2514 Phelps way, UCSB

austinguzman@ucsb.edu

October 29th 2019

Writing 2 Publishing House, Inc.
1234 Gaucho Rd., UCSB

Dear Mrs. Feldman,

My Writing Project 2 is centered around the consequences of sleep deprivation and how
it affects the human body psychologically and biologically. I analyze the writings of C.P.
Landrigan and Christian Benedict and see how their styles of writing differ and how they appeal
to their respective audience. My Writing Project would be a good fit for your peer reviewed
journal because I deeply and effectively analyze the differences between the writers and explain
what makes each of them a credible source of information and evaluate how they manipulate
language and form to strengthen their claims.
Losing sleep always seemed unhealthy. So, I decided to more research on the topic and
find out what actually is happening to our bodies when we are running on no rest. I first began
looking at this from a psychological frame of reference and discovered some consistencies with
my own studies such as vulnerabilities in human cognitive processes. The topic really interested
me and made me want to know more about how our bodies are affected by not sleeping. Next,
looking at the issue from a biological point of view leading me to research in correlations
between sleep deprivation and weight gain. My writing informatively looks at writers through
both of these disciplines and questions their clout.
Going through your journal’s tract record, my writing project would be nothing less than
an ornament on the Christmas tree that is your peer reviewed journal. My work and assessment
in the biological and psychological changes that one endures during sleep deprivation and how
writers approach the topic fits itself perfectly in your journal.
A personal, one-on-one interview would be greatly appreciated to further discuss my
writing and its placement in your journal. In 5 days from now on the 11th of November 2019
expect a follow up email from me at noon regarding my status. Should anything else be required
of me for credibility, annotated bibliographies for the articles have been provided. Thank you
for taking your time to read and sort through my writing to consider me in your journal. I hope
to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,
Austin Guzman

Enclosure
Austin Guzman
Rachel Feldman
Writing 2
11/6/2019

Writing Project 2

The number of topics and issues that exist in today’s society is absolutely enormous.

While this is an extremely broad statement, it holds true especially when multiple disciplines

deal with the same topic. For example, low socioeconomic statuses can be viewed and studied

by both sociologists and geographers. One may ask themselves “Don’t geographers study the

Earth though?” and they do, but there are two types of geographers. There are the geographers

that study the Earth and its components, and then there are human geographers that study the

movement of people and cultures. I drift away from the main point explaining different types of

geographers to show how two completely different disciplines can sometimes deal with the same

topic or issue, or how one discipline can cover two completely separate topics. Another example

of a popular topic is the debate of when and how much one should sleep. This idea can be

analyzed by both psychologists and biologists because depriving oneself of sleep has both mental

and physical consequences. When one sleeps their body uses that time of serenity to recharge

and without having time to rest the body begins to have difficulty running. Specifically, C.P.

Landrigan and Christian Benedict have their own writings and information on the topic of sleep

deprivation, each looking at it from either a mental or physical perspective. So, while they look

at the same topic, they differ when writing in language, form, and the way they manipulate these

things to appeal to readers in their explicit fields.

In Chapter 17 of Sleep, Health, and Society, C.P. Landrigan informs his reader of the

mental risks one faces when they lose sleep. He argues that one becomes less focused and alert
when they are at a loss of sleep. A person can have issues concentrating, reacting, and making

rational decisions. Landrigan argues these points and supports them by giving examples and

statistics. If there is one thing that makes a source more credible in the psychological field, it is

when a writer uses actual examples and evidence to support their statements. Landrigan explains

how a lack of sleep is correlated with medical errors and gives statistics of such. Landrigan

explains how surgeons who were well rested performed better than surgeons who received less

than 2 hours of sleep. The way Landrigan presents his evidence is specific and informative.

Beyond just explaining their evidence they provide graphs for the reader to visually connect the

statistics to the reading making the overall piece that much more convincing. The chapter is

meant to be informative about losing sleep and performance, but the author seems to aim his

writing towards persons in the medical field and those with critical jobs as such. This makes him

an effective writer because he has a specific audience he aims his claims at. Sure, he wants

everyone who reads this book to take care of themselves and get sleep, but he feels that those in

the medical field should be even more cautious because there are more lives on the line other

than their own. Beyond just providing statistics, the author appeals to his readers visually;

Effectively showing a chart explaining how nurses who work rotating shifts are twice as likely to

make a medication error. Landrigan writes and explains his arguments from a psychological

perspective and most likely assumes his readers have a certain knowledge of the major effects of

sleep deprivation. Using a pretty common writing convention, the author utilizes language and

form in their writing specific to the discipline they are approaching creating an interest in their

audience that studies the same exact discipline. Landrigan also uses previous studies to support

his argument, appealing to readers because they may be studies that the reader is already

familiar with. Such as, the author mentioning how Cognitive Psychologists have researched and
know human cognitive processes contain vulnerabilities and how complexity in the human mind

and the task at hand plus sleep deprivation all make for a bad mixture. If the reader is familiar

with the mentioned research and has worked with it before Landrigan’s credibility has just gone

up making him an even more effective communicator. When the author uses language and

previous findings like this, those reading his writing are not only drawn in closer, but they also

better understanding of what the author is talking about. The author divides the chapter into

different sections addressing different topics all relevant to the issues with sleep deprivation.

