Charlotte Cagliostro
Ippolito
C Even AP Biology / Current Event #14
1/29/19
Alexander, Kurtis. “Insurance Claims from California's November Wildfires Total $11.4 Billion.” San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, 29 Jan. 2019, www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/11-4-billion-in-insurance-claims-filed-after-13567670.php.
In Kurtis Alexander’s San Francisco Chronicle article, “Insurance Claims from California's November Wildfires Total $11.4 Billion”, he discusses the recent wildfires that have been burning vast areas of land in California. Alexander notes that one of the most deadly fires, known as the Camp Fire, “killed 86 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes in and around the foothill town of Paradise.” Early on in the article, Alexander is able to establish how devastating these fires have been both financially and emotionally for California residents. He goes on to talk about the how insurance agencies have been affected by the fires. He claims that, form the companies’ perspectives, these fires are actually quite typical since wildfires are an annual occurrence in California.
Alexander’s topic (wildfires) is somewhat relevant to today’s audience. It definitely resonates with individuals living in California or on the west coast. However, the topic fails to connect with a larger audience. People in other countries or even on the east coast do not encounter wildfires and the devastation that comes with them, so they are not as invested in the issue. It is important to note how wildfires are one sign of climate change that will only continue to worsen as the planet continues to warm; therefore, it is important for individuals to be aware.
I really enjoyed Alexander’s article. I thought he was able to construct a very interesting, yet informative piece that truly spoke to the impact of the California wildfires. He was able to write in a very clear and concise manner that almost anyone could read, allowing him to reach a larger audience. However, I wish Alexander could have incorporated some more scientific data and statistics into his article. I believe that there is a lack of substance in his work that made it a more surface-level discussion of the fires.
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ReplyDeleteCaitlin Mooney
ReplyDeleteCurrent Event 14
AP Bio
1/28/19
Alexander, Kurtis. “Insurance Claims from California's November Wildfires Total $11.4 Billion.” San Francisco Chronicle, Houston Chronicle, 29 Jan. 2019, www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/11-4-billion-in-insurance-claims-filed-after-13567670.php.
For this week’s current event comment, I read Charlotte’s review on the article, “'Insurance Claims from California's November Wildfires Total $11.4 Billion.” by Kurtis Alexander. This article described the California forest fires and their cost. I think that Charlotte did a great job with her review, one thing that she did especially well on was her summary of the article. In her summary, Charlotte was not only able to get the reader to understand the main point in the article but she helped the reader understand scientific terms and the severity of the problem. Another thing I thought Charlotte did well was that she pointed out the parts of the articles she liked and how she was able to constructively criticize the article. I also think that Charlotte also did a good job structuring her article because she always kept the reader's attention and include quotes.
Although I think Charlotte did job overall, I feel like there is room for improvement in her review. One thing I think Charlotte could have done better is that she could have included structured heer article differently to include more information. Another thing I think she could have done better is that she could have described a more scientific approach to her topic.
Overall, I think that Charlotte did a really good job with her review, and I learned a lot after reading it. I was shocked to find out what a big impact forest fires had on society. Now that I am more aware of this problem, I fear for the future where the increase in temperatures as a result of climate change will only cause more forest fires and be able to devastate society to a greater scale. In the future, I hope more people can be educated about this topic to raise awareness and potentially decrease the affect forest fires have. I also hope Charlotte continues to review forest fire related articles.
Anna Normand
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
AP Biology
29 January 2019
www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/11-4-billion-in-insurance-claims-filed-after-13567670.php
For this week’s current event, I am reviewing Charlotte’s article about the recent wildfires in California. I really enjoyed this article, as I thought it was a well done comprehensive article about the strengths and weaknesses of the article that she read. One thing I liked about Charlotte’s article was her identification of issues which should have been discussed in the article, like climate change and the implications of such enormous wildfires. I also liked that she gave specific details and quotes, like the one about the homes destroyed and people killed, in order to corroborate what she was saying. Finally, I liked her point that scientific data makes articles more believable, and I liked that she pointed this out and made the point that the article requires more hard data.
One thing I think Charlotte could have improved upon was further talking about the implications of the fire. Though she brought up a point about global warming, she did not elaborate on why the fires may be indicative of a climate change emergency, which I think would have been interesting and helpful for the reader. I also thought that she could have talked more about the fire itself, like where it originated and how it spread, including how it became so devastating, in order to give more context and information to the reader.
Overall, this article taught me more about the fires in California and their widespread impacts. I thought it was very well written and provided several great points about the original article, and suggested some new ideas which would be very interesting to investigate.