Author: Joseph Falack

RefAnnBib: CTE From Football, The Numbers

Part 1: Bibliographic Entry: 

Moran, Barbara. “BU Researchers Find CTE in 99% of Former NFL Players Studied.” Boston University, 26 July 2017, www.bu.edu/articles/2017/cte-former-nfl-players/#:%7E:text=The%20study%2C%20published%20Tuesday%20in,of%20high%20school%20football%20players.   

Part 2: Terminology/Keywords:

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

Neurology

Pathology 

Tau protein 

Axonal

Inflammation

Part 3: Précis:

The author begins in an informative style. She simply lists the results of a test done surveying the brains of 202 former football players. After presenting the statistics and thereby illustrating to the audience how severe the issue is, the author then lists the effects the disease has on those that suffer from it. The author lists depression, anxiety, memory loss, etc. to present the dangers of this highly common disease amongst players. By listing the high percentages of people suffering and the symptoms they suffer from, the author’s point on the severity of CTE is made.

Part 4: Reflection:

Based on the way the author presents her information, there is no way to disagree. She simply lists the results of a study she has done. A speculation to make about the authors research is that there is no true control group in the experiment as all the players whose brains were studied had shown signs of the disease. One thing that I would like to see from the author would be to study the brains of football players who had lived perfectly normal after their football days and see if even they had some sign of the disease. 

Part 5: Quotables:

“Of the 202 brains studied, the group diagnosed 177 with CTE, including 110 of 111 from the NFL players (99 percent); 7 of 8 from the Canadian Football League (88 percent); 9 of 14 semi-professional players (64 percent); 48 of 53 college players (91 percent), and 3 of 14 high school players (21 percent). (Moran, 2017)”

“The data suggest that there is very likely a relationship between exposure to football and risk of developing the disease. (Moran, 2017)”

“Most striking, the researchers observed clinical symptoms such as depression, anxiety, disinhibition, memory loss, and other mood and behavior impairments even in patients with fairly mild CTE pathology. (Moran, 2017)”

How Just Mercy and The Help use rhetoric to shine a light onto racism: A MindMap

Using a MindMap to organize my thoughts on the rhetoric between the two books was a really valuable experience. It allowed for me the ability to visualize my thoughts. The books Just Mercy and The Help each have a common theme and use different types of rhetoric to build that theme. Some examples of the rhetoric used are Pathos, Imagery, and repetition, as seen in the MindMap. The uses of rhetoric helps the authors build their case about the evil of systematic racism and racial discrimination.

Holding On To Tragedy

In the short story “The Comet” by W.E.B Du Bois, the author uses rhetorical strategies and literary devices to mend the story into an afrofuturist world. A couple examples of these are symbolism and pathos. The lesson of the story is built up mostly through symbolism. The story is written about a comet that hits NYC, taking out the full population of the city except for a black man, Jim, and a white woman, Julia. The two are able to put their differences aside, realize that all humanity is equal, and are willing to do whatever they need to to help each other survive. Towards the end of the story, when people from outside of the city express to them that it was only NYC affected by the tragedy, Julia is quick to return to her ways from before the comet. She joins with the other white people and act in a racist manner towards Jim. They call him derogatory names and there’s even a threat splurted out offering to lynch him.

Dissecting this story, there’s symbolism all over. To start, the comet itself is a perfect example of symbolism. Although the fictional story makes sense for the comet to simply be a hypothetical where New York City is struck and nearly wiped out, there’s a much deeper meaning to it. I believe that the comet is there to represent struggle and hardship that the whole world faces, as one. For example, the United States had never been closer than after the attacks of 9/11 or Pearl Harbor.

Once we realized that we are not invincible and were proven to be vulnerable, everyone joined together, put their differences aside and became united. Once the effects of the tragedy pass, like in the story when they realize there were more people alive or in the real world when people move back onto their normal routines, we lose that unity and connection and return to our regular, separated ways. The author uses pathos to go hand in hand with his use of symbolism. Throughout the story, the author grows a connection between the reader and the two characters. He creates a feeling of hope that the two can make everything alright, only to rip it apart once the tragedy passes. I think that W.E.B. Du Bois uses this strategy, writing a fictional story with real life implications, in order to have the reader come to a subconscious conclusion of the issue he’s attempting to bring to light. When reading this story, it had me questioning the history of the US, past and present. How did people really treat other human beings so poorly? Why did racism begin ? Why can’t we live in a society that everyone is unified ?

Starbucks Students and Library Learners

In Stacey Pigg’s book “Transient Literacies in Action,” she discusses something called “the mobile surround.” The Mobile Surround is the idea of people working on their papers or projects in shared places or shared experiences. The first example that comes to mind is Starbucks. One of their greatest marketing strategies was giving out free wifi for all customers to be able to do their work in the shop. A classic Starbucks aesthetic is walking in and seeing rows of people working on their computers, typing away. Other common examples of this include public libraries or parks. As a college student, you always have work to get done.

With that being said, you need to be creative in order to turn many different locations into your own work desk. For me, personally, I’m unable to work in any noisy place. If the room isn’t near-silent, I have a hard time concentrating and find it impossible to work there. For that reason, I myself have never become a huge “Starbucks Student.” As a college writer, I have adapted the school’s Library to be my second writing home. I have found that everyone is respectful of the library’s policies of keeping quiet and I enjoy that. I like hearing the clicking sound of everyone else’s keyboards; it always sounds like there’s hundreds of keyboards clicking at a time. Another reason I love the Library is that everyone is there with the same purpose. Although we aren’t doing the same project or even speaking to each other, feeling the presence around you that everyone is getting their requirements done motivates me to push through my assignment. Lastly, the good vibes in the library always keeps me moving. In the library, I know my surroundings won’t be the reason I get flustered because I always know what to expect there, unlike places that other people prefer.

Why Are You Doing Homework? The Football Game’s On!

The author, James Paul Gee, uses his understanding of learning principles to support his claim that video games have a lot to teach us about learning and literacy. Gee is firm in his belief that there can be many experiences within different discourses that can teach literacy as well, if not better than a school setting. Personally, I’ve seen these principles be true in all the discourse groups I am a part of. I’ve specifically seen it in one particular group, my football community. In football, active learning and adapting to the situation you’re in is they key to winning. Teams study hours of film and are prepared to stop any play they’ve seen before. Therefore, teams have to come up with new routes, plays, and trickery before every match. As someone who has always been fascinated with coaching and the behind the scenes, I myself have tried mastering these concepts through reading playbooks and listening to analysts. As a result of that, I’ve gained many skills that are applicable both within that discourse and to all areas of my life. The drive to fully grasp all the details that go into a football game has definitely had a positive effect on my own life. Putting all that time into understanding something as little as football, has given me the patience to be able to listen to a teacher, role model, or businessman for long amounts of time. Furthermore, football has helped me in my ability to pick up slang and shortened words. In football, everything has a codename. The quarterback is always screaming out words that make no sense in context, but of course have paragraphs-worth of meaning. Being able to speak with no wasted words is a great skill to learn, especially in the world of texting where everyone is trying to shorten their speech.