Week 8

Paper Cutouts

Good day, class.  Hope all is well.

Today we review the short report, submitted last week.   We were to  see thesis statement and source support clearly integrated with proper punctuation of text titles and authors, publication sites and dates, too, if called for.  This essay is the model for your individual short report (#6).  That said, you may choose a topic close to home and use your field report work (primary research) as one of the sources for your individual research paper, and in that way your focus is contained and deepened over these last two required essays.  We will talk more today about destinations and topics for the field report (#5) including ones that invite further research (of the secondary source kind).  

The field report is a documentary essay produced from an eye-witness perspective; that is, you have made a trip to some place of interest for the purpose of presenting it as a destination or community resource of some value.   You  might think of the field report as the first leg of your individual short report, as each can contribute to the other and your focus would be sustained over the course of the next two assignments before the final in class. But this combined focus is not a requirement. Next week, week 9, is a holiday and thus you must get these works underway.  I ask that you email me the field report by the middle of next week to avoid a late grade.  In class today you must submit your proposed topics.

You will have all of week ten in class to put together your short research report, but ideally you will have a rough draft to work with when you arrive.

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Essay practice:   to be completed in class (or at home):  In short form (250-350 words)  introduce, describe, and comment on the structure, development and theme(s) of the poem “Illumination,” by Eric Paul Shaffer, or "Gray," by Philip Deaver.  Use slashes to show line breaks when quoting passages of three lines or less; use the block format for quotation of four or more successive lines.  

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.

Gray                                          by Philip Deaver 

This was our pretty gray kitten,

hence her name; who was born

in our garage and stayed nearby

her whole life. There were allergies;

so she was, as they say,

an outside cat.

But she loved us. For years,

she was at our window.

Sometimes, a paw on the screen

as if to want in, as if

to be with us

the best she could.

She would be on the deck,

at the sliding door.

She would be on the small

sill of the window in the bathroom.

She would be at the kitchen

window above the sink.

We'd go to the living room;

anticipating that she'd be there, too,

hop up, look in.

She'd be on the roof,

she'd be in a nearby tree.

She'd be listening

through the wall to our family life.

She knew where we were,

and she knew where we were going

and would meet us there.

Little spark of consciousness,

calm kitty eyes staring

through the window.

After the family broke, 

and when the house was about to sell,

I walked around it for a last look.

Under the eaves, on the ground,

there was a path worn in the dirt,

tight against the foundation --

small padded feet, year after year,

window to window.

When we moved, we left her

to be fed by the people next door.

Months after we were gone,

they found her in the bushes

and buried her by the fence.

So many years after,

I can't get her out of my mind

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/

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Essay 6 :  Short research report with MLA Works Cited list:  in 600 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.

Due week 10.

Research Topics (only suggested)

1.  Environment, nature, conservation issues (think climate change, habitat loss, pollution, species conservation/extinction, green trends).

2.   Technology.  New Products. Trends. An individual, corporation, or industry to watch, making a difference, positive or negative, perhaps something like Tesla, started by Elon Musk, or the development of the electric vehicle and its potential impacts.

3.  The economy/ best ways to stretch a dollar, money management.

4.  Diet, nutrition, health.

5..  Great food ideas/new trends in culinary arts and/ or agricultural practice/ legal marijuana, etcetera.

6.  New media–new opportunities/new challenges:  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

7.  Culture review: fashion, film, art, celebrity life, sports, politics.

8.  Gender politics, reproductive rights, marriage and family today.

Popular News and Editorial Sites: You are certainly not limited to the following sources, but they should provide ample means to do the work assigned.

npr.org

pbs.org

huffingtonpost.com

truthdig.com

salon.com

theguardian.com

bloomberg.com

democracynow.org

nasa.gov

nytimes.com

Week 7

Good day, and welcome back.
It is week seven.   Today you have class time to finish the final drafts of the short research essay. We began by summarizing a story about a Congolese group of artists, whose work was recently on exhibit in New York.  You were to develop one or another related topics and include relevant researched news and information and an image as a visual source of interest and focus in the essay.  All sources are to be referenced by title and author in the essay body, and you are to use at least one direct quotation.  I will review these last in class and walk around to see your finished work.

