Final Exam

Students, please bring your copy of The Things They Carried with you to class. You will need it in order to take your exam.

Thanks
Mr. Tompkins

Questions for In-class Essay

In-Class essay

You will write an ethical argument essay of approximately 350-400 words for or against one of the practices below.

                        

·      Regularly eating beef.          

·      Eating farmed salmon.

·      Consuming conventionally produced dairy products. 

You should base your ethical argument on both principles AND consequences. Your essay should draw on evidence from The Ethics of What We Eat; no other research is necessary. For your argument to be persuasive, you will need to identify and address likely objections to your position. 

In developing consequences for your position, you are encouraged to consider all parties affected by the practice, including individual consumers, food producers (corporations, family farmers, workers, etc.), food retailers, transportation systems, neighborhoods and environments affected by food production, and society at large.

Remember to define a clear thesis in your introduction that (1) identifies the practice you are analyzing and (2) expresses your position for or against the ethics of the practice.

Support your analysis with logical reasoning, explanation of your principles and consequences, and specific examples from the text of The Ethics of What We Eat.

If you have one, please bring a blue book in which to write your essay and include your notes with your essay. Alternatively, you may bring a laptop to use to write your essay. You may NOT bring a finished essay into class, handwritten or on your laptop.

Sample Outline for Research Paper.

Students, I'm posting this to give you and idea of the level of detail needed in the outline for your research paper. The most important thing to notice is how you use citations so that your outline will show the quality of your research. Your outline will be much longer than the one posted below, this is the kind of outline I expect to see. 

Email if you have questions

I.               A. Restate prompt (not word for word). The oil industry is accused of buying influence with mass media outlets in order to shape public opinion on the causes of global warming..

B. Thesis statement: Man-made pollution is the primary cause of global warming, and people must expose the lies they have been fed.

C. The Paris Climate Change conference show that there is  now worldwide concern on this important issue.(NY Times, p. 85)

D. First they denied it was happening, and then, losing that fight, denied fossil fuels contribute. (Redmond, p. 3)

II.             Topic Sentence: Serious scientists believe that greenhouse gas emissions are the cause of global warming.

B. Study by MIT about melting glaciers shows relation between melt and automobile usage (Jones, p. 323) 

- give details

C. Study by govt. task force shows  steady curve…(Survaint p. 421) 

    -(give details)

III.           Topic sentence: Rising sea levels threaten low lying coastal areas

B. Maldives sea levels have forced thousands to relocate inland. (Fredrick, p 310)  give details about what’s happened, impact on survival

C. Florida Key’s are losing area, impacting tourism. (Smithsonian study, p 43) -Even though Florida politicians have made it against the law to use the word climate change. (Rogers, p 4)                                                                              -Dim future for tourism, according to State study of vacation patterns (JSTOR, p 8)

        IV. Conclusion etc, come back to the prompt as you are summing your argument up

Presenting Tonight

Agenda (and assignments), Dec. 3

Students,

1.                       A. For tomorrow’s class please arrive with three “good sources” relating to the Pentagon Papers – sources that you could or will use for your research paper, should you so choose. Two must be from "Scholarly Journals." The third must be from a newspaper or magazine. Write a citation using MLA style.

For each source, please provide a map of the steps you went through to find the source, including (for example) lahc.edu - academics - library – library databases – All Ebsco databases – Academic Search Premier (Those were all links). Then put in search terms and settings such as Pentagon Papers, civil disobedience, treason, supreme court (possible terms) setting like full text, scholarly journal, dates, publication types etc.

You will arrive with this info and in class we will share your results by turning over the computer to you and projecting your search efforts on to the screen.

PLEASE BRING AVAILABLE SMART PHONES IPADS LAPTOPS ETC SO WE CAN USE THEM IN CLASS

B.  Write a one-paragraph description of what in the world of academic writing and researching constitutes a "good source."

 C. Prepare for reading presentations and discussion of The Ethics of What We Eat.

Thursday, November 19: LIBRARY TONIGHT, 7 PM

Be at the library by 7 pm tonight, for a research tutorial, focusing on Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, the subject of your final paper.

See you there.

Prompt Research Paper: The Pentagon Papers

Prompt Research Paper: The Pentagon Papers

In June 1971, the New York Times began publishing material from what came to be known as “The Pentagon Papers.” The material was part of a 47-volume study by the Department of Defense that was labeled Top Secret, and related to American’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The papers were given to the newspaper by a man named Daniel Ellsberg, who had as a civilian employee of the DoD had worked on the research for the study in 1967, when it was compiled.

