Week #7 - February 27, 2017

Update: I did not quite finish the drafts of the technology papers. I want to do that before you revise. So, the revision/final draft will be delayed. I will notify you on Canvas when the papers are ready to be revised. I really do read your work and want to help you fine tune the grammar, usage, mechanics, and style.

On with Week #7! This is the final unit of the course. It will take two weeks to complete. This week is a time to gather information, to think, and to react to problems faced by the environment. As with any issue, there are at least two points of view. You cannot be wrong with your personal opinion as long as you support that vision with evidence.


You will be writing a problem/solution essay for the final essay. In addition, there are several shorter writing activities designed to get you to think and to clarify your point of  view.


Week #7 - Assignment #1 - A Walk with Mother Nature

Nature: What is Mother Nature Telling Us?

Take a 15 minute walk in nature. Search for messages from Mother Nature. Snap pictures or simply write descriptions of what you see and of the message you "hear."   Feel free to describe your pictures instead of posting them. I must confess that for the example I had to borrow a picture from the Internet. My picture of the same view came out huge! This is not a photo or technology activity. If you are struggling with the picture posting, just describe or borrow. The goal is to get you to think about nature and the environment.

Description of the picture – what did you see? 1. Example:	Message- what is it saying? Endure! Enjoy the spotlight or, in this case, the sun.  (Sometimes life is difficult, but we can take a message from the cactus and survive anyway. Did you know that these giants can live over 100 years? Perhaps struggles do make things stronger.)
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Activity #2 - Reading and Reacting (75 points total) 

A. "Saving the Songs of the Sea" by Jean-Michel Cousteau who is the son of Jacques Cousteau. He is the president of Ocean Futures Society. (25 points) 

Article: https://ginisnaturenews.com/about/about-gini/songs-of-sea-new-scan/

• Read the article.
• Select the three most powerful lines or phrases.
• In a sentence or two, explain why you selected the lines and phrases.
• Write a reaction to the selection and explain why you agree or disagree with the author's message. 

B. "The Bounty of the Sea" by Jacques Cousteau (25 points)

http://guitaremarine.deviantart.com/journal/The-Bounty-of-the-Sea-by-Jacques-Cousteau-231816293

Note: There is a lot of extra "stuff" at this link. Just read the article and answer these questions:

Before you read, define trawlers, effluents, buffer, and plankton. You will get more out of the reading if you understand the terms. 

• What is the message or thesis? Did Mr. Cousteau state it clearly in a sentence, or did he share the message differently. Explain.
• What evidence was provided that the ocean might be dying? Is the evidence convincing? Explain.
• In your own words, explain the greenhouse effect. (This term will come up again in this unit. )
• What will happen to humans?

C. "So Earth Had This Boyfriend" by Emily Levine (This is the original title of the article as it appeared in Detla Sky Magazine in April of 2010. ) (25 points)

http://emilylevineuniverse.com/bloggy.php/2012/04/22/earth-gets-its-groove-back-i-wish/

Note: The author uses humor to make a point. Not all people find humor in the same things.

• What is the message? 
• What examples are provided?
• Look at the organization. Was the use of a play format effective, or would some other pattern work better? Explain
• Was the use of humor effective? Explain. 
• Locate three lines that you would rate as strong, funny, or memorable. Explain why you made the selections. 

Activity #3 - Viewing - An Inconvenient Truth (75 points) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ5ug0QPJw8

This is an older award winning documentary on global warming. Try not to let your politics, ether pro or con,  get in the way of your viewing. 

An Inconvenient Truth – Questions (50 points)

After viewing the documentary, answer the following questions.  Post your answers on CANVAS. You do not have to write the questions, but you do need to number your answers.

1.       1. Why does the film open and close with serene images of nature: lush green leaves and a gently flowing river on a sunny day, followed by Al Gore’s voice-over about this peaceful place? What is the impact on the viewer?

2.     2.   In this film, Gore narrates a moment in 1989 when his six-year-old son dropped his father’s hand, ran into the street, and was severely injured. How does this personal story relate to Gore’s mission?

3.      3.  Much of the film consists of scientific facts and charts. Think back and answer the following:

·         4. Why do we have global warming?

·        5.  What is the relationship between carbon dioxide and temperature?

·       6.   How does global warming contribute to an increase in the number and severity of storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and typhoons?

·       7.   How can global warming cause both violent precipitation as well as droughts?

