Week 6: rain garden memo refinement
Look for a second Friday-through-Monday Eli Review event of Writing Task, followed by Review Task. Here are the critical thinking skills and writing craft skills we focus on now:
- Natural language sourcing for body paragraphs, including referral links
- Critical analysis of web sources to work around pay wall for peer reviewed sources (Davis paragraph
- Add a peer reviewed link in the sources/further reading (your choice
- One quick link, well curated with Davis summary
- What about:
- Classifying (kitchen sink para) try the Low Impact Development Center
- Illustrating paragraph, try the P.G. County Bioretention Manual (caution about the large PDF)
- Preview functional definition that is your pointed edge of the cognitive wedge? None needed!
Phrases for you?
the bioretention "bible" used since circa 2007 worldwide
remains the "grandfather" of low impact development and watershed hydrology
can gather more peer reviewed research if needed
did not want to send you to a pay wall
Option: switch classifying and illustrating paragraphs.
Let's note that in a tight, concrete topic, you do not need to over focus on transition between paragraphs because of the coherence of using the definition stasis within a cognitive wedge strategy. Also helpful? direct topic sentences.
Wednesday preview? last thoughts on sourcing options and a checklist for this next review go-round. And, please skim through these padlet-hosted readngs about giving good feedback.
For analysis: several have asked me about using this Slide Share by A.D. Let's use audience-context-purpose to assess.
Marybeth Shea
Happy Wednesday. Rain this morning! :( . First up? Clarity in sentences subjects:
Empty subjects! What are they? Perfectly usable subjects in sentences that can introduce confusion for readers. Try to avoid these constructions.
Tldr? Empty subjects = there is/are; it. This short web exhibit (linked above) is chock-full of examples. Another name is dummy subjects (also web exhibit)
TAKEAWAY: do not use emtpy subjects in your final draft of the rain garden memo.
Punctuation preview lesson on Friday: why the Oxford comma is your science writing friend.
Now, let's loop back to citation strategies in the memo. Recall that citation of both types improves your ethos.
- formal citation (APA or author date system). We use this in the Allen Davis paragraph by using two "markers:"
- parenthetical cite in this evaluation paragraph
- bibliographic note at the end of the memo
- Informal citation, which relies on natural language elements of prose in paragraphs
- signal phrases
- bookending
- curated links
- POSITION MATTERS
Signal phrases, like use a sourcing sentence (signal phrase) like
According to the Bioretention Manual......................This "bible of rain gardn design from PG County is linked here (CAUTION)
The Low Impact Development Center describes........(do we need to place link at end?)
We can review sentences in these handouts you have seen before:
Helpers for you for the final version for a grade, to be due Wednesday, Oct. 12
Rain garden checklist (Google Sheet)
Sample of AMA/Office Hours in the Sky (Google Doc), to be held Tuesday, October 11, which includes this bookending example that you can work with:
Rain gardens have two components, to perform their pollution and water/erosion control functions: below ground structure and above ground structure, where the plants are. According to the helpful design manual from the Low Impact Development Center, Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras lacinia placerat rutrum. Integer et commodo dolor, condimentum suscipit massa. Suspendisse vel quam elit. Donec nec facilisis nunc. Duis congue consequat orci, vel pharetra nibh efficitur vitae. Aliquam ornare cursus commodo. Donec ac nulla venenatis, bibendum urna sed, congue risus. Nulla ut orci velit. Praesent lectus lacus, rutrum at dapibus quis, vestibulum in erat. Nulla pharetra congue placerat. Nulla convallis, mauris non finibus fringilla, erat felis mollis ipsum, ut gravida ex mauris quis ligula. Suspendisse a ex vel justo euismod congue id nec augue. Aenean pulvinar dictum neque. Proin nec nibh ac enim accumsan volutpat. You can access this guide here (CURATE THE LINK), which will show you both the soil and living materials needed.
Marybeth Shea
Today is Friday. I am available online today between 9-9:50, 10-10:50 and 11-11:50. Here is your GoogleMeet code (same for all Fridays this semester).
Process note: urng these three "class sessions" I will take notes and write up a short Google doc to be posted here MIDDAY. Why? So many of you have questions about required citation with three paragraphs. So, come back for some clarity. Do recall, however, that even trying to do what I presented in this current Eli Review process will give you clarity about what you do. not understand. Two cognitive moments:
- You will learn from others (with others, actually).
- For Monday, in class, your questions will be well focused.
Now, the long lesson on Oxford Commas, nested within other examples about how phrases and puctuation work together to improve reader clarity.
To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.
To my parents, J.K. Rowling and God.
To my parents, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart.
OR
In a newspaper account of a documentary about Merle Haggard:
Among those interviewed were his two ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson and Robert Duvall.
These two preceding examples are from Theresa Hayden. Here is another doosie that cries out for a serial or Oxford comma.
The Times once published an unintentionally humorous description of a Peter Ustinov documentary, noting that
"highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a dildo collector."
Now, to be clear, the serial comma does not always solve ambiguity problems:
They went to Oregon with Betty, a maid and a cook –
- They went to Oregon with Betty, who was a maid and a cook. (One person)
- They went to Oregon with Betty, both a maid and a cook. (One person)
- They went to Oregon with Betty, a maid and cook. (One person)
- They went to Oregon with Betty (a maid) and a cook. (Two people)
- They went to Oregon with Betty, a maid, and with a cook. (Two people)
- They went to Oregon with Betty – a maid – and a cook. (Two people)
- They went to Oregon with the maid Betty and a cook. (Two people)
- They went to Oregon with a cook and Betty, a maid. (Two people)
- They went to Oregon with Betty as well as a maid and a cook. (Three people)
- They went to Oregon with Betty and a maid and a cook. (Three people)
- They went to Oregon with Betty, one maid and a cook. (Three people)
- They went to Oregon with a maid, a cook, and Betty. (Three people)
We can also look at the grocery list problem:
buying bread, jam, coffee, cream, juice, eggs, and bacon. VS
eating toast and jam, coffee and cream, juice, and bacon and eggs
Finally, we have a theme song to remember this punctuation convention.
And, this from S.C. of the Colbert Report.
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/fo5d9i/the-colbert-report-vampire-weekend
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