Read the course description. Email your questionnaire with any questions about the course description to amills@ccsf.edu.

Read "Doomsday Fears and Modern Life" by Norman Podhoretz

Read the summary assignment sheet. You may want to begin to make notes on your summary.

Read Chapter One of The Rhetoric of Argument (3-15)

Use your access code to log on to CompClass. Your blog has been automatically created.  Click on the assignment link above and then click on your name to access it.  I encourage you to upload a picture!  We'll be reading and commenting on each other's blogs, and that will make it more enjoyable and help us create community as a class.  To add a photo, click on the "profile" link.

For your first posting, write a paragraph in which you begin to apply the ideas in this introductory chapter of Rhetoric to Obama's inauguration speech or the "Doomsday Fears" essay. You may want to discuss context, audience, and exigence. You can watch the inauguration speech here
or read the text.

Reminder: You will receive homework credit for the blog entry and will also get an overall grade on your blog entries at midterms and finals.  That grade will be based on thoughtfulness and relevance (not necessarily length).  I won't be able to comment on each blog entry, but if you make a point that you particularly want feedback on, send me an email about it.

Read Chapter Two of The Rhetoric of Argument (16-41)

On your CompClass blog, write at least two paragraphs in which you apply concepts from the second Rhetoric chapter to "Doomsday Fears." You may want to identify claims, reasons, and warrants in "Doomsday Fears." You may want to discuss the values, facts, and sources that Podhoretz draws on.

Read several of your classmates' blogs and post comments on at least two.

1. Watch An Inconvenient Truth.You can visit the Media Center ( Mon - Thurs 8am - 8:45pm; Fri 8am - 3:45pm; Sat 10am - 4:45PM, Location: Room R403) and check out the film to watch on one of their screens. The call number is DVD 0042. Alternately, you can rent the film, check it out from the public library or try to watch it online (the sites that post it are inconsistent).

2. Write two blog entries (each worth one homework credit):

--An entry in which you reflect on how Gore chose to draw a picture of global warming for his audiences. You may want to apply the ideas in the Rhetoric chapter on definition argument to An Inconvenient Truth--what kind of support by example, definition, and/or comparison does Gore choose to highlight?. You might want to refer back to this unofficial transcript of the film.

--An entry in which you pick out one intriguing example that Kolbert uses in pages 45-90 of Field Notes. What idea about the nature of global warming is the example intended to support? Identify or articulate in your own words the precise definition argument the example relates to. Then discuss how Kolbert attempts to establish typicality for the example. In other words, what is the warrant which shows this example is not isolated but part of a larger pattern? What establishes the connection between this example and the generalization she wants us to accept? Note: Sometimes she does this implicitly, sometimes explicitly, sometimes close to the example, and sometimes in another section or chapter. Finally, did she succeed in convincing you that this example was typical?

• Read 45-64 in Rhetoric on ethos and pathos
• Comment on at least three of your classmates' blog entries (one homework credit).
• Recommended: Read the second essay assignment and begin to make notes, brainstorm, or outline your paper.

Read Field Notes from a Catastrophe pages 93-121

Post two paragraphs to your blog on the ethos and pathos in Field Notes and/or An Inconvenient Truth

Read the model comparison and contrast essays assigned on CompClass. For each of these essays, identify the thesis and the organizational strategy. How does the writer separate the comparison into paragraphs?

Prewriting for your comparison essay: Bring at least two pages of notes (typed or handwritten). These might take the form of a chart, an outline, or a brainstorm.

Read "Chapter One: Understanding Style" in Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace

2 copies of the final draft of the second essay (one to turn in and one to edit and take home)

Bring Rules for Writers or any grammar handbook you have a physical copy of.

Bring your previous graded essay (with the handbook codes)

Optional: preview the midterm directions

Optional grammar version

Optional correction of your previous essay's grammar errors. Do this by hand on the same version I marked up with handbook codes. If necessary, put an asterisk and write your correction on the back of the page. You must do this optional assignment if you want grammar feedback on the current essay. You will also receive a bonus homework credit for your effort.

Read "Chapter 3: Actions" in Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Do exercises 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3.

Preparation for the midterm

Style exercises

An outline of the midterm --should include a thesis, topic sentences, and some supporting quotations. You can download and use this outline template if it's helpful.

Bring Style. You will need it in class.

Prepare for the midterm .

Make any changes to your blog that you want to count toward your midterm blog grade.

