Nishant Prakash

Prakash 1
Wilson Writing 2
WP2
November 8, 2015
The Use of Rhetoric with Initiates in Geological Catastrophes
Understanding how our Earth works is a matter of life and death. For centuries humanity
has witnessed disasters from Vesuvius erupting and destroying Pompeii, to the Haitian
Earthquake. We have lived through and survived these, and accepted their existence and potential
to cause immense damage. Today, it is more important than ever, for all people to understand the
magnitude of these event. We have the means to learn about these disasters on a deeper level, and
possibly mitigate the destruction and loss of life that occurs. But we need a larger variety of
people to become active in these discussions. Currently there exists the field of Earth Sciences.
This is a large discourse community with two sub communities, that, despite having a goal of
saving lives, remains very closed off from other fields. The class Geological Catastrophes, as
offered by the Earth Science department at UCSB attempts to bridge this gap. It is widely
accepted that the knowledge obtained in these fields, is not useful only for geologists.
Knowledge of catastrophes is necessary for people like city planners, crisis response teams,
governments, because catastrophes have an impact that goes beyond the world of geology, with
damage done to every aspect of human life. The mantra of the field is essentially to understand
the earths past, in order to be prepared in the future. Despite recognizing itself as being such a
necessary field of discussion, the discourse community surrounding it is very much isolated to
experts. These experts value precise, accurate, and credible data, and as a result it takes years of
experience to become an active member. This leaves so many, who deserve, and for the greater
good, should participate, in the dark.
Breaking into a community such as that of the Earth sciences, is difficult. It is not
impossible, but it is not a simple process. The Earth Science department of UC Santa Barbara has
within it two groups; the many expert faculty, and its student body. These two bodies interact

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with each other in different capacities to facilitate the ability to discuss and discover new
information about our earth. The department website states its goal as [Using the past] we
extrapolate to predict global changes that will affect people in the future (Earth Science). Of the
whole community this is always the motivation to learn more. What information we can gather
about the past, will inevitably help in the future. Within this department there is a two-tiered
hierarchy of communities. On the bottom is the classroom, and on the top is the community of
experts on the forefront of innovation in the field. The Department describes their undergraduate
program goals as to produce graduates with a solid understanding of the fundamentals of
science, a firm grasp of geological principles and processes, and an essential toolbox of
intellectual and communication skills (Earth Science). This is a community that fosters the
formation of the basic scientist, one who can be molded into an expert, eventually.
Imagine an outsider was taken and told to analyze and discuss a published scientific
article. In this case, Sediment provenance and controls on slip propagation: Lessons learned
from the 2011 Tohoku and other great earthquakes of the subducting northwest Pacific plate, just
the title even, is cloaked in jargon, a reader is not likely to understand the relationship between
the terms of the title. At the end of the abstract of the article the authors state their claim, a
crucial component to understanding the paper, with We believe that the seamounts incoming on
the oceanic plate to the south and southeast of the Tohoku rupture zone interfere with longdistance propagation of slip in the pelagic clay, limiting earthquake magnitude, shallow slip, and
tsunami generation (Moore 1). This sentence, even to me, a community member, albeit an early
initiate, holds very little meaning. A complete outsider to the group would be able to grasp the
severity of the claims surrounding earthquakes and tsunamis, but would not be able to fully
understand the significance of long distance propagation, and shallow slip. These terms are