Ellsberg said his expose was a matter of conscience; that he could no longer know about the lies and not do something about the situation. The impact on the country of Ellsberg’s leak was sensational. The nation was tired and injured by the war. Thousands of Americans had been killed and millions of Vietnamese lives had been sacrificed. Billions of dollars had been poured into the fight. The Papers showed that most of the stated reasons for US involvement were lies.

The Papers revealed that the U.S. had expanded its war with bombing of Cambodia and Laos and made unauthorized coastal raids on North Vietnam. None of this had been acknowledged by the government or reported by media in the US. The most damaging revelations in the papers revealed that four administrations, from Truman to Johnson, had misled the public regarding their intentions regarding Vietnam. The U.S. wanted to exploit Southeast Asian resources, and to contain China and Russia from influencing the region. The administration challenged the publication of the papers. Eventually a US Senator opposed to the war read 4,100 pages into the Congressional Record to make sure they could not be missed, and Times went ahead with publication.

After a government challenge was defeated by the Supreme Court - a crucial victory for freedom of the press - the Times went public. As a result, Ellsberg was charged with espionage, conspiracy, and theft, and faced 115 years in jail if convicted. In 1973, after the government’s lies were thoroughly exposed, the charges against Ellsberg were dropped.

In this paper, you must research the Pentagon Papers. What were they? Discover what they exposed, and why was the information so controversial. Then, based on what your research tells you, decide if you think Ellsberg did the right thing. You must base your opinion on your research.Keep in mind that recently an NSA contractor named Edward Snowden did essentially the same thing with respect to government spying on citizens around the world and at home. He is currently in exile in Russia, because he'll be arrested and tried if he comes home to the U.S.

Facts about your research paper:

1. This research paper should present a thesis that is specific, manageable, provable, and contestable—in other words, the thesis should offer a clear position, stand, or opinion that will be proven with research.   You should analyze and prove your thesis using examples and quotes from a variety of sources.  
2. You need to research and cite from at least five sources.  You must use at least 3 different types of sources.  At least one source must be from a library database. At least one source must be a book, anthology or textbook. At least one source must be from a credible website, appropriate for academic use.
3. The paper should not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.
4. This paper will be approximately 2000 words in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  (use the word count function to check the length) The Works Cited page does NOT count towards length requirement.  
5. You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.
6. You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.  
7. You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
8. our paper must be logically organized and focused.

For Thursday, Nov. 12

Students,

Please come to class with a rough draft of composition 2 on Thursday night. We'll do a peer review of your papers in class. We'll work on your thesis statements and your opening paragraph.

Roughly speaking the agenda will be:
a. Presentations
b. Peer review (workshop) rough draft
c. Thesis statement exercise
d. Work on opening paragraph
e. Peer review opening paragraph

Thesis statement review

The thesis is the ONE sentence that contains

the foundation, the premise, the argument

you are presenting to your readers.

It is the core of the essay.

Strive to make it strong and clear.

ELEMENTS OF THESIS:

• It must be ARGUABLE.

This means it presents an opinion, an argument, or an illustration of a view or experience.  It is not a mere statement of fact. 

• It must ADDRESS the TOPIC.

While this element seems obvious too, writers often get going and one thought leads to another and another and the topic gets left behind. Re-read the prompt several times to make sure you haven’t gone off topic beyond the parameters of the assignment. 

• It must be specific enough to be covered in the paper.

What is the length of the assignment: two pages? ten pages? The length determines how broad or narrow the scope of your thesis will be. Adjust accordingly. 

• It must MAKE SENSE.

This is the catch-all element that asks you to re-consider your wording, syntax, diction, and grammar. Make changes as you see fit.

Prompt for essay 2

English 101

Prompt for composition 2

November 5, 2015

The Things They Carried is a work of fiction set during the Vietnam War. It’s a war story, one that’s so believable that a reader unconsciously reads it as a piece of non-fiction. The chapter “How To Tell a True War Story” - despite its title - is definitely not a by-the-book explanation of how to share the facts of wartime experience. Instead, it creates a company of young American soldiers who remember examine, bend, boast, invent, mourn, worry, and argue about their experiences. The stories they share are entertaining, ambiguous, heartbreaking, bitter, and bursting with life. Truth and lies and right and wrong turn out to be as elusive as the relationship between feelings and facts. 

