Alhelabi, 1 Mohammad Alhelabi English 121 AC3 December 12, 2013 Summary Analysis Final Draft Chasing Slumber

Summary Analysis In the article Chasing Slumber published in Psychology Today, the author, Mark Wolverton (2013) claims that sleep deprivation, which is the lack of sleep time or shut eye time, is a crucial issue that most people neglect and consider it insignificant. However, the author, himself, believes that sleep deprivation is a significant issue. Due to its significance many people experience fatigue which can lead to regrettable and tragic consequences. The article is effective at convincing the readers about the perils of sleep deprivation by providing anecdotes, credible statistics, and relatability and empathy to the readers. Wolverton asserts that the optimal amount of sleep time is eight hours in which helps the body stay at its best condition throughout the day. If a person sleeps less than eight hours that person will experience fatigue throughout the day, and he will not be able to stay up late or even concentrate on critical things such as driving, performing a surgery, or simply accomplishing your work. Many accidents are caused by inexplicable incapacitation where the driver or pilot falls asleep or nods off. According a survey that was conducted by the AAA, over 40 percent of respondents reported having "fallen asleep or nodded off" while driving at least once (Wolverton 74).An example of this is the tragic accident of the Staten Island Ferry in 2003, in which killed 10 people and injured 70 people. Fortunately, scientists have created an invention that helps people stay awake after they have nodded off which are the noisy bumps at the side of

Alhelabi, 2 the road. Wolvertons argument is effective at persuading the audience to get at least eight hours of sleep daily and making the audience beware of the consequences of working or driving in a sleepy condition because of the solid evidence and anecdotes that were provided by him. Wolverton argues that the average human needs from seven to hours of sleep daily, and if a person sleeps one hour less it is possible for that person to feel like he was up for 24 hours. sleep plays a crucial role in accidents and human errors in which it has proven by an analysis by the CDC that over 35 percent of adults routinely get less than seven hours(Wolverton 73). Wolverton argues that most people consider the process of sleep to be flexible that sleep can be delayed or even lived without. However, In fact, sleep is an inflexible process that is a necessity to the human body. The human body has a biological clock that controls all the organs in human body and tells them that it is time to sleep. If the clock gets disrupted, it could lead to many diseases and/or organ failures. The biological clock works in harmony with the lightness and darkness of a place. Therefore if a place is dark then the human body might think that it is time to sleep, even if it is not. Wolverton mentions many situations and circumstances in which his readers could relate to sleep deprivation. Wolverton provides examples of life errors that happen on a daily basis because of the lack of sleep, such as a doctor messing up in a surgical procedure which could lead to the death of his patient. Another examples that were mentioned were truck drivers falling asleep in the highway, and nuclear plants miss alarms. All these errors happen because sleep deprivation causes cognitive impairments. Wolveton intentionally mentions these examples to become closer to the reader, and make the reader feel like this is something that could happen to him and could happen to anyone.

Alhelabi, 3 In conclusion, Wolverton successfully convinces his audience of the perils of sleep deprivation by providing anecdotes, solid statistics, and by empathizing with the reader.

Alhelabi, 4 References Wolverton, M. (2013, October). Chasing Slumber. Psychology Today, 7077.