Summer Writings

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Week 6

Big Cypress National Preserve

Good morning.

Today we will review the work–summaries and poetry essays–submitted last week. We will then address the short report/essay (#5) you are to develop. The topic must be one which you can tie to the piece that you have summarized on climate change threats to our infrastructure and energy system. The idea is to expand on a subject by reviewing related topical material. A requirement is that you use at least three reports as source material. This means you will introduce each, summarizing the findings, provide some direct quotation, all of which should contribute to the thesis of the essay. You will have some time to complete the assignment in class.

Possible Topics (and you can think of more):

Measures being taken by individuals and organizations to confront the threat of climate change
Evidence of current climate and associated changes and consequences to life on the planet
Geographical areas and ecosystems now experiencing climate change impacts
The role of fossil fuels in fueling climate change
Sea level rise
Trees and Climate Change

Type the key words combined with plus signs into the search engine (I use Google) and see what news or reports appear. The Huffington Post, NASA, The New York Times, National Geographic, Treehugger, NPR.org, and many other sites regularly publish news on the environment in easy-to-find and read form.

Below is an example of one quarter's assignment, which began with an article about a cat that made a 200-mile journey home after getting lost.

Sample Cat Report (Essay 5):

Cats on the Loose: A Problem in Need of a Solution

For all the cat lovers who read the article by Pam Belluck titled “A Cat’s 200-Mile Trek Leaves Scientists Guessing” (New York Times January 19, 2013) it is perhaps comforting to learn that domestic cats have an as yet little-understood ability to navigate home over long distances. Holly, a four-year-old house cat, got lost on a family outing to Daytona Beach, Fla., and over the next two months walked to within a mile of her owner’s home in West Palm Beach, Fla. Fortunately, she was wearing a microchip that allowed rescuers to reunite her with her owners. Holly’s thinness and bleeding paws attested to the hardships of her journey and that she was lucky to survive. Scientists do not know how cats navigate over long distances. Writes Belluck, “There is in fact little scientific dogma on cat navigation. Migratory animals like birds, turtles and insects have been studied more closely, and use magnetic fields, olfactory cues, or orientation by the sun.”

But in other, less heart-warming reports, we have a joint study by the University of Georgia and National Geographic Society called Kitty Cams that confirms that cats given the freedom to roam often expose themselves to significant harm and pose significant threats to small mammals, reptiles, and birds living in the wild. The Kitty Cams study estimates that domestic cats may kill as many as half a billion birds or more and several billion small mammals each year. Another report by scientists with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute raised alarms worldwide in contending that “un-owned and owned free-ranging domestic cats kill between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and between 6.9 and 20.7 billion small mammals each year in the contiguous United States” (“Feral and Free-Ranging Pet Cats Kill Far More Birds in the Continental United States Than Previously Believed, Smithsonian Study Finds”). The study indicates, moreover, that “it is un-owned cats—such as farm and barn cats, strays, colony cats, and feral cats—that cause the majority of the mortality, roughly 69 percent of bird deaths and 89 percent of mammal deaths.” Scientists have concluded that cats represent a greater mortality threat to wild birds, whose numbers are declining, than other threats often cited such as environmental toxins, bridges, skyscrapers, and towers.

The reports of cat predation are being challenged by cat welfare advocates who see a threat to feral cat populations (Alley Cat Allies “Tell the Smithsonian: Stop Spreading Junk Science That Will Kill Cats!”). Neuter and spay programs have been very effective at reducing the number of stray and feral cats, and the number of cats being euthanized, but the population problem persists. The large numbers of colonies of feral cats, even those fed and cared for by volunteers, pose a risk to wildlife that many authorities see as untenable. Debate centers on how to effectively reduce the number of stray and feral cats and thus conserve and protect important wildlife species (Mott “U.S. Faces Growing Feral Cat Problem”).

As the owner of a cat that relishes the hunt, and succeeds far too often, I have concluded that my Ruby, an ordinary black short-haired domestic cat, will have to stay indoors far more often than she would like, for her own safety and that of the wild creatures that live in or visit my neighborhood.

Note: The report above does not include a Works Cited list, but it has the in-text references that provide readers the key terms (author and article title) that would be used in a Works Cited page list. The specific reference information and the order in which it is to be formatted is illustrated in the set of MLA examples below.