Near the end of the chapter, you’ll find the following paragraphs: 

“To generalize about war is like generalizing about peace. Almost everything is true. Almost nothing is true. At its core, perhaps, war is just another name for death, and yet any soldier will tell you, if he tells the truth, that proximity to death brings with it a corresponding proximity to life…

“Mitchell Sanders was right. For the common soldier, at least, war has the feel - the spiritual texture - of a great ghostly fog, thick and permanent. There is no clarity. Everything swirls. The old rules are no longer binding, the old truths no longer true. Right spills over into wrong. Order blends into chaos, love into hate, ugliness into beauty, law into anarchy, civility into savagery. The vapors suck you in. You can't tell where you are, or why you're there, and the only certainty is the absolute ambiguity. 

In war you lose your sense of the definite, hence your sense of truth itself, and therefore it's safe to say that in a true war story, nothing much is ever very true.”

Write a 700-1000 word essay, using “How To Tell a True War Story” to examine the role of storytelling in The Things They Carried. Use the section quoted above as the launching pad for your paper. With those paragraphs in mind, ask yourself what we learn about war from the chapter’s stories: 

-Rat Kiley’s letter to Lemon’s sister

-Mitchell Sanders’s story - second-hand, since he wasn’t there - about the six-man patrol into the mountains

-Sanders’s additions to the story.

-The “drop dead” moral of the story: nobody’s listens (ask yourself: was there anyone in the world more isolated and insignificant than a grunt in the jungle of Vietnam) 

-The death of Curt Lemon - the narrator admits he’s told it many times with many different versions - a story about two boys playing catch in the sunlight, followed by sadistic, cruel payback. 

Use MLA formatting and citation standards.

MLA Format

MLA Format Guidelines (How your paper should look)

Your name

Instructor’s name

Course

Date

Your Title Goes Here. Centered. No Underline, Bold or Quote Marks. Title Case.

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Thesis statement: the essentials

THE THESIS STATEMENT

The thesis is the ONE sentence that contains

the foundation, the premise, the argument

you are presenting to your readers.

It is the core of the essay.

Strive to make it strong and clear.

ELEMENTS OF THESIS:

• It must be ARGUABLE.

This means it presents an opinion, an argument, or an illustration of a view or experience.  It is not a mere statement of fact. 

• It must ADDRESS the TOPIC.

While this element seems obvious too, writers often get going and one thought leads to another and another and the topic gets left behind. Re-read the prompt several times to make sure you haven’t gone off topic beyond the parameters of the assignment. 

• It must be specific enough to be covered in the paper.

What is the length of the assignment: two pages? ten pages? The length determines how broad or narrow the scope of your thesis will be. Adjust accordingly. 

• It must MAKE SENSE.

This is the catch-all element that asks you to re-consider your wording, syntax, diction, and grammar. Make changes as you see fit.

Essay 1: Rough draft (and final) check list

English 101

Rough draft checklist for composition 1

1. Thesis statement _______   _________  ________

2. Topic sentences (each paragraph) _______  ________ _______

3. Strong support evidence to build upon topic sentences _______

4. Logos______Ethos______Pathos_______Kairos______

5. Paragraphs in correct place (correct order) _______ _______ ______

6. Verb tense consistency _______ ________ _______

7. Subject verb agreement ________ ________ _______

8. Quality sentences (short and sweet) ________ _______ _______

9. Clarity (sentences make sense) _______  _________ _______ 

10. Conclusion (linked to thesis statement) _______ ______ _______

Handout: Topic Sentences

TOPIC SENTENCES
Topic sentences are the “thesis statements” of paragraphs; therefore, they are both a part of keeping the promise made by the thesis, as well as a sub-promise that should be kept by the paragraphs. They are usually the first sentence in the paragraph. The reader expects topic sentences to provide proof of one aspect of the thesis sentence as well as to provide an indication of what will follow in the paragraph.
A topic sentence is NOT simply a statement of fact. A fact does not contain any controlling ideas that can be easily explained, described, illustrated or analyzed.
There are two kinds of topic sentences:
A statement of opinion contains some form of judgment and the paragraph will support the opinion in the topic sentence.
Example:
The computer is the greatest invention of the twentieth century.
A statement of intent contains no opinion; instead, it informs the reader of what will be objectively explained in the paragraph.
Example:
The common seasoning monosodium glutamate (MSG) has negative side effects.
Topic Sentence Functions
An effective topic sentence:
Relates to the thesis.
Sets up a claim, assertion, argument, evaluation, analysis.
Contains controlling ideas about the topic that need to be developed in the
sentences that follow.
Is the most general sentence in the paragraph. Orients the reader.
Provides a context for understanding what follows. Explains the relationships among elements. Summarizes the rest of the paragraph.
Promises what will follow.
Guidelines for Topic Sentences
A topic sentence must be a complete sentence to perform all the necessary functions.
Weak: Some types of birth control should be provided by schools.
Better: Topreventunwantedpregnanciesandsexuallytransmitteddiseases,schools
should provide every form of non-prescription birth control available.
A topic sentence must predict or promise what follows, so it cannot be a question.
Weak: Should schools provide free computers for their students?
Better: Sinceschoolsshouldassiststudentsintheirstudiesandpreparethemfortheir future careers, they must offer students the technological advantage of free and easy access to computers.