Below is an example of one quarter's short report assignment. It begins with a story about a cat that made a 200-mile journey home after getting lost, and proceeds to integrate other cat news/reports then current. The report did not require use of an anchoring image, though there were many that might have served, if only to embellish, including the one of my cat Ruby, posted below.  You will want to indicate where the image has been published and the various sources that allow you to put it into context or explain its history and significance.

  

Sample Short Report:

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” (nytimes.com, 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, nor a published photo or other image, 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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“The man who has forgotten to be thankful has fallen asleep in life.”
                                                              –Robert Louis Stevenson

We have just four more classes to completion of the quarter.  Thus far you have been assigned a total of five compositions; these include the short research with  an image focus (#4), the summary/response (3), the autobiographical narrative (2),  the descriptive essay (#1) and the diagnostic.

The field report (5) is coming due soon, as will be the short research project on a topic you discover (6), and lastly, the in-class final (7).  The in-class final is to be done in class week 11, not at home.
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The field report is described below and due week 9.

     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, restaurant,  yoga studio, even a cemetery (we have a delightful one nearby that is a birder's mecca), 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.

    Read the following article about a favorite getaway destination of Swedes and as you do notice how the author includes specifics of place, his personal journey, and the cultural context of Gotland. This is the form you want to model, however near and familiar your focus destination.  You will be a personal guide to your readers, revealing a place in all its particular appeal:

      http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/16/t-magazine/sweden-gotland-island-travel.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=mini-moth&region=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0

   

      This assignment provides you opportunity to travel locally and write about the experience. In fact, the road trip form has a particular free and spontaneous quality to it that you may want to try or incorporate in part.   Look here at how the author begins his report/profile of Lynda Barry, a well-know cartoonist and storyteller, who teaches workshops targeted to non-writers or those who have almost given up:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/magazine/cartoonist-lynda-barry-will-make-you-believe-in-yourself.html

   

     Field reporting often involves character sketches and narrative work.  The story element must be made stimulating for readers to feel transported. The story involves you and the featured subject of your work.

      Remember:  this is not to be a story about a trip or place visited some time in your past.  It is to be undertaken as an investigation of sorts with the writing in mind.  Take notes.  Your writing must be authenticated by particular observations drawn from the field.  Local subjects only:  Monroe, Collier, Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach county.

*If you visit an exhibit,  include the museum or site name, location, and featured artist(s), including the exhibit’s run dates in your report. 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 visit a natural area, try to 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.  

*If you like to eat and drink, explore.  Food culture is of great interest to many these days and offers many choices for primary research or "eye-witness" reports:  green markets, groceries, restaurants, bars, etcetera.

If you go to a museum the primary focus would be to see the various exhibits and selectively cover what you find most interesting.  The URL of the NSU Museum of Art on Las Olas:  http://nsuartmuseum.org  

In fact, there are several museums in the downtown area, including  The Old Ft. Lauderdale Historical Museum and another devoted to science and discovery.

 Essay 5 (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.  

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Citing Sources in MLA Style

To fully 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.

Week 6

                                      The 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair

Today we will continue working on the topic of contemporary African Art.  For homework you were to summarize the article posted last week on a recent exhibit featuring the work of artists  from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  And you were to select one or more interesting images to help you develop a visual element to the short report on African art to follow.

I will return your graded work and give guidance on the remaining work in the quarter.  See you soon!




REVIEW

-------------- 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.  

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Marilyn Monroe, by artist Andy Warhol

                                        

Below is an example of a short report from a previous quarter, on the topic of creativity we reviewed last week. At the time, no visuals were required but one appears here to illustrate the theme:

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  recounting, among other topics,  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.

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/

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

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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
*Provide a clear presentation of the visual artifact(s)

*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.

  

---------------------------For Next Week---------------------------------------------

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 by the article or image (s).  Use the author's embedded links and/or Google to search the topic for related pieces.  The materials you find in your research may all be written sources, but include one mulitmedia, photo,  film, or illustration 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. 





For Further Reading 

 Research and 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).

In looking at any composition, ask:  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 the work invite?   We will discuss in class the context of publication and  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.

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. 

*Field Report:  The field report (#5) 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.