Theme
The five articles have a common theme which revolves around the role of the brain in dreams. In this case, a theme is the main message that the author of the article intends to deliver to the targeted audience. The article about The Old Wise Man focuses on the contributions made by psychologists such as Freud and Adler in their attempt to explain behavior as a result of the activities of the mind which includes both the conscious and unconscious mind (Burrow, 2007). The article also provides Carl Gustav Jung idea on the unconscious mind which he states that it is not part of the brain that holds difficult experiences deposited by the conscious mind, but rather it is a storehouse which stores both good and evil experiences.
Secondly, the What DREAMS Are Made Of article aims at providing its audience with technology theme and how it is being used to reveal the work of the brain while people are sleeping. The article elaborates to the audience how technology such as scanning has been used to interpret the mind of individuals when sleeping (What are dreams made of, 2011). Thirdly, the article Last night I had the strangest dream focus a Japanese research that has shown the relationship between images people seen when awake and their dreams. In the article, a decoding machine provides brain images that people see when sleeping which correspond to what they saw while awake ((Wolman & Kozmová 2007). Lastly, To Sleep, Perchance to Dream--But Why article evaluates today view of sleeping and dreaming theme and concludes that sleeping improves memory while dreaming involves the brain transforming new memories into a permanent form and then stores the information in a mental context before giving it meaning (Schmid, 2008).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Evidence
A shred of proof is used to determine the validity of the information provided by an article. In this case, the reports are based on researchers and existing literature which serve as evidence. The old wise man article argument relies on Sigmoid Freud contribution to psychology and especially the view of the unconscious mind as the driving force behind behavior. Secondly, the article also focuses on Vienna's Alfred Adler, who criticized Freud's views and argued that human behavior arises from drives of power which are as a result of an inherent feeling of inferiority (Burrow, 2007). Finally, the article uses Jungian views to explain the role of the unconscious mind as a storehouse for both good and bad experiences.
On the other hand, What DREAMS Are Made Of article also uses research and studies to explain dream concepts. For example, the article makes use of Rosalind Cartwright, the chairperson of the department of behavioral science at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and a dream researcher to explain the concept that the brain is active even when sleeping (What are dreams made of). The article also utilizes William Domhoff view which is based on a study of themes and images preserved in a databank of more than 16,000 dreams. Finally, the article also used some findings such as scan result to establish the relationship between images viewed while awake and when sleeping, and also statistics obtained from the discovery of rapid eye movement sleep tests (What are dreams made of, 2011).
Additionally, Last night I had the strangest dream article uses data obtained from a study involving volunteers to sleep severally in the inside "functional" magnetic resonance imaging machines to determine whether or not the brain function as wakeful or not while asleep (Wolman & Kozmová 2007). Lastly, To Sleep, Perchance to Dream--But Why article uses two experiment to determine whether or not sleep interfered with the participants' memory of words (Schmid, 2008). Importantly, the pieces of evidence used in the articles are varied and measurable, and also they are subjected to criticism or further research to determine the validity of the information provided. This is because the experiments and literature can be carried out again and accessed respectively. Lastly, the shreds of evidence are reliable because the sources of information which are books are convenient and trustworthy.
Purpose
The Old Wise Man article is consistent with its evidence and also uses different points of views to help the reader clearly understand the topic, hence, persuading the view to make a concert solution about the issue. For example, the author uses Freud's argument as well as that of Vienna's Alfred Adler to support the role that the unconscious mind in influencing behavior and dreams (Burrow, 2007). The author also provides a different idea based on the Jungian argument to enable the reader comprehend the issue and make an appropriate conclusion.
Secondly, What DREAMS Are Made Of article aims at informing its audience of how technology have been adopted in the health sector to determine the functions of the brain when a person is asleep (What are dreams made of, 2011 ) . The article have successfully managed to educate the reader on various issues that have been found through technology such as scan to influence an individual's dreams, and real life experiences such as individuals are considered to be innovative in dreams, and also people performed a learned task more efficiently after sleeping. When exploring the article from a broader view it failed to educate the reader effectively on how the technology have been used interpreting the brain functions while sleeping, and this is because the article put a lot of emphasis on factors that influence a dream.
Last night I had the strangest dream material is also persuasive as it uses data and facts to explain how brain scan have been used to evaluate the relationship between images that individuals seen when awake with those witnessed in a dream. The author has managed to persuade the reader because there are facts and data obtained from experiments that show a significant relationship between images in the dream with those images viewed while awake (Wolman & Kozmová, 2007).
Lastly, To Sleep, Perchance to Dream--But Why article focuses on informing the reader on the role of dream in calming patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (Schmid, 2008). Also, the article aims at persuading the reader to agree with the author's stand that dreams are symptoms of memory processes that convert a new idea into permanent forms, set it into memory context and then interpret the new idea. Unfortunately, the author fails to elaborate to the audience how dreams result in a calming effect for post-traumatic stress disorder patient, hence, failing to archive the informative role.
References
Burrow, T. (2007). The theories of Freud, Jung and Adler: II. Notes concerning Freud, Jung and Adler. The Journal Of Abnormal Psycho logy, 12(3), 161-167.
Schmidt, J. (2008). To sleep, perchance to dream but why and how ?. Psyccritiques, 53(10).
What are dreams made of ?. (2011). New Scientist, 210(2809), 48.
Wolman, R. & Kozmová, M. (2007 ). Last night I had the strangest dream: Varieties of rational thought processes in dream reports. Consciousness And Cognition , 16(4), 838-849.