4.      8.  Explain the significance of each of these references from the film:

·         9. The findings of core drills

·         10.The thawing of the permafrost, the splitting of the Ward Hunt ice shelf, and the disappearance of the Larson ice shelf

·         11. The Arctic ice cap disappearing

·        12. The image of a canary in a coal mine

·        13.  The image of the frog in the cooking pot

5.       14. Cite three ecological consequences of global warming in the animal and plant communities.

6.     15.   Gore used quotations from several memorable people.  Explain how they apply to the topic of global warming.

• ·         Mark Twain: “What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know; it’s what we know that just ain’t so.”
•       Upton Sinclair: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” Cite  specific ways that this statement is illustrated throughout this film.
• ·         Stephen Pacala and Robert Socolow in Science magazine: “Humanity already possesses the fundamental scientific, technical, and industrial know-how to solve the carbon and climate problems.”

7.      16.  Explain the significance of the film’s title An Inconvenient Truth.

Once you have finished, in two or three paragraphs explain your position on the issue of global warming. Is it real? Would it happen anyway? Has it happened before? Might it happen with or without human intervention?  (25 points) 

Activity #4 - Get started - 

16 Easy Steps to writing a problem-solution essay 

https://letterpile.com/writing/How-to-Write-a-Propose-a-Solution-Essay 

Study the link.  

Now, think of a problem  related to nature that is important to you or that you wish to explore.

Start the process. Work through steps 1-5. In at least two sentences, tell me how you are progressing on the research. In addition, explain why you selected the topic. 

Activity #5 - Discussion Board (50 points) 

This week, discuss your favorite or least favorite place or experience in nature. Use your descriptive writing powers to show us the place or to help us to visualize the experience. Perhaps you remember vividly the first fish you ever caught. Maybe you want to write about what you did when you found a rattle snake on your porch. Whatever it is, make the experience or place come alive for us. 

Original post by midnight on Thursday - 

Other responses due by midnight on Sunday. 

Week #6 - A short week

 Week #6

I hope you enjoyed celebrating Presidents' Day!  Since this will be a shorter week, there will be fewer assignments! I can hear you cheering now!

One of the assignments will be for you to revise and post the final copy of your technology essay. I need a couple of days to review and give you tips before that happens. Please save time over the weekend to make the revisions as needed. I will finish by Friday afternoon or evening if not before.
 
This week you will be working on personal writing. Some books call this personal reminiscence. Others call it the personal essay. A few call it essay of experience. Still others refer to it as writing a memoir. Whatever you choose to call it, the instructions are somewhat the same.



Week #6 - Assignment #1 - What is a memoir?

Your first task is to find out how professionals write memoirs. Read "How to Write a Memoir."


https://theamericanscholar.org/how-to-write-a-memoir/#.WAhZ-48rKUk

Make a "Top 10" list of the best tips offered by William Zinssar. These tips should guide your own memoir writing. Explain how you will apply each tip to your own writing or share why it will improve your writing. 

Sample:  Zinssar noted about the history his own father wrote,  "He just wrote the way he talked, and now, when I read his sentences, I hear his personality and his humor, his idioms and his usages, many of them an echo of his college years in the early 1900s."  That line would make my Top 10 ." When writing a memoir, I try to remember that I am telling a story about me. I mentally pretend to tell the story to one of my own children or grandchildren, or someone far off in the future! I try to  talk on paper the same way I speak.

(30 points)

Week #6 - Assignment #2  - Sample Memoirs

If a picture is worth a thousand some sample essays are prieless! 

• • Read and analyze two samples:
  • "Working Cattle - We'd Hate to Love It" by Kevin Hoogendoorn  
  • http://english-iv-honors-e-block.sutton.hs.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/get_group_file.phtml?gid=4440989&fid=26275658 
  After reading, summarize the author’s message. What was the lesson learned? What is the moral of the story? Do you agree or disagree?
  • "Fish Cheeks" by Amy Tan (handout and http://www.mpsaz.org/rmhs/staff/dmsokol/101/files/amy_tan_fish_cheeks_.pdf
  Answer the questions that follow:
  Questions on Meaning – Numbers 2, 3, and 4
  Questions on Writing Strategy -  Numbers 1, 3, and 4
  Questions on Writing Strategy – Numbers 2 and 3

Week #6 - Assignment #3 - Memoir Writing (50 points)
Review:
1. A memoir is a true story.
2. You are the star of the story!
3. Conversation is more informal than formal. In other words, people sound the same way they talk. However, please used correct punctuation.
4.  A memoir is brief - 2 or 3 pages.
5. Use past tense - this is a story from the past. 
5. The memoir teaches a lesson of some sort. It makes a point. 