Bring a print card with enough money to print your essay.

Read Lesson 4: Characters in Style (57-73)

Do exercises 4.1 and 4.2

Bonus homework credit: If you would like detailed grammar corrections on your midterm essay, you will need to correct the errors on your comparison essay. Write your corrections directly on the final grammar version that I marked with handbook codes.

Read 122-172 in Field Notes

First blog entry: On your CompClass blog, quote two places where Kolbert uses passive voice.  Rewrite each in active. Which way is better given her purpose and meaning?  Why? Find two places where she uses “I” or “We”  Revise it to be impersonal.  Which way is better given her purpose and meaning?  Why? Next, find two nominalizations.  Revise the sentences using only active verbs.  Which way is better given her purpose and meaning?  Why? Overall, do you think Kolbert's style is unnecessarily passive or full of nominalizations? Does she follow the rule outlined in Style: "Everything should be made as simple as possible but no simpler"?

Second blog entry: As a separate posting, respond thoughtfully to Kolbert’s discussion of possible impacts on man and possible solutions.  You can choose what to respond to.   Don’t just summarize what she says; give your own critical reactions (critical doesn’t necessarily mean negative—it just means you are reflecting on what she says and evaluating it).  Your blog entry should include at least two quotations.

Read to the end of Field Notes (including the afterword)

Write one blog entry responding to the reading.

Fallacies

Bring Rhetoric and a printout of “A Convenient Untruth.”

Read Rhetoric 65-71 on fallacies

Print and read “A Convenient Untruth” by Michael Shnayerson from the May 2007 issue of Vanity Fair.

Blog entry: What fallacies does the article accuse Myron Ebell of inserting into his arguments?  Find at least three statements attributed to Ebell.  For each of these statements, identify the name of the fallacy and explain what is wrong with the logic.  Then, ask yourself whether Shayerson has any lapses in his own logic.  Identify at least one fallacy in Shnayerson’s critique of global warming skeptics. For more information, browse through the articles in the guide “How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic” by Coby Beck.  This guide was endorsed by RealClimate.org, the most reputable clearinghouse for climate science.   

Bring Rhetoric and a printout of “A Convenient Untruth.”

Optional: Read the sample comparison essay on CompClass. I have posted this essay by a student in our class with the student's permission. Think about what the writer does well and what he or she could still improve. The essay is not perfect, but it received an A-.

Optional: Preview the causal analysis essay instructions.

Read " The Great Thirst: Looking ahead to a post-global warming life in California"

Read Rhetoric 183-195

Choose one particular effect of global warming described in "The Great Thirst." On your blog, quickly summarize this effect and then analyze the causes mentioned in the text and the causes we can infer. In particular, identify the conditions, influences, and precipitating causes. Then identify the near and remote causes.

Read the causal analysis essay instructions. Explore the links and begin thinking about which topics might interest you.

Read Rhetoric 195 - 209

By Wednesday 4/1 at 12 noon: On your blog, post a one to two paragraph summary of your chosen causal analysis esay topic. In the same post, list five sources you will draw on to make your argument. Include a one-sentence summary of each source and its relevance to your topic. Also, include one sentence that explains why you consider this a credible source.

• For ideas, visit the global warming causes and predictions links page
• Read the steps in “Writing a causal argument” on 213-216.

By class time on Thursday 4/2: Comment on at least three of your classmates' most recent blog posts.

Blog post 1: Respond to my comments on your last blog post. Narrow your topic if necessary and update your list of sources to fit your topic more closely. Discuss what you are learning as you research and how your understanding of your topic and your ideas about what you will write are changing.

Blog post 2: Complete steps 2 and 3 on page 213 of Rhetoric and reflecting on them in this blog post.  What will your purpose be in your causal essay?  Will you be explaining, predicting, or attempting to prevent or encourage an effect?  On your blog, explain your purpose.  Then discuss which of the three frames for causal analysis you think will be useful to you in accomplishing this purpose. You do not necessarily need to use all three.  Will you need to discuss conditions, influences, and precipitating causes?  Near and remote causes?  Necessary and sufficient causes?  Why?

Quote at least twice from the first half of the Rhetoric chapter on causality as you explain your thinking. The book gives advice about when to use each of the three frames.

Finally, on your blog, identify any common fallacies about your topic.  What faulty reasoning will you need to critique in order to present your reader with correct causal reasoning in your essay?

