Week 7 Reflection Blog

The infographic above includes a few facts and statistics about factory farming which emphasize how chickens are exploited and are often placed in unethical conditions. The problem or issue that I believe is the most important is factory farming. I chose this topic because I have chickens in my backyard and from my observations I can see that they are emotion and intelligence animals. And it concerns me that these intelligence beings are placed in these awful conditions. Some solutions I have found was obviously consuming less meat. The consumption of meat is impossible to stop all together, however a more reasonable solution may be to support and create laws that regulate factory farming. I found it disturbing that there are currently no federal laws protect animals on factory farms. If laws were created it can lead to a significant change for animal's treatment in factory farms. Some organizations that I found include PETA, ASPCA, Farm Sanctuary, and World Animal Protection.

I can use ethos by writing in a tone and style that is trustworthy and credible. Similar to Peter Singer and Richard Dawkins videos, they are trustworthy because they spoke in a logical and rational manner throughout the interview and they are also reputable because Singer is Professor of Bioethics and Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist. In addition, I can use logic by presenting to audiences with facts and statistics similar to Richard Ryder. I found Gary Yourofsky’s video to be an effective example of the use of pathos. He tried to make the audience experience the pain for the animal’s perspective. In my case, the statistics such as those provided in the infographic can be used because they can have an emotional impact and raise awareness about the unethical treatment of chickens in factory farms.

For the Philosophers Discussion assignment I responded to Bayan and Kalilea. For both I actually disagreed with the thought that Singer’s videos used ethos the most. Similar to what I previously discussed, the video used ethos because it was a scholarly debate between two experts, which can appeal to the audience because they can be seen as trustworthy and credible. For the Literature Review assignment I only had one classmate's Literature Review available to me. I was able to review Jason’s essay and I found his essay to be very solid. I summarized his Big 3 and integrated his sources effectively. I also did not find any significant problems with MLA format. However, I noticed that he struggled in making a connection between his “Big 3” articles. This is something I also need to improve on.