Analysis Of The Great Influenza By John Barry

Scientific Research and the Unknown Scientific research can be defined using a number of different methods. John M. Barry writes about the scientific process in The Great Influenza, and he uses several different tactics in characterizing it. Barry uses metaphors and unusual syntax in order to characterize scientific research as uncertain and unknown. Barry compares scientific research to venturing into the wilderness in order to characterize it as a journey into the unknown. He begins this comparison by explaining that the best scientists “move deep into a wilderness region where they know almost nothing, where the very tools and techniques needed to clear the wilderness, to bring order to it, do not exist” (Barry 26-29).

Stephen Hawking declared, “Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.” Since the beginning of time, humans have been searching constantly for answers and knowledge about the world around them. Scientists have brought it upon themselves to be the discoverers of the human race. John Barry wrote his account during The Great Influenza of 1918 when millions of people were dying and solutions to the sickness were being sought out after by the scientific community. In his account of The Great Influenza of 1918, John Barry implements scientific diction, frequent repetition, and unique symbolism to demonstrate the difficult journey of scientific research.

In the passage from John M. Barry’s The Great Influenza, Barry makes us of an extended metaphor of scientific research as an unexplored wilderness, a motif of uncertainty, a comprehensible diction and admiring tone, and bookended explanatory paragraphs to characterize scientific research as a courageous pursuit to bring order from chaos. Throughout the piece, Barry develops the metaphor in a fashion which closely parallels the steps of the scientific method, giving the reader a better understanding of the work of scientists. In an effort to promote scientific research to the general public, he focuses on its positive aspects and the character traits of scientists. In order to appeal to a wide audience, Barry uses an extended metaphor to compare the seemingly abstract and unreachable concept of scientific research to the mentally attainable image of pioneers settling a virgin wilderness.

Science has greatly evolved over the years, there are new discoveries each time, and it’s a fact that right now we know a lot than we did thirty-five years ago. If today’s scientists were to write this, there would be a great difference between

Author John M. Barry, in The Great Influenza, claims that scientists must embrace uncertainty and doubt their ideas in order to be successful in their research. To support his claim, he first states that “uncertainty creates weakness”, then lists the traits required by scientists (including curiosity and creativity), and finally explains that experiments must be made to work by the investigator. The purpose of this is to further support his claim in order to encourage readers to embrace uncertainty because certainty creates something to lean on, while uncertainty forces one to manipulate experiments to produce answers. Barry adopts a formal tone to appeal to a worldwide audience, specifically those interested in scientific research, by using

Sciences and technologies have improved many aspects of human lives. But as technologies are developing to be more and more advanced, science can be a deadly subject to us as well. Some writers have taken this idea and expanded on this theme of how science is deadly. In this essay I will discuss how this theme is explored in the texts: the novel Unwind written by Neal Shusterman, the film Gattaca directed by Andrew Niccol, following the short texts There Will Come Soft Rains and The Veldt written by Ray Bradbury. Science is supposed to help humans to understand more about the world and improve people’s lives.

Last but not least, science is characterized by its incessant evolution in a way that a single new anomaly can easily falsify a strong scientific theory. In simple English, even experts know that there is no ultimate certainty to

Nicholas Craft AP Language and Composition Mrs. Fertenbaugh August 24 2015 Certainty is Key In this except from John M. Barry’s book The Great Influenza, the author discusses the challenges of science and the significance of certainty. In the field of science, certainty is important and it is necessary in order to advance. Being uncertain about something when it comes to science can cause a scientist to potentially miss out on an important discovery or fail to accomplish something. John M. Barry illustrates the importance of certainty with syntax, diction, and allegories.

From the passage taken from, The Great Influenza, by John M. Barry, Barry frequently uses the appeal to logic and the appeal to credibility to characterize the scientific research as courageous and “moving deep into the wilderness”. With the line “Confidence and strength deeper than physical courage.” Barry uses this line to characterize how going into scientific research requires “Strength” and “confidence” to even go into such a topic. With it he give realization to the reader that it take more than your “physical” strength but mental strength and courage to be able to take on the work take comes with scientific research. The author give credit on work much scientists give and are put through just for their work.

In John M. Barry’s “The Great Influenza” scientific research is made out to be a process based off gaining knowledge in fields that have little base knowledge and then cooperating with other researchers in order to either further develop from that point or to further validate the current idea. Barry supports this ideal through his extended metaphor, parallelism, and the exemplification. Throughout the piece, Barry describes scientific research as a step into the unknown through his extended metaphor. Barry relates all scientists together onto the same playing field stating, “All real scientists exist on the frontier. Even the less ambitious among them…”

Throughout the novel, these characters toil with the pursuit of forbidden knowledge by suffering through the ramifications of their decisions to satisfy their desires. The author implies that blind ambition can lead to the downfall of beings who don’t limit their curiosity. These endeavors include determining the secret of life as well as its creation, discovering a passage in the North Pole, and learning to understand one’s place in the world. Victor Frankenstein suffers from the cost of knowledge by allowing his thirst for the unknown to exceed his limits. In like manner, he pushes his own limits and spends countless nights working to construct his creature even though he is cautioned that only God is capable of creating life.

In an excerpt from The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, many rhetorical devices are used to fully represent the process of a scientist. Some of the most commonly used devices are metaphors, anaphoras, and imagery, these three devices help the reader understand the main ideas of the story. The metaphors allow the reader to perceive the process of a scientist in more simplistic ideas such as science being an undiscovered wilderness. The anaphora used in the beginning of the passage emphasises that the world of science is full of uncertainty and is constantly changing, this drives the idea into the mind of the reader. The imagery is used alongside the metaphors to assist the reader in grasping the foreign ideas.

This feeling of not being able to control what we create frightens scientist. This an example of how science becomes more a a hazard of orr safety than it does to help our society. Paradise lost begins with the introduction of Adam and

The use of the paradox in The Great Influenza by John M. Barry reveals seemingly contradictory statements true. In the second paragraph Barry believes that one must "embrace – uncertainty" (Barry). He uses this literacy device to highlight uncertainty as a welcomed sensation to be accepted, rather than denied. Along with presenting truthful statements, Barry makes every word, phrase, and sentence that he writes ultimately more powerful and read at different understanding levels by raising the bar and introducing contradicting information. Barry characterizes scientific research as contradicting.

Describe a problem you 've solved or a problem you 'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.