Oral Mediation
You are reading The culture of fear by Barry Glassner. Your 15-year-old son has seen this cartoon on the back of the book and enquires about it.
Based on the cartoon, the short description of the book and your own knowledge on the subject, give your son a general picture of what the author might want to convey in the book.
Summary of The Culture of Fear by Barry Glassner
In his bestselling book The Culture of Fear, the sociologist Barry Glassner argues that it is our perception of danger that has increased, not the actual level of risk. Glassner exposes the people and organizations that manipulate our perceptions and profit from our fears: politicians who win elections by heightening concerns about crime and drug use even as rates for both are declining; advocacy groups that raise money by exaggerating the prevalence of particular diseases; TV shows that create a new scare every week to garner ratings. Glassner spells out the prices we pay for social panics: the huge sums of money that go to waste on unnecessary programs and products as well as time and energy spent worrying about our fears. All the while, we are distracted from the true threats, from climate change to worsening inequality.
Read the instructions for the task. With the information given, produce a text using your own words.
As your first assignment as a journalist in a local newspaper you need to write an article on the ethical implications of designer babies (A designer baby is a baby whose genetics have been selected or altered, often to include a particular gene or to remove genes associated with a disease). Although personally against it, you need to express both the pros and the cons of this procedure. The newspaper has provided you with some guidelines.
Write your article (approximately 140 words) on the pros and cons of designer babies with the information provided.