Optional: You may also wish to discuss which, if any, of Mill's four strategies for causal argument you will be able to use in your essay, and what assumptions about agency you can safely make and which you need to explain or defend. We'll discuss these concepts more before the final draft is due.

Meet in Cloud 103 (the English department needs to use our classroom)

Peer review of rough drafts

3 copies of the rough draft of the causal analysis essay

Bring the original causal essay assignment sheet  

Meet in Cloud 103 on Thursday

2 copies of the final draft of the causal analysis essay (One to turn in with your rough draft stapled to the back. One for you to proofread in class and take home so you can work on the grammar version.)

Watch "The Story of Stuff" with Annie Leonard

Take the quiz at MyFootprint.org to calculate your personal ecological footprint

• Bonus homework credit: Grammar version of the causal analysis essay
• Bonus homework credit: If you would like detailed grammar corrections on your causal analysis essay, you will need to correct the errors on your midterm essay. Write your corrections directly on the final grammar version that I marked with handbook codes.
• Read the handout on solutions from The Rough Guide to Climate Change

Read Chapter 9, "Proposal: What Should We Do About It?" (283-313 in Rhetoric)

Read the Solutions Paper Instructions and search possible solutions paper topics.

Blog entry: Write two paragraphs about the global warming solutions that interest you. What are you thinking about focusing on for your next paper? Why? What questions will you ask as you research further? What will it take to convince readers that these solutions are effective or ineffective?

Blog entry: Two paragraphs. Choose a topic. Summarize the solution proposal you will discuss and then describe how you will argue for it. List at least five credible outside sources that focus specifically on your solution.

Read Chapter 8, "Evaluation: Is It Good or Bad?" in Rhetoric. Focus on 231-234 and 242-251 and 256-258. Skim the rest.

If you want to get ahead, preview the proposal paper worksheet we'll be using in class and start asking yourself which parts of your proposal argument need further research or articulation.

• Comment on at least 3 of your classmates' proposed topics. See if you can make helpful suggestions and ask helpful clarifying questions.
• If I have asked you to in my comments on your blog, revise your topic and sources in an additional blog post.
• Read the preface, the foreword, and 3-52 in Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming
• Blog entry: In one paragraph, summarize the first two chapters of Cool It.

Global warming solutions paper rough draft

Read 113-164 in Cool It

Read the following critiques of Lomborg:

• Bill McKibben's review of Cool It in The New York Review of Books. You'll need to log in to CompClass to access this article.
• The Salon.com review of Cool It
• The Washington Post review of Cool It
• Optional: Watch this interview with Lomborg on PBS
• If you find any other substantive criques, please email me and let me know so I can share them.

Blog entry: Post by 12:00 noon on Monday 5/11.
What do you think of Lomborg's argument? What do you think of the responses of his critics? Do you see any fallacies either in Lomborg's argument or in his critics'? Which claims have convincing reasons and warrants, and which do not? Include at least three quotations: two from two different critics and one from Lomborg.

Comments: Comment on at least three of your classmates' blogs before class.

Bring an outline of the exam essay

Optional: Add more final exam ideas to your blog and email me for feedback.

Bonus credit: Correct the marked grammar errors on your causal analysis paper.

Revise your outline and prepare for the exam. Bring the following:

• Final homework credit: Download and fill out the anonymous 1C evaluation form. You will turn it in (folded) and I will check off that you did it.
• Cool It
• Printed copies of any additional sources you plan to use such as critiques of Lomborg or other class reading material.
• Your outline (topic sentences, thesis, and quotations or other supporting details)
• Your notes (no 3 sentences in a row that end up in the essay)
• A print card with change on it in order to print the exam at the end.  We don’t have extra in stock in Cyberia, so pick one up at the Rosenberg library or arrange to use a friend’s.
• A dictionary (optional)
• Rules for Writers (optional)

Turn in your global warming solutions paper final draft by noon on the Thursday of finals week.

You must turn in a hard copy of your final paper to my office in Batmale 560 by noon on Thursday 5/21. (No email submissions of the paper).

You do not need to come in on Thursday if you turn in your paper before that.

If you would like feedback on your final paper and/or final exam, I would be happy to give it. Turn in a self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage for me to mail the papers to you. Enclose a note to me explaining what kind of feedback would be useful to you. Otherwise, you can pick up your final exam and solutions paper with the grades on them at the beginning of Fall semester.

Have a great summer!