Week 7

Good Day, class.  Hope you enjoyed the weekend and had time to put some thoughts together for essay #5, which is an opportunity to think speculatively (what if) about your life experience or any of the wonders of the world.  If I were very big . . . or very small, hmm, what did Alice say?  Had I taken the one pill instead of the other  . . . oh, I don't know!  Would I still be myself?

Today we''ll review the current assignment, material from last week, and all that we can that still calls for attention.  If we have time, we may do a short in-class essay (6).

Week 6

On the Road to Yosemite, CA Welcome back to class. Hope you had a good weekend. Today I'll return last week's work and look to you for the summary/responses to "Think the Best," or one of the other chapters by P.M. Forni. Remember, you were to use your own words, and to include title, author, and one or two quotations from the text to show some of the original text you are summarizing and responding to.  We will discuss the graded work in class, and I'll review with each of you, as needed.  See the main points below: Summary/Response Checklist: Make sure that you identify the author’s name, the title of the article, essay, chapter and/or book from which the summary is drawn.  Reference these in your opening lines.  Include one or two direct quotations to show the original textual matter and lend support to your claims. The formatting of these items is demonstrated on the handout accompanying the photocopied chapter "Think the Best." You were also to include a few direct quotations from the text, as illustrated in the passage below:      The author  P.M. Forni used both process description and cause/effect mode to argue that in the interests of civility we ought to think well of others, as a matter of practice, because in doing so we encourage people to be and do their best, including ourselves. “Believing that they are good, I want to be good for them,” he wrote. Your personal thoughts and feelings as regards the ideas expressed or the author's sentiments should be  included along with accurate summary of the work's ideas and sentiments.  You might include a story of your own on the subject addressed to develop the response material.  These directions apply to any of the materials you might have been  asked to address for homework. Two Sample Beginnings:  -----------------------------------------------------Summary Response Introductions In A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche famously says, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”  And we all do in so many ways, which is the central idea that P.M. Forni develops in the chapter “Think the Best,” which is one of  twenty-five chapters in the book Choosing Civility.  Indeed, we find salvation in others.  He quotes in epigraph the  Apostle Paul:  “Be not forgetful to entertain [. . . ].”   In P.M. Forni’s Choosing Civility, specifically the chapter “Think the Best,” he reminds readers that we all have a spark of  the divine in us, or at least that it helps to think that way, elevates us and all who we come in contact with us. In epigraph,  he quotes Paul of Tarsus:  “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”   I am reminded of a something Abraham Lincoln wrote, and here I paraphrase, if you look for the worst in man you will surely find it.  ------------- Next Assignment (5): If we were given the chance to rewrite some chapter in life, or to relive some moment now resigned to the past, what revisions would we make, or what insight would we bring to the moment now? What lessons are there in wondering, what if . . . ? What if we could time travel? We can in some senses. We can pretend that we had been born in a  different era and imaginatively enter into the lives of those who have lived before us. Thanks to the research of scientists and historians of every stripe, the past unveils its secrets, and is now recorded in new layers of story and imagery, all adding to our knowledge of life on this planet. We may learn how other human societies lived and what they believed, how they and  other species met the challenges of life, how they at whatever time did navigate, nourish and  reproduce themselves, defend themselves and their young. If you were given a day, week, month, or year to live wherever and whenever and however you choose, what choice would you make? We can say, had I known such and such a thing, I might never have done what I did. Sometimes we  rewrite the past with our inner voice, as a means of understanding what has worked and not worked for us, thus reshaping our thought and behavior as we move forward in life. What if we were still  stuck in outmoded ways of thinking and behaving? What if the possibility for personal change were  to be taken from us? Transformation begins with our thoughts, and with the language we use to  express ourselves. Thank goodness we can imagine possibilities beyond the given or present! Essay 5: In 350-500 words you are to explore a hypothetical scenario; that is, one that you  imaginatively enter into, with whatever sure knowledge makes it all plausible and meaningful as an  essay. You are writing non-fiction, remember, seeking to show a truth. You might think in terms of  the difference made if one or another event had occurred (or not) in your personal life or in history.  What effects on the past, present, and/or future do you imagine in this hypothetical scenario?  How might the past look, how might today be different, and how might the future look? This essay assignment provides good practice with verbs–past, present, future–and in using  comparison and contrast mode. You will likely use the subjunctive mood and conditional (modal)  tense forms as well as simple and perfect tenses. Imagine that you had been born under or into circumstances other than those you were  born into; for example, a different place and/or historical era, a different family, a different body (or  species), and so on. Describe what your childhood was actually like, and what it might have been  like (under the changed circumstances); what your present life might be like (as opposed to what  is actually happening); imagine your future, actually or hypothetically. Or look at any important  decision you made or did not make and trace the consequences of having taken an opposite track.  If we had the chance to do things differently, if we had superpowers, the omniscience of a goddess,  what would we do with these?  Of course, we don't have superhuman powers, and we must make do with what we have–but there are insights that reflection brings when we think of what might have been, or what might be if only . . .   This "other" life is what Cheryl Strayed ("Sugar") refers to in the piece called "The Ghost Ship That Didn't Carry Us" (class handout). Modern technology allows us to see the world in ways we could not without it.  We'll look at the  short film here:  https://www.ted.com/talks/louie_schwartzberg_hidden_miracles_of_the_natural_world You could write about what is revealed by Schwartberg's camera eye, and your response to it. If we had the power to examine a dragonfly's wings in slow motion, what would we discover? We  now have the technology to make such an investigation possible, as the film reveals. Checklist: *Title the essay. *Proofread to make sure you have a clear central idea and adequate support. *Remember your audience and write on a matter of intrinsic or practical importance. *Edit your sentences for clarity of expression and grammatical correctness. Note: –The use of narration and description, with scene setting, vivid detail and action, will make readers see  and feel the particular experience(s) and ideas you have in mind. – Comparison/contrast mode will show the actual versus the imaginary, and make it clear that your  focus is hypothetical. You might start in this way:  Had I been born an only child, instead of being born the fifth child of six, I might have got more attention than I did.  I might have been spoiled!  My parents had little time for me, as it was, with so many to care for. Or: If I were sixty-five (you can fill in any future age) and to at my life, what would I want to see I had  accomplished Or:   If I could do one thing differently, rewrite the past, I would go back to the time . . . Or:   If we were to walk, fly, or swim the proverbial mile in the life of (fill in whatever human, animal or insect subject interests you) we would discover . . . Or: If we were to travel to the ends of the earth and back, we would discover a great deal about life on this planet, including the fascinating  . . . Or:  If I were rich, free of all financial obligations-I would travel.  Essay 5 will require homework, time to think. It involves formulations of thought and verb tense usage that may be challenging forsome of you. We will practice the tense usages in class and then have a go at writing the piece.

