MbShea@PWP@English@UMCP

One of Aristotle's canons for writing is ARRANGEMENT.  The order and "chunking" of information matters very much for reader cognition and receptivity to what you write.

For Friday, we will spend half of the class as a writing session for you to rewrite the coffee cup memo.  Bring your digital copy and the marked copy. The coffee cup rewrite is due on Monday, October 19.

You have looked at these two handouts before, but we have not yet taken them up in class.  Both documents support paragraphs:

• paragraph examples -- field guide -- Paragraph Types (note:  typos are replicated by copying off the web); and
• transition, again, taken from a field study.

More on transition (meta discourse words and phrases are very helpful)

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?  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.

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.

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. 

Here is a detailed guide on what the begining, middle, and ends of the document can look like. Note the focus on paragraphs.

I suggest writing two/three paragraphs every other day.  Peer review copy due on Friday, Oct. 28.  Final copy due for a grade on Monday, Oct. 31. 

via GIPHY

What about document openings?  We have a number of options; look at these seven strategies for opening.

Next up: focus on body paragraphs and citation style, within this close review.  You should have your center-of-the-lemon paragraphs and the opening done.  We will also think about counter arguments and how to end the document.

And, shall we start the week with the pathos of cute?  Why yes we shall.

• The cutest amphibian in the world
• Toughest, tiniest space traveller

Stasis theory and the IMAD article, working document here.

in class today. Revision for FINAL GRADE DUE ON WEDNESDAY.

Care to know what I am up to later today?  Presenting on stasis theory to a federal agency.  I cannot share this presentation, yet, you can look at these two items.  (Not required reading but you may want to skim and learn that stasis theory is of emerging importance to scientists who work in teams to advise on policy.)

Article pdf here (go to page 20 to read my co-authored piece)

PPt slides from a MD chapter of the Ecological Society of America meeting. (This presentation makes today's webinar possible.)

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For Wednesday, we will talk about the audience/context/purpose of your two-article close read/review assignment.  Do you know what a journal club is?  That is one aspect of our context. Here are two background readings on journal clubs, science, and information sharing.

Overview (Hilda Bastian's blog at PloS)

Piled Higher and Deeper -- a webcomic's take on journal clubs

in the coffee cup memo. Let's begin, however, with this charming image by A.C. (11AM section).

Establish ethos of your cited material for both Hocking and Moore at the beginning of your two evaluation paragraphs.

Martin Hocking, research chemist at the University of Victoria, used a life cycle approach to compare paper and styrofoam cups.  Hocking's findings appeared in [YEAR] and [Journal name]

Charles Moore, oceanographer, runs the Algalita Foundation.  Moore is widely credited with first describing the accumulation of plastic in the Pacific Ocean.  Moore's work documenting the fate of ocean plastic appears in [YEAR] and [Journal name]

Transition elements:

While Hocking's work compares both types of cups, his energy-focused analysis supports the styrofoam choice as being better for the environment.  Another analytical frame focused on the end of the life cycle means we must consider the persistence of plastic in the environment.

Moore's work is concerned primarily with the emerging problem of plastic in aquatic environments. Another compelling analytical approach weighs the climate change/energy efficiency problem more heavily. Here, the energy used to create the cup moves the social concern to the earlier phases of LCA.

Small definitions phrases/sentences you might use:

LCA -- a cradle-to-grave -- approach....

Hocking's work captures the carbon footprints of each cup.....

Research on the fate of ocean plastic is emerging, with bioaccumulation problems noted for complex food chains. Bioaccumulation concerns transfer of pollution up a food chain from smaller organisms like phytoplankton in successive levels up to top predators like tuna fish.

Establishing YOUR ethos, with counter-arguments

Hocking's work, though dated, is the only available peer-reviewed analysis about energy embodied in coffee cups.

Moore is a scientist-advocate.  Yet, his research -- and that of others -- is entering the peer-reviewed literature as the research inquiry widens.

Paper cups are often thrown away and not recycled. Low oxygen conditions in landfills mean that paper does not completely degrade.  Furthermore, the plastic coating makes recycling more complicated.

Styrofoam does not always end up in landfills.  Much of the material -- like other plastics -- ends up in the ocean.  Styrofoam as a type of plastic does not really degrade.  Newer research, however, suggests that plastic does break into smaller particles, with some serious consequences for aquatic animals.  

My recommendation is driven by my choice of environmental problem.  A reasonable argument can be made in support of the other cup choice.

Please note that I have not included human health effects in this analysis. This is a weakness in my overall approach.  Let me know if I can examine this aspect further.

Other bits of content that you could address at the closing of your memo include:

• Styrofoam recycling is emerging
• Bioplastics, including biofoam
• Microplastics
• Implications for local watershed