<p>I am an ESL learner so I am not sure whether I am suitable for this exam. The essay topic is the 2008 Question #2, the essay about analyzing the rhetoric strategies of the author's writing about scientific research. Thanks in advance. </p>
<p>John M. Barry characterizes scientific research as the exploration of the uncertainty which needs courage, ambition, and the ability to choose decisively. However, describing this process itself is abstract and hard to understand so Barry employs many rhetoric devices such as compare and contrast, analogy and giving example to illustrate his points clearly.
To introduce uncertainty, a main topic in the essay, Barry compare and contrast it with certainty, which creates strength. By asserting that uncertainty is the very thing most people want to avoid in lives, Barry emphasizes the challenge to be a scientist. Because all of scientific researches are tested in unknown areas, scientists must learn to accept sudden breakdown.
Then the author relates science to its very nature, the adventure on the frontier. So every scientist, as analogous to an explorer, no matter how ambitious, is determined to find something brand new and expects that his or her discoveries can revolutionize peoples thoughts. However, as dangerous as a hiker on a mountain, a scientist risks getting nothing at all simply because a single step can take one off a cliff of science.
In the fifth paragraph, Barry uses an extended analogy to illustrate the difficulty of scientists in deciding the method to study. In a completely dark space, anything is not available so the scientist must from the very beginning invent everything he needs. In making the process accessible, Barry uses the example of studying sand and rock. Every tool, shovel, pick, or dynamite, has its own strengths and weaknesses, especially for the dynamite, which essentially leaves nothing after being used. Indeed, a scientist is just like a child. Can we, after all, expect a child to manipulate the shovel, the pick or even the dynamite adroitly?
If the scientist succeeds, by trial and error and some luck, what will happen next? Barry believes that a road will soon be constructed so that everyone, if willing, can freely enter the area and make use of the convenience developed by the pioneer painstakingly for several months. Finally, the new frontier of science will be fully developed by subsequent researchers.
In the ending paragraph, Barry reiterates the importance to embrace uncertainty. Only those who can be comfortable with uncertainty, accept unexpected results of experiments, and modify experiments to yield the desirable answer can finally succeed in science.</p>