Week 5

Today we will review the work you submitted last week and I'll provide some time for  you to look over the kinds of mistakes you have made (if any) and then we'll start drafting essay 4.  We'll do some exercises too.  There will be no midterm today.

Essay:  (#4)  Summary/Response and Quotation Work:  Read the  photocopied chapters from P.M. Forni's book Choosing Civility, which take the form of both process (intructional) and cause/effect analysis.  Respond in summary form to several  of the ideas, enough to give a clear sense of one chapter focus and to give a sufficient and interesting review of his major points and means of support or illustration.   Relate experience of your own or provide commentary to  "talk to" the points he makes and your imagined audience.  Quote several line(s) or parts of lines that convey his ideas particularly well.  Punctuate them as direct quotations and see that they “fit” grammatically in the sentence and paragraph in which you have placed them or set them off.  Bring the responses to class.

*You can review the guidelines for using quotation marks at the following URL:  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/577/01/

Verb tense sequencing here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/601/1/ and http://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/index.php?category_id=2&sub_category_id=1&article_id=39 and here:  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/539/07/ Appositives:  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/596/1/

Week 4

Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day–like writing a poem or saying a prayer. What matters is that one be for a time inwardly attentive.   –Anne Morrow Lindbergh, b.1906

Good day, to you all.  Hope you are well.

Today we will review use of the apostrophe in possessive constructions, grammar, and sentence punctuation, including quotations, and, of course, the narrative work you have brought to class.  We will get through as much as we can, perhaps moving the summary work described below to next week or finding some practice substitute to model the process and cause/effect modes of organization.  We will discuss these matters in class.

