Journal 1:
“Consider the Lobster”
If I could sit down and have a discussion with David Foster Wallace, I would start by asking him first if he has developed a decision on how he feels about the righteousness in cooking lobsters. After reaching the end of the essay, Foster discussed how he “is concerned not to come off as shrill or preachy when what [he] really is, is more like confused” (page 470). I would also ask him if he truly believes that any the alternatives to cook lobsters more humanely, could be widespread enough to resolve this issue?
In terms of a written discussion, I believe the main limit I noticed was how I wasn’t sure of the authors tone consistently throughout the entirety of the essay. When writing in such a casual, conversational manner, yet about a debated topic, I was struggling to know if David Foster Wallace was claiming something as wrong, or rather just questioning it. Without facial expressions, or a voice to listen to, it is hard to know a persons non-verbal emotions in an essay like this.
While writing, I think it is possible to anticipate your audience’s questions by having other people peer review your piece, and give their feedback and thoughts.
Journal 2:
In the past, I have created many drafts for different papers in classes. This process usually looks like me slowly adding chunks to my paper and writing it sectioned off by paragraph. I usually then go back once my rough draft is completed and work to improve fluency, and transitions within the paper between each individual paragraph. This process has worked pretty well for me in the past, except I find myself procrastinating a lot, and usually end up writing most of my draft in one or two sittings.
When getting peer reviews, I am open to it and have done it many times. I find it especially helpful to have someone other than me read my papers and point out anything that may be difficult to understand or anything that is worded improperly.
Journal 3:
After reading chapter 3 in “They say I say,” I found it particularly interesting when they talked about how once you have started actually writing a paper, the focus can change and quotes can become less relevant. This is something that not everyone takes into consideration, as in most scenarios students are told to gather quotes prior to starting the paper.
Also, it was helpful when mentioned that if in doubt, the writer should just “go for it,” and frame the quote. The importance of the reader being able to know how the author interpreted the quote themself, can be essential to keeping your paper focused.
Journal 4:
1. “Most of peoples meals are forgotten.”
– This quote somewhat proves true in the sense that especially for students, many meals are either skipped or at least forgotten about. This “Soylent” can provide a quick and efficient way to obtain the proper nutrients of a well rounded meal in a single drink.
2. “Livestock cause almost fifteen percent of all greenhouse- gas emissions. In California, which is suffering from its worst drought in a generation, about eighty percent of all water goes towards agriculture.
– This fact surprised me, because I wasn’t aware of how large of an economic footprint livestock made. These stats help support “Soylent,” especially when discussing how it is not only quicker, but also better for the environment.
3. “Especially phytochemicals, which come from plants. Such compounds are not know to be essential for survival, but, in epidemiological studies, they appear to provide important health benefits.”
– This quote helps to acknowledge the other side of the argument, and shows why it is important eat real food.
Journal 5:
One topic this chapter discussed was the importance of listening to others ideas, and then being able to properly summarize their thoughts before stating your own position. This helps to avoid just listing your thoughts without acknowledging what others have to say. This chapter helped to stress the importance of including a conversation mentality when arguing a point or stating a fact.
Another important section discussed how in order to avoid your paper becoming flat or boring, you can’t just discuss things that are obvious or always logical. It is important to talk about controversial topics as well in order to encourage change and growth.
Journal 6:
https://pwest.uneportfolio.org/peer-review-page/Reply
Barclays:
At first glance, I thought that Rhinehart was simply creating a drink that would be able to replace a meal if need be. Later however, I came to realize that he was looking to eliminate meals all together, and instead offer his drink as a replacement. As I mentioned in my “favorite meal” essay, “my whole family enjoys sitting down and eating this meal together, and that alone makes it something I hold very close to my heart.” I think that when it comes to breakfast, lunch, or dinner, there is meaning beyond just filling your body with food. Meals can act as a time to gather, and a time to take your mind off of things for a little while. For me personally, I take the time while I eat to do anything besides work. Sitting down for a meal is a way for me (and people across the world) to take time out of their day and enjoy time/conversation with friends, loved ones, or even strangers. If skipped, I do believe some people would become more efficient, but many will also just build stress, as they will have no other time throughout the day to relax.
Journal 7:
After reading the global concerns given to me by my partners, I found the comments based around clarifying my thesis and elaborating my conclusion the most helpful. I was intending to revise my conclusion, but wasn’t sure how, and the suggestions to elaborate and provide more analysis were very helpful.
