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Major Points to Cover

Type of writing( argumentation) The ellipsis mark in the title Organization Development Purpose of writing Language points Discussion

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The ellipsis mark in the title

Since meanwhile in one sense suggests contrast, the title …Meanwhile, Humans Eat Pet Food with the ellipsis mark may refer to the idea “The U. S. always claims to be the wealthiest country in the world; meanwhile, humans eat pet food”. The incomplete structure used in the title is also a means of creating suspense, so as to arouse readers’ curiosity and drive them into thinking while reading the following text.

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Map of the U.S.

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the Southern United States (the South)

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States. The region is known for its distinct culture and history, having developed its own customs, literature, musical styles, and varied cuisines that have helped distinguish itself from the rest of the United States. The South owes its unique heritage to a variety of sources, including Native Americans, early European settlements of Spanish, English, French, Scots-Irish, Scottish, and German, importation of hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans, historic dependence on slave labor, presence of a large proportion of African Americans in the population, and the aftermath of the Confederacy after the Civil War.

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 Confederacy

The Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States, and the C.S.A.) was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S. The U.S. government (The Union) rejected secession as illegal, and, after its army was fired upon at the Battle of Fort Sumter, used military action to defeat the C.S.A. No foreign nation officially recognized the Confederate States as an independent country.

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Historically, the South has relied heavily on agriculture. However, in the last few decades of the 20th century, the region has become more industrialized and urban, attracting numerous national and international migrants. The American South is among the fastest-growing areas in the United States. Despite rapid economic growth, the South still has persistent poverty, and every Southern state with the exceptions of Maryland, Virginia and Florida has a higher poverty rate than the American average. Poverty is especially prevalent in rural areas. Sociological research has indicated that Southern collective identity stems from political, demographic and cultural distinctiveness. Studies have shown that Southerners are more conservative than non-Southerners in several areas including religion, morality, international relations and race relations. This is especially evident during presidential elections and religious attendance figures.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )

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The South

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Briefly about the author

Born in 1935 in Richmond, Virginia, Edward H. Peeples, Jr., a U.S. professor of preventive medicine and social worker. He got his Ph.D in 1972. He is an associate professor of preventive medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has been a leader of the Richmond Rights Coalition and Council on Human Relations and is deeply concerned with the nutritional problems and medicinal care of poor people.

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Organization and Development Para.1: The first time, I witnessed people eating pet food,

among neighbors, during my youth… Paras.2-4: The second time, I ate canned dog and cat food, in

Cleveland in the summer of 1953…) Para.5: The next time, I ate dog food in college in 1956… Para.6: Later, working as a hospital corpsman, I estimated

that 5-8% of the new recruits consumed pet food and other materials, in the late 1950’s…)

Para.7:My later experience as a public assistance caseworker, a street-based community worker, traveler and medical sociologist through the south, I found instances of eating pet food; and similar cases in the Ozarks, on Indian reservations and various other cities across the nation…)

Paras.8-9: the general conclusion (purpose of writing):

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Conclusion

Based on estimation and observations, the author concludes that the present lack of scientific hard data on human consumption of pet food should not be a reason for not taking measures to solve the problem of hunger and malnutrition in the U.S.

Development: following an order of time sequence; following an order of increasing intensity of the consumption of pet food. Please give evidence.

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Purpose of writing

The author in an inductive way supports his argument by facts from his personal experiences and observations, so as to convince the general public that human consumption of pet food presents a problem that demands serious attention as well as an immediate solution. (purpose of writing)

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Language Points

Rhetorical questions are used to assert the author’s argument emphatically:

1a. Must we wait for incontrovertible data before we seriously seek to solve the problems of hunger and malnutrition in America?

1b. We can’t wait for incontrovertible data before we seriously seek to solve the problems of hunger and malnutrition in America.

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2a. Isn't it sufficient to know that one American child or a single elderly person in this bountiful land is reduced to eating the forage of animals or exposed to unknown toxic levels of mercury, lead or salmonella to know that something very extraordinary must be done?

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2b. It is sufficient, if we know that one American child or a single elderly person in this bountiful land is reduced to eating the forage of animals or exposed to unknown toxic levels of mercury, lead or salmonella, to know that something very extraordinary must be done.

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3a. Who knows how many more millions supplement their diet with pet-food products?

3b. No one knows how many more millions supplement their diet with pet-food products.

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Other language points:

pot-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow factories

a merciless pride in self-sufficiency…

guard the secret from everyone/kept…from

supplement their diet with…

Indian reservation

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Questions for discussion

What’s the author’s attitude towards human consumption of pet food?

Do you think the author’s argumentation valid or effective? If not, what’s the limitation?

Does the author state his argument directly and explicitly or just imply his argument?