MbShea@PWP@English@UMCP

in hard copy, double-spaced.  You can print in class.

Link to Office Hours in the Sky google doc. Checklist is in the document, too.

Happy Friday: Let's have a parody video.

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.

Lesson on paragraphs, here for early in your memo, in the definition/description move (STASIS 2) 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):

"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. Supply chains of garbage recycling, especially plastic do not really work.  

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 are several huge "patches of garbage" in the Pacific Ocean. Recent analysis suggest that China is a source of this garbage.

Note: do you see a place for a referral citation, using the Seattle news article posted earlier? Can you find a more general article that you can refer to, about the limits of recycling and landfilling?  Recall that this information, now, at this level of detail is common knowledge, even if you do know this.

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 Algalita Foundation,  huge "patches" of garbage in the Pacific Ocean are further evidence of of the environmental harm posed by plastic.

Note: do you see another place for a referral citation?  Should we build a new paragraph with this information?

Hard copy, double spaced. We will print in class.

Here is our google doc for Sunday evening office hours. I will host between 6 and 8 PM.  You can enter questions anytime.

Checklist for your final edits/revision.

via GIPHY

I will give you an arrangement and sources (logos) in class. We will work on board and then post the images/test.  I will post follow-up notes on the  arrangement on Tuesday, late in the day.  You can compare this to what you have drafted.

The structure and type of paragraphs you will write follow Aristotle's (really, more the contribution of Hermanagoras!)  stasis theory (very much a system of analysis and action, like your scientific method steps). You will open and close the memo with brief introductory paragraphs, but the meat and potatoes (or tofu and kale) of your memo will be these staged, disciplined paragraphs.

• Brief, Working Definition (what is a rain garden, briefly, by two functions)
• Classification (what type of technology is this? Hint: low impact development and storm water management) 
• Extended Description (Illustrative; give detail on the layers of soil and the type of plants; best to divide the complex material into two parts, plants/function and soil layers/function) 
  • include two examples; consider the ones on campus (can be sep. para OR placed at end of doc)
• Evaluation (is this low impact technology good or bad?  Use Dr. Davis' research as you do not have authority to evaluate based on your expertise)

I would think you need about one source per these paras: classifying, illustrating, evaluating.  Use (author, date) citation from APA guidelines. Include a works cited page also.

Wednesday, we will work closely on sentences.

Peer revision of complete memo on Friday.  Due in hard copy on Monday for a grade.  You can print in the classroom.

Audience/Context/Purpose:

Audience scenario for this memo: Here is Jane, our boss. She asked for the memo at the end of our last staff meeting. 

irst up! What is a memo?  

By the way, the OWL website at Purdue is a fabulous resource for writing. Memos also have a standard format:  See the image to the left.  Also, look at the email heading in your software.  This electronic message is based on the memo format.  

Bonus question:  what is the difference, traditionally, between a memo and a letter?

Topic Sentences: A list of qualities for you to strive for

• Usually a short direct sentence (think announcement)
• Signals the topic in the paragraph (think preview)
• Hooks the reader by 1) raising a question or 2) provoking thought
• Can be placed anywhere, but early on in the paragraph is the best default strategy for most professional documents; in other words, at the beginning of the paragraph
• Contains an element of transition from the previous paragraph

Here is our GroupMe link, courtesy of C.J.  

I would also suggest that you look at the links in the right-side navigation column and read the syllabus and the syllabus rationale.

via GIPHY

On Friday, we look at the genre or document type of the informatinal memo: topic?  Rain gardens and bioretention.  If you want, spend fifteen minutes online, so you have a working definition of the technology.