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.