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part of the jargon of the community. An expert, who is active in the field immediately realizes the
ramifications of this claim, because it relates to the community accepted fact that depth, and
distance of slip are directly proportional to the severity of the resultant earthquake. One of the
most important functions of peer reviewed journal articles is the requirement that others must be
able to build off of the information. In the example article one of the major conclusions is that
The region south and southeast of the Tohoku rupture zone, along the Japan and Izu Bonin
Trenches, has not produced instrumentally recorded tsunamis or tsunamigenic earthquakes. We
hypothesize that here the occurrence of seamounts with biogenic (calcareous and siliceous)
sedimentary caps break the continuity of the pelagic clay layers, hinder through going slip at
shallow depths, and suppress tsunamis. (Moore 9). This is a major development, but only to
those in the field does it maintain any credibility. It is up to others in the community to test it for
accuracy and precision, to give these statements any meaning within the community. This leaves
much of the population that needs this information, unable to comprehend it. A fisherman living,
and working off the coast of Japan cannot use this information, yet the outcomes directly effect
him. This is the reality that, the audience that will most likely utilize the journals that such
articles are published in, is relatively small and closed off. Therefore, to bring outsiders into the
discourse community a ubiquitously available mechanism is required.
The most common mechanism for introduction, is the classroom. At UC Santa Barbara
one of these is Geological Catastrophes. This class investigates the geological basis of disasters,
their direct, and indirect impacts, and the infrastructural factors that impact damage and death.
While it is restricted to college students, it does do more to facilitate the introduction of people,
outside the earth sciences field to participate in the community, which deals with a topic that
directly effects them. The class is taught by Professor Matthew Jackson, an expert in the field,

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specializing in furthering the understanding of continental hot spots. Jackson states his goals in
the syllabus, laying out his rhetorical methods.
In the Syllabus, Professor Jackson states his personal goals for the class. He has four
outcomes. His syllabus states that three of his goals are to Demonstrate an understanding of
dynamic geologic processes and materials. As well as Assess the risks associated with natural
disasters on human societies and Develop your scientific observation and data interpretation
skills, and improve your ability to think quantitatively and critically (Jackson 2). These are
lower order in that they contain the educational goals of the class. They serve as the initial logos
of the class. This exists to provide the basic motivation to be a part of the class and of the
community. They are the basics of the curriculum that will inevitably be gained by active
participation in the class. The most notable goal is to Gain a deeper appreciation for geologic
time and spatial scales (Jackson 2). This is a more abstract goal, focusing on pathos. By
becoming or looking to become scientists, the students are expected to value the same things as
the experts of the community, in this case the time and special scales, as well as the ability to
think quantitatively and critically. This section of the syllabus puts down a foundation of values
for the class to operate off of.
The class centers around a PowerPoint slideshow made by Professor Jackson. They
provide the essential notes for his course, while he actively expresses the information. He makes
an effort to hold the attention of the class for the entirety of the one and a quarter hours of pure
information. Jackson realizes the detachment from many of these disasters exists for many of the
students. I, for one, have never experienced an earthquake, volcanic eruption or tsunami. He uses
specific examples from his experiences (which maintain credibility due to his own
qualifications), as well as video and picture evidence to appeal to the students pathos. Whenever

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he presents an item such as a simulation, or data set collected by another researcher, he cites the
sources to maintain his arguments credibility to the student. By observing the effect of the
disasters, and learning the basic causes, the student is motivated to learn more. It is how most
students become attracted to the class.
A significant convention in Jacksons teaching is the asking of small questions to lead the
groups thinking. For example, when investigating the causes of asthenosphere melting at
subduction zones, he did not immediately ask why water can cause rock to melt easier. Who has
thought about that? When is that a common occurrence in a students world. He leans into the
this by asking, why do we salt icy roads?. While not a common problem for some students,
those from colder places know they do this because it lowers melting point. This helps the
students apply the logic from a familiar and understandable concept, to the more apparently
complex situation, wherein the sub ducted water lowers melting point of the asthenosphere. This
is the kind of guided learning that is omnipresent in his class room. Jackson will use anything
from a coke can he brought from home, to a hoodie from someone in the class to break things
down into components, where the student can realize the logos and ethos behind them. What is
notable about this setting is that it is strictly for learning. The leader, or teacher, tells the students
what they need to know, because he is supplying them with tools to become better scientific
minds.
The most important genre utilized by the course is the textbook, for Geological
Catastrophes it is Natural Hazards by Keller. The text for the class is a very guided reading. It
utilizes a bottom-up structure to lead the student through the field. It immediately calls into
question the purpose of the reading, to establish a valid cause for the student to continue. These
books are crafted so that key points are identifiable. Take the chapter on Earthquakes. The

