MbShea@PWP@English@UMCP

Jane wants a coffee cup policy for the office that is "green." This means, your first stasis or conjecture question is 

What is better for the environment: the paper coffee cup or the Styrofoam coffee cup?

(repasting for your convenience) From Week Six, good background:

• 2019 Science Daily research summary on polystyrene, sunlight, and persistence as a pollutant. Note: Science Daily is a really good science journalism site that you can use as an open access referral link for many writing contexts.
• 2017 Anthropocene magazine "Science Short" on coffee cups and their environmental impact.
• 2021 Atlantic magazine analysis of the limits of recycling.

Jane wants you to use available science (see the readings linked on Monday PLUS your brief round-up of Hocking and Moore's peer-reviewed pieces). She already knows that the reusable coffee cup is better; be real, though, as people use disposables and she wants an analysis for company decision making. Remember that the Governor asked about this technical problem.

Here is an arrangement for your memo/recommendation report. Roughly, P = paragraph. HINT: open this large image in new tab in your browser to see where we are going with this pattern.

 A few items for today:

• Critical thinking about web sources in several ways;
  • as reasonable proxies for peer reviewed work
  • as "spinning" or greenwashing or trustwashing acts
  • respecting corporate/industrial contributions but also caveat emptor applies
  • situating culturally and geographically (we are not Canada, even, let alone Europe!)
• Frames and decision criteria help limit the huge invention in which you research and think
  • Excluded: two attributes, namely cost and health effects in manufactoring and use
  • Included: the frame you select, either
    • climate change problem+broad solution=energy efficiency-->TEAM FOAM
    • aquatic plastic fate problem+prefer degredating materials v. persistent materials-->TEAM PAPER

Preview: using curated referral links to punt on larger definitional material. 

• IPCC most recent summary about climate change's exigence
• Charles Moore Algalita Foundation on aquatic plastic (founder ethos)
  •  Chesapeake focus (2016 overview from NOAA); Fin fish+microplastic since 50s (Science Daily 2021 summary); Question: what about oysters and crab?

Aid and comfort to you:

• At the end of the memo/short recommendation report, you can identify additional approaches
• You might close with a brief commentary on how oil/petroleum feedstock is common to both problems and that might be the place for rational, technical action (whoa on the politics but still, we proceed with truth as we can know and describe. 

Good morning.  Google link here for (-9:50; 10-10:50; 11-11:50).

 Here is a lesson on paragraphs and FREE PARAGRAPH text to work with.  You do not need to include this stuff in your Eli Review work but the knowledge is here now and we will begin with this example on Monday.

Lesson on paragraphs, here for early in your memo, in the definition/description move where we also need to address context.  Skill?:  Coherence in a paragraph (sample content but the paragraphs might not be complete for the purposes of your coffee cup paper). Coherence is what we achieve when we order for cognitive flow (think transitions).

"Meh" paragraph
Plastic and paper cups pose problems for recycling. Ceramic cups are very energy intensive to produce. Recycling seems environmentally-sound.  Paper does not degrade deep within most landfills and the plastic coating is also difficult.  Not all plastic can be recycled.  You need to check the bottom of the container.  Landfills are increasingly full.  There is a huge "patch" of garbage in the Pacific Ocean.

Note: can you see the compare/contrast move here, even in this meh or necessary draft version?

Better paragraph
Paper and plastic both pose disposal problems.  First, not all plastic can be recycled. Check the bottom of the plastic container. "No. 1" and "No. 2" types can be recycled by most facilities. Second, paper does not degrade deep within most landfills because of low oxygen conditions. The plastic coating also interferes with decay. Landfills are increasingly full.  There is a huge "patch" of garbage in the Pacific Ocean.

Note: do you see a place for a referral citation, using the first background pieces posted earlier? Some students find that using a referral link helps them feel more comfortable.  But, truly this knowledge is common UNLESS YOU CITE A SPECIFIC DETAIL LIKE VOLUME.  However, many of us do NOT know this, so is courtesy to reader to instruct with a referral link. Ongoing theme: citation helps readers.  Think about the positive aspect of citation, including that you are experienced by the reader as helpful.

Even better paragraph (can you see the re-thinking of content as well as sentence-level revision)
Paper and plastic both pose disposal problems.  First, not all plastic can be recycled. Check the bottom of the plastic container. "No. 1" and "No. 2" types can be recycled by most facilities. Second, paper does not degrade deep within most landfills because of low oxygen conditions. The plastic coating also interferes with decay. Landfills are increasingly full, with paper and plastic part of the waste stream. Not all plastic is recycled or landfilled. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) a huge "patch" of garbage in the Pacific Ocean is further evidence of the environmental harm posed by plastic.

Note: do you see a place for a referral citation? Caution, that NRDC piece has been taken down. Keep in mind that even good stuff on the internet goes away.  You can use the Charles Moore foundation pages as a referral citation.

More sentences/phrases to use next week. ==== (pivoting away from definition/desorption to analysis; reveal your decision criteria!) Here, we are at the LCA (Life cycle analysis or assessment) definition paragraph content items:

use a sourcing sentence (signal phrase) like "According to ........Life cycle analysis (LCA) assesses......

