Do We Really Need Sleep?

Brittany Newsome

Shelly Yarbrough

ENG 111-12SS

June 14, 2013

Do We Really Need Sleep?

Sleep. It's a word that most of us are very familiar with. We encounter some form of sleep every day. It's common for us to experience sometimes too little and sometimes too much sleep but it's very rare for us to actually get the adequate rest we need. This is all because we do not completely understand the true value of sleep. William C. Dement and Christopher Vaughan works to give us a clear understanding of this concept in the article "Sleep Debt and the Mortgaged Mind." William and Christopher informs it audience on what sleep debt is and how it truly affects our bodies and minds. Even though the organization of this article was in a way you can understand, the real issue that was present and needing to be discussed was not put into thought until later on in the article. The article is overall well written, highly expressing the concern in which it's trying to get its audience to understand and providing great support.

Sleep is a very important concern in today's society. This article is completely reaching out to everyone, as we all experience sleep in our lives every day. Even though we endure some type of sleep, do we really know what this means to us? We should be educated on what sleep debt is, how it really affects us, and what steps we can take to improve our habits. Many of us are suffering from sleep debt, and most people do not really know exactly what it means and how it can severely affect them. However, it can have an impact on everything we do especially when it comes to carrying out our everyday lives.

I did notice a few organizational problems within this easy. The article started off with the present issue "The huge tanker ran aground, spilling millions of gallons of crude oil into the sound." (Dement-Vaughan 497) This issue is important as it may relate to sleep debt but this issue was discussed all the way up to the ninth paragraph. The real issue that was present and the informative aspect of sleep debt was not addressed until the fifteenth paragraph. That is a humungous stretch and it should be brought forth before then in order to positively affect the reader. Even though the lengthiness of the supporting examples could negatively affect someone to keep on reading, once the real issue is present, the audience is brought back into a positive state. This point of the article brings me to noticing exactly what strengths is present.

The article really went in depth on the importance and the effects of sleep debt. One point that really caught my attention, " We use the term "sleep debt" because accumulated lost sleep is like a monetary debt: it must be paid back."(Dement-Vaughan