A2 Reading Response Question: Moving Towards a Thesis

Please follow the instructions and provide your responses as a comment to this blog post.

After our in-class discussions and the application of "The Pentad," the next step in answering this prompt is to find a main claim from the Bookchin and/or Bradford that will become the central criteria by which you evaluate in what ways Davis and/or Didion's portrayal of life in Malibu reflects the Deep Ecology vs. Social Ecology debate.  So:

Pick three (3) central claims from the Bookchin and/or Bradford and explain how they relate to the depiction of the Malibu fires in the Davis and/or Didion.

Examples:

Bookchin's criticism of our hierarchical social organization finds clear support in the way that Davis explains the class distinctions he believes have given rise to the unequal allocation of  emergency resources in Los Angeles.

Or

Didion's emotional connection to the beauty and tranquility of Malibu represents a vital connection between identity and place that Bookchin's critique disregards too quickly and with too little attention to the inescapable ways in which people create a sense of dwelling.  Home is, after all, as much an emotional state as it is a social construct. 

As always, there are no right answers at this stage of the game.  We are just trying to start putting some ideas in relation to each other.  So don't let self-consiousness edit your responses.  Just make some claims that we can talk about and which might ultimately find their way into your essay either as a thesis claim or a supportive assertion.

Bring these claims and a list of supportive quotes to class on Monday.  Have a good weekend.

Assignment 1 Special Submission Instructions

A1 Heuristic Task and Reading Response Question

Hey folks.  Happy holiday weekend.  Two things:

1) Remember that for Wednesday, 9/5 I need you to put together a heuristic list compiled from concepts and/or terms from your own diagnostic plus those of at least two of the three assigned A1 readings.  Remember also the goals of this combined list:

--Make it messy;
--Make it longer than you think it needs to be;
--Then highlight 5 contrasting ideas, 5 consonant ideas, and identify 5 subordinate relationships among its terms.

2) Then, in a short comment to this post (one paragraph or so) respond to the following question:

How do Neass' ideas relate to Leopold's?  Where are they similar?  How do they differ?

***This response is due by noon on Tuesday, 9/4.  And as always make sure your full name is at the bottom of any blog posts or comments.  Thanks.

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