are several types of contextual clues for understanding new words in conversation or reading, definition, example, punctuation and personal experience. I have always used contextual clues in understanding new words, but this can be a tricky business. I go to the dictionary whenever possible. The root of a word is the main part. Words can have prefixes and suffixes. Knowing how to combine the three helps build one’s vocabulary, in my case medical terminology. Word maps are helpful in understanding new words, using a definition, prediction, part of speech, and usage in sentences. Denotation is the dictionary definition of a word, and connotation adds to that definition with its own implied meanings. When I read I keep an online dictionary handy.

Exercises

1. a. sub-Saharan – South of Saharan Desert in Africa

b. nomadic – migratory

2. Tuareg is unacceptable because it denotes a nomadic tribe that has a connotation of slave-trading.

TFY - Chapter 2

Summary

This chapter shows how inferences differ from facts. While facts are things that are known and verifiable, inferences go beyond facts by making guesses and conclusions from facts. Inferences must be distinguished from facts through the understanding that an inference is an interpretation of facts. We use inferences to fill in for missing facts, but faulty inferences can be harmful to our reasoning. The excerpt on Sherlock Holmes uses several inferences to describe his client’s trip to see him. When done well, inferences can build upon each other and tie facts together in a chain of reasoning; when faulty inferences are used the chain of reasoning is broken. The inference of the boy who home during school hours is a case in point. The correct conclusion (ask him what is up) was based as much on what was not known as on what was known. Facts and inferences can be used in order to make generalizations, but hasty generalizations are hazardous. A topic sentence is a type of generalization that summarizes the main idea of its paragraph.

Exercises

1. What was the professor trying to teach his students?

The teacher was trying to teach his students independent thinking.

2. What inferences does he expect them to make?

He expected them to give their own views on the Bill of Rights and defend the Constitution of the United States against his extreme views.

3. What inferences do they make?

They make no inferences. They are too busy writing.

4. What clues led you to your own conclusions about this cartoon?

The students would only write his views, and at the end would not question a single word.

5. How would describe the teacher’s teaching style?

The teacher’s style was challenging, however the students followed like a herd of sheep.

CRCB Chapter 13

Summary

This chapter explains Bloom’s Taxonomy of Knowledge and the levels of thinking. The first level is knowledge, which is the most literate level. Knowledge involves the intake of facts. Second is the comprehension level, which is the understanding of the facts and the ability to make conclusions and predictions. Third is application which requires that the student solve problems by selecting and using concepts, principles and theories. Fourth is analysis which involves breaking down a subject and examining its components in order to simplify understanding. The fifth level is synthesis, which involves putting together ideas and coming to a larger conclusion. The sixth and highest level is evaluation which involves making value judgments based on specific criteria rather than one own opinions.

Exercises

1. Explain why, according to Nietzsche, Christianity and science are foes.

According to Nietzsche, everything that makes for the preservation of the human race is diametrically opposed to Christianity.

2. How does the author distinguish between the sources of power of science and Christianity?

In Christianity, God is determiner of our fate. In science, man determines his own fate by using knowledge and actions to overcome adversity.

3. Rewrite the following sentence in you own words: “Since the beginning of the Christian era the church has been the bitter and tireless enemy of all science, and this enmity has been due to the fact that every member of the priest class has realized that the more a man learned the more he came to depend upon his own efforts, and the less he was given to asking for help from above.”

The priests have always seen science as a threat to faith, since one will stray from the teachings of
teachings of the church.

TFY Chapter 1

Summary

This chapter delves into gathering information through observation. Daniel Scudder’s essay on looking at fish advocates that an individual takes one’s own time to make a full observation. Student Naom Manor describes his own experience of observing an apple at length. However I was not particularly impressed, since he added nothing to my understanding of apples. Nor did Kenneth Wong impress me in describing a plastic spoon. Something more challenging is in order, perhaps observing an unknown object and its possible uses. Sensing, thinking and perceiving are defined, with an optical illusion shown to illustrate how the three work together. Discomfort leads to disequilibrium, which is resolved through thinking, leading to a sense of power. Dorr Bothwell explains eloquently how preconceived notions can color our perceptions and Edward Abbey shows the link between observation and survival.

Exercises

1. How do the observation skills protect the writer in this situation?

The writer’s observation skills help him avoid a rattlesnake bite.

2. How does he combine his knowledge of animals together with his observation skills to anticipate future problems?

He understands that mice attract rattlesnakes and that diamondbacks may appear.

3. How do you suppose he uses his observation and imagination in order to find a solution to his problem?

He has seen that the gopher snake is an enemy of the rattlesnake and can keep rattlesnakes away.

4. Why do suppose he does not consider poisoning and trapping the mice or shooting the rattlesnakes one by one?

It is his duty to protect and preserve the life of the park.

5. What values doe he hold – and what aversions does he lack – that would enable him to enjoy this solution?

He does not believe in killing animals himself – he would rather kill a man – but believes that nature can handle the problem for him.