Week 10

Good afternoon!

Today we will continue working on the final project.   If you have not yet chosen a topic, today is the day to do it.  

Review the stories in the various topical sections of a comprehensive daily news source or  a story you have heard something about, get the facts, follow links and other associated articles and then tell the story and what makes the story or reports important or interesting specific ways.  Make a central point (thesis point) about the material you have gathered together. Integrate the several sources as evidence for the point you make.  Compose the short Works Cited list of those sources you have named (cited in the body of the essay). Edit.  Revise.  Put a title on it.  You are done!

     Next week is the last week of class and a short essay assignment will be asked of you from a set of topics that require no research or prior readings. 

Extra Credit:  Go to the Modern Love column at the New York Times online.  Choose from the recent or archived essays one that appeals to you.  All are first-person narrative essays on the subject of romantic love.  Briefly describe (include title and author and post date) the content and then respond to the work by drawing out the associations and thoughts it gives rise to in you.  You may include a story of your own that serves as commentary or illustration of what you find interesting in the piece. 400-500 words, titled.

Week 9

 

“The man who has forgotten to be thankful has fallen asleep in life.”   

                                                                                           –Robert Louis Stevenson

 It is week nine, which means of course that we have just two weeks to completion of the quarter.  Thus far you have been assigned a total of 7 essays;   your short research project (7), and the in-class final (8) remain.  The in-class final is to be done in class week 11, not at home.  The field reports are due today.  If you have yet submitted the short poetry explication (5) that, too, is due.  We will look at the results of your scoutings from the field (*-*)  and then allow time for the short report work, to discuss potential topics, directions and the MLA guidelines for source integration, and time to begin drafting the short report.  It should be finished by the end of class next week.

Essay 7:  Short research report with MLA Works Cited list:  in 700 words or more report on a topic or issue with contemporary relevance about which you can find timely, authoritative primary and secondary source material, as in recently published news, scientific reports or articles, reviews, books,  films or photos, etcetera.  Title the piece and double-space the lines.  Include in-text references to source material and a Works Cited list arranged in alphabetical order.
    Your thesis should be clear early in the paper and provide you a means of knowing what material to include and what not.  Ask yourself : Does this source or material contribute to "proving" or elaborating my point? If so, include it; if not, don't.  Know your purpose and the direction you want to take readers by final draft.  Initial stages may feel like so much groping in the dark and that's fine, but by the end you should have learned where you want to go and what you want to say in certain terms.

Research Topics (only suggested)

1.  Threats to the environment and/or wildlife species (think climate change, habitat loss, pollution, overfishing).

2.  The technology race. New Products.  Consumerism.  Or what did you buy on Black Friday, Cyber Monday?

3.  The economy/ best ways to stretch a dollar.

4. The high cost of education today/career planning and management.

5.  The struggle to legitimize gay marriage/ marijuana use/ protect women's reproductive rights/ you-name-it.

6.   Fast food: The real costs.

7.  Great food ideas/new trends in culinary arts and/ or agricultural practice.

8.  New media/new opportunities.

9.  A film study, new film or old.

10. An individual or company making a positive or negative difference.

I can look at drafts today of whatever work you have in progress, time permitting.  Rewrites and any outstanding assignments must be submitted by the last class.

Again,  week 11 a  final essay of 500 words will assess key composition skills, including grammatical sentences, unified and well-developed paragraphs, support for your thesis, and sound use of references and direct quotation, if called for.  You will have a set of topics to choose from and one or more required readings.  The Internet may be a source of content.  This final must be done in class.

Week 7

  

Illumination

To begin today we will review the work and page notes of the last few weeks and the assignments due in the coming weeks.  The quarter is fast coming to a close.  Be mindful of the work that must be completed to pass this English class.

A quick recap of recent work:

      Essay 3: summary of the autobiographical essay  "The Ordinary Miraculous."

   
      Essay 4:  a short report stemming from the article "Strange Animal Friends," published in the NewYork Times.  I'd like to look at a few, in fact, during class; by means of the shared drive the entire class may profit from the individual work you have composed.

      
      Essay 5: a poetry explication of the free verse poem"Illumination," by Eric Paul Schaffer.

      Essay 6:  a local field report, due week 9 for presentation (see last week's blog and handouts distributed last week for a more complete review of what I am asking for).

      Essay 7: a short report with full MLA documentation, due week 10, by the end of class.

      Essay 8:  an in-class essay final, due at the end of class week 11.

