MbShea@PWP@English@UMCP

Recall that transitions strategies are your friend!  First up, the overall binding strategy is to pay attention to the beginning and end of paragraphs (as you know).  Here is your Lego memory helper for that. 

You can also use meta discourse of first person phrases -- within the memo -- that clue the reading that you are either:

•  
  •  
    • leaping
    • shifting
    • pivoting, or
    • punting.

Here is a checklist for the coffee cup memo (Google Sheet).  You can also review this Trait list from the most recent Review Task that was due on Monday, late evening.

I will open up the next Writing Task for this Friday-Saturday-Sunday-Monday Review Task on Thursday AM.

Happy Friday and your protected time to manage your work! 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).

Three common lapses (noted in the Eli Review Writing Task prompt) include:

• not using formal citation with the Moore (Team Paper) or Hocking (Team Styro) paragraphs that you summarize; relatedly,->
• not using curated links that you use for referral or punting; and
• not acknowledging the reasonableness of the other position, including a formal citation to direct reader to that information. 

One critical thinking skill we practice here is achieve "flow" both in the writing and in the cognitive of the reader. In this assignment, we work to achieve flow across complexity and contrast when the science in unclear.

Some boilerplate language you can use, based on some questions emailed to me yesterday:

Having defined LCA, let's look now at Martin Hocking's work on . . .  (or, insert Charles Moore)

As you can see, Hocking's work is, essentially, an LCA on disposable hot beverage cups.

Moore's work focused primarily on the end phase of the LCA.  Here, the key idea noted earlier about how "leaky" both disposal and recycling systems are.  Essentially, we do not landfill and recycle near as much of both cup materials that we think; hence, we experience now a critical volume of aquatic plastic. 

Should you need more information on climate change and energy efficiency, see this helpful and brief article at..., which summarizes the science-based work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 

For purposes of this cursory analysis (short analysis, first-cut look, quick-and-dirty examination), we will now turn to Moore's groundbreaking work on ocean plastic.

Recall, that my recommendation relies both on:

• my opening assumption about ocean plastic (or climate change) and
• LCA as a decision criteria

TRANSITIONS!

First, begin by looking at this OWL PURDUE exhibit on useful transition words and phrases.  Back to paragraphs:  

• look at the last sentence of each paragraph; 
• then look at the first sentence in the next paragraph.

Do you see connection between content, including a reasonable pivot to new information?  The paragraphs, although they stand alone in topic and content, should CONNECT or TRANSITION with the surrounding paragraphs.  

Paragraph check: Ask

• What is the paragraph doing in the document?  What type of paragraph serves this purpose? For example, a narrative paragraph can tell a brief story or present a case or example.  An illustrative paragraph – cousin to descriptive paragraphs - paints a picture.
  
• Is the paragraph cohesive?  Does the content “hang” together?  Do the sentence choices achieve cohesion?  Look at the transition words and phrases in the OWL link above.  You can use them to achieve cohesion and flow between sentences. This focus is called local coherence, which is key to achieving flow.
  

Finally, paragraphs do not truly stand alone in most documents. Paragraphs combine to provide coherent content in a document for a reader.  Ask this:  do the paragraphs fit and support the arrangement or structure of the document?  Focus on transitions between paragraphs, which help with cohesion in the document.  Local coherence (within a paragraph) + global coherence (between paragraphs and within a document) create overall flow.

Cheap! Way To achieve cohesion between paragraphs try "chaining" by transitions. Place the  topic of the next paragraph in the last sentence of the preceding paragraph. The first sentence of the new paragraph must include that topic also. Doing this knits or binds the paragraphs to each other.  Here is how a math person would say this: 

Let ParaA be the preceding paragraph. 

Let ParaB be the following paragraph.  

Let T be the topic that should appear in both paragraphs.  

We will limit our discussion now to two sentences: 

•  
  • the last sentence of ParaA and the 
  • first sentence of ParaB. 

In reality, ParaA and ParaB exist in a document with an arrangement of many paragraphs.

ParaA relates to ParaB through the last sentence of ParaA AND SIMULTANEOUSLY through the first sentence of ParaB. The relating elements is a topic, T;  T can be a repeated word or a phrase.  Some variation on T makes for good style.  

Tight transitions pivot on repetition of key word or short phrase. Loose transitions allow a topic substitution or phrase (selected with care for reader knowledge/background).

Food for thought: You also can use the transition space to punt or jump to another subtopic in the memo. Phrases:

Having reminded you of the central emergency of climate change, let's turn now to...

Now that you have more details on the emerging problem of ocean plastic, we can look at...

Recall that this memo is a short back-of-the-envelope analysis for our purposes. We can reconsider these frames more carefully but would face the incommensurability problem.

define with punt referral link to Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy?

block quote of short definition from above

pivot to why we need to acknowledge the reasonableness of the other position

Climate change and the fate of ocean plastic resist direct comparison.  This is why the other cup choice is reasonable, given a different frame. Consequently....