I think that some of the most helpful global concerns I provided were those related to sentence structure, and ensuring that the background information provided is relevant and concise. Sometimes when writing your essay, it is difficult to see errors in sentence structure. Having others read over it can help to identify confusing sentences.
Some important points brought up in our discussion within class were grammatical errors, and improving my introduction. Kayleigh and Emily helped me to reformat my introduction to ensure that my thesis statement was clear, and that I was referring to both my favorite meal essay and “The End of Food” essay properly.
Looking back at my peer review comments, I wish I had gotten information on in-text citations. Also, I wish that along with just stating to fix certain sentences, there were examples provided to help show what the editor was thinking would sound better.
This peer review, in comparison to high school, was much more helpful. I received much more feedback on more complex ways to improve my essays fluency and organization. This peer review session was actually beneficial in comparison to my previous experiences. In high school, peer reviewing was mostly just reading the essay and pointing out small grammatical errors or misspelled words. After going over my comments and discussing in class for the “End of Food Essay,” I do feel like I can improve my paper much more.
Journal 8:
After looking over my “Favorite Meal Essay” again, I ended up revising the areas around my quotes more. What I mean by this, is that I enhanced my introductions to new quotes, and made sure to explain the importance or significance that the quote has to the paper. I changed the sentences before and after my quotes, because after finishing my “End of Food Essay,” and reading multiple chapters from “They Say I Say,” I have realized that quotes can seem very random if not explained or introduced.
This drafting/ revising process is different from the ones I did in high school, because I have more references (my previous essays, notes from class, “They Say I Say”) to refer to. Also, this process differed because we wrote the essay, and then didn’t do much work on it for about 2 weeks. This helped me to clear my mind, and come back to the piece with a fresh set of eyes and ideas. In high school, we would always revise the paper the next day or very soon after finishing the rough draft. This was tough, because it tended to make you feel rushed, and miss easy corrections within the paper.
My approach to this project followed the instructions set on our weekly syllabus. Sticking to a planned out agenda helped me to complete this paper without having to stress about writing the whole thing in one night. I tend to procrastinate a lot, and am making an effort to stick to the agenda in order to avoid over stressing myself and writing a bad essay. Also, being able to return to this paper was helpful after learning new techniques while writing “The End of Food Essay.”
Journal 9:
After reading through the ideas Mann presented, I have an opinion that is complicated. Although I do agree more with the ideas presented by Norman Borlaug, I have a lot of trouble seeing how it could work, and am therefore forced to acknowledge what William Vogt theorizes. I would place myself as torn between the ideas of the Wizards and Prophets.
On page 2, paragraph 3, Vogt’s beliefs are given a name: “apocalyptic environmentalism- the belief that unless humankind drastically reduces consumption and limits population, it will ravage global ecosystems.” This idea when I first read it struck me as impossible. How could someone actually believe the United States would be able to get away with a child limit, and reduce the amount of natural resources someone can use. However, it’s almost as if this is the only idea that actually puts a serious dent in this problem, in a somewhat logical yet morbid way. Limiting resource consumption could provide a quick way to increase our resource production, but I do not see how it would work in the long term. People would revolt, and within today’s modern day society, I don’t see it ever passing through the government. It did help China, but overall failed, as the people rejected it and were frowned upon by the rest of the world. When looking at the idea itself, it is the most direct path to conserving resources, but what cost are people willing to go too.
On page 3, paragraph 2, Borlaug presents his ideas to “use the advanced methods of the Green Revolution to increase per-acre yields. The solution was to use ecological knowledge to get smaller.” This idea is the most morally positive, however, with the looming fact that there isn’t enough fertile land, it just isn’t possible. Unless people are able to find a way to mass produce crops within already existing farms, it will be impossible to execute this idea. I do believe that more thought should be put into this idea rather than the theories of Vogt, but I’m just not sure how. The mention of genetic engineering could be significant, but on such a large scale (the whole world), it would require a lot of money, and a lot of people. Again, both plans just beg the question of if people are willing to commit, or work hard enough towards an ignored issue. Additionally, this idea was tried within the original Green Revolution and failed horribly in terms of hurting the environment.
