https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject Eric Schlosser en-us 2018-02-16 00:44:30 UTC 2018-02-16 16:37:11 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Alarmclock.png 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232203324 The main argument presented in the book is that America's feverish race for the biggest and most powerful nuclear weapons has cast the American people under the false shadow of nuclear security and, at any moment, one human error could start a nuclear holocaust. ]]> 2018-02-16 01:01:38 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232203324 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232204150 2018-02-16 01:09:28 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232204150 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232204204

]]> 2018-02-16 01:10:02 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232204204 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232204720 In early 1958, the common practice of nuclear B-47 bombers to remove the locking pin from nuclear bombs in the bomb bay during takeoff and landing proved to be almost catastrophic as when the malfunction of the lever dropped, the luckily coreless, bomb onto a small family farm in South Carolina. The nuclear core was not in the bomb, "But the high explosives went off when the weapon hit the ground, digging a crater about fifty feet wide and thirty-five feet deep. The blast wave and flying debris knocked down the doors off the Gregg house ... and sent the family to the hospital with minor injuries " (Schlosser, 186). Just the fact that a bomb only had one fail-safe in place puts doubt in the effectiveness of having American bombardiers fly across the continental United States and allied countries with nuclear capapble bombs.]]> 2018-02-16 01:14:16 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232204720 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232207012 2018-02-16 01:34:04 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232207012 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232207335

]]> 2018-02-16 01:36:33 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232207335 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232209567 In 1980, one human error again proved how these nuclear weapons have become more dangerous than productive. The Titan II complex in Damascus, Arkansas underwent 10 hours of extreme panic as one of the airmen, doing routine maintenance, did not use the time to go get the newly mandated torque wrench and instead used a socket wrench which he dropped all the way down the silo. Things were always dropped and nothing was made of it, but this time something terrible happened. The wrench hit one of the thrust mounts to one of the fuel tanks and burst allowing toxic and highly explosive fuel vapors to flood the missle silo. The slightest spark from any machine inside of the silo could explode the whole silo. The blast doors and concrete silo door were supposedly unbreakable from a nuclear explosion, but at about hour 10 just a fuel explosion sent the concrete silo roof flying and the nuclear warhead soaring about 200 yards away from the silo. This accident killed one Senior Airman and injured 21 others. This accident may not have had a nuclear explosion, but it shows how one human error in the nation's most dangerous silo can put the the safety of our nuclear stockpile in the spotlight. ]]> 2018-02-16 01:56:44 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232209567 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232213273

]]> 2018-02-16 02:30:33 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232213273 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232213344 There is, however, a silver lining to the nuclear history of the United States. The United States still has yet to have an actual nuclear detonation that was not intentional. Schlosser writes in the final pages of the book, "Had a single weapon been stolen or detonated, America's command-and-control system would still have a success rate of 99.99857 percent. But nuclear weapons are the most dangerous technology ever invented. Anything less than 100 percent control of them, anything less than perfect safety and security, would be unacceptable" (Schlosser, 480). The race for nuclear arms and the bluff of annihilation has kept the world from World War 3, but two real and unnerving questions still remain; will a corrupt leader obtain full nuclear capability and, if so, will the United States and their allies be willing to strike first?]]> 2018-02-16 02:31:28 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232213344 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232215262 Schlosser mainly uses two ways to organize the idea in his book. He uses narration for the main story in the book, which is the Damascus Accident. He also uses exemplification because he often cuts in and out of the overarching story to visit new smaller stories from different time periods about nuclear bombs, such as the Cold War, the Manhattan Project, civilian control of the nuclear arsenal, present day nuclear implication, and the only 2 nuclear bombs used in combat: Fat Man and Little Boy. His organization is not always chronological and his transitions between the story of the Titan II Missile Complex and other examples of U.S. nuclear policy can be extremely abrupt. He uses this structure because it allows him to keep one story going on for a long time while giving background information on why the decisions in the story are being made the way they are.]]> 2018-02-16 02:49:16 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232215262 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232221726 Schlosser uses many appeals in his book, but the main four would be appeal to credibility, science, history, and fears. He uses authority by all of the sources he uses in the book and all of the famous people that worked on the atomic bomb, like Albert Einstein, and U.S. Presidents. He uses these people for two reasons. One, they give him credibility as a writer because it is not all opinion it is real points of view from a first-person perspective. Two, these people are the only humans that know what all happened behind the scenes with nuclear weapons because during the time this knowledge is classified to the general public. He uses science very effectively in the book in the way he explains and analyzes the complex intricacies of nuclear fission and nuclear policy. In the Author's Note he states how this book, "assumes that most of its readers know little to nothing about nuclear weapons, their inner workings, or the strategic thinking that justifies their use" (Schlosser). Schlosser also uses history as an appeal to connect his argument to past situations regarding nuclear weapons and policy, such as World War II, the Manhattan Project, nuclear testing in Nevada and at the Bikini Atoll, the Cold War, and current events around the globe. Finally, he uses the appeal of fear in his book. He does this very carefully by voicing concerns about the threats of having large nuclear arsenals without scaring off the reader. He does, however, convincingly warn of the truth that at any moment the world population could  dramatically decrease because of accidental or deliberate nuclear war.

]]> 2018-02-16 03:54:44 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232221726 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232224783 One common literary device used in the book is anecdotes. Schlosser uses many different stories and examples that strengthens the main argument and story in the book. His use of lots of characters, which he takes time to describe their life, pulls the reader into a more personal connection to the issue. He also uses the literary device and concept of the slippery slope. In the book he describes how the more nuclear weapons puts an increasing risk of harm on both countries trying to compete in an arms race that most of the time ends in a large war. This is also a positive feedback loop by how the more nuclear weapons country A makes the more country B will make prompting country A to make even bigger bombs and this vicious cycle keeps continuing until the unthinkable happens.]]> 2018-02-16 04:27:38 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232224783 19harrt https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232328506 Schlosser's tone in the book is very cautionary because of his use of diction. In the book he uses his word choice effectively by using words like worried, protection, promptly, rescue, fear, and defend. The use of these words give the reader the feeling that the increasing stockpile of nuclear weapons puts the nation at risk rather than protect it from annihilation. In regard to syntax, the author uses very long complex sentences because he uses lots of details in the book along with scientific explanations that, at some points, take a page or two to describe. When he wants to emphasize something important or worrisome, however, he uses short sentences to cause a break in pace of the reading.]]> 2018-02-16 14:11:34 UTC https://padlet.com/19harrt/APLangProject/wish/232328506