How can thinkingn” help us solve the environmental problems we face now Assignment | Online Assignment

Prompt: Essay 1
(https://secure.flickr.com/photos/30256745@N06/15664064173)
Set-Up (premise): Consider the ways in which our ideas and thoughts about
ourselves and the world have impacted its natural systems. Human thought–
shaped and conditioned by our societies, cultures, belief systems, and so on–
plays a major role in supporting the actions and behaviors, the economic
systems and industries, that have led up to the global environmental crisis.
Prompt: How can thinking “like a mountain” help us solve
the environmental problems we face now?
Note: This is to be an original argument inspired and supported by the materials we have read
so far.
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Directions: Compose an argument in direct response to the prompt question
and set-up. Be sure to select and define your terms, concepts, or ecological
principles with care. Leopold’s argument was aimed a different time and
reader than yours will be. His metaphor and his examples may need updating
or translation for your argument. Or, you may find that his ideas are still
applicable to our global issues, that the “mountain” is a metaphor for the
environment.
Your purpose is to create an argument–that is, to engage a reader (that you
must envision) who does not think like a mountain, or does not understand the
importance of thinking critically and scientifically about the environment, or who
may have other priorities.
Convince this reader to think critically, using Leopold as inspiration.
Lead your reader through a reasoning process that is both instructive and
Lead your reader through a reasoning process that is both instructive and
persuasive.
Defend your position against the readers many challenges and objections.
Arguments must engage counterarguments or objections, and good
arguments are designed around those objections. Arguments are not onesided
declarations but conversations. You are not writing to the professor;
you are engaging your own imagined reader who is resistant or opposed to
what you want them to do for valid reasons of their own.
Use the structure of the academic essay you have learned about in this
course. This is essential! The paper will be evaluated not only on its
substance but its structure.
Length: 800-1200 words
Format: Use MLA format for the layout of the essay, as well as citation and
documentation. MLA format (https://style.mla.org/mla-format/?
gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsISqqZaX4wIVFdRkCh0xhQIHEAAYASAAEgJ7Q_D_BwE)
Sources: Use the materials we have read or viewed in this module. Draw
examples and evidence from these sources. If you want to use current data
about current environmental issues–which is a good idea when updating an
older point–you should do additional research to gather statistics and facts (ie,
extinction, deforestation, rising temperatures, etc). An essay should always
reflect the course materials but can demonstrate knowledge and credibility with
new ideas and current information.
Checklist:
Argument related, detailed title
Hook
Argumentative Thesis (claim and rationale)
At least 4 body paragraphs with topic and conclusion sentences
Evidence, examples, and reasoning drawn from course materials
Strong final paragraph that draws the big conclusion from the body
Careful editing
MLA formatted Work Cited
Remember, you are arguing FOR positive change. Do not fall into the trap of
merely lamenting all of the problems. Arguments aim to solve problems.
Arguments are constructive.