Entertain? Inform? Persuade? Other?

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion refers to the April 20, 2010 explosion and subsequent fire on the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU), situated about 40 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast in the Macondo Prospect oil field. The explosion killed 11 workers and injured 17 others; another 98 people survived without serious injuries. It caused the Deepwater to burn and sink, and started a massive ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Americans can’t be surprised that BP’s internal investigation of the Deepwater Horizon disaster appears to focus on what everyone else did wrong. After all, BP executives have pointed fingers elsewhere since the catastrophe. But BP clearly shares the blame for the April 20 explosion, and government officials ought to hold the firm accountable. Reporting to Congress about its internal probe, BP has identified several problems with the well’s cementing job, the blowout preventer, and the testing procedures in the days and hours that preceded the rig’s explosion. That tasks were performed by rig owner Transocean and contractor Halliburton, and these companies are also to blame for the disaster.

"The BP president said yesterday that the company would survive. That’s like someone running over your dog and saying, ‘Don’t worry, my car is fine.’ ” --Jimmy Fallon "Scientists say they have developed a car that can run on water. The only catch is, the water has to come from the Gulf of Mexico.” ---Jay Leno "The president met with BP CEO Tony Hayward, and Obama was demanding that BP clean up the Gulf. And I’m thinking, good luck. They can’t even clean up their gas station restrooms.” ---David Letterman "This is the worst thing to happen to the beaches since the Speedo.” ---Bill Maher

Time for Our Check for Understanding Work in small groups to analysis 4 texts re: a car crash Read the four short passages and write the purpose of each text in the margin (INFORM, PERSUADE, or ENTERTAIN) Hints: Inform (factual / neutral words) Persuade (emotional words and/or call to action) Entertain (can be funny OR it can be more descriptive using imagery, literary techniques, etc.)