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There are modes of developing and arranging information, and we have looked closely at two thus far: narration and description.  Several other commonly used modes include illustration, process analysis, cause and effect analysis, definition, and comparison/contrast.  

We can use narration and description to show readers the world and the lives we lead in very particular ways.  We can also "explain" things to readers:  why we or others acted just so (what motivated or caused the actions) or the effects of specific human actions.  We may also explain the means by which something is done or made, the procedure, protocol, or specific method, detailing to some degree the sequential steps or stages in the process.  

     Cause and effect mode sets out to explore the probable reasons why certain events, actions, or manifestations occur or have occurred, and the effects or consequences of these happenings.  We may explore why we behave in a certain way or the effects of certain kinds of behavior on ourselves and others.  We may explore the sources of our satisfactions, for instance, as causes.  We may look at all manner of natural and social phenomena whose causes or effects interest us.  Why are flowers brightly colored?  Why do birds sing?  Why do young animals play?  Why do humans make war?  What effects do our lifestyle choices have on our environment? And what effects have the  decisions of policy makers (who decide whether, for instance, gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry) and powerful corporations (whose industry practices may harm or hurt us)?   Bear in mind, a short paper should be limited to either cause or effect, rather than both.  

Examples:         

   

      The fundamental pathology of Alzheimer's disease is the progressive degeneration and loss of vast numbers of nerve cells in those portions of the brain's cortex that are associated with the so-called higher functions, such as memory, learning, and judgment.  The severity and nature of the patient's dementia at any given time are proportional to the number and location of cells that have been affected.  The decrease in nerve-cell population is in itself sufficient to explain the memory loss and other cognitive disabilities, but there is another factor that seems to play a role as well–namely, a marked decrease in acetylcholine, the chemical used by these cells to transmit messages.

                — Sherwin B. Nuland, How We Die

     Contemplating our food for a few seconds before eating and eating in mindfulness can bring us much happiness.  In our practice centers, we use the Five Contemplations as a way of reminding ourselves where our food comes from and its purpose.

      The first contemplation is being aware that our food comes directly from the earth and the sky.   It is a gift of the earth and the sky, and also of the people who prepared it.  The second contemplation is about being worthy of the food we eat.  The way to be worthy of our food is to eat mindfully—to be aware of its presence and thankful for having it.  We cannot allow ourselves to get lost in our worries, fears, or anger over the past or the future.  We are there for the food because the food is there for us; it is only fair.  Eat in mindfulness, and you will be worthy of the earth and the sky.

     The third contemplation is about becoming aware of our negative tendencies and not allowing them to carry us away.  We need to learn how to eat in moderation, to eat the right amount of food.  The bowl that is used by a monk or a nun is referred to as the "instrument of appropriate measure."  It is very important not to overeat.  If you eat slowly and chew very carefully, you will get plenty of of nutrition.  The right amount of food is the amount that helps us to stay healthy.

     The fourth contemplation is about the quality of our food.  We are determined to ingest only food that has no toxins for our body and our consciousness, food that keeps us healthy and nourishes our compassion.  This is mindful eating.  The Buddha said that if you eat in such a way that compassion is destroyed in you, it is like eating the flesh of your children.  So practice eating in such a way that you can keep compassion alive in you.

    The fifth contemplation is being aware that we receive food in order to realize something.  Our lives should have meaning and that meaning is to help people suffer less, and help them to touch the joys of life.  When we have compassion in our hearts and know that we are able to help a person suffer less, life begins to have more meaning.  This is very important food for us and can bring us a lot of joy.  A single person is capable of helping may living beings.  And it is something we can do anywhere.

                                        —Thich Nhat Hanh, Happiness

There are few things humans are more dedicated to than unhappiness.  Had we been placed on earth by a malign creator for the exclusive purpose of suffering, we would have good reason to congratulate ourselves on our enthusiastic response to the task.  Reasons to be inconsolable abound:  the frailty of our bodies, the fickleness of love, the insincerities of social life, the compromises of friendship, the deadening effects of habit.  In the face of such persistent ills, we might naturally expect that no event would be awaited with greater anticipation than the moment of our own extinction.

