I read two articles for this exercise by Arthur Allen, "Say It Ain't So, O" and "True Believers". The articles are very fact oriented. Both dealt with the topic of vaccines causing autism and included quotes from credible sources. The style of both these pieces reminds me of typical newspaper writing with a little more personality. The "Say It Ain't So,O" article started with more of a casual writing style (i.e. "Pointless as this may be, though, I will try to talk some sense into Oprah Winfrey, who has decided to go into business with vaccine skeptic Jenny McCarthy."). This is a very casual passage from the first paragraph, which explains the reason for writing the article. However, this paragraph gives way to a more professional tone for the rest of the article (i.e. More than a dozen studies, as well as trend data from California and other states, show that neither the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal nor the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine causes autism."), which is interspersed with bits of personality (i.e. "For some reason, Oprah and the rest of the entertainment world treat McCarthy as if she were Mother Theresa kissing lepers or Nelson Mandela denouncing apartheid."). This demonstrates the tone for the rest of the article, which is more professional and fact based.

Both articles are easy to read closely and relatively easy to browse. The paragraphs are short, and the topic sentences give a good idea of what information the reader should expect to find in the paragraph. The articles also both flow logically and have good transitions between paragraphs. For example, in "True Believers", a paragraph ends with "In rational choice theory, what appear to be crazy choices are actually rational, in that they maximize an individual's benefit—or at least make him or her feel good.", the next paragraph begins with "Blaming vaccines can promise benefits."

Allen also elicits an emotional response with his writing. This is mostly done by pointing out the ridiculousness in the arguments of those who disagree with his viewpoints. In "Say It Ain't So, O", he points out the flaws in the argument against vaccines posed by actor Jim Carrey. "At the rally last year, I asked Carrey to give an example of a childhood vaccine we could dispense with. Tetanus, he said. That answer did not reflect a strong—or any, really—grasp of infectious diseases. Children who get tetanus...suffer horrendous pain, arch their backs, and go into terrible spasms before dying. It's a very natural disease, to be sure, because the germ causing tetanus lives in dirt. It's a germ that will be with us forever, and the only way to prevent it is through vaccination." The very controversial nature of his topics also can cause emotional responses in readers.

I found that the slate prose style was easy to read and suitable for computer screens. The articles had plenty of white space and short paragraphs. I also enjoyed being able to read the comments on the articles at the bottom of the page, and sometimes found myself clinking on the links within the text to find out more information. The one thing that I found very distracting, however, was the giant ad in the middle of the article, which forced the reader to scroll down to find out whether the article continued or not.