Such as the effect of sleep deprivation and medical errors, as previously mentioned, human

fallibility, circadian misalignment, work hours affecting people’s sleep and much more. By

creating all these sub-topics, providing visual evidence, and utilizing previous studies Landrigan

is able to support his thesis with abundant amounts of relevant information and appear more

credible, therefore drawing in his readers.

In contrast to C.P. Landrigan, Christian Benedict focuses almost solely on men and

people losing energy from getting a lack of sleep. In his article Acute Sleep Deprivation

Reduces Energy Expenditure in Healthy Men Benedict explains how sleep curtailment leads to

fatigue and loss of energy and eventually into obesity in men. The author presents this argument

as a definitive statement and goes on to prove with empirical data as well as biological

explanations as to how this is all happening. Similarly, Benedict uses evidence and experiments

to support his argument, such as his experiment with test subjects being kept awake for a period

of time and measuring food intake and other bodily functions. Even more similarly, Benedict

utilizes a sort of lingo as he uses words and phrases specific to his field of study/discipline. The

author’s intended audience are people in this same field of study and people who just need to be

educated on the risks of sleep deficiency. For those who read this article because it is their own
discipline are more attracted to the article because of Benedict’s diction. If the article were to be

written in anything less than an academic language, leaving out specific biological vocabulary, it

would never catch the eyes of someone in the field of study and the article would never have the

credibility it contains. To gain said credibility, Benedict does more than just speak in fancy

scientific terms. He backs up his data with his own sources. He provides his findings from his

own experiments testing sleep deprivation, energy outflow, and weight gain. Since Benedict

provides first-hand sources, he is able to rapidly convince his readers about the topic. Benedict

uses a convention native scientific articles and writings which is providing back up for your

argument with your own experiments. Nothing proves more credible than research you did by

yourself to support and prove your claim. Along with providing said “academic information”

Benedict flows his ideas very well allowing his readers to comprehend what he is talking about.

The author starts with the main topic of losing sleep and then mentions the consequence of losing

sleep which a stump in energy, and then when one loses energy they tend to eat more and

exercise less causing weight gain. The author does not just fling information at his readers, he

pulls it all together in order of cause and effect so his information is as minimally confusing as

possible. Benedict also expects his reader to have some sort of initial biological knowledge

when reading his article. To fully understand what he is talking about his readers need to know

some of the chemicals, tissues, and their functions in the body. Of course, this does not mean he

expects his readers to be esteemed biological experts, but just possess some prior knowledge

about this particular discipline. Benedict organizes his article like a typical experimental,

scientific article that is divided into background information, a method, discussion, and

conclusions. Very unlike Landrigan, who divided his writing into different parts talking about

different things pertaining to why losing sleep is not ideal. Since Christian Benedict’s article is
more of a research-based writing, the way he forms his article makes it easy to comprehend and

follow along. Again, You are taken through his thought process and how he arrived at his

argument of sleep loss causing obesity and low energy. Then, in his method he explains his

experiments involving adult males and sleeping and how it may prove his point that energy

expenditure lowers and people become more susceptible to eating and weight gain. Next, you

are led into the actual experiment and its results. Finally, leading up to the discussion where he

clears up any confusion over how the results pertain to the main thesis.

All in all, various topics can be approached from many disciplines, such as sleep

deprivation and different writers can apply special writing methods and structures to appeal to

specific audiences and achieve credibility. Loss of sleep affects both the human body and mind

in different ways as outlined by C.P. Landrigan and Christian Benedict in their writings Sleep,

Health, and Society and Acute Sleep Deprivation Reduces Energy Expenditure in Healthy Men.

Landrigan explains the effects of sleep deprivation on the mind and how alertness and the ability

to think completely rationally is lost and how it touches people’s everyday lives when causing

things like medical errors. All while doing this, Benedict explains the results of a sleep

deficiency in its physical form appearing in a reduction in daily energy and an increase in

weight. Both authors approach the topic scientifically and adhere to conventions such as using

academic language and providing evidence to support their arguments. However, they differ in

their form, structure, and sources. Benedict uses a traditional research writing form and firsthand

sources whereas Landrigan has different sub-sections with different mini topics and uses

secondhand sources and visual aides. To reach the bottom of this seemingly never-ending well

of similarities and differences, both authors are skilled in convincing their readers and both

would gladly agree that keeping yourself from attaining sleep is a terrible idea.