All of the assignments above are geared to writing that takes account of the creative work and research or reporting of others and that requires accuracy in representation and the use of textual evidence in support of claims, the sine qua non of academic writing.

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Practice 
--------------Writing About Images

We experience the world through our senses and mind. Color, shape, sound, scent, texture, taste, composition and words play endlessly in our perceptual fields.  Think of the images that culture produces–photographs, films, commercials, drawings, paintings, cartoons, logos, graphics, etcetera.  What can one learn from visual representations?  Can one analyze the particular messages or meaning conveyed, interpret the story told, point or theme illustrated?  Indeed, whether we want to understand the documentary value or aesthetic appeal, or the social, political, or economic interests and attitudes that an image represents, close study can be fun and insightful.

How do advertisers get us to buy?  What makes a particular photograph resonate?  What storylines or themes implicit in images make us pause?  How to begin identifying or “reading” the source content?

The following guidelines should help you write cogently about visual representations:

Source, Purpose, Audience

*Identify the context of the image(s) or video; that is where and how it has been published and distributed or exhibited.  To what end or purpose was it created, and by whom?

*What audience does the image address or appeal to?  How so?

*What is the most prominent element or figure in the image?  And the primary focal point? 

Objects, Figures, Story

*Identify the important objects and figures of foreground and background, consider the literal and expressive details of each, and their collective arrangement in the composition. 

*What story or event is depicted or implied?

*What mood or emotion or idea(s) are put in motion by the use of light and dark, color, balance or lack thereof, the use of white space, graphic text or other elements, etcetera?

Take Away Meaning

*To the extent the image persuades by feeling, mood, dramatic content, and so on, what is to be learned?

What do the uses of the image suggest about culture, politics, social life, art, history, the human condition?

Essay Practice (when we get the time): We will be writing about a single image or video piece, and its bearing on the larger issue(s) to which it speaks.  On your own or as a group then, we will focus on the written presentation of visual imagery, subjects yet to be decided.  Museum or gallery art works would of course make for ideal practice as the field trip will call for such.

Some options we will consider are listed below.   Keep track of titles, authors, photographers, and posting sites so that MLA documentation can be completed.

(1)  The following URL affords a fairly extensive photo archive that we will use for class practice in presenting and interpreting visual images.  You will choose one image for a short work of 350-500 words that describes the image and the idea(s) it serves to illustrate or the questions to which it gives rise, whether social, historical, political, philosophical, aesthetic, technological, existential . . . .  You must have a point to make in addressing the image and support that point by means of reference to the image.  You do not have to be an expert on the subject the image addresses or implies, but you should be able to identify something about its impact and merits to make an interesting short essay.

http://search.time.com/results.html?Ntt=2012+photos&x=0&y=0

http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2013/02/20/world_press_photo_2013_awards_announced_for_the_prestigious_international.html

(2)  Some online periodicals provide a fairly large number of the work of cartoonists, who offer perspectives on matters making the news, in politics, sports, environment, etc.  Choose one from the daily offering or the archives, describe the image and any accompanying text, the artist or author, and the story, matter, or issue it addresses.  You can google key words associated with the pictured material, and find recent news reports that may enhance your understanding of what is being depicted.  Humor is typically an important element in cartoon work and you may have fun presenting readers the material.  Avoid selecting any piece you do not get.  350-500 words, titled, double-spaced lines.

One site:

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/politicalcartoons/ig/Political-Cartoons/

You should include references to authors or relevant sources in text and at the bottom of the piece in the MLA format.

*  The world of images obviously exceeds the postings above, and if you have some alternative image example, you may elect to work with it.  

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Week 6

Good morning.

Today we will review the work–the summaries –submitted last week on "This Is Your Brain on Drugs," (3).   We will then address and work to finish the short report/essay (#4) you were to develop in draft over this last week.  The topic must be tied to the piece you summarized on creativity as an academic course.  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):

• Marijuana Cultivation, Sale, and Use 
• Marijuana's History in Human Culture
• Pros and Cons of Marijuana Legalization
• The Midterm Elections/Legalization State by State

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, The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, NPR.org, and many other sites regularly publish news and feature reports on current and perennial topics.