On page 8, paragraph 2, the effects of over fertilizing plants to increase efficiency is explained with the statistic that “about 40 percent of the fertilizer applied in the past 60 years was not absorbed by plants. Instead, it washed away into rivers or seeped into the air in the form of nitrous oxide.” This fact, along with the unavailability of land, are the main reasons why I don’t see Borlaug’s solution being simple. In terms of the argument as a whole, Vogt’s idea hurts people, but helps the environment. Borlaug’s idea hurts the environment, but could save people. I think that a lot of people when presented with these ideas will stand in spot similar to me. Unsure of what to do. It is very morally conflicting to realize all the negatives involved with both, yet see what it does if we continue to do nothing. In general, I think this is an overlooked problem, and it should be a hard pressed, country wide topic to try and fix the problem of running out of resources. However, I do think that until a realistic timeline is given to people, no one will stress over it in terms of the big picture.
Journal 10:
After reading “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch,” by Michael Pollan, I am not sure if it is possible for Americans to regain the passion for cooking that they once had. Within today’s day and age, people seem to crave a take out meal or a meal out over a home cooked dinner. With the introduction and spread of even more restaurants and food chains, it is becoming increasingly difficult to prove to people why cooking a meal is so important.
On page 4, paragraph 3, Pollan describes the culinary change occurring within american society, and how “a great many Americans are spending considerably more time watching images of cooking on television than they are cooking themselves- an increasingly archaic activity they will tell you they no longer have time for.” This statement, as I’ve been noticing, is sadly becoming true. People are failing to see the importance of cooking meals, and not just ordering out. To a lot of people, cooking is seen as a burden rather than an activity now. When most individuals are asked about cooking, it seems that it is seen as a stressful task, and something more and more people are starting to dread. The crave today is based more around how their food looks, or what they are eating throughout the day rather than the fact that they cooked the meal themselves. Especially with the presence of all the “family deals” that take-out restaurants offer today, people are turning towards eating out more than ever. What many people fail to take into account is preparing meals ahead of time, or cooking meals that won’t take up more time than they have. This change in society is one that if it continues, cooking yourself could be a rare skill rather than a given.
On page 5, paragraph 4, Pollan talks about how “by the end of the potato show, Julia was out of breath and had broken a sweat, which she mopped from her brow with a paper towel.” This description of the way cooking shows used to be is quite surprising. To show the chef actually struggle, and talk about the difficulties involved with cooking certain meals is something far different than what is shown today. I believe that if cooking shows were still like this today, more people would be willing to cook. If you put a relatable person in front of the audience, it makes everyone more comfortable. When the role model (or chef in this instance) is able to openly show flaws and mistakes, it makes people less afraid to mess up, which is what ultimately makes them not want to cook. When looking at cooking shows today, it’s all so fast and flawless. It makes cooking meals look so easy, and so fast. I think that many people know the actual time involved though, and choose to not even try.
On page 19, paragraph 3, Pollan discusses a study that David Cutler has been performing. “Cutler and his colleagues also surveyed cooking patterns across several cultures and found that obesity rates are inversely correlated with the amount of time spent on food preparation. The time a nation devotes to food preparation at home, the lower its rate of obesity.” This study shocked me, because although I knew that fast food is generally more unhealthy, I never thought to look into the relationship between meal preparation and obesity. However, it does make sense, as most fast foods are very high in sodium and sugar. When preparing a home cooked meal, I think it is easier to eat healthy, because most of the ingredients are usually organic or not cooked yet, so there are no additives. When most people were cooking their own meals, it was a way to keep the calories in check, because there was more thought put into what you were eating, and a larger delay between meals. Without that though, people can eat at will, and are mainly filling their bodies with many things they are completely unaware of.
Journal #11
“Starting With What Other Say”
In this chapter, the author discusses how important it is to ensure that when writing a paper, you need to have a clear point. Leading up to this point, the author talks about how before presenting your point or thesis, it is important to provide background or an explanation. This is important, because without properly summarizing your references, or explaining the larger picture of what you’re talking about, the reader will be very confused. If a paper begins with your thesis, it makes the reader struggle to engage with the piece. The reader will be confused as to what the topic may be, and will have to go in blind, not having any knowledge of your topic or argument. Also in this chapter, the author introduces another way to introduce the topic in terms of a larger conversation. The author suggests using the arguments of others whether it is supportive, contradictive, ect. This is something that could act as a unique way to present background, and to engage the reader right away by presenting a strong opinion or thought. On the other hand, it is also mentioned in the chapter that you could use a fact, or statistics to introduce a topic. While this is a good option sometimes, you have to ensure that the fact is attention grabbing, and is able to summarize your topic without veering too far into a deeper scientific discussion.
