Environmental Philosophy (INTD 425)

Writing

[discussion forums] [discussion forum topics] [short research essay] [writing tips] [academic dishonesty]

Discussion Forums [rubric]

Full credit in the course will require writing six posts and commenting on twelve posts written by others (so, for each forum, you will write one post and comment on two posts by other students).

These forums will take place on D2L (under the "Communications" tab: select "Discussions"), where you will find the topics and due dates (for the posts and comments); the latter are also listed on the reading and assignment Schedule. NB: You are encouraged to make these posts as early as you can. Feel free to comment on posts as soon as they are available.

Each post should be at least 500 words and is worth up to 6 points; the comments should be at least 100 words each, and each is worth up to 2 points (see the rubric).

A good post will show evidence of having worked through the relevant readings, perhaps also responding to class discussion, and is written free of grammatical errors and typos.

About the comments: [rubric]

(1) If a post already has two comments, then choose another post on which to comment.

(2) These comments should be more than simply praise or a note of agreement. I want you to interact with the claims made in the post, or with the argumentation: Do you agree or disagree, and why? Is the author overlooking something? You might offer further evidence for the author’s views, or else counter-evidence. Try to raise at least one useful question for furthering the discussion.

(3) Feel welcome to comment as often as you wish on the posts; for any given forum, I’ll grade your two most substantial comments (that appear to be 100 words or more), but shorter comments are also welcome, and can add immeasurably to the conversation.

Discussion Forum Topics [top]

Forum #1: “Getting to Know You.” [rubric]

This first forum is dedicated to getting to know each other. Please post a three paragraph essay about yourself:

(1) The name you prefer to be called, where you grew up, your academic and non-academic interests, why you are taking this class and what you hope to learn or accomplish in this course, and anything else that you think might be helpful or interesting for others to know.

(2) List what you take to be the three most serious environmental problems facing humans right now, and why you think they are so serious.

(3) Conclude your essay with the epitaph that you would like to have engraved on your tombstone (i.e., the words with which you would most like to be remembered — if you aren't planning on having a tombstone, imagine some memorial plaque).

As with all the discussion forums, everyone needs to make two comments (on the posts of others) as well. For the purposes of this forum, your comments should take the form of follow-up questions (for instance, what else you would like to know about the person). Original posters should feel free to respond to these questions, and so on, until we all get our proper fill of each other.

Before you write the post and comments, be sure to check out the grading rubric. [rubric] Your writing will be graded on how well it measures up to this.

Due dates

... for the original post: Thursday, Jan 28 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Tuesday, Feb 2 (midnight)

Forum #2: “When Neighbors Starve.” [rubric]

Do you have an obligation or duty to help others in need? Do they have a right against you, that you help them? Justify your position as carefully as you can.

Before you write the post and comments, be sure to read through the grading rubric. Your writing will be graded on how well it measures up to this. Similarly, be sure to write your post after you have read the relevant essays, and make use of them as appropriate.

Due dates

... for the original post: Thursday, Feb 11 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Tuesday, Feb 16 (midnight)

Forum #3: “Other Animals.” [rubric]

Are there any moral constraints in our dealings with other animals, or may we treat them in any way we wish? If there are constraints, what are they? Explain yourself, and justify your position as best you can.

Before you write the post and comments, be sure to read through the grading rubric. Your writing will be graded on how well it measures up to this. Among other things, your post should make use of appropriate class readings and discussions.

Due dates

... for the original post: Thursday, Mar 3 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Tuesday, Mar 8 (midnight)

Forum #4: “The Nature of Value.” [rubric]

Does something have value only if some human being values it? For instance, is a wilderness area valuable only if there are human beings who care about it (that is, who prefer a world with some wilderness area, over a world with none, or with fewer such areas)? Similarly: Do non-human animals have rights only if some human thinks they do?

Due dates

... for the original post: Tuesday, Mar 15 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Thursday, Mar 17 (midnight)

Forum #5: “The Scope of Value.” [rubric]

Do you consider yourself to be more of a moral atomist or a moral holist, and are you an anthropocentrist or a biocentrist? Describe your position, and justify it as best you can.

Due dates

... for the original post: Thursday, Apr 14 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Tuesday, Apr 19 (midnight)

Forum #6: “Defending Nature.” [rubric]

If a stand of ancient redwoods is about to be cut down and turned into pulpwood, and there are no legal means available for protecting those trees, would it be morally permissible, for instance, to hammer long spikes in the trees so as to make them too dangerous to cut? What permissible actions are available to those who wish to protect the trees?

Due dates

... for the original post: Thursday, Apr 28 (midnight)

... for the two comments: Tuesday, May 3 (midnight)

Short Research Essay [rubric] [example of annotated bibliography]

You will need to write one six to seven page essay (1800-2100 words), involving at least two drafts, an annotated bibliography (minimum: 10 sources, 5 non-internet), and a summary sheet. There are a number of due dates for different aspects of this paper; these dates are listed on the Schedule, and are quite firm. All assignments will be submitted on D2L — either as part of a discussion forum (the initial topics) or drop-boxes (the thesis paragraph, annotated bibliography , first draft, the final draft, and summary sheet).

What do I mean by ‘non-internet’ sources? Good question! I think I will need to stop using that phrase before long, since everything of value will soon be available on the internet. Any information that can be found in print (books, scholarly journals, newspapers, and trade periodicals) count as "non-internet", even though your most likely access to them now will be the internet. Internet-only peer-reviewed journal articles would also count as "non-internet" (they are essentially peer-reviewed journals which, for a number of reasons, are just on the internet).

NB: When citing sources that have print counterparts (and you have access to them as a PDF file that reproduces the print version), then please cite them as though they were the print source itself; I really don’t care if you accessed the article by way of EBSCO or JSTOR or MUSE, etc.