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Citing Sources in MLA Style

The primary reference is the author of the source, whose last name provides the key or first word to the source item as it is entered on the Works Cited page. This page contains an alphabetical list of all the sources cited in the report. Any directly quoted, paraphrased or summarized information should be referenced or cited in text and then included on the Works Cited page. Thus, on this page one finds the full bibliographic or publication information of each source cited in the report/essay.

The author’s name and the title of the piece should be included in the essay text along with whatever information item you have borrowed or used. This in-text reference may appear as a parenthetical citation (i.e. a set of parentheses like the one I am using now) containing the author's last name and perhaps a page number (for print sources typically) or text title. Sometimes an article or source being used may have no author named; in such instances, use the text title as the key term, the website name, or the most direct means of identifying the source. Do not put URLs in essay text.

At the following URLs you will find discussion of the MLA guidelines and illustrations for integrating sources:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/675/1/

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/

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The Works Cited format is here illustrated for some commonly used sources:

Individual Author of a Book

Hazzard, Shirley. The Great Fire. New York. Farrar, 2003. Print.

Article from a Printed Magazine

Jenkins, Lee. “He’s Gotta Play Hurt.” Sports Illustrated. 26 Oct. 2009: 42-3. Print.

Article from an Online Magazine

Bowden, Mark. “Jihadists in Paradise.” The Atlantic.com. Atlantic Monthly Group, Mar. 2007. Web. 8 Mar. 2007.

Article from an Online Newspaper

Richmond, Riva. “Five Ways to Keep Online Criminals at Bay.” New York Times. New York Times, 19 May 2010. Web. 29 May 2010.

Selection from an Online Book

Webster, Augusta. “Not Love.” A Book of Rhyme. London, 1881. Victorian Women Wrtiers Project. Web. 8 Mar. 2007.

Organization Web Page

“Library Statistics.” American Library Association. Amer. Lib. Assn. 2010 Web. 26 Feb. 2010.

Film

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Dir. Peter Jackson. New Line Cinema, 2003. Film.

Program on Television or Radio

“The Wounded Platoon.” Frontline. PBS. WGBH, Boston, 18 May 2010. Television.

Online Video Clip

Murphy, Beth. "Tips for a Good Profile Piece." Project: Report. YouTube, 7 Sept. 2008. Web. 19 Sept. 2008.

Advertisement

Feeding America. Advertisement. Time. 21 Dec. 2009: 59. Print.

Comic or Cartoon

Adams, Scott. “Dilbert.” Comic Strip. Denver Post 1 Mar. 2010: 8C. Print.

Personal, Telephone, or E-mail Interview

Boyd, Dierdra. Personal Interview. 5 Feb. 2012.

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Essay 5/Short Report, due week 6 (500 words): Use of references, formatting of quotations, and the avoidance of plagiarism is part of the essay practice. Learning how to find and use reference sources correctly and purposefully is an essential aspect of writing about subjects beyond your immediate experience and one that requires good reading skills and some measure of critical thinking and judgment.

Addressing current events and topics in the media allows you to tap the interest of readers who want to stay current and well-informed, and allows you to enter and shape the discussion as one who is well-informed and has something to add to the discussion, be it only your opinion. Use direct quotation in support of your claims, but don't overload the essay with quotations. Your voice should be the dominant voice. Identify the various sources you have used for content by author and/or title of work and tie the source information clearly to the specific content borrowed. There should be no confusion about which item of information came from where, or whose speech we hear in a passage. The in-text reference information provides the key word or words that will head each entry in the Works Cited list that follows the report. In essay 5, however, I am not requiring a Works Cited list.

Checklist:

*Make your thesis claim clear and provide adequate evidence to develop and support it

*Acknowledge all material borrowed from source texts.

* Use quotation marks around all language borrowed word for word

*Identify the author of each source in text or in parentheses following the information item.

*Use the article or website title as a source reference for works without identified authors.

*Review the basic pattern for creating entries on the Works Cited page.

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Essay 6 (due week 9, 500 words): An EyeWitness/Field Report

Reviews and descriptions of cultural fare–of nature parks, historical attractions, art exhibits and fairs, live music shows, restaurants, bars, and clubs old and new, sporting events, lectures, book signings and discussions, community classes and workshops –serve to inform people of what's going on about town and provide them incentive to get out and experience some of what the area has to offer. In this assignment you must report on a local place or local event from an eye-witness perspective–you must go there, experience whatever is on offer, and write about it in such a way that readers feel they have gotten to see and know the place through your first-hand experience of it.

