Justin McCarthy
Forensics 12H
Mr. Ippolito
Current Event 14- Review on “Agonizing Question”
Due January 19th 2018
Barry, Dan. “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?” The New
York Times, The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2018. www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/world/europe/tuam-ireland-lost-children.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0
Upon reading Dan Barry’s a New York Times journalist article regarding a perplexed murder case
concerning Irish Immigrants; the main question which he illuminates to us as humans is what do Irish
do with their children remains. The answer is perfectly answered by Barry when he lays out the
groundwork surrounding this complex paradox. “A few years ago, an amateur historian shook Ireland to
its core with a ghastly allegation: Hundreds of bodies of young children appeared to have been buried in
an abandoned septic system by Catholic nuns who for decades had managed a home for unwed mothers
and their offspring in the County Galway town of Tuam” (Dan Barry). Furthermore later on in his report
Berry also hit upon the subject regarding the investigation this is being done by the Irish Police in
response to individuals finding these children’s bodies. “The slog toward resolution continues.
This includes having the local government, the Galway County Council, meet with relatives and
survivors to hear their concerns. There is hope that a member of the expert group will also be available
to explain the recommendations and various challenges, including those involving DNA” (Berry).
By emphasizing the research that is being done by the Irish Police, Berry hits upon a central theme that
is found in his article which is because hundreds children were buried and their remains were unknown
up to this time.
concerning Irish Immigrants; the main question which he illuminates to us as humans is what do Irish
do with their children remains. The answer is perfectly answered by Barry when he lays out the
groundwork surrounding this complex paradox. “A few years ago, an amateur historian shook Ireland to
its core with a ghastly allegation: Hundreds of bodies of young children appeared to have been buried in
an abandoned septic system by Catholic nuns who for decades had managed a home for unwed mothers
and their offspring in the County Galway town of Tuam” (Dan Barry). Furthermore later on in his report
Berry also hit upon the subject regarding the investigation this is being done by the Irish Police in
response to individuals finding these children’s bodies. “The slog toward resolution continues.
This includes having the local government, the Galway County Council, meet with relatives and
survivors to hear their concerns. There is hope that a member of the expert group will also be available
to explain the recommendations and various challenges, including those involving DNA” (Berry).
By emphasizing the research that is being done by the Irish Police, Berry hits upon a central theme that
is found in his article which is because hundreds children were buried and their remains were unknown
up to this time.
However when comparing and contrasting Berry’s article to real life his work is not far off from
what he wants achieve. By making the connection between this serious case in Ireland, Berry
is able to make his reader realize the importance that burying must have to individuals regarding if they
are children or if they are very old adults. Berry achieves his goal that he makes when he highlight the
effects that these burials have had on Ireland's population throughout the last hundred years.
“A prominent child advocate to consider the many such issues posed by the burial of hundreds of
infants and children in parts of an old septic system” (Berry). By achieving this purpose not only
does Berry not make his reader more aware and feel sympathy for the parents who have fallen to
be victimized to this horrible phase, but also makes them wonder how much respect should we treat
folks with proper burials when they are dead by doing “exhaustive DNA testing for possible
identification” (Berry) in hopes to give closure to parents. This connect to me personally because
it makes me realize that even though our world is far from perfect, it is not right and at the same
time it is inhumane for parents to have to suffer knowing that their children who were buried
will not be able to be identified because it has been the result from this horrible crime.
what he wants achieve. By making the connection between this serious case in Ireland, Berry
is able to make his reader realize the importance that burying must have to individuals regarding if they
are children or if they are very old adults. Berry achieves his goal that he makes when he highlight the
effects that these burials have had on Ireland's population throughout the last hundred years.
“A prominent child advocate to consider the many such issues posed by the burial of hundreds of
infants and children in parts of an old septic system” (Berry). By achieving this purpose not only
does Berry not make his reader more aware and feel sympathy for the parents who have fallen to
be victimized to this horrible phase, but also makes them wonder how much respect should we treat
folks with proper burials when they are dead by doing “exhaustive DNA testing for possible
identification” (Berry) in hopes to give closure to parents. This connect to me personally because
it makes me realize that even though our world is far from perfect, it is not right and at the same
time it is inhumane for parents to have to suffer knowing that their children who were buried
will not be able to be identified because it has been the result from this horrible crime.