Life cycle analysis is the primary decision criteria used in this memo to evaluate our coffee cup choice."

Note that Martin Hocking's work uses LCA to assess the energy intensivity of paper, styrofoam, and ceramic cups. Especially good for TEAM STYRO.

Charles Moore's work on the fate of ocean plastic focuses on the disposal step of life cycle analysis. Especially good for TEAM PAPER.

(These last two sentences serve as transitions to the summary paragraphs where you focus on the science of Hocking OR the science of Moore, depending on your recommendation. This is the heart of your memo, the EVALUATION PARA that uses evidence for your claim on which cup is better, given your problem frame)

This NEW memo content is more complex and wide-ranging. One craft technique concerns 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. The content and definition frame was limited in ways that helped with most of the transitions between paragraphs.  We want to deepen our ability to work with transitions.

First, begin by looking at this OWL PURDUE exhibit on useful transition words and phrases.  Back to paragraphs, recall our train image where we let the couple be the transitional element that links both cars:  

• 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.  Now, let's look at two real world documents that show two types of T: tight transitions and loose transitions.

MEMO 2: Now, our boss 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).

We will need to read about this topic This reading task is your most important work on Friday. You can begin with these short pieces:

• 2019 Science Daily research summary on polystyrene, sunlight, and persistence as a pollutant. Note: Science Daily is a really good science journalism site that you can use as an open access referral link for many writing contexts.
• 2017 Anthropocene magazine "Science Short" on coffee cups and their environmental impact.
• 2021 Atlantic magazine analysis of the limits of recycling.

Back to our boss: Jane wants a coffee cup policy for the office that is "green."  This is your question (first stasis).  We have lots of definitions that you will need to think about before Monday.

 CLASS DISCUSSION ON PROBLEM FRAMING!!!!

• Two environmental problems 
  • climate change
  • fate of ocean plastic

Incommensurability

Dividing a problem into simpler "models"

Decide which problem to weight more fully.

Sometimes we reverse engineer

What if we not agree with question or problem division? Keep notes on this.

• do both?
• find out which problem is worse
• re-usables, right?

Happy Friday.  I will be around between 9-9:50, 10-10:50, and 11-11:50 at the same link for all semester: GoogleMeet for Shea/Science writing.

A few of you have asked about incommensurability.  Here is long entry from the Stanford Library of Philosophy (online). TLDR?

• Some concepts, methods, frames, social problems as well as policy decisions cannot be compared directly. Why?  They lack a common measure.  Some of the is math-focused but qualitative factors can be part of incommensurability, too. 
  • Consider apples and oranges, that old metaphor. 

Have you heard of paradigm shift to describe how scientists build knowledge (claim and counter claim. Thomas Kuhn, philosopher of science, claims science process reveals that some discussions/arguments about competing paradigms fails to "make complete contact with each other’s views." This means (apples and oranges) that those in the "conversation" are always talking at least slightly at cross-purposes.

Kuhn calls the collective causes of this communication failures incommensurability. Here are some examples:

• the Newtonian physics paradigm is incommensurable with its Cartesian and Aristotelian predecessors in physics;
• Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier’s paradigm is incommensurable with that of Joseph Priestley’s in chemistry.
• God's action as designer conflicts with Darwin's central understanding of evolution condenses into natural selection.

---

For us, we cannot compare directly the gravity of climate change with the fate of aquatic plastic.  Therefore, in our memo we must lead with this:

In my analysis of hot beverage cups and environmental footprint, I weight climate change more heavily than ocean plastic.  Therefore, this frame is a central assumption in this short problem-solution report.

...

Later in this short report, I will address this conceptual framing limitation and speak briefly about how framing this problem as one of ocean plastic leads to another recommendation.

If you chose this frame, you are TEAM STYROFOAM this month. If you weight aquatic plastic as the central frame, then you sentences look like this:

In my analysis of hot beverage cups and environmental footprint, I weight the fate of ocean plastic more heavily than climate change; this frame is a central assumption in this short problem-solution report.

...

Later in this short report, I will address this conceptual framing limitation and speak briefly about how framing this problem as one of  climate change leads to another recommendation. 

via GIPHY

The only place in our short definitional memo that really needs as transition is moving into the evaluation paragraph. Our early paragraphs are united, cognitively, by the definition work.

First, let's focus on binding -- relies on counting (two) and pivoting -- for the illustration paragraph, which can be transitioned into the evaluation paragraph. 

Ok: binding a paragraph.

In the illustrating paragraph, bind by counting. In this case, you have two sections, of abiotic and biotic components.  Does order matter?  Plants first?  Layers first?  What do you think? Also, what is a good pivot -- transition -- between the two sections?  Try these "free" phrases for you to use that will help you pivot!

T(t)he engineered garden layers work with the carefully selected plants to stabilize the sponge action...

...plant roots help further anchor the soil layers...

...within the layers are microbes -- associated with both the soil and plant roots -- also helpful in bioretention. . . (abiotic and biotic connection!  If you want to use this)... 