The particular focus and perspective you bring to your subject, your knowledge and ideas and observations of it, and the degree of interest and engagement with the subject you show–these are central to the essay’s success. Whether you are visiting a park, a beach, a museum, theater, restaraunt, etcetera–descriptions of the scene or environs, the activity, the individual artworks, performances, ambiance, food, service, etcetera will bring the piece to life and convey a you-are-there sensation to readers. Your readers will be relying on your knowledge, powers of observation and storytelling abilities. Your informed judgment, taste, and opinions will be an important element. approach you create, the thesis idea controlling and unifying the work, will make for certain selections and emphases that reflect you the observer, your history, interests, tastes, etc.

The eye-witness report is a species of primary research. You may find you want background reading on whatever aspects of your subject require context, to fully develop your thesis or main ideas. To repeat, this essay will require you actually go somewhere in person and record material facts and observations before putting the piece together. Your thesis tells you what to include, to emphasize, and what to ignore. The essay should run a minimum of 5oo-6oo words, including introductory, body, and closing paragraphs, and title.

Remember the who, what, where, when, why roster of specifics.

If you were to visit an exhibit, you would include the museum name, location, and featured artist(s), including the exhibit’s run dates.

Focus would necessarily be on some theme observed in one or more works or overall. You would identify representative works (by title) and present a verbal description–medium, size, subject, form, and color–so that readers can "see" the work and understand the conclusions you draw from it. If you were to visit a natural area, you might tie the visit in to some current news (a news "hook") or ongoing area of interest (natural history/studies, ecology, environmental justice, marine life, art) to create audience appeal, to lend purpose and weight to the piece. Food culture is of great interest to many these days and offers many choices for primary research or "eye-witness" reports–green markets, restaraunts, bars, etcetera.

The field report (6) is due no later than week 9, though I prefer you submit it week 8, which will allow some time for revisions at the beginning of class week 8. Each of you will be responsible for reading your essay to the class week 8 or 9, and that presentation will be part of the grade you receive.

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Reminder: You must soon identify and begin to explore a subject or idea for a short research report on a topic of your choosing. Locate reading material relevant to whatever line of inquiry you intend. Week 10 or 11 you will have due a 700-word length essay in which you put across a claim made persuasive and credible by virtue of supporting facts, expert opinion, testimonials, logical inquiry, visuals, and, perhaps, emotional appeals to the reader's values.

University of Wisconsin Writing Lab: http://www.writing.wisc.edu/
On Comma Use and Common Mistakes: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E6D9163EF934A15756C0A9649D8B63

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Week 5

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than from the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. – Mark Twain

Good day! Hope you are well.

Today we will pick up where we left off last week.

You will have until break to finish, and then you must submit the essay. In the last half of the class we will address the summary assignment #3, the report/article you read and summarized for homework ( http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/11/us/climate-change-will-cause-more-energy-breakdowns-us-warns.html). This piece will serve in a forthcoming assignment as the initial ground or source of an essay that explores in greater detail one or another topics addressed therein. Thus we will begin writing essays that involve researching and documenting the literature and/or artifacts that inform our understanding of a given subject. For homework read the following essay, which appeared recently in Rolling Stone magazine, and explores the effects of climate change on the Miami area and greater south Florida: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-the-city-of-miami-is-doomed-to-drown-20130620

Due today (#3) is a short summary of the article "Climate Change Will Cause More Energy Breakdowns," written by John Broder and published in the New York Times. I will review the article with you all and give some time for final editing of the piece before its submission.

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After break, we will write a short explication and response to a poem (250-350 words, essay 4). The aim is to describe what the poem is about, its theme, and how the writer makes it happen. The practice is in presenting the text clearly so that readers can understand it well without necessarily having read it for themselves. Description of the piece and the drawing of its meaning are key. You must identify the poem by author and title, present a conclusion about it (your thesis point), and then to the discussion of its contents and the images and ideas it puts into play in support of your thesis. You will use direct quotation to illustrate some of the text's important lines to support your reading of its contents.

The following paragraph illustrates in brief an "explication" or description and interpretation of a poem by Tony Hoagland called "The Best Moment of the Night." To explicate is to describe and explain the meaning of, here, a poetry piece. We will review what it means to summarize and paraphrase, and how and why we use direct quotations and source references in expository essays and reports. Then you will write a short essay on the poem identified below. The format is illustrated here:

In a poem by Tony Hoagland called “The Best Moment of the Night,” he writes about an informal dinner party. The human guests are gathered around a table and beneath it is a dog whose eager affection strikes a chord in the poet and creates a “moment” (line 1). The dog, “down near the base of the butcher-block table/ just as the party was getting started” (lines 2-3) makes him understand something about his own isolation. He seems lovelorn, and when that dog offers up its belly to be petted–“the vulnerable belly” (line 18)– he momentarily admires it, and is warmed by it, for the dog is still “panting, and alive, and seeking love”(line 19) in a way that he, as a human, can’t readily be or do in front of the gathered guests.

