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Evaluation essay paper help on "The Culture of Fear"


ice tea 7 / 7  
Apr 21, 2008   #1
i have to write a 6-7 page evaluation essay on the book, The Culture of Fear. the goal is to judge and explain whether his argument matters and whether it succeeds. i am clueless on how to start it.
EF_Team2 1 / 1,708  
Apr 21, 2008   #2
Greetings!

Fortunately, you have been given a bit of a road map in your instructions. An "evaluation essay" is asking for your opinion--basically, a critique. Here are a few tips for identifying the important points in the book:

Look at the book jacket. It should summarize what the author was trying to say.

Also check out the chapter titles. Each one will be about a point the author wanted to make.

Explain to someone else what the book was about. If you were going to teach this book as a subject, what would you tell your students? Obviously, you wouldn't cover every little detail. You would tell them the most important things that the author believes.

After you've decided what is most important in the book's content, you can decide if you agree or disagree with it. That is the evaluation part. There may be several points that the author has made; you may agree with some and disagree with others. I haven't read the book myself, but from the title I would guess that he is saying we live in a culture where fear plays a major role. Do you agree with that? Who (or what) does he say causes the fear? Is he correct? Etc. Once you see the extent to which you agree with the author (or disagree), you should be able to tell if he succeeded in convincing you.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Sarah
EssayForum.com
OP ice tea 7 / 7  
Apr 28, 2008   #3
i am on the right track with this essay? i am not finish with essay.

Barry Glassner's The Culture of Fear exposes how the organizations, groups, and individuals use issues to influence and benefit from our solicitude. Glassner shows how Americans spend lots of time and energy worrying about issues being presented to the public as issues to be worry about.

Barry Glassner's The Culture of Fear presents lots of interesting evidence in how the politicians and media worked together to play on American fears. Glassner give us an idea of how the media uses false information to gather the audiences to support the issues presented that could lead the audiences into thinking that the information was true, for example, the media might say that more teens are dropping out of schools then ever before but the truth is that the drop out rate is slowly going down. Politicians used America fears to gain support in their issue.
EF_Team5 - / 1,586  
Apr 28, 2008   #4
Good morning!

It seems like you have some good ideas to get started with. I find that using an outline helps me get organized in my writing, and it is something that may work well here. To begin with, chose major points from the text. It looks like you have begun to do this already. Your first pillar could be how groups and individuals use specific issues to influence what people deem worthy enough to worry over.

The second pillar may be how politicians and the media work together to play off American's fears. You will probably need three more large pillar topics for an essay of 6 to 7 pages.

Once you have these main pillars, use supporting facts and details to support them. You've already got some of those here. For the first pillar topic, you could use the examples the author states shows how Americans respond to these stimuli.

As for the second pillar, you can use examples such as the school dropout perception to bolster your pillar statements.

I would also suggest researching over the internet the book and other critical reviews of it to help clarify the text.

Good luck!

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com
OP ice tea 7 / 7  
Apr 29, 2008   #5
i am finish with this essay. i don't want to sound like i am summarizing the book, am i on the right track? i hope it is ok to post this here, if no, i am sorry.

Fearing the Unnecessary

Barry Glassner's The Culture of Fear exposes how the organizations, groups, and individuals use issues to influence and benefit from our solicitude. Glassner shows how Americans spend lots of time and energy worrying about issues being presented to the public as issues to be worry about. There are dangers everywhere and we should protect our children from dangers like using weapon or pedophiles. We must face that plane crush or car accidents are no way to live in fear. Readers could relate to what Glassner has proposed issues that are a balance between important and unimportant as to what Americans fear.

