Assignment Sequence - LL101 Fall 1009
Hypothesis: that writing and thinking are integrally related
How to live usefully in the world as it is.
1. First day activity (to follow introductions): Go outside (University Lake) for 45 mins. Pay close
attention to your observations; we’ll return to the classroom and write them down before we discuss
them (in groups?). No talking and no writing while outside. Listen for the carillon, so you know when to
come back.*
2. a. Response paper: “Green Like Me” Group work. What is Kohlbert arguing in this essay? Do you
agree with her (why or why not)? What are the actions that you think reasonable and manageable to
reduce an individual’s ‘carbon footprint’? (Use papers to discuss and compile criteria for good college
writing.
b. Two readings on species extinction. (Kohlbert New Yorker and Holland National Geographic) (Do
you feel you bring any insight into Kohlbert from having already read another piece by her?) Which do
you consider the most persuasive and why? OR What are the strengths and the weaknesses of each?
3. The Books of the Year (Seth Kantner’s Shopping for Porcupine and Charles Wohlforth’s The Whale
and the Supercomputer) Additionally, I may use Velma Wallis’s Two Old Women and/or the Canadian
feature film The Snow Walker to generate discussion of place-based knowledge.
4. *In addition to providing an introduction to the Ford Foundation Intensive aspect of this course, this
activity will serve as a model for the emphasis I wish to place on observation/details in their writing, as
well as inaugurate the semester-long assignment that will culminate in their final paper, “The Way
Winter Comes” (thanks to Sherry Simpson), which has a number of components including this
experiential piece: beginning Monday, Sept. 28th, and every other week thereafter (see attached
calendar) students will turn in informal reflections of their experiences in Alaska and/or at APU in
preparation for writing a well-reasoned documented argument due in the last week of class for why or
why not someone looking for a college education should consider Alaska/APU. (writing due 9/28 should
include reflections
-the bi-weekly reflective writings accomplish a couple of aims: to “see” what you think; to break
the “big assignment” into smaller, more manageable pieces; and to encourage students to trust their
own experience/see it as worthy of discussion.