While it is constantly referred to that you have to keep your background short and efficient, without having enough throughout the paper, the reader can become confused on the topic. Being sure to provide small pieces of background throughout the paper is something that I need to work on myself, and is important so that the reader is reminded of the topic while also keeping your thesis in mind.
Journal #12:
After beginning to draft out my paper #2, I found myself quite confused at the start. It took me a while to figure out where I situated myself in regards to the arguments that the two papers present. However, I feel that I have now found my stance, or topic, and am roughly 700 words into my essay. Lately, I have been reading my essay over, and trying to read it as if I was reading the paper for pleasure, or as an outsider who doesn’t know much about the topic. This has helped me to ensure that my thoughts are organized properly, and the ideas within the essay are easy to follow. I need to get busy on finding more quotes to use and analyze, but I think those will come as I further develop my essay and come across places that could use a source. A problem I am encountering is that I feel as though I am doing more comparing rather than analyzing right now, and am hoping that my meeting with Vic will help me to get some new advice. I think that I just need to elaborate more on how I feel about the topics both papers present, and what that means in the larger picture. I don’t feel as though I am behind right now, but am hoping to finish my 1000 words for class by at least the end of this weekend so that I have a couple days to further organize it before peer review.
Journal #13:
Initially in this chapter, the author discusses using counter points, or what other people who oppose your argument may say to strengthen your discussion. This is a strategy that I learned in highschool, adn found to be very helpful in writing many discussion papers. Being able to acknowledge what people who oppose your ideas will say, and providing a strong response to that will give you lots of credibility. It keeps the reader from jumping to any of those conclusions on their own as well, because you can explain why it isn’t so, or why your ideas are better. The author describes the next aspect of this well by saying, “you need to do your best to make sure that any counter-arguments you address are not more convincing than your claims.” If this is the case, you will be endorsing the ideas that you are writing against. If this does happen though, the author brings up a good point in mentioning that you may have to change your initial argument. Although this may seem like a major setback, without having your points be stronger than those of the opposing view presented, your argument will be useless. Another way to gain credibility, is referring to the counter-ideas by using the groups name specifically. Rather than saying “other people may say,” or “opposers to these ideas think,” you can use the groups name specifically to show the reader that you have looked into the cons and rebuttal to your topic.
The strategy of using counter-points should not be used as a way to bash others thoughts though. Instead, it is important to acknowledge their thoughts fully, and think as if you were in their shoes when presenting them. This can show the reader a lot, and ensure them that your presentation of the points is trustworthy. Then it is crucial to respond with an adequate response to their opinion.
Journal #15:
I survived, Clella B. Gregory:
After reading this narrative, I was truly shocked and amazed at the courage of the father. To watch after all seven of his family members while they were sick and he was healthy is crazy. On top of that, he was able to also look after some of their sick neighbors and ensure that they had heat and all their chores/ tasks were tended to. Being able to make such significant sacrifices and put yourself in the face of danger during such a crazy time is something that I admire greatly. Relating it to what we are facing today, I look to all the nurses and doctors working with sick patients and am truly just amazed as to how they do this without even giving it a second guess. For the father to do all that he did without even being a medical professional, and for the whole family to survive, he is definitely classified as a hero through my eyes.
Some questions I have about this narrative are: Did the father have any history in medical professions? And what precautions were taken by the father to ensure he didn’t get infected?
Finding a Cure, Sarah Elizabeth Northrip Wright:
After reading this narrative, I almost started laughing in disbelief. Some of the stories written on how people survived the flu pandemic are so random it almost sounds made up. Stories like this one, in which the grandmother used her tea recipe to help her whole family survive the flu make me wonder how it worked. Hearing that the grandmother has never gotten a flu shot, and eats the same meal for breakfast every day to avoid the flu seems like such a silly method, but if it works why not continue it. It amazes me that sometimes the most simple solution can solve some of the most complex problems. When hearing about stories like this, it makes me wonder why she chose to keep making that specific tea, or if it was the only tea she made, and just got very lucky that it worked?
