Ava Austi
AP Biology
Current Event #1
September 11, 2017
“Irma Live Updates: Now a Tropical Storm, System Heads North”
Times, The New York. “Irma Live Updates: Now a Tropical Storm, System Heads North.”The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Sept. 2017.
In the article, “Irma Live Updates: Now a Tropical Storm, System Heads North” from The New York Times, it discusses the effects of hurricane Irma, the current status of the cities who were hit, and lastly, the steps for what to do to recover from the damage. The author broke up the article into five different sections. The first part addressed all problems associated with the hurricane. Even as Irma was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, millions remained without power, while the police and the National Guard carried out search-and-rescue operations across the state. Many areas faced fuel shortages, as well as downed power lines and standing water. Fallen trees, ripped from their roots by surging waters and whipping winds that reached 130 miles per hour, blocked roadways — further hampering the recovery. After introducing a summary about the hurricane, the author provided a list of updates for the readers. For example, one states “At least four deaths were reported in Florida after the storm’s arrival on Sunday. It has left at least 27 people dead across the Caribbean.” After the author provides the reader with the latest updates, the article discuss how Jacksonville Florida is inundated, while Tampa is ‘looking good.’ Mayor Charlie Latham of Jacksonville Beach, appearing on CNN, said that about 90 percent of people in the city had lost power. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said of the surge and flooding there. In Tampa, Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who on Sunday warned residents that the city was about to get “punched in the face,” said on Monday that the city had been spared the storm’s worst. Then, the article discussed how Governor Rick Scott headed to the Florida Keys on Monday to survey the extent of damage there and in other parts of South Florida. Governor Rick Scott told Fox News that he is very concerned about The Keys and that they are doing everything they can to get food and water throughout the state. The article then specifically discusses the condition of Miami, Florida. About 70 percent of the city remained without electricity, and roads were not only impassable but traffic lights were not working, city officials said. The hefty article concludes with a connection to 9/11. On the 16th anniversary of 9/11, before the California Task Force 1 left Orlando, they bowed their heads to remind themselves of those who were killed, recognize those who survived in honor of the sacrifices of the first responders and those recovery workers who were there for so many days. The vast amount of devastation from hurricane Irma reminded the group of the 9/11 tragedy.
Without a doubt, hurricane Irma has had a huge effect on our society. Sadly, thousands on thousands of homes and cities have been destroyed from the vastness of Irma. The hurricane not only leaves cities and homes destroyed, but also has left people dead. More than 3 million homes and businesses across Florida lost power. Residents have reported shortages of food, water and medicine, and many have complained of looting. Damage from the hurricane is estimated to range from anywhere between $15 billion and $50 billion. Damage alone in the Caribbean could bring that number to $65 billion. We have lost a significant amount of humans. It has tremendously hurt cities that will need to be taken care of and restored. There is no argument against those who say hurricane Irma has greatly affected our society.
I thought this article was very interesting but at the same time, very straightforward. I did not only chose this article because it is all over the news, but because my own home in Miami Florida has been damaged from the hurricane. Luckily, the damage is not as severe as other homes, but we are left with no power and the landscaping surrounding the building needs to be completely restored. On the other hand, I thought the structure of the article was great; it allowed me to remain focus and grasp every aspect of the article. Although the article did many things well, I wish the author included more about the costs of the damage overall and in different cities. Overall, I believe the author did a excellent job of addressing the tragic hurricane, Irma.
Ellie Parson
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
Current Event Review #1
September 11, 2017
“Comments on Review of Irma Live Updates: Now a Tropical Storm, System Heads North”
Ava Austi’s review of “Irma Live Updates: Now a Tropical Storm, System Heads North” by the New York Times was exceptionally observant and knowledgeable. One aspect she succeeded in was including descriptive details from the article’s summary of the storm severity, painting a picture of the damage done so readers of her review can understand the level of devastation the article was trying to convey. For example, after explaining the contents of the article, Austi made a remark about fallen trees, ripping from their roots, homes destroyed, surging waters, and power lines cut down. She also included a large amount of numerical data from the article, such as the 130 miles per hour wind speed. She chose to highlight what the hurricane looked like on the ground, helping readers realize the magnitude of Irma’s fatality and danger. Another aspect I admired was Austi’s use of quotes throughout her review. Not only did she include at least three quotes to elaborate on her summary of the article, but the quotes she did use were decently sized and tastefully used in her summary without overcrowding her paragraph. Her quotes included data, and also the responses and remarks of mayors who were looked up to during this time of extreme weather. The quotes from the article were woven into Austi’s writing, moving from topic to topic in the article. Lastly, a section of her review Ava succeeded in was her relevance paragraph. She focuses on valid and important connections the article has to society while using data from the article to support her claims. Austi makes a very assertive claim that the storm, even though it was only a weather event, as effect on our society, and continues to provide specific information that grabs readers attention. The surprising amount of financial damage pared with her remark of 3 million homes destroyed makes her claim about the storm’s effect on society inarguable.