Some additional information and one more sample:   http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/personal.htm

Now,  it is your turn. Think of an event from your past that you would like to pass on to friends or family. I once wrote the story of the first fish I ever caught while fishing in Yellowstone with my dad.  I was about five at the time. I gave that story to my dad as a Father's Day gift years ago. He still talks about it. 

Here is a brief checklist to use after you have written your memoir. 

A. What is your point? What lesson did you try to teach?

B. What was the conflict> (You need one!)

C. Did you tell the story from your point of view? (1st person)

D. Did you tell where and when the story took place?

E. Did you tell the story in chronological order? 

F. What did you do to capture the attention of the reader in your opening paragraph? Look back at the sample essays for ideas. 

If you can check off A through F, then you are ready to post the draft! 

Week #6 - No Discussion Board - Just write!

Week #6 - Final Copy of the Technology Essay

Remember to save time this weekend to revise your technology essay. It will be due by midnight on Monday. 

Week #5 - February 13, 2017

Welcome to Week #5! You are officially half way through this course. Congratulations!  

I reviewed the drafts for your body art essays. Check your grade. Do not pass out when you see the grade of 5 instead of 50. If you have a 5, it is simply a place holder until you revise your draft. I either attached your essay with comments in red, or I made comments in the section for comments.

Revise your essay and attach it to a comment back to me. If that doesn't work, attach it to a Canvas message to me. Be sure to label the assignment and week. The information will help me to quickly change your grade to something much better than 5. 

Let me know if you have questions. By the way, you are excellent story tellers! Thank you for sharing your experiences.

Week #5 - Assignment #1 (100 Points)

Last week you started thinking about and gathering information for your Technology: Friend or Foe persuasive essay..

The first assignment this week is to interview one person who uses or avoids your chosen technological item. This item will be the focus of your entire essay. This will be a more thorough interview than  you conducted last week. However, you may still find the information from the initial interview useful. It is always good to have more information than you actually need in the essay.

Here are some reminders about conducting interviews.

1. Gather and share information about the interviewee. Demographic information might be useful in your essay.

Consider:

• Age
• Gender
• Amount of use
• Longevity of use
• Feelings about the item

Keep in mind, that the age of the person will determine some of your questions. If you interview someone from an older generation, that person might not have had access to the item when younger. For example, the Internet did not exist large scale 20 years ago. Cell phones were not the norm at that time either. If your interviewee is older, ask what life was like without the item? Was it better or worse?

2. Watch this video. You will see two interviews - one good and one not so great. Study both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t-_hYjAKww

Also watch the interview with Katie Couric for professional tips. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eOynrI2eTM

Your tasks follow:
A. After viewing the videos, make a list of  7 tips that you plan to implement when conducting your own interview.  Explain why each will be important. (21 points)
B. Create 10 questions to guide your interview. Post them. (20 points)
C. Conduct the interview.

•  Be sure to get the information about the interviewee along with the date interviewed. This may be a face-to-face, on-line, phone, or text interview. Be sure to note the method you used.  (9  points)
• In addition, list the questions and the responses. The list of questions you actually used may be shorter or longer than your original list for "A." (40 points)
• Also, write a reflection of the interview. How do you think it went? What did you find interesting? Did anything surprise you? If you were conduct this interview with another person, what would you change? What would you keep the same?  (10 points)

Week #5 - Assignment #2 (70 points)

This is a research assignment. Consult at least five reliable sources. Wikipedia is not acceptable. 

When taking notes, your may summarize, paraphrase, or use the information just as it is. Please review the following for information about avoiding plagarism:

See:
 http://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/avoiding-plagiarism/
and 

http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_plagiarism.html 
Be sure to click on the reddish items on the upper right hand side of the screen for specific examples.  
Task A:  In your own words, explain the differences among paraphrases, summaries, and direct quotations and common knowledge. How would each be documented, or would it?