Some questions that I have about this narrative are: Is there any scientific evidence linking the ingredients in the tea to a cure to the flu? And what made her think originally that it was the tea that should be given to the sick over and over again? Had she used this tea to cure any prior illnesses?
Journal #19:
For Americans across the country to have to volunteer for the red cross as nurses, is something that is truly shocking. I could imagine that for many people, the most fear came from not knowing what they’d have to do. Volunteering to go help others who are sick if you’re healthy is something that takes a lot of courage. Especially during a time when there is a good chance that contracting the flu could mean the end of your life, I could imagine that it was quite the scary task. In a time like today, I think that if someone was truly in need of my help, I would be willing to assist them, knowing the risks. When it comes to illnesses, especially with the coronavirus, there are many elderly being affected who are in need of that extra help. I think it is important that people are willing to help each other to reduce the damage that this pandemic could have on families across the world.
In my own community, I have noticed a couple examples of civic virtue. For example, my father right now is doing all the grocery shopping for my grandmother. For us, it is important to try and limit her possible exposure, and my father has been sacrificing his time, and possibly his health, by going to the store for her whenever she needs food or supplies. Also in my town, there are many people that are purchasing take-out and gift cards from all the local businesses and restaurants in order to help them keep their business up during this tough time. I have seen many people posting facebook messages to encourage people to keep buying things, so that everyone can recover from the pandemic both physically and economically.
I think that civic virtue is something that is very important, especially in times of need or danger. However, if people were to indulge in civic virtue prior to all these large scale problems occuring, I think that it could help to prevent pandemics, and tragedies from happening.
Journal #20
The first response that I read was Ashley’s. I definitely agree with the fact how she talked about people being scared to volunteer to help others. Many people would definitely be scared, and for good reason, however I do think that if the call for help was put out, people would eventually volunteer. I was interested to hear that your mom works in a hospital, and I could imagine that is tough, especially when she has to interact with people daily. I’m also facing a similar, but not nearly as severe situation, with my mom still having to work at a daycare. I am wondering how many people would be willing to help in making masks, if they were called upon. Because I think that is a good idea, but it would be tough to regulate the quality of them, to ensure that they actually work to keep people healthy.
The second response that I read was Jess’s. I also found it interesting that the people who volunteered for the red cross didn’t expect compensation. This is something that is very admirable to do, and expecting to do it just out of the goodness of your heart is very sincere. I also think that it is very admirable that you yourself are volunteering to help at the fire department during this time. That alone is more than many people are doing, and will make an impact. I was interested, and surprised when you chose the first responders as holding the largest civic virtue in your community. I didn’t think of that when writing my response, but couldn’t agree more. I think that once this whole pandemic is over, all first responders deserve a very large amount of thanks from everyone in the world. Without them, people would have no help, and there would be no telling how many people would die of the flu or coronavirus.
Journal #21
The Coronavirus spread much faster than anyone could have possibly anticipated. When I first heard about it starting to become a problem in China, I didn’t think too much about it. For me, it was another disease overseas that I didn’t expect to hit the United States nearly as hard. However, within a couple months, we are the leading nation in cases. Life went from quite normal to completely locked down in no time. It is interesting to compare this quick rise to action to climate change. Climate change has been an ever growing problem that people have failed to take serious action on. Even with warning that in the distant future there could not be an earth anymore, people aren’t doing nearly enough. I think due to the fact that Coronavirus is affecting people’s life’s in such a visible way, they are only now motivated to make changes. Climate change to someone who is not very aware of it, is not seen in everyday life. To many, climate change doesn’t affect them, and they therefore don’t feel the need to do much about it. In the future, when climate change starts impacting people’s lives in serious, and noticeable ways, I think we will begin to see more accelerated preventative measures. This is not good though, because by then it could be too late. If there is something important people can learn from the Coronavirus pandemic, it could be how fast the world can change and take serious action to solve a problem. Hopefully this will encourage people to make new sacrifices in order to fix the climate change crisis.
