Springfield Township High School
Graduation Project Annotated Bibliography
Student Name:
Annotation # 4
MLA Citation:
Weir, Kirsten. “Cancer Cluster”. Current Science. Vol. 93. Iss. 11; pg. 8. 1 Feb. 2008.
Proquest. 1 mar. 2011.
INFORMATION:
Author’s credentials: The author, Kirsten Weir, is a leading researcher in the field of cancer clusters.
She has researched and published many scholarly works pertaining to the subject. Weir has
interviewed many specialists who have also researched cancer, its causes, and locations where
cancer clusters have occurred. She uses in-text documentation in her article to site credible sources.
Scope and purpose of the work: This article functions as an informational report to impart information
and it does not try to persuade the reader about the author’s opinion. The article does create an
emotional response because it deals with cancer victims and how they might have gotten cancer from
the environment. The author’s details are backed with details, interviews with witnesses and specialists,
and she uses in-text documentation citing credible sources.
Intended Audience:
This article was written as an informative piece for a general audience. It uses simple language and
story formats to present factual and emotional information. The use of facts and expert testimony
makes the article useful for research purposes.
SUMMARY
Thesis or main idea:
The main idea or thesis of this article is that many people from the same locations are developing
various types of cancers. Thus those people in those areas may be developing cancer because of
something poisonous in the environment.
Summary of main arguments:
Weir states 1 in 3 Americans will develop cancer. She makes the point that many people in certain
areas are developing cancer. She states that poisonous elements being introduced to those
environmental locations may be causing the cancers. She introduces the town of Fallon, Nevada where
an abnormally high amount of cancer cases were discovered. These locations where cancer incidents
are occurring are called clusters.
EVIDENCE
Summary of evidence:
Weir introduces the fact that 1 in 3 people will get cancer and that certain areas have been pinpointed
as cancer cluster areas, areas where a great number of cancer incidents have occurred over time. She
mentions that the cause for this may be toxins being released into the environments in those areas.
She site the Fallon, Nevada case where many of the towns people have developed cancer. She brings
up the fact that there are other causes of cancer like cigarette smoking but that Fallon has an
overabundance of cases. Weir uses a specialist, Weimeis to validate her belief that Fallon has too
many cases of cancer and that it should be considered a cluster. She also talks about the causes of the
cancer like a metal refinery dumping tungsten into the environment and arsenic in the water supply.
EVALUATION
Evaluation of research:
The article is well researched and presented in a way that makes the reader want to research the topic
further. It is written in a thoughtful and logical way and sites specialists and uses in-text documentation
to site sources. The author is scholarly and published and uses specialists to support her facts.
Evaluation of scope: The topic is addressed and a case study is presented but only one location is
mentioned. No other studies are mentioned and opposing viewpoints are not really mentioned.
Evaluation of author bias:
The author clearly supports the idea that there are certain areas in the US where the environment has
been poisoned to the point where the people living there are developing cancer. This is such an
emotional issue it is hard for the author to remain objective. The author does site specialist’s opinions
and facts from the case but probably needs to present more on the other causes of cancer and their
availability in Fallon.
REFLECTION:
This source was very interesting and a good starting point for research. It does give an overview of the
Fallon cluster and offers some interesting statistics concerning clusters and cancer rates. The
information stated here supports my idea that there are areas in our country that have been damaged
environmentally and those areas have a high incidence of cancer. I will use this article in my research.