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textbook will not just launch right into earthquakes as if the reader immediately knows all the
essentials of the topic, because they do not. Instead they start with basic plate tectonic theory, a
more general concept. Once understanding of that is established, the text moves into how this
relates to earthquakes, building on an already established concept. This is done to make the logos
of the learning apparent to the reader. Especially for initiates, who have not fully committed to
the community. The structure appeals to the logical mind of a student. Furthermore, it builds on
the idea of credibility. The courses emphasize the importance of credibility; all members must be
wary of all claims, it is what keeps science honest and reliable. By using proven claims to back
up more complex ones, the young mind develops to look for this logic and is more likely to buy
into what the text is saying. Separate from the standard section of text are the frequent
understanding checks. At the end of Chapter one, section four Fundamental Concepts for
Understand Natural Processes as Hazards, there is a reading check. This is essentially a small
quiz to highlights what the reader should have encoded. These include Describe the five
fundamental concepts, a very direct, one answer question, to Explain what is meant by the
magnitude-frequency concept, a check on understanding, that is more interpretative, making the
student recall and actively work to understand a core concept (Keller 24). In a similar vein, each
chapter is concluded with a Concepts in Review, a few pages that are dedicated to summing up
each section of the chapter in a few concise sentences containing only key information. A huge
convention of the textbook genre is the intentional repletion of what the authors believe to be
most important. Terms are bolded, italicized, and reviewed multiple times.
Another convention is the use of visual organizers to easier maintain topics credibility,
with lengthy descriptions as to better demonstrate natural phenomena without being mired in
language. Take the process of explaining the evidence for the previous existence of Pangea.

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Trying to use just words to explain how continents previously fit together is inefficient, the
student will not take in the ethos aspect of the authors rhetoric. Keller uses two images, as before
and after comparison. The image is then described by a passage that can reference the image, in
this case the caption directs the reader to Notice that the arrows are all pointing away from
ocean sources. Also these areas are close to where the tropics are today, where glaciation would
have been unlikely in the past. These Paleozoic glacial deposits were formed when Pangea was a
supercontinent before fragmentation by continental drift. (Keller 45), without an image the
author would have to waste time, and space attempting to convey the entirety of the picture,
losing content. These can be used for all of the chapters and act to accelerate the initiation
process. A textbook is a mass compilation of vital information that allows a teacher to create
competent scientific thinkers out of his students, from this they are able to graduate to the next
tier of the discourse community.
In the end, the goal of the class is to increase the scope of the as to make the information
discussed more accessible to those it directly impacts. From politicians, to big corporations, to
small time fishermen, to a homeowner, geological events can and do have direct impacts on
billions of lives. While it may not seem immediately important, a basic understanding of
geological hazards is a necessity today. What is discussed in peer-reviewed journals is important
information for everyone, but requires, at minimum, a basic understanding of the field is
required. Giving people, who are not necessarily committed to a discourse community, the tools
to become capable members is crucial to the overarching goals of the Earth Sciences.

Works Cited

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"Earth Science - UC Santa Barbara." About Earth Science. UCSB Earth Science, n.d. Web. 08 Nov.
2015. <http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/about>.
Jackson, Matt. Earth 20 Syllabus. Sept. 2015. Print.
Keller, Edward A., and Robert H. Blodgett. Natural Hazards: Earth's Processes as Hazards, Disasters,
and Catastrophes. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.
Moore, J. Casey, Terry A. Plank, Fredrick M. Chester, Pratigya J. Polissar, and Heather M. Savage.
"Sediment Provenance and Controls on Slip Propagation: Lessons Learned from the 2011
Tohoku and Other Great Earthquakes of the Subducting Northwest Pacific Plate." Exploring the
Deep Sea and Beyond 2 (2015): 533-42. EBSCOhost. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.

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