Today we will review your short reports on the N word debate and continue writing with a focus on images. We will discuss further the field report (#5) due week 7 on a local place or event, using primary and secondary sources and the requirements for documenting sources. I will also be asking for the selection of practice quotations I assigned on the chapters by P.M. Forni from Choosing Civility.
Note: Tuesday's class will sign liability releases for next week's field trip and discuss film reviews.
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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?
*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.
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.
You must soon begin to explore a subject or idea, begin finding and reading material relevant to whatever line of inquiry you intend. Week 10 or 11 you will have due a 1000-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.
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