Phrases such as “I think” or “in my opinion” may muddle or weaken topic sentences. Your writing is always your opinion, so you don’t need these phrases unless they are central to the idea that you are trying to convey.
Weak: I think that it is important for every woman to carry mace or pepper spray.
Better: Asviolentcriminalstakeoverthecitystreets,womenmustcarrymaceorpepper
spray to protect themselves.
The topic sentence should provide clear relationships among all of its elements so that it can provide a framework for understanding the rest of the paragraph.
Weak: Historians record only dry statistics; we should read novels.
Better: Accuratehistoricalnovelsgiveusadeeperunderstandingofthepastthandothe
dry collection of facts and statistics that pass for history texts.
A topic sentence needs to be clear and specific, so that it can predict and summarize the rest of the paragraph for the reader.
Weak: Public transit is terrible.
Better: Incapableofprovidingreliable,comfortableservice,theSanFranciscoMunicipal
Transit system is failing its ridership.
A topic sentence must be coherent so that the reader can use it as a key to the rest of the paragraph.
Weak: The differences of their socioeconomic classes, indeed, were not more potent than the already inherent differences among the population.
Better: Bosniaissplitapartnotbyanyeconomicclassdifferences,butbyracialand ethnic conflicts.
Because the topic sentence is a reference for the rest of the paragraph, it needs to be exceptionally clear. If there is figurative language in a topic sentence, the wording should be such that the reader does not need to understand the allusion to understand the sentence.
Weak: The Surgeon General must be the Hercules that slays the Hydra of chemical addictions.
Better: AsHerculesslewHydra,theSurgeonGeneralmustdefeatthemany-headed monster that is chemical addiction.
Supporting Sentence Functions
The supporting sentences (the rest of the paragraph) must:
Fulfill the promise set by the topic sentence.
Be on the same topic.
Relate to each other and the topic sentence in a manner established by the topic
sentence.

EXERCISE: Below is a hypothetical essay assignment. With this assignment in mind, determine if any of the topic and thesis sentences for the following three “essay skeletons” would lead to an effective essay. If not, why?

Essay Assignment:
We all have in our lives certain types of people we tend to avoid: aggressive types, “nosy” types, people who monopolize every conversation with talk about themselves, people who always seem to be bad-tempered. Identify one type of person you tend to avoid, and then, in a well-organized and well-developed essay, explain why you avoid that type of person.
Essay Skeleton # 1
Thesis: After having dated several of them, I have discovered that I want to avoid possessive boyfriends at all costs.
Topic Sentence: This kind of man always wants to set limits on how much time I can spend socializing with my female friends.
Topic Sentence: Possessive boyfriends can be counted on to display annoyance whenever I talk to my other male friends.
Topic Sentence: Besides being possessive, such males can also be incredibly stingy with money.
Essay Skeleton # 2
Thesis: Over the years, I have learned to avoid strict teachers because they give too much homework, show no understanding when a student turns in assignments late, get impatient instead of helping when students don’t understand the subject matter, and often yell at the class.
Topic Sentence: At age six, I entered school.
Topic Sentence: Later on, I got into the sixth grade. Topic Sentence: Eventually, I went on to high school. Topic Sentence: Finally, I went to college.

Essay Skeleton # 3

Thesis: Without a doubt, narcissistic people are the types most vociferously to be avoided; whenever I happen to encounter one, I will automatically try to discontinue having to have any contact with that individual.
Topic Sentence: Narcissistic people always think that no one else could possibly be so physically stunning in appearance as they are.
Topic Sentence: It would seem that narcissistic people would like to believe that there are no other persons in the world who could win beauty contests and attract mates as easily as they could.
Topic Sentence: These people show in every way that they believe their beauty is more impressive than anyone else’s.
Thesis: I’ve learned from experience that people who have short tempers never change, and their short tempers can end up making your life miserable.
Topic Sentence:
Topic Sentence:
Topic Sentence:

EXERCISE: Now create your own topic sentences for the following thesis statement.