                             —Alain De Botton, How Proust Can Change Your Life

     The process mode of organization is used when explaining how a thing happens or is done or made.  It includes description of the steps, stages, or procedures involved in any natural occurrence or phenomenon, or in any that involve human endeavor.  Such writing addresses the question how?  For example, how do bees find their way to the hive, how does photosynthesis work, how does one change a tire on a steeply ascending road, make a cheesecake or keep houseplants alive and happy? 

     We all, to some degree, understand how things proceed, and can describe the procedures by which things get done or made. We have followed directions and read instructions from a young age and we have learned how to do a thing or two ourselves; in fact, there are certain skills we could actually teach: how to saddle a horse, how to sweep a floor, build a boat or house, sew a hem, design an advertisement, paint with oil colors.  There are certain life experiences we could coach others through; for example, we have all experienced pain, sadness, and loss and so have learned a thing or two about healing, happiness, getting along, starting over.  The stages or steps involved in bettering our health, our outlook, our lives in general always involve a specific method, a means, a process. Writing about such matters involves organizing your material into distinct steps or stages, whether as a "how to" instructional or no.

Examples:  

Wear loose and comfortable clothing when working out. Because a warmed muscle is believed to be more flexible and pliant, you will often see people wearing sweat suits and woolen socks. You should also be sure to position yourself as comfortably as possible to reduce the tension and make the stretching more enjoyable.                

                                                                       –from The Science of Stretching, by Michael Alter

For centuries, it was assumed that honey bees simply visited flowers and collected the honey ready-made, bringing it back to the hive and storing it there. The truth of the matter is that honey making is an elaborate and complicated process. The first step is the collection of floral nectar from the gullets of colorful and fragrant blossoms. Floral nectar starts out as sugar water enriched with a few amino acids, proteins, lipids, phenolics, and other chemicals. While it sits in floral ponds, waiting to be sampled by pollinators, the nectar takes on the aroma of the flowers that produced it. Though the scent of the nectar itself is faint, the aromas are intensified once it is concentrated into honey. Excess water is driven off and the complex volatile oils and other chemicals from the flower are magnified, becoming part of the honey and adding to its appeal. Single-source honeys reveal their characteristic aromas best at room temperature, especially when drizzled across a warm piece of toast.

                                                                                                    —from Secrets of the Bee

One holds the [surgical] knife as one holds the bow of a cello or a tulip–by the stem. Not palmed nor gripped nor grasped, but lightly, with the tips of the fingers. The knife is not for pressing. It is for drawing across the field of skin. Like a slender fish, it waits, at the ready, then, go! It darts, followed by a fine wake of red. The flesh parts, falling away to yellow globules of fat. Even now, after so many times, I still marvel at its power–cold, gleaming, silent. More, I am still struck with a kind of dread that it is I in whose hand the blade travels, that my hand is its vehicle, that yet again this terrible steel-bellied thing and I have conspired for a most unnatural purpose, the laying open of the body of a human being.

from "The Knife," by Richard Seltzer

When a farmer calls in a cheetah capture, it is CCF's job to retrieve the animal from a field trap, gather biological information, and then relocate or release it. Normally the work is done in the field and not in a farmer's kitchen. Until last night, there had not been a call in a month–proof that that farmers are learning to co-exist with cheetahs rather than to shoot first and ask questions later.

from "Blur: Cheetahs. Ranchers. Hope.," by Susan Zimmerman

Homework:  (#4)  Summary/Response and Quotation Work:  Read the  photocopied chapters from P.M. Forni's book Choosing Civility, which take the form of both process (intructional) and cause/effect analysis.  Respond in summary form to several  of the ideas, enough to give a clear sense of one chapter focus and to give a sufficient and interesting review of his major points and means of support or illustration.   Relate experience of your own or provide commentary to  "talk to" the points he makes and your imagined audience.  Quote several line(s) or parts of lines that convey his ideas particularly well.  Punctuate them as direct quotations and see that they “fit” grammatically in the sentence and paragraph in which you have placed them or set them off.  Bring the responses to class.

*You can review the guidelines for using quotation marks at the following URL:  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/577/01/

Grammar Practice: Review the following exercise/practice work:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/2/22/49

Review the material on pronoun use here:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/595/01/

and here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/595/02/