20 Sept 2020: Scholarly Notebook  

Using terms and ideas from Thaiss, list the best way you think Cross adapts Xu, et. al’s research
for a general audience.  Give an example of each (and list page numbers). 

1.      Avoid using impressive language 

 
Xu: “However, enhanced resistance obtained through such strategies is often associated
with substantial penalties to fitness, making the resultant products undesirable for
agricultural applications (p. 491)  
 
Cross: “Turning up NPR1 works too well and “makes the plants miserable, so it’s not
very useful for agriculture” (p. 2/4)  
 
The adaptation is effective as it broadens the intended readership beyond specialists. 
 
2.      Using statistics for impact 

Xu: “We observed similar patterns of enhanced resistance against Xoc and X. oryzae...”
(p. 497)  

Cross: “...rice blast disease, which the plants effectively combated, causes an estimated
30% loss of the annual rice crop worldwide.” (p. ¾) 

The adaptation was effective because the use of this statistic (which wasn’t in the original Xu
paper) gives a sense of the scale of the problem and the discovery’s potential. 

3.      Using direct quotes from outside authorities. 

“For as long as I have been in this field, people have been scratching their heads about
how to activate the defense system where and when it is needed,” says Johnathan Jones,
who studies plant defense mechanisms at the Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, U. K.” 

The adaption is effective because it displays work outside of the experiment, reinforcing both
the importance of the experiment and the idea that – controlling the plant’s defense systems
is extremely difficult.  

List the best example of what Thaiss calls "vivid" language in Cross (list page numbers). What
sense is evoked by each example? 

“The gene, called NPR1 in the commonly studied thale cress plant (Arabidopsis thaliana)
—a small and weedy plant topped with white flowers—has been a popular target for
scientists trying to boost immune systems of rice, wheat, apples, tomatoes, and more. “  
 The use of vivid language is effective because it helps immerse the reader into the
reading.  Within this example, Cross provies what the plant looks like, the author allows
the reader to feel like they are themselves in the field working with the plant. His
utilization allows the reader to imagine the plant without needing actual pictures or
images.  
 

Identify one metaphor in Cross's article (list page number).  Is this metaphor’s use ethical
according to Thaiss's terms?  

One metaphor used in the Cross article was “Whereas the infections spread over the
leaves of the wild rice plants, the engineered plants readily confined the invaders to a
small area” (Cross P.9). He relates the infections to invaders, which is used to paint a
picture of how the infection works for a broader audience by relating it in simplistic
terms. Xu does this in his article, showing the difference between the regular and
engineered plants but does this through the use of graphs which might make it harder for
a more general audience to understand compared to the use of the metaphor. The use of
this metaphor is ethical according to Thaiss’s terms. He provides more background
information about the specific infections before the quote, so the metaphor is not
oversimplified for the reader.