While overall I thought that this article was a very interesting Forensics Current event, however
based on reading it the overall impression that I took away from reading was that while it was a
great forensic article there some areas where I think Dan Berry could have improved within his work.
Two factors that I liked in particular within his work was that Barry was successful in keeping his
article very interesting yet at the same time a short read for his audience. However, despite the many
good factors, the first factor which he could have gone into furthermore detail regarding the case
where a hundred children got buried within Ireland by setting up the reasonings which led to this
event to occur. By doing this not only would Berry’s work improve but it would by itself would
have given a little more anticipation and eagerness to the reader to wanting keep reading his article.
Another area where I think Berry can also improve on is adding depth to his article. By doing this,
Berry has the potential to transform his article from being a good article into being a great article.
Overall however, from reading his article, I was very impressed with his work and in result, it made
me realize that even with technology advancement sometimes mankind does not have the intelligent
power to figure out serious forensics crimes like this was one regarding the Irish Religion Purge.
based on reading it the overall impression that I took away from reading was that while it was a
great forensic article there some areas where I think Dan Berry could have improved within his work.
Two factors that I liked in particular within his work was that Barry was successful in keeping his
article very interesting yet at the same time a short read for his audience. However, despite the many
good factors, the first factor which he could have gone into furthermore detail regarding the case
where a hundred children got buried within Ireland by setting up the reasonings which led to this
event to occur. By doing this not only would Berry’s work improve but it would by itself would
have given a little more anticipation and eagerness to the reader to wanting keep reading his article.
Another area where I think Berry can also improve on is adding depth to his article. By doing this,
Berry has the potential to transform his article from being a good article into being a great article.
Overall however, from reading his article, I was very impressed with his work and in result, it made
me realize that even with technology advancement sometimes mankind does not have the intelligent
power to figure out serious forensics crimes like this was one regarding the Irish Religion Purge.
5 comments:
Alexander Rizzo
Current Event #14
January 18th, 2017
Mr. Ippolito
Justin McCarthy:
Barry, Dan. “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?” The New
York Times, The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2018. www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/world/europe/tuam-ireland-lost-children.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0
The first point well presented in Justin’s current is the way in which he first summarized the article, “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?”, effectively by avoiding to many details but portraying the entire story without leaving anything out. This is important because sometimes when writers summarize they often tell the entire story over again which is unnecessary. Another aspect of the review that was well written was Justin’s transition from the summary of the article to why the article is important. Without saying why the article is important to forensic science, the review means nothing in the context of the class. Finally, Justin did a good job putting his own opinion about the article in the end of her review; making sure his opinion did not affect how he wrote the beginning of the article.
One point that would make the review better was by saying why he liked the article with more description. At the end of his review, he said the article was a “good read” but did not fully elaborate why. Another critique of Justin’s article is the grammatical errors in the review. For example Justin wrote, “Finding like this in any case are extremely important…”
One thing that I learned from this review is how important and life changing a DNA sample can be in terms of money and wealth. I did not realize that DNA could not only solve crimes but also be financially beneficial to people.
Scott McGrath
1/18/18
Current event 14
Barry, Dan. “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?” The New
York Times, The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2018. www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/world/europe/tuam-ireland-lost-children.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0
This review by Justin McCarthy of an article titled “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children's Remains?” written by Dan Barry was very well done. The article is about how hundreds of children’s bodies have been found in an abandoned septic tank by Catholic Nuns at a home for unwed mothers and their children. This article was very interesting to read.
Justin did a very good job adding quotations into his writing. It makes it easier to understand whats going on with a direct quote. Another thing he did very well was the pacing of the review. He knew what to say and where. One last thing he did very well was cite his information/quotations. It is rare to see that in a current event in this class. Overall, he did a very good job.
Despite these positives, there are some negatives. One thing that needs work is the explaining of the article. The background information is not clear and I had to read the actual article to understand more. Another thing he could do better to word his writing better. Some of the sentences don't seem to make sense.
One thing that blew my mind is that these bodies have been undiscovered for dozens of years. They were just laying in a septic tank rotting away and no one knew. Overall, Justin did a very good job reviewing this article.