The following URLs explain and demonstrate the ways that quotations of prose and poetry are presented and punctuated, along with whatever citations may be required: http://www.writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_quoting.html

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/03/

Essay (#4), to be completed in class: In short form (225-350 words) introduce, describe, and comment on the structure, development and theme(s) of the poem “Illumination,” by Eric Paul Shaffer. Use slashes to show lines breaks when quoting passages of three lines or less; use the block format for quotation of four or more successive lines. Include the MLA bibliographic information as it would appear on a Works Cited list at the bottom of the page.

Illumination by Eric Paul Shaffer

On those cold, clear winter mornings, I rise in the dark, and I sit
beneath a lamp with a pen and paper in a circle of light
barely bright enough for the work. The window beside me is black

and blank, and soon I’m staring only through the window of the page
at whatever I’m drawing from ink and concentration. Hours pass,
and, always when I least expect it, there’s a sudden tide of light

as the sun crests the mountain. When the first rays flood the fields,
the thin yellow curtain behind me brightens, and the room swells
with light. Everything is suddenly golden and illuminated,

and for just that one moment, I make the glorious and forgivable
mistake of thinking it has something to do with me.

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Writing the short report/essay with source references: Research begins with a subject focus and proceeds by study of the sources that shed light on the subject. Research sources are typically categorized as primary or secondary. The following URL provides a description of the distinctions made between the two: http://www.yale.edu/collections_collaborative/primarysources/primarysources.html

Those sources that help the writer to "prove" or advance the thesis point are essential. You as author must become something of an expert in your particular line of inquiry by studying your sources. Whatever the purpose and scope of your essay or report, you will draw upon the "truths" of your sources to help you make your point(s).

Turn to Broder's piece about energy. Why was it written? In what context(s) must it be understood? To what issues does it speak, what human interests and concerns? What further research might Broder's report invite? We will discuss in class the context of the report's publication and its topical links. Essay assignment #4 is to be a short essay that synthesizes material from several different source articles or artifacts that are topically linked to the Mckinley piece.

In research reports, each source must be clearly referenced in text by title and author or publication site if no author is named. The Modern Language Association publishes guidelines for writing in the humanities which we will follow. These include what are called in-text citations and a Works Cited list. We will look at the format further in weeks to come, but for now let me make a few points about the business of gathering information, which, naturally, is how we become informed.

Whatever the topic– literary, political, environmental, economic–our first understandings often arise through personal experience and/or casual exposure. We may have learned something of WWII from our grandparents, who lived through it and have told us stories, for example. We may have served in the military and thus have direct insight into the impact of war on individuals and society. We may have read novels, histories, watched documentary films, or listened to the testimonials of those who have born witness to war. We may read the daily news reports of wars near and far. We may have visited the great battlefields of Gettysburg or elsewhere. And we may have formed certain conclusions, however tentative, about the nature of war and its historical use by governments in pursuit of whatever aims. So we may have a store of experience and information that informs our attitudes. Yet we may never have put together an essay that provides the telling examples, personal voices, eye witness accounts, and expert opinions that provide the persuasive account of why we feel as we do. In fact we may never have gathered it all together for synthesis and analysis. But that's what we do when we research a matter or issue.

We may use dictionaries to help us define words and terms that may be unfamiliar, encyclopedias to get concise facts and history, and the news media to learn of events large and small and the range of popular and expert opinion on a given matter. We may include the artists whose works give us imaginative insight, and the personal stories that come to us by so many means. What have the many who have weighed in on any subject had to say? Expository essays are built on writing that is informative, based on the most credible and recent information, with the express purpose of conveying to readers a clear understanding of the issue or matter. There may be a personal story or basis to the writing, but reference to the work or ideas of others is necessary, in the form of description, summary, paraphrase and direct quotation, synthesis, and logical analysis. You as author control the material and remain the dominant voice throughout. It is your thesis idea, your conclusion that unifies and drives the development and choice of sources used in support.

