Brady Terry

Debra Reece

English 2010 Writing Proposal

6 September 2014

            I have chosen to write on the article titled, “Inside the ‘Doomsday Vault,’ Hope for Survival,” written by Reed Karaim and published in ‘Global Researcher’.  I will be analyzing this article by using Rhetorical Analysis.  I chose to write on this article for several reasons.  I am still not completely decided on what field of study I would like to major in.  One field that greatly interests me is the field of biology and specifically that of wildlife biology and range management.

            The article addressed the issue of the World’s loss of biodiversity due to the genetic alteration of our crops for more efficient crop yield. It also discussed the fact that we have over 1,400 seed banks containing more than 740,000 seed samples from around the world.  It states that the purpose of these seed banks is to ensure that we can recover in case of a worldwide catastrophe.  One of the main issues addressed in the article is that of the loss of biodiversity.  Biodiversity is the sum total of different species that are contained in a geographical location.  The author, along with other conservationists believe that due to this loss in the worlds biodiversity, even our seed stores wouldn’t be enough to save us in the event of one of these worldwide catastrophe’s. This would take place because of the fact that we couldn’t produce crops fast enough to cope with the loss of existing crops.  Should it be pestilence that wipes out the crops, these seeds we have would be affected by these same diseases.

            I would like to use both inductive and deductive reasoning as part of my Rhetorical analysis. I feel that they will help me to know whether or not the writer has sufficient evidence to support his theory on the ineffectiveness of the seed banks as a hope for survival.  I will also ask questions such as, “How possible is it for us to have a worldwide disaster? What is the germination time for the seeds we have in these stores? Or, Can these plants be raised effectively in a controlled environment?” Another thing that I will be doing is looking at the different points of view to see how well they are addressed in the article. 

            I believe that this topic can be very controversial; therefore I believe many problems and/or conflicts might arise in my writing and analyzing the things discussed therein.  I believe that some of these conflicts may come internally from the writing itself.  For example, if the writer does not have sufficient evidence to support his thesis then the article may be an invalid source in and of itself. However, should the evidence be sufficient to support what is discussed on the loss of biodiversity then I believe that issue may arise from outside sources. Some of these issues could come from the farmers or consumers who are in direct correlation with the production of and the consumption of the worlds crops.