Here's an example from a previous quarter, on the topic of creativity:

On Being Creative

A recent article in the New York Times titled "Learning to Think Outside the Box," by Laura Pappano, reports that college degrees are now being awarded in the study of creativity and that those who earn such degrees, by some accounts, have proved themselves to be creative problem solvers, people who can think outside of the box, which might make them strong candidates in the current job market as certain employers prize creativity.  It may seem awkward to speak of majoring or minoring in creativity per say, that is, separate from any specific field or endeavor, and in fact in several of the courses mentioned the work required appears rather academic, a traditional process requiring study of the literature on creativity and representative individuals, personal observation and self-reflection, analysis of a problem, discovery, and invention:

In Dr. Burnett’s Introduction to Creative Studies survey course, students explore definitions of creativity, characteristics of creative people and strategies to enhance their own creativity. These include rephrasing problems as questions, learning not to instinctively shoot down a new idea (first find three positives), and categorizing problems as needing a solution that requires either action, planning or invention. A key objective is to get students to look around with fresh eyes and be curious. The inventive process, she says, starts with “How might you…”

If the course were Composition 101, similar strategies might be used to enhance student awareness of how good writing gets done.  The centrality of trial and error to all creative endeavour is a key takeaway in creativity studies; one teacher dubbed his course “Failure 101” to emphasize the fact.  Indeed, “his favorite assignment” sounds much like a writing assignment:  “Construct a résumé based on things that didn’t work out and find the meaning and influence these have had on your choices.”  He asks students to connect the dots in their life, and to redefine failure in the context of the larger journey.  Indeed, I believe we accomplish little if we are unwilling to risk failure or to grope our way instinctively through the psychological turmoil and darkness of inexperience, ignorance, and, at times, ineptitude.  But we must till we find our footing, else we risk accomplishing little and losing touch with that which gives life real zest, meeting the challenges life poses. 

Humans are naturally creative, we have had to be in order to survive; our world is increasingly a world of made things and the best of them, utilitarian or artistic, serve to make living easier and richer:  a chair provides comfortable rest, a bowl, fork and spoon practical means of conveying food to our mouths, clothing warmth and protection, and story, poetry, music, film and all the arts ancient and modern, above all, sustenance for our souls.  The more we develop our creative capacities the more potential we have to enhance our lives and those of others.  The old myth is that creative endeavor requires some sort of divine gift or genius, but giftedness may be greatly overrated.  Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in Human, All-Too Human (1878) about the process artists must dedicate themselves to in order to achieve greatness:

Artists have a vested interest in our believing in the flash of revelation, the so-called inspiration . . .[shining] down from heaven as a ray of grace.  In reality, the imagination of the good artist or thinker produces continuously good, mediocre, and bad things, but his judgment, trained and sharpened to a fine point, rejects selects, connects . . . All great artists and thinkers [are] great workers, indefatigable not only in inventing, but also in rejecting, sifting, transforming, ordering.         (qtd. in Shenk)

            One has only to read the history of any great artist to discover the artist’s commitment to a process whereby natural endowments or talents were honed by experience and training and a sense of purpose that outweighed the considerable difficulties of achieving work of great merit. Stephen McCranie, a young commercial cartoonist, writes and illustrates a blog called DoodleAlley  detailing some of his creative “issues” in a fresh and clear style, some of which the frame here illustrates.

            At  Youtube, a marvelous addition to the world of made things, one can watch the posts of the ice skating finals at the Sochi Winter Olympics, and marvel at the athletic skill, power, daring, and grace of reigning champion Yuan-Kim and others in faraway Russia, long after the games have ended, or listen to the recordings of artists and thinkers now dead.  Today we have so many sources and models of inspired work we can feel overwhelmed, but the problems and challenges of the 21st century remain and will require news ways of thinking to meet them. It seems to me creativity is part and parcel of surviving and thriving. 

Shenk, David.  The Genius In All Of Us.  New York. Random House, 2011. Print.

Below is another 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 4):

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

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 (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:  You must attend in person a local event, community function, business enterprise, entertainment venue, museum, restaurant or hotel establishment, nature preserve or park, area of historical interest, etcetera– in order to gather information from direct experience.  You cannot rely on the reports of others or the site's own published information alone.  The writing of the piece requires you bring to readers the vicarious experience of being there in person. themselves; that is, by engaging readers in your own experience on the ground.  Background research may help fill out and provide context for the report of course, and you are encouraged to find out as much as you can in the way of origins or history of the establishment, event or area for possible inclusion in the 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), 500- 700 words,  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

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, reviewing the autobiographical narratives individually assigned and the summary of Cheryl Strayed's  "The Ordinary Miraculous." You were to follow the format illustrated in the class handout on using summary, and to do it for practice. You earn participation points for this work. 

