The Curious Reader - Introduction: Exercise 2

1. "It is human to rail against nature from time to time, and it may even be human nature."

2. "In great concentrations, the birds produce especially damaging piles of droppings, stuff that not only turns marble to dust but can be an ideal medium for fungus that can cause histoplasmosis and cryptococcossis, both lung infections in humans ("Health Hazards"). It costs the city of London $150,000 a year to clean up pigeon poop in Trafalgar Square alone ("Proposed")."

3. Ballenger was trying to understand why people both love and hate pigeons (nature). By the end of the essay, Ballenger came to understand that our connection with nature and our separation from it, is always conflicting.

4. When writing my research essay a method I would use is experiences and surprising facts in order to entertain my readers while still supporting my thesis.

5. "The Bothersome Beauty of Pigeons" was unlike what I understood to be a research paper because it was informal and used 1st person. Ballenger also seemed to use more of his own experience and opinions rather than facts to support his thesis. I believe writing an informal research essay would be more interesting for me; however writing it formally would be more of a challenge and would force me to use outside research and not my own.

6. I could relate to how people get irritated of all the pigeon droppings in big cities, but yet when you see them flying overhead or near by you can't help but admire them. I learned that pigeons may be smarter than we think, and that they probably feel the same way about us as we do about them.