Sunday, November 24, 2013

TOW #10: Dreamland by David K. Randall (IRB)

     The first four chapters of Dreamland deal with the general importance of sleep, the affect of artificial light on our sleep habits, couples' sleeping habits, and babies' sleeping habits. Through these, David K. Randall shows the great amount of research he has put into the book. Even just the first chapter of Dreamland reveals Randall's purpose: he wishes to inform the general public about sleep. Through his citation of extremely credible and thought-provoking information, Randall thoroughly informs readers about various aspects of sleep.
     The second chapter of Dreamland discusses the affect of busy modern life on our sleep habits, though it focuses mainly on the affect of artificial light. To teach readers about these effects, Randall cites important sleep experiments. He writes, "Thomas Wehr, who worked for the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, was struck by the idea that the ubiquitous artificial lights we see every day could have some unknown effect on our sleep habits" (Randall 34). This automatically piques readers' interest because it makes them think about the artificial lights that they are likely using to read Randall's book. Randall goes on to discuss the results of Wehr's experiment, which turn out to be, essentially, that if a person isn't exposed to artificial light, they sleep better and are far more rested. By citing relevant (and therefore interesting) information, Randall captures his audience's attention. Being interested in something makes it far easier to learn, so captivating his readers allows Randall to effective inform them about, in this case, the effect of artificial light on sleep habits.
     Randall appeals to his audience's sense of logos by discussing definitive scientific experiments in Dreamland. Through this, he is able to successfully interest them and inform them about things such as the effect of artificial light on sleep patterns or if it is better to place one's baby in a separate crib on on one's on bed. It is likely that Randall will continue to effectively inform readers for the remainder of his book, which appears to include segments on dreams and disorders such as sleep apnea.

Babies' Sleeping Habits:
In his fourth chapter, "And Baby Makes Three", Randall discusses the pros and cons of parents placing their baby in a crib versus co-sleeping (parents and baby sleeping all in the same bed).

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