Barry Glassner's The Culture of Fear presents lots of interesting evidence in how the politicians and media worked together to play on American fears. Glassner give us an idea of how the media uses false information to gather the audiences to support the issues presented that could lead the audiences into thinking that the information was true, for example, the media might say that more teens are dropping out of schools then ever before but the truth is that the drop out rate is slowly going down. Richard Nixon has stated, "People react to fear, not love. They don't teach that in Sunday school, but it's true" (qtd. in Glassner xxviii). Politicians used America's fears to gain support in their issue. For example, in 1995, an explosion occurs at a federal building in Oklahoma City and people start thinking that it was the Arabs (Glassner xiii). Later, it was found out that the bombers were two white guys from Middle America (Glassner xiii). Bill Clinton had stated that, "We know we've got about six years to turn this juvenile crime thing around or our country is going to be living with chaos" (Glassner xiv).

Each day, any person would experience violence in our home, our workplace, or on television shows. The author argues that guns are one of the problems in the United States. Glassner has stated that, "If journalists or politicians want to report on the dangers of teens that they should have something on their screen savers that reads, It's the guns, stupid" (Glassner 55). Guns are not the only method of choice children can use if they want to kill themselves. Children can find other methods in a suicide attempt, for example, jumping off a bridge or drown in a pool. Children can easily get access to guns without knowing the consequence of using a weapon. People would use a gun to get others to get their attention. The author compare United States with other counties that the United States is the only country with the largest people whom the guns are stolen from the owners (xix). The author made a good point that if less people were to own guns, most people would be alive today and there would be less death with the use of firearms (Glassner xix). When there are fewer guns for people to own, there would be less chance for people to kill someone in drive-by shooting or rubbing a store for cash. The government should made owning a weapon hard to get. This way people would be safe from others planning to shoot them. There are people who have guns in their cars where they can take the weapon out from a hidden area and shoot someone and drive away fast. Guns can be seen in shows like CSI New York where children will think that guns are cool.

There dangers in places we least expect. Cyberspace is a place where pedophiles can hide to gain the other person's trust to lure him or her into having sex. There is no one to stop them from doing what they want online. Sometimes children would go out and meet their online companion without ever knowing the dangers of strangers. Pedophiles can disguise themselves as priests or someone we can trust. The granny dumping is a bit ridiculous because the children might not be able to care for their parents so they are put in a nursing home. People are works in a nursing home doesn't always steal their patient's money. The media portray young people and others where the elderly shouldn't be able to trust.

Glassner expose how the media keep on showing news about people being killed by cars that cause people to wonder if that will ever happen to them. Once in a while, we see an article or on the news about someone dying in a car accidents. People don't have too much to worry rather or not they should worry if they are going to be the next one. Oprah Winfrey had an episode about road rage where she had say that everyone has being there where drivers might be giving you a dirty look or cuss at you for no reason (qtd. in Glassner 4). Glassner use a study from the American Automobile Association to show that about 218 deaths, or less than one in a thousand, directly to angry drivers. That seems to be a lot to be directed toward drivers. People have too much to worry about rather then a road rage. The media make it seem like it is a real tragedy that a lot of people had die in car crushes. There are other ways for people to die like place crushes or sudden illnesses. People would die in car accidents rather then plane crushes.

Plane crush are the least of anyone's worry. There is an unlike chance that people will die in a plane crush, say Glassner (183). True, people will not die in plane crushes as the media make it appear to be. The media keeps on making of false information about people dying in plane crush to make it appear as if it is a real tragedy the plane crush each time a traveler travels somewhere. Richard Newman, a U.S. News and World reporter, points of that the pilots would need to pay for their own training but there are other people that would be able to become pilots are not able to (qtd. in Glassner 186). The pilots might not be have plenty of experience is flying the planes. The government spends too much on airplanes instead of spending money for children.

Americans fear unnecessary issues. The issues would drive away from what really needs to be done. The author portrays himself as a human voice to show the reader to not fall into victims the media portrays some issue to be. At times, the author does fall into victim of what he says the media and politicians do to gain support. Some issues are left out without any explanations as to what those are.

Unimportant or important fears are what drive Americans crazy. Glassner use lots of statistics to help explain his thesis. The author states some issues that are not really important issues like granny dumping. The media portrays each issue like plane crushes that Americans should worry about. There are some issues that are worth our concerns. Americans shouldn't worry about issues that appear dangerous.


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