Finally, the only "internet" sources that are at all legitimate for our purposes would be those websites that are professionally curated (typically with .org, .edu, or .gov suffixes). Some blogs will be useful, but not many. Wikipedia is often a wonderful starting place for research, but it is never the place to end.

Choose your own style manual to follow — MLA, APA, or Chicago — and be sure to follow it [What’s a style manual?].

You will first explore your topic in a discussion forum, where you can receive suggestions from me and your fellow students.

The First Draft should be as finished as you can manage it: typed, proof-read, and nearly perfect. I will then comment on this, after which you can re-submit the paper for a grade. The last week of the semester will be devoted to everyone presenting their research to the class.

Plan your work schedule, and work ahead when you can.

SUMMARY SHEET [rubric]

You will need to develop a two page (one sheet, front and back) summary sheet [rubric] to accompany the oral presentation of your research at the end of the semester [rubric]. This sheet should include the basic facts and findings of what you researched and the most important items from your bibliography. You might want to review this sample summary sheet.

Writing Tips

Please carefully proofread your writing. You need to use complete sentences, proper punctuation, and correct spelling. Both in college and after you graduate you will be judged, in part, by how well you write. Typos, mispellings, poor grammar — in short, sloppy writing — is like so much stink coming from the bottom of your shoes. It won’t matter how nicely your hair is combed or your shirt is pressed if you can’t write a decent paragraph.

I hope it never comes to this, but my comments on your writing might make use of some of the following abbreviations:

awk: awkward. This is a sentence problem; the sentence should be re-written for greater clarity.

frag: sentence fragment. Another sentence problem; your sentence is lacking something vital. Like a subject. Or a verb. Don’t fall into the trap of writting essays that sound like advertising copy. We all can do better than that!

wc: word choice. You might find a better word to suit your sentence. Consult your dictionary for the exact meaning.

sp: spelling. Consult your dictionary!

?: Huh? You’ve lost your reader.

TS?: Topic sentence? This is a paragraph problem. There needs to be a topic sentence (normally, the lead sentence of the paragraph) that indicates what the paragraph is all about (what you are hoping to do in the paragaph; or it’s the claim for which the paragraph will now offer support, or an observation for which the paragraph will now offer some elaboration, etc.).

CO?: Cohere? Another paragraph problem; the sentences in this paragraph don’t fit together very well. Try re-arranging the,. Ask yourself: (a) What goal am I trying to acheive with this paragraph? and (b) Is each sentence working towards this goal?

Q?: Quotation? Quotations should be used only when a paraphrase will not do the job as effectively. Common problems include failing to properly introduce a quotation, failing to properly cite a quotation, quoting more than is helpful, and using a quotation when a paraphrase would be better.

Academic Dishonesty [top]

[This text is copied from the university Catalog]

Membership in the Manchester University community requires a devotion to the highest principles of academic and personal integrity, a commitment to maintain honor, and a continuous regard for the rights of others. There can be no rights without individual responsibility.

Manchester University faculty are committed to teaching and learning as a career and a profession. Each instructor is presumed to develop and use methods and techniques which enhance learning and which best fit his or her personality and subject matter area. At the same time, the instructor is expected to abide by the general principles of responsible teaching which are commonly accepted by the academic profession. These principles suggest that faculty keep complete records of student performance and that they develop and apply express, uniform criteria for evaluating student performance.

Students are free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study. While they may reserve judgment about matters of opinion, they are responsible for learning the content of any course in which they are enrolled. At the same time, students are expected to abide by the general principles of academic honesty which are commonly accepted in educational settings.

When a student chooses not to follow the general principles of academic honesty, the following policies and procedures bear their sad fruit.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the presentation of information (either written or oral) as one’s own when some or all of the information was derived from some other source.

Specific types of plagiarism encountered in written and oral assignments include the following:

● Sources have been properly identified, but excerpts have been quoted without proper use of quotation marks; or the material has been slightly modified or rephrased rather than restated in the student’s own words.

● Key ideas or items of information derived from specific sources that present material that is not common knowledge have been presented without proper identification of the source or sources.

● Unidentified excerpts from other sources have been woven into the student’s own presentation.

● A paper or speech may be a mosaic of excerpts from several sources and presented as the student’s own.

● An entire paper or speech has been obtained from some other source and presented as the student’s own.

● Texts in another language are translated into English and presented as the student’s own.

Cheating

Cheating consists of any unpermitted use of notes, texts or other sources so as to give an unfair advantage to a student in completing a class assignment or an examination. Intentionally aiding another student engaged in academic dishonesty is also considered cheating.

Submission of the same work (essay, speech, art piece, etc.) to fulfill assignments in separate classes requires the permission of both faculty members (if both courses are being taken in the same semester), or the permission of the second faculty member (if they are taken during different semesters).

Penalties

• Unintentional Plagiarism. In cases of plagiarism in which no deception is intended (such as ignorance of proper citation of sources), the student should expect a reduction in the paper’s grade; in some cases, the student may be given an option to rewrite the paper. No disciplinary letter will be filed.

• Deliberate Plagiarism and Cheating. In cases of deliberate plagiarism, and in all cases of cheating and attempted cheating, the work assigned will be failed. At the instructor’s discretion, the student may also fail the course (regardless of the grade-weight of the work assigned).

In either a case of deliberate plagiarism or cheating, a disciplinary letter recording the deception will be sent to the student, with copies sent to the associate dean of academic resources and the student’s academic advisor. For more information, as well as for information regarding your rights of appeal, see the MU Source.

Manchester University // Registrar // Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies // Last updated: 16 Dec 2011