Journal #22
After reading the poem from Ellen Bryant Voigt, it kind of made me realize that our situation could definitely be worse. I am wondering what the families would eat every night, and how they would collect enough food for everyone. I am also wondering what date this poem was written. I am curious as to how far into the pandemic this was, as they had already eaten their cat. After reading that they had to kill their cat, I was shocked. I thought that I had a pretty good grasp on how severe the flu pandemic was, but I guess I never really thought people would kill their pets for food. I was also interested after reading the first line, “how we survived: we locked the doors and let nobody in.” This is similar to what many people are doing today, and just seemed like a very obvious parallel between what we are facing today, and what people had to face during the 1918 flu pandemic. Also reading about how they would lather themselves in camphor, mustard, and fatback. This I guess was the best option in terms of preventative measures for that time. Families were left to create their own medicines, as a cure was not available. I think that between the 1918 flu pandemic, and the Coronavirus pandemic we are facing today, the main similarity is the general feeling people have. Both the Coronavirus and the flu spread so fast, that people did not have time to truly develop an understanding. Before they knew it, it was everywhere and people were panicking. The constant unknowing, and fright that you might catch it, is something that both populations had to face during their pandemic survival.
Journal #23
In reading through the responses to journal 21, I noticed that Shannon shared a lot of similar ideas to me. She discussed how people are not as urgent to make a difference with climate change, due to the fact that it isn’t directly affecting or killing any humans yet. However, it is important to realize that animals across the globe are suffering from our excessive pollution and treatment of the earth. The Coronavirus however, is affecting people’s daily lives, and is filling all media and new outlets. I have similar fears to Shannon in relation to climate change, that people may not react fast enough, and by the time we start doing something it will be too late. If people continue to turn a blind eye to climate change, there may not be any way we can save the earth by the time we have to take action. I like what she said in relation to Charles Mann, and how we don’t need a big elaborate plan right now, but rather we just need to start doing something. Any small act will help, and if enough people are willing to contribute, then perhaps a significant enough impact can be made. I am wondering if there will be more talk about climate change once the Coronavirus pandemic is more under control. I would lie to believe that people will be more open-minded, and willing to make smaller sacrifices for the greater good of our home.
Journal #24
After reading Jess’s response, I agree with most of it, but also have some questions. Initially, I was wondering the same first question as her. “They seem to be using several home remedies, is this because they couldn’t go to the doctor?” I think that during this time, most people were too afraid to even leave their houses. I also read somewhere that so many people were sick, that there weren’t enough doctors to tend to everyone, and were only available for short periods of time if they could. I was also surprised by the cutting of the cat’s throat, and wasn’t sure if I would be able to do the same thing if I were them. To me, I would want to try and keep the pets alive so that I could have a companion or some source of entertainment. After reading Jess’s response, I am also wondering how large the family was, as i could imagine that food was very hard to come by during that pandemic.
The second response that I read was Tyler’s. I was very interested by the point that Tyler brought up in talking about how the flu pandemic was different due to the absence of social media, and more open worldwide communication. I am also wondering how people got updated on the current status of the flu, and if people truly understood how bad it was. I have similar fears to Tyler, in how bad this pandemic may get. If the Coronavirus pandemic gets to a point where it is close to the severity of the flu, I am not sure how I will handle it. Being stuck in your house and knowing people are still getting sick is difficult as is. After reading this response, I am wondering what will happen if grocery stores are closed. People during the flu were growing a lot of their own food, and I am wondering if people have taken to that more and more as the Coronavirus has worsened.
Journal #26:
Between my original and final draft, I made a couple revisions that helped to further my paper. I found that most of my problems were local revision sorts of issues. Adding onto some sentences to clarify, and fixing some sentence structure issues helped to fix my essays fluency. In the beginning of my paper, I added a sentence to help add to the narrative of how my life was prior to the spread of the Coronavirus. I wanted to ensure that the reader had a good understanding of what situation I was in, and what my primary focuses were. This helped to show the contrast between how my life was then compared to now as the paper went on. Another fix was ensuring that I had referred to all the narratives and articles I was going to discuss properly. Within the introduction to my paper, I wanted to give a little background on the papers I was going to be referring to so that when I quoted them for the first time, it wouldn’t seem random as to what the work was. Throughout my paper, I also added some elaboration to certain points, just to make sure that they were fully explained and the reader would understand what I was saying. An example of this was the sentence: “In these modern days, the media only reports negative news, like the rising death rates, and how fast the virus is spreading.” This was used to close out my idea, and reference how the scale of the Coronavirus seems so bad to people today because of the use of social media and the internet, which they didn’t have for the 1918 flu pandemic.
