MbShea@PWP@English@UMCP

Scientific method has a cousin -- actually an ancestor -- in stasis theory.  This conceptual diagram show stasis method with an environmental science decisionmaking context.

We are also looking (re-looking?) at paragraph transitions. I copy/paste here some information (short google docs) you read about a week ago:

Discussion on sentences, with emphasis on "empty subjects" to be continued.  And, on to paragraphs: let's start with a brief document on transitions, taken from a real-world setting.

This NEW memo content is more complex and wide-ranging. Transitions are a way to thread the cognition for our busy readers. Your first memo focused on the definition stasis, with a evaluation move at the end.

Now, our wants a problem-solution memo about the type of coffee cup we use in our firm. Therefore, we need to frame this work with the stasis of policy (what ought we do).

Let's start by reading this short news article from Seattle:  Coffee Cup Recycling Brims with Obstacles.

Back to our boss: Jane wants a coffee cup policy for the office that is "green."  OK, that is the content for your invention.  Here is rough working arrangement (paragraphs):

POLITE OPENING, with your recommendation that previews your final policy paragraph

CONJECTURE PARAGRAPH  Problem description (our office situation, with quantifiers), with reference to national. international size of the problem

CONTEXT PARA(s) Environmental problems (energy efficiency ->climate change AND persistence of plastic in ocean -> food chain disruption)

YOUR WEIGHTED PROBLEM SOLVING METHOD (revealing your pre-analytical frame or bias)

DEFINITION-->CAUSE/EFFECT information 

Coffee cup types (how many?  Can we do this in one paragraph or do we need one per coffee cup type? Use counting technique of two or three)

PIVOT PARA from backgrount to ANALYSIS PARAS

Decision criteria (HINT:  Life cycle analysis, and define this; use an EPA source) HERE, this definition helps us move to the VALUE paragraphs

CAUSE/EFFECT continued (system) -->VALUE (Harm or benefit)

Martin Hocking's work on life cycle analysis of paper v. Styrofoam

Charles Moore's work on size of ocean garbage patches

POLICY/ RECOMMENDATION (restate your recommendation, with qualifiers, as one does in science land)

Science/Research support (remind about evidence discussed above in VALUING PARAGRAPHS)

Qualification (concede reasonableness of the other position)

Concrete examples (2)

Sentences that can help you as topic sentences or transitions sentences between paragraphs

Any analysis of coffee cup choice requires use of life cycle analysis.

Life cycle analysis -- also known as cradle-to-grave -- helps capture the entire environmental effect from origin and inputs through use and, importantly, to disposal.

In my analysis, I weight [name environmental problem] more heavily than [the other problem].

Life cycle analysis can help us understand this difficult question about coffee cup sustainability

We have two choices in coffee cups: paper or plastic (Styrofoam).

Martin Hocking conducted the first -- and to date only -- peer-reviewed analysis of the energy embodied in coffee cup choices.

Charles Moore is among the first to alert us to the huge problem of persistent ocean plastic.

We will work through the above next week, using stasis theory.  COME TO CLASS.  For Friday, you will need a working draft of this short memo for peer review.  Monday, the memo is due in hard copy for a my evaluation.

We will work in pairs (because writing together is a workplace practice; synergies and efficiencies are possible).

FOR MONDAY:

• Read online by googling and use of Wikipedia (20 minutes) to orient yourself to the problem, while being aware of the ethos of the sources (question:  are environmental sources the best way to approach this problem?)
• Find a peer-reviewed article by Martin Hocking (use library databases), a chemist who conducted a comparison analysis of paper cups v. plastic (Styrofoam); environmental science and technology databases can help you with this quest
• Read about Charles Moore's work at his foundation.  Then, find a peer-reviewed article by him about ocean plastic (marine science and oceanography will help)
• The above reading will ready you for class discussion; use the "scan, parse, brief notes" approach here
• You will need to take a side on this problem, to be supported by your analytical frame, your decision criteria, and technical evidence