The+Rough+Draft

The Rough Draft Here is my rough draft. I feel that I have a good starting point. Sorry if some of the spots are a little choppy that's part of the rough draft process. I did a good job not procrastinating on this. Beware to the reader this draft is so rough it might cut you up if you get to close. Or maybe that's just my sharp word choice. Actually when this got graded it looked like a comma hurricane hit it. That's one of those grammatical things I need to work on. Baylor Bestgen Chris Tomlinson TAG English 28 April 2009 Hysteria The Salem Witch Trials are some of the greatest examples of mass hysteria in the history of man kind. It is a perfect example of how hysteria can devastate a community. The trials started off with three girls being accused of witch craft in the New England colonies and led to hundreds of arrests and murders.It shows the drastic measures taken by the community and the problems those measures can lead to. Because of hysteria, Americans should know the causes of hysteria, what it can lead to, and how to receive it to avoid the disaster it brings. Americans need to learn the cause of the hysteria in order to stay away from the bad endings. What the people really need to focus on is to make sure the hysteria is not a creation of their times. In a magazine article Laura Spinney (24) looks at how the surroundings contributed to mass hysteria in a Latin American country, “A community like hers, ravaged by war, with poor general health and high anxiety, can be fertile ground for mass hysteria. All it takes is a bad smell from a school drain and you have an outbreak of something that looks like mass poisoning.” This situation arrives in the Trials as well. Salem had just gone through a bout of small pox, Indian attacks were becoming more prevalent, and political uncertainty was engulfing the town. People always try to find a scapegoat, in Salem’s case it was three young girls behaving oddly. They had never seen behavior like this and times were bad so the people started making connections in their heads. Those connections led to nineteen deaths. If they look at their circumstances realizing these are poor times and the girls are young and innocent the massacres could have been avoided. The second step to avoid disaster is being open about the problem. In the same article as mentioned before Pat Troop (24), of the United Kingdom’s Health Protection Agency said, “The best way to handle outbreaks of uncertain origin is to be open with people, while conducting thorough environmental investigations.” If the government is not open about the problem people start to speculate and no good can come when people start to speculate. In the U.S. there is an Unidentified Flying Object hysteria and the main reason is the U.S. government is not open with the public. The U.F.O hysteria hasn’t led to anything rash yet but the government needs to come out and be open with people about the hysteria to ease their minds or possibly let them know the truth. If people are left to speculate then innocent parties can be accused of something which can lead to deaths, beating, and arrests. It’s better to be open with people because people can not deny the facts but when there are no facts given the human mind can run wild. People need to learn the truth about their hysteria which can change the perception on their hysteria. UCLA professors did a study to see whether there was a bias in the media. This is what the professors said, “Coverage by public television and radio is conservative compared to the rest of the mainstream media. Meanwhile, almost all major media outlets tilt to the left.” Everyone has an opinion about something especially the news outlets. A person should always be aware of where their news comes from. Distorted facts can lead to very dangerous opinions on an individuals view for a particular story. A huge hysteria for the American people is terrorism. Benjamin Friedman (22), a leading doctoral candidate in political science, found these facts in a chance of dying in a terrorist attack, “According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the odds are about 1 in 88,000.” So the biggest hysteria in the U.S. is a dud. A person has a better chance of dying in a car accident then a terrorist attack. A person’s understanding of the news they receive can elevate if their hysteria is legitimate or not. What it all comes down to is don’t trust the surface of a story dig down and find facts. The better knowledge someone has on a subject the more they can understand it and solve it. People need to learn how hysteria starts, what can come from hysteria, and are the stories their receiving about hysteria accurate to avoid the harsh endings of hysteria. Remember this Frank Herbert quote, “The undeserving maintain power by promoting hysteria.” Hysteria has a cause behind it for someone. The people can’t let a cause of someone else fog their judgment. Innocent lives could be at stake.

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Sullivan, Meg. "Media Bias Is Real, Finds UCLA Political Scientist." __UCLA__ __Newsroom__. 24 Dec. 2005. University Las Angeles California. 27 Apr. 2009 .

Friedman, Benjamin. "Homeland Security." __Foreign Policy__ 149 (2005): 22-28. __MAS__ __Ultra - School Edition__. EBSCO. North High School Media Center. 27 Apr. 2009 .