The objective of the article "Nutrition and Mental Health" by Naiyana Wattanapenpaiboon and Mark L. Wahlqvist, is to to consider the possible effects or nutrition on cognitive function and depression.  The authors make their point by bringing up various mental illnesses that are associated with poor diet, such as Alzheimer.  In order to help the reader realize the importance of nutrition the authors use a variety of examples and use many details to support their examples. This piece is aimed at people who are interested in learning more about the topic and is written at a level that is a bit challenging to understand.

Wattanapenpaiboon, Naiyana, Mark L. Wahlqvist. “Nutrition and Mental Health.” Food and Nutrition. 2. 487-491. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.

What you eat has an impact on your mental health

1. What effect does skipping meals have on mental health?
2. What role does a balanced diet have on mental health?
3. Do certain foods make you feel happy?
4. Does overeating/frequent eating impact mental health?
5. Can mental health problems be solved by a change in diet?
6. Can fad diets have a negative impact on mental health?
7. Does it matter how many meals per day a person consumes?
8. Can mental health problems be caused by poor diet and nutrition?
9. Can a nutritionist help solve mental health issues?
10. How do you know you need to meet with a nutritionist?

 Within chapter 7 of their book "Good Reasons", Faigley and Selzer approach the various topics used to develop an effective argument.  They present examples on various types of arguments in order to support their thesis. They bring up the point that every argument should have a strong point in which it is based upon. The purpose of this particular chapter was to prove that in order to have an effective argument a sufficient amount of research must be put into the topic. This chapter was intended to be an education piece to help those struggling with forming an effective argument.

In chapter 4 of "Good Reasons" by Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer they bring forth the idea that a well written piece of writing or argument always has a strong organizational system and that the process of revision is extremely important in regards to the thoroughness of the piece. They find it important to really think about what information truly needs to be presented to the reader. They also help by presenting how to ensure your paper has the necessary amount of clarity in order for the paper to be determined as a well written paper.  The chapter is presented to a group of students to assist them in writing a well organized and effective paper.

The topic of plagiarism is one that is difficult to discuss. The lines are blurry as to what is considered plagiarism and what is not.  It all depends on the amount of correct citations used within the paper that is being written.  The scholarly article that I read, entitled "What is Plagiarism?" helped to make it clear what is truly plagiarism and how to avoid it. I think this helped me to fully understand simply because it set specific parameters instead of just giving a vague outline like the other article we read for class. The article "What is Plagiarism?" also brings up the topic of borrowing information, which is similar to the audio clip about music sampling that we read.  It can be difficult to determine what is okay to use and what is not, and how to properly cite the information being "borrowed." All three of these information sources have provided me with information that I did not previously know. They have opened my eyes to the world of plagiarism and the complexity that lies within the issue. I was aware that plagiarism does happen within the college setting but I did not realize just how common of an issue it has become. I had been unaware of the issues that lie within digital music sampling before I listened to the NPR audio clip. Digital music sampling is not something that directly impacts my life so it was interesting to learn more about the topic.

Professor Ross Collins of North Dakota State University helps to clearly lay out what is and is not considered plagiarism in his article entitled "What is Plagiarism?". He does this by thoroughly explaining the common ways students plagiarism as well as laying out ways to avoid subtle plagiarism.  He explains that in order to avoid plagiarism it is necessary to be able to cite more than two sources, and that a larger knowledge base and makes it easier to formulate an independent idea on the material. This article is directed towards college students in order to make them more effective writers and to help them to avoid plagiarism.

The audio clip about digital music sampling brought up things that I had never thought much about.  It seems as though the issue comes from whether or not the person using the music sample holds the rights to the song and whether or not the original artist or that artists music label corporation is receiving money for the song being used. If the person using the sample does not have a license to use that sample they can be sued for copyright infringement.  It seems to me as though the original artists are not nearly as upset about their samples being used as the music label corporations associated with the original artist.  Samples can help bring the spotlight back to artists who had fallen out of it, when a piece of their song is used within the new creation it can help bring the spotlight back to focus on them.

The article about plagiarism brings up the fact that college professors are in awe over the amount of students who take part in plagiarizing. It is becoming easier and easier for students to plagiarize with the help of the internet.  The internet gives the student access to a wealth of information and the occasional lack of credible sources. Before there was so much access to information on the internet it was much harder to plagiarize, simply due to the fact that students used to have to physically look through books for information instead of being able to just copy and paste information from a web page and insert it into their papers. Part of the issue with plagiarism is the lack of citations found within student's research papers.  This may simply be due to the fact that students in this day and age have become lazier than the students in previous generations.  There is a overall lack of effort put into the writing of research papers and this leads students to "steal" snippets of information from articles and books written by other authors and claim them as their own work.