English 101: P. 100 Q. 1-4

Leah Nieman

English 101 – 5:30

Sonia Begert

11/18/15

Thinking About the Text:

“On Buying Local”

Katherine Spriggs

1.    -  It is clear that this topic matters to Katherine Spriggs. Has she convinced you that it matters-and if so, how? How does Spriggs establish the importance of her topic?

Katherine Spriggs was very clear that this topic mattered. Throughout her essay I was emotionally moved and once finished almost convicted. She did so by pointing out the importance of it, how shipping food is a huge contribution to Global Warming and how there are several health benefits.

2.   -   What counterarguments or positions other than her own does Spriggs consider – and how does she respond to each case?

The counterarguments Spriggs considered were arguments by Alex Avery, the director of research and education at the Center for Global Food Issues, and an argument by Jeffrey MacDonald. Alex Avery’s argument was toward how we should buy food from the places it grows best at and that it would be wasteful to grow crops that would not sustain in other parts of the country. Katherine responds by saying that his point is true, but that when we buy local we should focus on buying as much as possible from farmers nearby. The next argument was about how small farms are not as efficient with their resources as large farms are. Spriggs response to that was to state that this is a misconception and that small farms are inefficient in the total of crops outputted, but they are more efficient in total output of all crops per acre.

3.     - Choose a section of Spriggs’ essay that you find especially effective or ineffective. Referring to the genre features discussed on p. 66, describe what makes this part of her argument persuasive–or not.  

The section that I found most effective in Spriggs’ essay would have to be the conclusion. (p.99, paragraph 2) I found this to be effective because she told us the advantages of buying locally, but she didn’t just glorify it completely, she did tell us the cons of such a change in living would be. But then she concluded with the statement, “Buying local is an easy step that everyone can take towards “greener” living.”(1) Referring to page 66, in her conclusion she gave a specific position (buy local), included counterargument details, good reasons and evidence (environment, social, economic advantages), wrote in an authoritative tone, and appealed to the readers emotions (look to the quoted sentence above(1)).

4.   -   Spriggs includes several photos in her essay. How do they contribute to her argument?

Spriggs’ photos contributed to her argument by giving us an idea of the differences of small community farms towards large agricultural farms. She also showed us through the photos food being shipped by semi-trucks, an example of the burning of fossil fuel, and also a photo of beautifully colored organic winter squash which appears to be at a local farmer’s market. These photos showed the audience how the shipment of foods is causing global warming, and also the un-healthy effects of mass production of crops with large, corporative farms.