DISCUSSION LEADER EXAMPLE TITLES/AUTHORS Include a subtitle that briefly summarizes the main point of the essay TITLE OF ESSAY Authors name Relevant education or professional background information Other publication credits Relevant professional connections with organizations, govt. bodies, etc. ABOUT THE AUTHOR PHOTO of AUTHOR Select an image to help your classmates identify with the subject of the reading Give them relevant background about the subject: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Give them relevant background about the piece itself: when was it written? Who published it? RHETORICAL CONTEXT Summarize the essay Identify the main points, themes, and/or arguments of the essay Select specific anecdotes or quotations that you found particularly intriguing or engaging; denote pages #s so your classmates can find them Identify major statistics or facts that classmates should note CONTENT: ESSAY Identify ideas, quotations, anecdotes, images, or underlying themes that present rhetorical strategies like: Credibility of author/sources/subject matter Pathos: appeals to the emotions of a reader Logos: logical/factual arguments for the reader Ethos: ethical, moral, or should/should not arguments Identify fallacies or problematic areas of the essay Is there any bias in this essay? Is the author guilty of using weak language, fear-tactics, or generalized argument? What possible rebuttals, or counterarguments, could be made? RHETORICAL STRATEGIES: ESSAY Formulate questions for your classmates that engage with specific points or anecdotes from the material; make connections with other readings & the Everyday Writer/Envision material, etc. Allow at least 10 seconds for them to answer! Call on friends or previous groupmates if youre not getting much response What questions were you left wondering? Were there questions included with the reading, either at the end or within the text? Use those to help you formulate ideas. What aspects of the essay(s) were most effective for you? Which were not effective, or even off-putting? Did you agree with the author about the subject before reading it? Did you agree with the author afterward? If you changed your mind, why do you think that happened? Were there elements of the readings from Envision or The Everyday Writer that you saw in the essay(s)? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: ESSAY Make connections to other readings for that particular class period Make connections to other class periods readings, photo essays, discussion points in or out of class! CONNECTIONS Impacts & Issues with Off-shore Drilling EXAMPLE: THE BP COVER-UP BP and the government say the spill is fast disappearing but dramatic new science reveals that its worst effects may be yet to come. Julia Whitty Writer, documentary filmmaker Awards include: PEN USA Literary Award, the John Burroughs Medal, finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Mother Jones environmental correspondent ABOUT THE AUTHOR British Petroleum offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon explosion, disaster from April July 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico 35,000-60,000, barrels of oil (40% methane) were being pumped into the Gulf of Mexico daily Methane creates blooms of microbes that absorb the oxygen in the water, taking away the main life ingredient to all organisms living in the Gulf of Mexico, creating anoxic zones Corexit pumped into the oil in the extraction process causing a lot of the oil to stay submerged in the sea floor The BP Cover-Up published Sept/Oct 2010 issue of Mother Jones THE BP COVER-UP: RHETORICAL CONTEXT BP makes oil-spill plan document which features inaccurate wildlife (i.e. walruses) & a dead on call expert BP employs environmental/biochemical scientists with lucrative pay Out-of-work Gulf residents (i.e. fishermen, captains); clean-up crews witnessed watching movies From the outset, BP has fought to control(8) BP pacifies Gulf residents with payments They have to pay these guys to work or else theyll riot(9) THE BP COVER-UP: CONTENT Destruction of habitats Barataria Bay (6), the Pinnacles (13), bathypelagic regions (5) Drilling fluids, the Top Kill plan & Corexit(10) Long-term impacts (7) on photosynthesis, phytoplankton, water quality, fisheries (11-12), migrating reptiles & marine mammals, Gulf residents health, economy (8-9) THE BP COVER UP CONTENT II Inclusion of experts, locals: Rick Steiner, conservation specialist from University of Alaska/Exxon Valdez; Carl Safina, marine conservationist; David Valentine, biogeochemist at UC Santa Barbara; Cajun oysterman Flip Tayamen Intensive logos appeals: spill statistics, biogeochemical effects, marine ecological explanations; Death by oil(8) Pathos in anecdotes and photos of dead/dying wildlife, Gulf residents; Barataria Bay has become a hospice wilderness (7) Ethos narrative: How should BP held accountable for the short-term and long-term effects? Should the United States still allow offshore drilling? THE BP COVER-UP: RHETORICAL STRATEGIES RHETORICAL STRATEGIES: GRAPHIC EFFECTS British Petroleum is still in business. How do you think they should be held responsible? What other ecological, socio-political, or economics impacts can you imagine have occurred since 2010? Do you think the US should still be allowing offshore drilling activities/development in the Gulf of Mexico? What aspects of Whittys essay were most effective for you? Why? What facets of North Dakota went Boom do you see in this essay? How does it present a different side of domestic oil production? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Other Gulf Coast crises: Hurricane Katrina; 34 etc. The Ecuadorian Amazon Chevron/Texaco case; Crude Nydia Velazquez & brown fields in New York City CONNECTIONS Include a subtitle that briefly summarizes the story TITLE OF STORY Authors name Relevant biography, education or professional background information Other publication credits Relevant professional connections with organizations, govt. bodies, etc. ABOUT THE AUTHOR PHOTO of AUTHOR Select an image to help your classmates identify with the subject of the story Give them relevant background about the story: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Identify the setting, characters, and the main events or conflicts Give them relevant background about the piece itself: when was it written? Who published it? RHETORICAL CONTEXT Summarize the story Tell the class what environmental issues the story might be representing in fiction form. This is going to take more complex thinking than for the nonfiction. Select specific lines or quotations that you found particularly intriguing or engaging; denote pages #s so your classmates can find them CONTENT: STORY Identify ideas, quotations, anecdotes, images, or underlying themes that present rhetorical strategies like: Pathos: appeals to the emotions of a reader Logos: logical/factual arguments for the reader Ethos: ethical, moral, or should/should not arguments RHETORICAL STRATEGIES: STORY Formulate questions for your classmates that engage with specific points or anecdotes from the material; make connections with other readings Allow at least 10 seconds for them to answer! Call on friends or previous groupmates if youre not getting much response What questions were you left wondering? What aspect(s) of the story was most effective for you? What was not effective, or even off-putting? What can fiction tell us that non-fiction cannot? Vice versa? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: STORY Make connections to other readings for that particular class period - How did the story connect to the non-fiction essay? What themes, ideas, or arguments are represented in fiction form? Make connections to other class periods readings, photo essays, discussion points in or out of class! CONNECTIONS Major themes, ideas, or arguments ? PHOTOS FROM OIL REACHES LOUISIANA SHORES If there is a photo essay for your discussion group, select a few images to discuss with your classmates. Be prepared to talk about why you picked them, how you can connect them with the readings, etc. PHOTOS FROM OIL REACHES LOUISIANA SHORES Include discussion questions with the photos on your slides so your classmates can respond to the images with thoughts. PHOTOS FROM OIL REACHES LOUISIANA SHORES Ask your classmates to identify the photos from the essay that were most striking for them. Which photos were particularly effective, disturbing/upsetting, or intriguing for you? How did you connect these photos to other readings for class? OTHER PHOTOS?