Now, the evaluation paragraph:  we will make two related claims in the paragraph: that rain garden/bioretention technology works (cite a Davis study for evidence) and that low impact development techniques cost less than traditional storm drain piping (support with your human inspection "evidence" discussed on Monday). I would order them this way.   Transitions possible include (place either at end of para I or beginning of para E):

Therefore, rain garden design perform the remediation functions.

Do rain gardens really work at scale?

In theory, rain gardens work but what evidence is there?

If you order your memo with the classifying paragraph (aka kitchen sink paragraph), binding by two strategies (BLUF is new; process/order is also something you already do as human beings!).  Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) means lead with the conclusion or main message.  Then, let the detail in (often larger paragraph) the rest of your text chunk explain, elaborate, or persuade.  Begin:

Rain gardens, a kind of bioretention strategy, are established as effective at pollution associated with run-off events.

Then, say:

Rain gardens were first devised in Maryland in the early 1990s.  Larry Coffman, then an environmental engieer for Prince George's County, installed a rain garden in Somerset. He worked with the development and many county agencies to manage stormwater with a design-build modification to the landscape , rather that using storm drain infrastructure.  

Can you see the process here?  And, then narrative?  You need to tell that story quickly!

Now to transition to Davis/evaluation paragraph: close with the idea that Mr. Coffman consulted with Davis to "prove" that biorention works.  They also want to quantify the effectiveness of this low impact development technology. 

Here is a checklist to work through before turning in.  More on Monday.  On Monday we will also talk more about referral link placement in the classifying and illustrating paragraphs, with new idea of bookending the knowledge.

Reference documents from earlier Squarespace posts.  Using some of them today:

Now, let's think about sentences (all handouts are one-page MS Word docs): 

Sentence Patterns

Buffy and Sentences

Pitch the Verb

And, on to paragraphs (MS Word docs):

Paragraph Definition: think Architectures

Paragraph Types

Happy Friday to you all. We can meet by Google today as per usual on Friday.

Reading this post is another way to prep for the final version of the rain garden definition memo. Clarity on an option for those of you who want more peer collaboration about the memo, especially the last paragraph -- evaluation stasis step.

Check your ELMS calendar for a revised task this Friday evening.  Now OPTIONAL.  Many of you want this additional chance to give and receive feedback. Others are ready to prep for final version to be due Monday evening. Here is the link for Eli Review, which you can chose or not.  As you wish. 

via GIPHY

First, here is the updated checklist you can use as your keep revising your memo.  I will open an Eli Review task for final submission on Monday.  Recall that you may submit all during the week.

For Monday,, we will review and improve our practices for curating referral links and making sure which part of the paragraph the curated link refers too.   We will also look at Aristotle's canons of rhetoric, which are five categories of action patterns we use in developing our communication events (speaking and writing).

To preview Monday's presentation of curated referral links (use at least one in the illustrating and classifying paragraphs), here is a sneak peek of sample sentences that can appear in these paragraphs.

The Low Impact Development Center website (ADD LINK), founded by rain garden inventor Larry Coffman, contains several design guides.  . . . . . . . . . Here is one on plant selection (ADD LINK).

You can read more about how rain gardens were developed and why at a short article (ADD LINK). This piece described how Coffman and Larry Davis worked to develop rain garden and bioremediation best practices. See especially the short blue sidebar on page 10 of this web-posted piece.

 Aristotle's canons?  You have a feel for this as you already do these cognitive patterns to think and write!

• Invention is the process of coming up -- inventing!--  with what you want to say to inform or persuade your audience;
• Arrangement is the process/pattern of structuring your content in good order for your reader's experience of cognitive flow. You use ideas from the invention stage into this step.  
• Style is the process of choosing language elements to achieve level or formality, warmth/coolness and other overall document effects.
• Memory:  modern rhetors think of this as how to imagine your audience effectively and accurately. 
• Delivery: in this case we are working in the memo format and context is the delivery occasion.

NEW item: dummy text using lorum ipsum (fake Latin to manage document before formatting/printing/publishing) to show you relative size of paragraphs PLUS cognitive wedge shape

For Wednesday!  Yet posted on Tuesday night for those wanting to read ahead.

Think about counting out.  Jennifer Lopez!

Science references popular culture.  Including JLo!COUNTING OUT in the memo (writing strategy that is cognitively helpful to readers)

In class we will talk about categories (part of counting, really, as well as dividing) being more important than absolute details. See the thee pollutant classes above.  Also, we can describe plants in terms of categories, like native, drought/inundation adapted, etc.

Hi. Do not forget your Eli Review post due tonight.  On Saturday, about noon, I will open up the review portion.

Today, you can chat with me between 9-950, 10-10:50, and 11-11:50.  Here is the Google Meet link (hey, do you like this curated link?  Could this be better?).

Now, a long lesson on the Oxford comma! Bottom line?  USE IT.

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 English professor 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, consider all these combinations and punctuation variations:

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. Warning:  F-bomb several times.  

And, this from S.C.

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/fo5d9i/the-colbert-report-vampire-weekend

What do you think of this sloppy curation of a link?