Journal Entry M2 Literature & Language Essay Research

Instructions:
Weekly Reading and Journal Entry.
Article：
How to Detect Propaganda – IPA (374)
Doubts About Doublespeak – Lutz (380)
Each entry should be about 150-200 words in length and include a brief summary of the reading along with an analysis of the texts and an attempt to apply the reading to the student’s life. Please write according to the format of the provided journal entry sample.
Entries will be evaluated by
1) timely submission,
2) evidence of reading completion,
3) attempt for an application, and
4) attempt for analysis of reading.

ENG120A – Spring 2018

Sample Journal Entries

1. Sample begins with a brief overall picture of what the reading is about and then provides a critique of the same. The critique attempts to suggest a point for improvement.

In Bilingual Minds: Understanding How the Brain speaks Two Languages by Jeffrey Kluger, the author describes the positive effects of bilingualism on the young and adult learner. The discussion on effects focuses around analytical skills, cognitive ability, and brain protection--all of which seem to perform significantly better for bilingual individuals compared to monolingual ones. The author uses accessible language and I appreciated that. I would think that language simplicity is the result of the author having been a writer at "TIME Magazine since 1998" (pg 125) and also writer and editor at the New York Times. Although the language is accessible, I would argue that none of the main points was fully developed. I think the author could have provided further details, statistics, examples, etc, in supporting his three main themes. I don't think that the author appropriately helped the reader be convinced or informed about bilingualism benefits to the individual. 

1. Sample begins with a brief overall picture of what the reading is about and then provides an opinion and an application for what the reader believes are the most important or relevant points in the text.

In Bilingual Minds by Jeffrey Kluger, the author describes the positive effects of bilingualism on the young and adult learner. The discussion on effects focuses around analytical skills, cognitive ability, and brain protection--all of which seem to perform significantly better for bilingual individuals compared to monolingual ones. Perhaps the most interesting section, at least in my opinion, is the fact that being a bilingual speaker (or multilingual for that matter) slows any development of dementia or Alzheimer when compared to monolinguals. The effect is impressive. According to the Kluger, Alzheimer can be delayed by 5.1 years and Dementia by 4.1 years (p127). I feel this is great news for me. Throughout my childhood I worked hard to develop my bilingual skills and now I know that it pays off in ways I never would have imagined.  This makes me think that I will certainly raise my children bilingual. Their benefits are not only in terms of protecting the brain, of course, but these are reason enough for the extra effort.

1. Sample begins with a brief overall picture of what the reading is about and then provides a comparission/connection with an external sources in an attempt to build on understanding, application, or analysis.

In Bilingual Minds by Jeffrey Kluger, the author describes the positive effects of bilingualism on the young and adult learner. The discussion on effects focuses around analytical skills, cognitive ability, and brain protection--all of which seem to perform significantly better for bilingual individuals compared to monolingual ones.  The author detailed how speed on the famous Stroop test on bilinguals demonstrated these individuals seem to consistently show cognitive agility compared to monolinguals. Also, bilinguals seem to also develop empathy more easily than monolinguals—this partly based on the fact that bilinguals understand from early on the possibility for communicating and miscommunicating in two different languages. Lastly, Kluger claims that bilinguals could experience delays in any development of dementia and Alzheimer of between 3-5 years. That is impressive. This makes me think of Why Bilinguals are Smarter, an article in the New York Times, arguing that it is imperative to raise children multilingual in an increasingly connected, globalized, and diverse world. Not only are there cognitive, analytical, and brain benefits, but also the workplace and society demand multilingual skills for competition and success. I think that although the NYT article did not consider Kluger’s points, these two texts complement each other.

I uploaded all the articles in this Google Drive, but you still need to find the Journal Entry Sample in the materials I provided on the website. Here’s the link:
https://drive(dot)google(dot)com/drive/folders/1-3uP8t6Tmkb28nStXz-UcWnOtS5m7Bkh
Thank you for your hard work, If you have any questions please feel free to asks me.