An essay on some aspect of culture and society today, for example, would necessarily be informed by the writer's particular knowledge of the subject, which comes from familiarity with the literature and artifacts of that aspect of culture and society. You might, for example, watch a film ( a primary source), and then record your responses, questions that arise, evaluations of the actors, the plot, script, cinematography, etcetera. You read everything you can find about the making of this film. You review what has been written or broadcast by others about the film (secondary sources). Finally, you write a piece that incorporates important aspects of the film's creation, aspects of its cultural importance, the critical responses of film experts or credible reviewers, and of course your own thoughts and conclusions on whatever you have deemed the most important focus in writing about the film.

-------------- Essay work should always advance a point, that is, a thesis, always an arguable claim, and one that tries to convince readers of the truth or soundness of some position, or perhaps to do something, take a stand, too. Essayists may explore a topic so that readers are in a position to make an informed decision, without themselves insisting on a single position or interpretation of events. The thesis may address an issue that has no ready or absolute answer, nor one readily verified by resort to factual report, but one that must be grappled with and that challenges readers to define their values and beliefs.

Argument or fact? Facts do not stand alone. They are put to use, interpreted, sometimes misinterpreted. Which of the following statements convey matters of fact? Which are claims, opinions?

*Recent severe weather events have been caused by climate change.

*Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

*Van Gogh’s work is that of a madman.

*Plastic bags are polluting the seas.

*Consumers must reduce their carbon footprint.

*The average temperature of the earth has risen over the last century.

*Glaciers are melting at a rate unprecedented in modern times.

*Climate change is a dire threat to the existence of life as we know it.

*The existence of God is a myth.

The argument is to be built around an arguable claim, that is one about which reasonable people could reasonably disagree. It should be supported with reference to your readings, expert or authoritative findings, factual support and logical analysis. First-person experience and appeals to common sense and human values count, too.

Consider the following thesis: The use of plastics worldwide must come under closer scrutiny and regulation.

Readers may now want to know why, and how the issue affects them and, indeed, if there is anything they might do to help resolve the issue. Your sources provide background information, demonstrate your knowledge of the topic, provide authoritative support and perspective, and show the range of perspectives possible, in fairness to differing opinions.

Our ideas, whether commonly held or no, are rooted in traditional areas of study reflecting the history of human thought, values, attitudes, and tastes, and conduct. These study areas include philosophy, religion, nature, aesthetics, science, ethics, education, etcetera. Our most closely held beliefs and attitudes reflect very often our unexamined ideas about the nature of love, faith, trust, loss, betrayal, goodness and evil, freedom, sanctity, the very meaning of life. Whether we focus on Washington and the shenanigans that make the nightly news, bioengineering, Facebook, legal injustices, or the most recent individual or "hero" making a positive difference in the world, our beliefs, associated ideas, and feelings define us as human beings. In choosing a research topic you will tap into some subject about which you feel strongly and have clear enough knowledge to put across a cogent argument or position, as supported also by fact and opinion gathered from your reading of available literature.

*Select material for quotation on the following bases:

1) -the wording is particularly memorable, to the point, and not easily paraphrased

2) -it expresses an author’s or expert’s direct opinion that you want to emphasize

3) -it provides example of the range of perspective

4) -it provides a constrasting or opposing view

*See http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/675/1/ for MLA formatting rules and examples of direct quotation. The OWL site offers fairly comprehensive discussion and examples of presenting and documentaing primary and secondary source material.

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*Field Report: The field report must be done on your own, and requires you report from an eye witness perspective on some event, natural feature, business and so on that is part of our local community–Monroe, Dade, Collier, Broward, or Palm Beach County. We will discuss it further and I'll provide examples.

Citing Sources in MLA Style

To document your research sources, whether from an article in print or online, an encyclopedia or dictionary item, an interview source, a film, photograph, illustration or other visual material– there is a standard means. The primary reference is the author of the source, whose last name provides the key or first word to the source item as it is entered on the Works Cited page. This page contains an alphabetical list of all the sources cited in the report. Any directly quoted, paraphrased or summarized information should be referenced or cited in text and then included on the Works Cited page. Thus, on this page one finds the full bibliographic or publication information of each source cited in the report/essay. The author’s name and the title of the piece should be included in the essay text along with whatever information item you have borrowed or used. This in-text reference may appear as a parenthetical citation (i.e. a set of parentheses like the one I am using now) containing the author's last name and perhaps a page number or text title. Sometimes an article or source being used may have no author credit; in such instances, use the text title as the key term.

The following URL displays the MLA guidelines and illustrations for integrating sources: