Bethany Brookshire

Bethany Brookshire, the author of the article “New gene resists our last-ditch drug” found in the Society for Science & the Public, invoked fear and urgency in teen readers fascinated with biology and health. Throughout her article, Brookshire establishes that doctors, farmers, and everyday citizens should be cautious in the use of antibiotics and use methods to limit the spread of harmful bacteria worldwide. She gains her readers’ attention and trust by quoting information from several scientists in different fields and from different parts of the world. Although her syntax was rigid and overly simplified, Brookshire connect to the teen readers ******

Brookshire is professional and *** in her popular article. She maintains an unbiased standpoint

Although appealing to young teens, the article did not need to be written in a curt style to express the importance of antibiotic research. For example Brookshire writes, “Scientists have found colistin resistance on chromosomes before, but never on a plasmid. Until now.” The statement “Unit now” builds suspense and lures the reader to continue reading. However, it is not a formal sentence with a subject and a predicate. The article uses simple sentences that vary structure, making the article rigid. If she had used several subordinate clauses and other useful transition tools the article would have had more flow. A teen audience is exposed to more “difficult” and “diverse” writing styles, often found in school textbooks and novels, and is capable of reading more advanced

Nearly every time she introduces a scientist, she first uses a direct quotation from them and in the next sentence she states where they work. Although stating where the researcher is from builds credibility, it is not essential enough information to stand alone as s sentence. It could have been just as effective and more eloquent by stating these facts as subordinate clauses. In addition, a reader could easily be confused of determining which are the author’s own words and which are the paraphrase of scientists. For example, “Drugs such as colistin, which are so important for treating people, need to be withheld from use in animals — at least until absolutely necessary, he says” gives credibility to the scientist at the end of the sentence. These expressions of thought are ambiguous to the reader, which is disappointing since the scientific explanations of genetic transfer were explained in clearly.

Although lacking creative writing style, the article provides effective visual aid for a teen audience to be engaged and inquiring to learn more about the issue. The diagram of a bacterial cell offers readers a comparison of bacterial chromosomes with that of plasmids. The cell does not include any other organelles to confuse or distract the student. It could have also been helpful to show a diagram of how the cell transfers the genetic information containing antibiotic resistance characteristics.