Passage Discussion

[mitrakhanom1]

can somebody please post the diagram. i'm a little confused on who and what goes on which side. i'm confused if this has one or two sides. i think it has one side that has two views.

On the one side of the scale is the long term and preparing ahead of time approach is more effective than the post disaster situations one. And the two views are: one is traditional responses to natural disasters eat up limited resources and the second is having communities be prepared in advanced for disaster prone communities will help meet their needs much quicker and effectively.

roles: experts, disaster-prone communities
evidence: for example, critics claim that uninvited experts and personnel come and use of food, shelter and resources. grassroots dialogue dialogue will help disaster prone communities by already being prepared. Donors incorporate dialogue with affected communities can utilize strategies that are more efficient.

please let me know how i did in my analysis. thanks

[ohthatpatrick]

In a sense, I think you could arbitrarily describe to choose two different scales for this passage.

You could go with the bigger gist of old vs. new:



Or you could choose to focus on the author's gentle skepticism in the final paragraph.

You could say the scale is:

"New way will be awesome"
vs.
"New way will struggle because donors won't like it and donors are critical to its success"

Ultimately, I'd opt for the former because the author isn't really that pessimistic about donors rejecting the new way. He's definitely sensitive to potential reluctance, but the final sentence makes it sound like the author is optimistic that donors, in coordination with locals, could improve the way disaster relief is provided.

I liked your analysis, except I don't think I would think of "the two main reasons why the new way is better than the old way" as "two different views of the same side of the scale".

It sounds like you pretty much absorbed the scale as shown in the image above. The two big points you raised are just the two big premises in support of the new way over the old way.

Keep in mind that The Scale is a reading tool that fits most passages, but don't ever feel the need to force a passage to have a scale if you don't sense one.

I think in this passage there's a definite Old Way vs. New Way contrast, so that's the most useful distinction to focus on. The author definitely seems leaning towards the New Way, just with more qualms than some of the other voices in the passage.

Hope this helps. Let me know if it elicits other questions.