      Then it's on to the graded summary assignment( #3), the report/article you are to read and summarize and then use in a separate short report (4) or "roundup" of related recent publications.

Due today (#3) then is a short summary (225-250 words) of  "This Is Your Brain on Drugs," by Abigail Sullivan Moore, published in the New York Times.  Provide the work cited item in MLA format at the foot of the paper.  Use the format shown at the bottom of today's post for an individual author of an article posted on the Internet.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/education/edlife/this-is-your-brain-on-drugs-marijuana-adults-teens.html?src=me

  The article by Moore should appear in the next  assignment, too, as the initial ground or one source support of an essay that explores in greater detail the topic of  marijuana, its beneficial or ill effects, legalization issues or consequences, and so on.  Thus we will begin writing essays that involve researching and documenting the literature and/or artifacts that inform our understanding of a given subject.  At the following URL is another piece that speaks directly to the topic of legalization and the midterm elections: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/marijuana-activists-eye-new-targets-after-election-wins/

  

Note that you may also connect the "starter" news piece with other news items in a more indirect or associative fashion.  The topic of drug use is a broad one.  Scientific and/or philosophical, sociological or legal articles that report on it may be linked in interesting fashion. 

Essay 4: The topic must be one which you can tie to the piece on the health dangers of habitual marijuana use. 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):

• Marijuana Cultivation and Sale 
• Marijuana's History in Human Culture
• Risks/Rewards or Costs/Benefits of Marijuana Use/Legalization
• The Midterm Elections/Marijuana Status

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, The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, NPR.org, and many other sites regularly publish news on every topic you would find in the New York Times.

Format Elements:  The source title and author, be it an article or essay in a magazine or newspaper or that of a website from which you summarize or borrow material, should be identified at the outset in your introduction or first use of the material. The year or date of such information should be recent, or otherwise noted.  Use brackets [ ] around any material you add for the sake of clarity or any necessary change to the original, such as a verb tense, a pronoun, or an ellipsis (to abbreviate the length of the passage). 

Reference to the particular source material by title and author and the purposeful use of direct quotation where warranted are requirements.  We will practice referencing and quoting from various textual sources as needed.  The following list gives examples of suitable taglines to introduce quotations:

Deani writes, . . .

As Dean says,

According to another authority, author of . . .

Makari, the author of "In the Arcadian Woods," suggests a different view, claiming . . .

*Note:  Plagiarism is theft of another's work, whether inadvertent or not.  The following is one textbook example of plagiarism (The Brief Bedford Reader, 9th ed.) :

Original passage:  If we are collectively judged by how we treat immigrants–those who appear to be 'other' but will in a generation be 'us'–we are not in very good shape.

Paraphrase (plagiarised):  The author argues that if we are judged as a group by how we treat immigrants–those who seem to different but eventually will be the same–we are in bad shape.

A paraphrase or summary must express the original freshly; it is not enough to make superficial changes to the wording here and there.  Moreover, the syntax–sentence structure– should not mirror the original.

The following URL illustrates the ways that quotations are presented and punctuated, along with whatever citations may be required:  http://www.writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_quoting.html

   

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 Homework Essay 4 (see extended research notes and guidelines below):  Pull together an essay  that focuses on one or more of the topics or issues raised in the article you summarize today.  You are to use the New York Times piece and at least two others in developing this essay.  Google search the topic for related pieces.  The materials you find in your research may all be written sources, but may include as well mulitmedia, photo,  film, or music pieces that address in some way the topic of your piece. You should identify all sources used clearly, and in the context of their specific use or appearance in your text. Direct quotation is also a requirement.  Observe the 20 percent rule:  no more than 20 percent of the length of the essay should appear as direct quotation.  You must have a ruling point, a thesis, which is the conclusion that you have come to about the matter, and one which others might reasonalby disgree with. A thesis is a matter of considered judgment and opinion.

This is to be a 450-500 word essay, titled and double-spaced.  Bring it to class next week, week 6.

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Summary of Research/Short Reports

    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 Pappano's piece about academic courses in creativity.  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 Pappano'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 Healy 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. 

    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. It is critical that you identify the various sources you have used for content by author and/or title of work and that the source information be tied to the content borrowed. 

-------------- 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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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:

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

Checklist:

*Double-check to that you have acknowledged all material from a source.

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

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

*Follow the basic pattern for creating entries on the Works Cited page, and be sure to alphabetize them.

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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*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 next week and I'll provide examples.