Barry, Dan. “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?” The New YorkTimes,TheNewYorkTimes,13Jan.2018. www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/world/europe/tuam-ireland-lost-children.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0
Justin’s review of “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?” was a very interesting review. First of all, it really helped that he stated the place where this took place, Ireland, and who the people in charge were the people in char. In addition, the fact that he had a quote from the review that explained what exactly had happened in Ireland with the children’s bodies, aided me in understanding this topic better and gave me some additional information about it. Finally, Justin did a really good job in making this review quite thorough by having a very detailed paragraph on how this topic affects our society.
Although this review was very interesting, one way it could have been made better is that Justin could have gone back through the review and shortened is quotes a bit so that they were not so lengthy and chunky, and the review was more sophisticated. By reading it over and eliminating a few sentences, he could have avoided this problem and made he review more thought out. Moreover, his various paragraphs could have been cut down a bit, getting to the point quicker and with less filler sentences. By reading over his review he could have avoided this problem and had a better flow throughout it.
Overall, this review was captivating and thought-provoking. I had never heard about this discovery of children’s bodies, so I was intrigued when I read Justin’s review. Thus, learning about this was very enlightening and taught me many new things. Reading this review made me realize that new things are being discovered everyday and that some very sinister events have happened in history.
Lucy Rizzo
February 7, 2018
Forensics
Current Event 17
Barry, Dan. “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?” The New
York Times, The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2018.
www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/world/europe/tuam-ireland-lost-children.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0
I read Justin McCarthy’s review of the article “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?”. There were many things that Justin did well in this review. Justin’s article covered the issue of Catholic un’s burying children remains in the sceptic system of one of their homes for unwed mothers. The majority of the Irish community follows the catholic faith and thus when young women become pregnant before marriage they are forced to give their child to a children’s home a few days after birth and are not allowed to see them or adopt them because they were born out of wedlock. Justin’s inclusion of direct quotes from the article made this very clear and easy to follow. I also liked how Justin included his own thoughts throughout the article and made his opinions present. Finally I think Justin did a good job giving background information on Dan Barry with his work in the case and also where (Barry) wants the case to go.
To further improve the article I think Justin could have made his thoughts a little more concise and clear. At some points in the review it was hard to follow the information flow. Justin also could have included more of the actual forensic involvement in the case because I felt that it was only mentioned it was a forensic science article, not the actual forensic work that was being put in the case work.
I had read the New York Times piece on this situation in Ireland a month or two ago when it first came to light and was immediately intrigued in my findings. I was drawn to Justin’s article because I wanted to know the further discoveries the case had made and what had progressed. Overall I was very pleased with Justin’s review and am intrigued to see what else develops from this case.
Mairead Cain
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics
28 February 2018
Barry, Dan. “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Jan. 2018.
www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/world/europe/tuam-ireland-lost-children.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0
Justin McCarthy did a very nice job with his current event review on the article “Agonizing Question for Irish: What to Do With Children’s Remains?” by Barry Dan. I decided to review his report because the article title was rather somber and I was curious as to what had happened. There are many good techniques he uses throughout his report. One example is how he thoroughly analyzes Barry Dan’s article. His focus on this analysis of the original report is important as it shows exactly what is at stake concerning the case at hand. Another aspect of Justin’s writing that was done rather well was when he provided a direct quote from the original report. This quote was beneficial to his current event report because it offers the reader direct information surrounding the topic at hand. Lastly, I appreciated how Justin when into specific detail concerning the author of the article, Barry Dan. His discussion of the author made the rest of his information seem that much more credible.
Overall, Justin's report was extremely interesting and informative when concerning the topic at hand. He handled this tragedy rather well through his writing. However, there are some details that he could tweak and add to make the current event report even that much better. I recommend that he explains the situation with a little more depth during the summary portion of his current event review. I was initially rather confused with the situation at hand and did not understand the entirety of the case until reading the original current event. It would have been beneficial for him to go into some detail about how this case affects the world of Forensic science. Also, there were several misspelled variations of the author’s name and at one point he referred to the Irish as “immigrants” despite the case actually occuring in Ireland and not America.
Before reading the report, I had little knowledge about this horrendous case and how deeply the locals are being affected. Countless people across Ireland have affected by the discovery of the deceased children, and after reading Barry Dan’s original article, I see now that this case has to be handled with the utmost respect and care.
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