Exercise 2.1 (Warm-up for Essay 2)
Choose one of the readings for Sessions 8 or 9 (three Pollan essays, Kingsolver, Kolbert) and one of the readings for Sessions 10 or 11 (Cronon, Pinchot, Tucker).
In each case:
- Provide the author, article title, original publication title, date.
- Identify the key values that shape the article. (On what basis does the author evaluate the events, actions, and developments mentioned in the article? What matters most to this author?)
- Quote one or two sentences that express or reveal each of these key values.
- List several specific examples from the article (data, brief narratives, references to other authorities, etc.) that you could use in your own critical work to demonstrate the author’s priorities.
Post finished exercise (on two readings) to the class site by Session 12. Bring one copy to class.
Exercise 2.2 (Warm-up for Essay 2)
After you read the material assigned for Session 13, spend some time thinking about the texts that you might use in your next essay. Once you have settled on a likely pair (I will not hold you to this choice), focus on the text that you have not written about so far and follow the guidelines for Exercise 2.1. Use this opportunity to help you identify the central issue for your next essay.
- Provide the author, article title, original publication title, date.
- Identify the key values that shape the article. (On what basis does the author evaluate the events, actions, and developments mentioned in the article? What matters most to this author?)
- Quote one or two sentences that express or reveal each of these key values.
- List several specific examples from the article (data, brief narratives, references to other authorities, etc.) that you could use in your own critical work to demonstrate the author’s priorities.
Submit finished exercise (covering one new article) to the class site on Session 13. Bring one copy to class.
**If you wish to work with the same two texts that you included in pre-draft 2.1, go back to both texts and zero in on the particular issue that you plan to consider in your essay. Accumulate the quotations and examples that will help you write your essay. Exercise 2.2 should add new material.
Draft of Essay 2
Due Session 14
You will need to choose two texts to consider in this paper (see below guidelines for a list of works that you may select from), but you should not write an open-ended comparison of the two texts; instead, you should choose an issue or theme that emerges in both of them. Most of you will end up working with writers who share many basic values; you will need to read and think carefully to uncover meaningful distinctions between them.
Guidelines for draft of Essay 2
Workshop 2
In-class on Session 15.
Revision
Due Session 16
The finished version of Essay 2 should be 1500 words or longer.