Good morning. 

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).

Hint: do you see the block quote sample at the end of this post? 

What is your one ring source that can rule them all?  The celery-green flow chart! You should also review the pats three week, especial Weeks 9 and 8 (reverse chron order).  Have you gathered up all the free phrases, sentences starters, rough paragraphs, topic sentences, transition ideas into your working document?  PLEASE DO SO. This will make your busy life easier. 

Please do NOT forget your Eli Review Writing Task due tonight.  Show up. Post something.  Do this so you can give and receive feedback.  You can help your peer editing partners even if you are not completely with suggested 4-6 paragraphs that are pretty easy to write. This way, your presence helps others propel the writing forward.

And for you?  You can draft off each other in a cycling or aerodnynamic way. In this short 2017 web article from Cycling Tips is this quote:

So how much energy can you save from drafting? Interestingly, there seems to be little consensus among researchers that have investigated this topic. Studies have shown drag reductions of between 27% and 50% for riders that are drafting, with the exact reduction depending on a number of variables — the size and on-the-bike position of the rider in front, likewise with the rider drafting, the distance from the wheel in front, the direction and strength of the wind, and more.

de Vroet, Matthew

Writing techniques in this memo: Paragraphs! Paragraph transitions. We will take up a new idea for use in sentences, with emphasis on "empty subjects."  Let's also look at brief document on transitions, taken from a real-world setting. We will be looking at tight transitions and loose transitions.

Document genre is the memo. However, 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. Here the concept was more narrow and very concrete. We will look at abstract concepts, where the science is unclear and yet we must make a decision.

Stasis two: definition!  Definitions/descriptions are pivot paragraphs that set the reader up with necessary knowledge before diving more deeply into complexity. Elements of this analysis that need definition/description work include:

• basic problem description of two cups (perhaps three, if you want to include re-usable ones)
• chains of disposal
  • landfilling or incineration
  • recycling
    • limits or leakage of these "grave" points on->
• life cycle analysis aka cradle-to-grave approach (a decision criteria for your work)
• brief reminder (plus punt/referral link) about the frames of
  • climate change+energy efficiency
  • ocean plastic and emerging food chain, ecosystem, human health problem

Some of these items require a small, targeted paragraph: problem description+chains of disposal (see the "meh" paragraph work), life cycle analysis, frames.

Reposting information presented earlier (looping based on previewing -- a cognitive support for readers facing complexity):

• Celery-green flow chart of problem-solution memo (Aristotle would say "strategic arrangement) 
• Return to Monday, Week 7, to see
  • free sentences you can use (try to match them to a paragraph topic sentence or transition sentence location
  • the "meh" to better paragraph exhibit (also one you can use!).

Mb did the invention (research for you) on sources.  Reposting from earlier:

1. Martin Hocking, research chemist at University of Victoria, BC, Canada. By Research Gate, you can see many of his articles over an incredibly long academic career. Here are the two foundational articles he published that compare the embodied energy of Styrofoam and paper hot beverage cups
   1. 1991 research results article (read abstract, as you likely will hit a paywall Springer.
   2. 1994 follow-up research letters (ditto above on pay wall but at Jstor, you get preview and not an abstract)
2. Charles Moore, marine biologist and oceans advocate, discovered these patches and began this line of inquiry:
   1. Algalita Foundation
   2. His list of publications here (Moore is typically not listed in Research Gate as he left academia to focus on ocean plastic).

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).

Read and think this weekend and prewrite for your coffee cup short recommendation report.

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).

If you are ready to prep for the coffee cup memo, here are the two researchers who hold founding ethos about the two cup choices:

1. Martin Hocking, research chemist at University of Victoria, BC, Canada. By Research Gate, you can see many of his articles over an incredibly long academic career. Here are the two foundational articles he published that compare the embodied energy of Styrofoam and paper hot beverage cups
   1. 1991 research results article (read abstract, as you likely will hit a paywall Springer.
   2. 1994 follow-up research letters (ditto above on pay wall but at Jstor, you get preview and not an abstract)
2. Charles Moore, marine biologist and oceans advocate, discovered these patches and began this line of inquiry:
   1. Algalita Foundation
   2. His list of publications here (Moore is typically not listed in Research Gate as he left academia to focus on ocean plastic).

Suggestion:  skim read for 15 minutes about Moore and Hocking,, with some attention paid to knowing enough to discuss this coffee cup recommendation memo.

See you Monday. Enjoy your sweater weather weekend.

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:

Sentence Patterns

Buffy and Sentences

Pitch the Verb

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.

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:

1. You will learn from others (with others, actually).
2. 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.