Sources

When I am about to start a paper for English 101 or any class the first thing that I do is review the prompt to determine what I am going to be writing about. If the paper requires me to state a position on certain topic, I will then choose a position and look for articles to support it. The first place that I look for articles is on the Washington State University Libraries database. Once I find multiple articles that support my position on the paper I begin to sort through them. In order to determine which articles to use in my papers I look at a multitude of different things. The first thing of course is the information that is provided in the article. Is it relevant? Does it support the position I am supporting? This is determined by reading all the articles carefully and taking notes on them sometimes. I then look at where the article came from and if it was peer reviewed. Articles that are found in newspapers are often not peer reviewed and can contain bias information and sometimes incorrect information. Newspaper articles are the ones I usually try to avoid. If the article comes from a scholarly journal it is usually a reliable source and it is definitely reliable if it has been peer reviewed. Peer reviewed articles means one or more people have contributed to the article to make sure it is the most accurate and correct thing published. When using these articles in my paper I use them in the order that best fits the paper. If I am talking about the opposing position at the beginning of my paper I will use an article that has references to the opposing position. Basically it depends on the paper, the articles and your writing style to determine when and where to use the articles in your paper.

Norman Borlaug Article

After reading the Norman Borlaug article a large amount of ideas and questions arise. The idea of using genetically moified food to feed all 8.3 billion people in the world seems like that only solution, but how far does gentically modifying food go? Is it ever going to come to a stop? Eventually crops and food are going to be modified to the point that there is nothing natural left in it. Is that really the safest or healthiest alternative to all natural food? Who knows, many years down the road we could find out that because of all the chemicals and modified parts of our food we live shorter lives, or are more likely to get diseases. No one really knows what will happen from eating food that has been modified so much.
Another question that arises is addressed in the article and has to do with farmers being able to use and grow these genetically altered crops. As more research is done, more money is spent meaning that farmers are going to have to pay more for crops. Not to mention the patents that will be placed all over the crops so that they are forced to do everything the companies say and will pretty much be forced to grow genetically altered crops in order to even compete. With this rise in crop costs, food costs will also rise making the same amount food today cost who knows how much more. Genetically altered food may be the answer right know because there is so many people to feed, but who knows how far it will go and if will ever have negative consequences on our health or planet.