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.
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:
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
On Comma Use and Common Mistakes: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E6D9163EF934A15756C0A9649D8B63
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)
*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
This is to be a 450-500 word essay, titled and double-spaced.
For Further Reading
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.
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