Even though Ava Austi provided an excellent review, there were still areas of improvement that could have been fixed. I feel that in some areas, Austi awkwardly phrased sentences so they accidentally took away from the serious feeling of the article. For example, she states “We have lost a significant amount of humans”(Austi, 1). The use of the words “humans” somewhat desensitizes the meaning behind her sentence. Clearly, she was drawing attention to the quantity of people who had died or are lost, but the use of “humans” gives the sentence an unusual undertone. A simple way to fix this wording would be to replace “humans” with “people.” Another error made was the overuse of many versions of “the article discussed”(Austi, 1). When switching to another part of the article, Austi reused these words multiple times until it became repetitive and took the reader’s focus away from the topic of the review. A way to remedy this error would be to use other phrases such as “The next focus of the article was” or “Following this subject, the author explained” that are similar to the phrase she repeated. This would remove the choppiness created by the repetition and replace it with a sense of flow.
From this review, I gained detailed, specific knowledge about Irma that I had not read or heard before from the news channels. The idea of 3 million buildings wrecked or severely damaged is almost unimaginable after Hurricane Harvey ripped apart and flooded towns. Personally, I learned that extreme storms like Irma, proven to be extreme by Ava’s review and the article, are a primary issue of the nation, especially as they become more common and happen more closely together. I have experienced category 2 hurricane Earl in North Carolina. What people in Florida and Texas are experiencing at this moment must be at least ten times more severe. After reading Ava’s remark of her own home in Florida, I am thankful that I do not have to worry about such hurricanes so intensely.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteNina Veru
ReplyDeleteAP Biology C-Odd
Current Event Review #1
September 12, 2017
Times, The New York. “Irma Live Updates: Now a Tropical Storm, System Heads North.”The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Sept. 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/us/hurricane-irma-florida.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-ab-top-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
After reading Ava Austi's review on an article about Hurricane Irma, I noted many things that made reading enjoyable. For one, Ava uses great detail while describing her chosen article. For example, Austi states, "Fallen trees, ripped from their roots by surging waters." This quote really helps the reader envision the damage caused by the devastating hurricane. While reading, I noticed Austi had a well organized review of the article. I thought it was great that she picked up on the organization of the article itself, stating that the author divided the article into different sections. She states that the first part was a summary, then the author went on the explain updates on the damage, and lastly there was a connection to 9/11. I also enjoyed how Austi incorporated that the reason she chose this article was because she has a home in Miami, Florida that suffered some damage. By including this, Austi gives her review more meaning and a personal tone.
Although I liked how Ava organized her review, better transition words should have been used. At times, the review felt repetitive, due to overuse of the phrases "after" and "in the article". To improve her writing, Austi could have used different transitions such as, "next" or "the author then goes on to explain". In addition, Austi could have gone on to explain the things she did not enjoy about the article. Ava claims that the article could have included more about the costs of overall damage and the impact the hurricane had on different cities. It would have been nice if she explained why she thought this information was needed in the original article.
Having lived through a few hurricanes, I never really understood how severe they can be. I remember losing power during hurricane Sandy, but the impacts on my community were not very severe. Due to this, I never really took hurricanes or other environmental disasters too seriously. However, after reading this review, I gained a better understanding of how devastating hurricanes can be. What shocked me especially was that people living in Florida were experiencing shortages of water, food, and medicine: all because of a hurricane.