 Task B: Search for information about the convenience of the item. People will be persuaded to use or avoid items based on the ease of use. Summarize, paraphrase, or directly quote the information.  Punctuate properly. Give credit to the source(s) in MLA style.
Task C: Search for information about the cost of the item. Include the cost to purchase and the cost to use. Money talks! People often make decisions based on the cost associated with ownership. Again, summarize, paraphrase, or directly quote the information. Give credit to the source(s) in MLA style.
Task D. Search for information about the safety of the item.
Again, summarize, paraphrase, or directly quote the information. Give credit to the source(s) in MLA style.
Task F: Search for information about the environmental impact associated with making, using, and discarding the item. Summarize, paraphrase, or directly quote the information. Give credit to the source(s) in MLA style.
Task G: Search for information about the impact that the item had or is having on society? How has society changed as a result of the use of the item? Summarize, paraphrase, or directly quote the information.  Give credit to the source(s) in MLA style. 
Task H: Search for information about the ethical concerns associated with the item. Summarize, paraphrase, or directly quote the information. Give credit to the source(s) in MLA style. 

Week #5 - Assignment #3 - Looking and evaluating a sample essay. (65 total points)

You are almost ready to write the draft of your persuasive essay. Before you begin, study the information at the following site. 
 
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/argument.htm

A. Learn how and why to use the following items in your writing. At the site, click on each for details. Pay attention to the information about correct citation. Summarize the information in a sentence or two. (25 points)

• Citing Authorities
• Using Personal Experiences
• Using Statistics
• Using Facts
• Using Analogies 
• Anticipating the opposition

 B. Carefully study the sample essay, "Cry Wolf." Pay attention to the annotations in the boxes. By studying the paper, you will get an idea of how to write and document a persuasive essay.

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/crywolf3.htm

OR

Study this sample essay written to persuade readers that cell phone use needs to be regulated on the highway.  Again, pay special attention to the annotations in the boxes.

http://content.bfwpub.com/webroot_pubcontent/Content/BCS_4/Hacker7e/Model%20papers/Hacker-Daly-MLA.pdf

After reading and studying one of these essays,  write a paragraph explaining what you observed, liked, or disliked about the essay. (20 points)

Write another paragraph explaining how you plan to go about organizing and documenting your own essay. (20 points)

Week #5: Assignment #4 - Write your draft. Post it! Here are the directions again: (100 points for the draft)

Technology – Friend or Foe?

For this essay, you are writing to convince the opposition. Consider the dangers and advantages of technology. For this essay, you must pick a side. Think of this essay as a debate on paper. You must know what the opposition thinks, but you do not support that point of view.

I.                    Introduction –

a.       Identify the specific technology you will be discussing – cell phone, computer, automobile, dishwasher, microwave, GPS, video games, etc.

b.      Capture the attention of the audience in the normal way with startling statistics, an interesting anecdote, a quotation from an expert, lines from a song or poem, a thought provoking question, etc. In short, make sure that what you say makes the reader want to know more.

II.                  In addition, state your thesis – make your point of view clear!

III.                The body of the paper will do several things –

a.       Convince the reader that they either need or do not need the technology.

b.      Provide a brief history of the specific technology you plan to discuss. What was life like before its invention? When was it invented? How has it evolved? What is its story?

c.       Provide clear evidence to support your point of view. You must have proof from at least four of the following:

                                                               i.      At least three experts/sources. You may use the articles studied in class and articles that specifically relate to your chosen technology.

                                                             ii.      A current news source such as a newspaper or magazine article or news cast.

                                                            iii.      An interview with at least one user.

                                                           iv.      A personal anecdote.

                                                             v.      Lines from literature – poem, short story, or novel. “There Will Come Soft Rains”  was a homework assignment.  You may use other SciFi literature.

                                                           vi.      A work of art

                                                          vii.      Strong statistics from an expert source.

The body of the paper will be several paragraphs in length.

IV.                Conclusion –

Wrap it up for the readers. Leave them with a call to action to either give up or get the gadget you are supporting. Be sure they know why they need or do not need one. Consider:

a.       Convenience

b.      Cost

c.       Safety

d.      Environmental impact

e.      Impact on society

f.        Ethical concerns

Assignment #5 - Week #5 - Discussion Board - (50 points)

Oprah has her favorite things. In The Sound of Music the character, Maria, sings about her favorite things. Some people have favorite places, pets, or activities. For this week's discussion, share your favorite person, place, thing, or activity! Maybe you love beaches. Perhaps your furry or feathered friend brings you joy. Sky diving might give you the thrill you need to carry on.  Whatever it is, please share. Tell the who, what, when, where, why, and/or how of the favorite.

Make your initial post by midnight on Thursday, February 16.

Respond to three other posts by 2:00 am on Monday, February 20, 2017.