Luke Redman
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
Current Event 1
September 11th 2017
Times, The New York. “Irma Live Updates: Now a Tropical Storm, System Heads North.”The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Sept. 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/us/hurricane-irma-florida.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=span-ab-top-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
Ava Austi’s review of “ Irma Live Updates: Now a Tropical Storm, System Heads North” was very well written and informative. She used incredibly descriptive words to describe the damage caused by Hurricane Irma, such as “Fallen trees, ripped from their roots by surging waters and whipping winds that reached 130 miles per hour.” She also incorporated her own personal life into the article, stating that she has a house in Miami, Florida that must have been affected by the hurricane and devastating effects. As a reader, I was very surprised by the personal connection to the article, which made the review much better. She also included the statistics of the hurricane in her review, further describing the horrible tragedy that occurred. She said that,“At least four deaths were reported in Florida after the storm’s arrival on Sunday. It has left at least 27 people dead across the Caribbean.” Although I liked most of the article, there were some areas that I thought she could improve. She could have chosen a better word to describe the people who died in the hurricane instead of using “humans.” They are more than just a statistic, they have some sort of importance that should have been shown in the writing. She also did not properly transfer from one thought to another, with no transition phrases such as “however” or “In the article”, as well as some grammar issues. However, the article did show that she had a very personal connection with the storm, and I had no idea that the damage from the hurricane could reach over 100 Billion dollars. I enjoyed reading Ava’s review, and I look forward to her next review.
David Weild
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
Current Event Review #1
September 13, 2017
Comments on Ava Austi’s review of Irma Live Updates: Now a Tropical Storm, System Heads North”
I chose to comment on Ava Austi’s review of “Irma Live Updates: Now a Tropical Storm, System Heads North” by the New York Times. I felt as though Ava provided the audience with a strong summary on the article. For example, Ava cited the effects of Irma that were provided from the article like “whipping winds that reached 130 miles per hour.” Second she mentioned the horrid facts of the storm's impact the people of Florida. Finally she mentioned what the road to recovery might be like for the people of Florida. She uses comments from people such as Governor Rick Scott who “told Fox News that he is very concerned about The Keys and that they are doing everything they can to get food and water throughout the state.” As well as quoting important, trustworthy sources, Ava Austi proves to be strong with her stupendous use of the English Language. Her use of alliteration creates a wonderful experience for the reader, “whipping winds.” Along with doing this, Ava Austi encaptures her readers with a very personal connection of the damage that her house withstood that truly shows her relation to this article in a stronger sense than most would have while reading this article.
While Ava did an impressive job with her strong evidential summary from the article, use of alliteration, and strong personal connections, she lacked in literary technique in her review. While very kind of Ava to mention the connection of the article which the author provides, “On the 16th anniversary of 9/11, before the California Task Force 1 left Orlando, they bowed their heads to remind themselves of those who were killed, recognize those who survived in honor of the sacrifices of the first responders and those recovery workers who were there for so many days. The vast amount of devastation from hurricane Irma reminded the group of the 9/11 tragedy,” is rather insignificant to the entirety of the article. In my opinion, this has no purpose being included in the “summary” part of the article since it is such a small part of the article and has nothing to do with “the effects of hurricane Irma, the current status of the cities who were hit, and the steps for what to do to recover from the damage” which was stated by Ava Austi to be the main parts of the article. I think all Ava would need to do is remove this part of the review and her summary paragraph will be stronger. One other thing Ava could improve on, is the part where she says, “We have lost a significant amount of humans[from Hurricane Irma].” This sentence is in a bad area of text where it should go with the part about death and destruction. This is instead thrown into the paragraph with little thought and is quite repetitive. Not only is it repetitive, but this sentence, “We have lost a significant amount of humans,” comes out to the reader as being very subjective to humans as if they are some sort of crop or livestock. It is a horrible sentence all around. I would suggest the easiest fix of just removing it. This would create more flow in the review and not have the reader paused glaring at a rather awkward sentence.
While read this review for a number of reasons. The first reason was to learn more about Hurricane Irma’s aftermath and how much the cleanup would cost. This article did both and provided facts to provide a cleanup estimate (between $15 billion and $50 billion). I was very interested and later did more research on Irma after reading this. One other reason I read this was because not too long ago, Hurricane Harvey displaced some of my relatives in Houston, Texas, so I wanted to see what was being done to help our fellow Americans in Florida. This changed my life because I have realised how easy it would be to lose everything I own because of something I have no control over. Thus, I will continue my life with less attachment to material things, like my house or silly things like video games.