Crisis in the Congo - How to Take Action

Many students who saw the STAND! for Congo presentation yesterday talked about wanting to do something to stop the death, rape and destruction in the Congo. Find out more about the struggle for Conflict Minerals that is fueliing this war in Africa.

Check out the links below to find out more and to take action. You can write to House Representatives to urge them to pass the "Conflict Minerals Trade Act. The bill would put in place a system of audits and regulations that would help stop companies from importing conflict minerals into the United States" (enoughproject.org). Or you could sponsor a woman in the Congo or stage a "Cell Out" - where you turn off your phone for a day and broadcast an outgoing message that informs people about his crisis. As Omekongo said in his presentation yesterday, "Ignorance is bliss; knowledge is power."

Here a a list of links that will help you to take a stand:

1-800-genocide
http://www.standnow.org/
http://www.enoughproject.org/
http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/

Find out more about the presenter, Omekongo , visit his website.

Inidividual Research Paper - Due April 5th - 12th.

Individual Persuasive Letter Based on Research

Assignment

To demonstrate your understanding of the research process and to engage in a thoughtful analysis of a meaningful contemporary issue, you will write a letter to a publication, person, corporation or organization that persuades them on a specific ethical issue. For your research, examine a contemporary ethical issue tied to current corporate and consumer practices. Although you may research and write about a food-related issue, do not write about the same topic that your group did after watching Food Inc.

Letter Paragraph Organization

Your persuasive letter paragraphs do not need to follow the PIE format of literary analysis. In fact, business letters are brief, rarely do they go beyond one page of single-spaced type. Click here to see a business letter format for typing. Your letter should follow this organizational plan:

• Introduction—creative attention device and specific ethical thesis—the point you want to prove. (2 sentences)

• The basic arguments on both sides of the ethical question. Consider the consequences, pros and cons of each position. You may need to include some brief background information. Information in these paragraphs will be supported with in-text citations. Using “according to” or other signal phrases works well in a business letter; however, you may use parenthetical, in-text citations. (2 – 3 paragraphs)

• Conclusion—Based on your research, what is the best ethical response to your issue? In other words, what’s your call to action? What do you want people to do? Why? (1-2 sentences)

Note Taking
Complete some type of note-taking that ensures you are properly paraphrasing and correctly using direct quotations so that you do not plagiarize. Annotating printouts works well for note taking. Alternatively, you use paper or note cards to capture information without printing it. Just be careful to use quotation marks when you are copying lines exactly.

Research
As you research, remember that you must reference a minimum of three credible sources.

• Credible web sites have a known author (usually one that can be contacted), links that work, few grammatical errors, and listed resources.
• If you use articles from the school's online databases, you are assured that they are credible.
• If you use a source not from the school’s database, create a flow map that shows why you determine the source was credible. See the flow map glued in your notebook.

Final Products
1. One-page letter (typed, single spaced block formatting, 12-point font, one-inch margins)
2. A properly formatted MLA works cited page
3. Flow maps that trace the credibility of Internet sources not found on school databases.
4. Some evidence of notetaking, probably annotated Internet printouts, copies of articles or pages from a book.


Help Available
Remember that The Writer's Block is open before school and during lunch to assist you. Also, check out the teacher’s blog for links to citing sources and formatting a business letter.

Due Date Window
Your letter may be submitted anytime between Monday, April 5 and Monday, April 12 at 3:10 p.m. There is no late penalty for turning the paper in on the 12th. Papers received on the 13th will lose one letter grade. Papers received after the 13th will only earn half-credit. I will grade the papers on a "first-in, first out" basis, in case you want to take that into consideration when planning your due date.

Culture of Corpulence Annotation Assignment

After a week filled with seminars related to suffering, hope, hunger, and work, we are moving on from Nectar in a Sieve to focus on food production, comsumption, and our nation's skyrocketing obesity. We will learn more about these topics through various articles, as well as the film Food Inc. Get ready to read and see some shocking facts about where you food comes from and how it is produced.

Where is all of this headed? You will use the information presented this week to write a practice research letter, with a group. More details will follow. You will then have the opportunity to write a research paper on a topic that you choose (after break). Your goal is to select a topic that you have a genuine interest in learning more about and one that requires some form of advocacy or change. I'll be interested to see what interests you.

To be prepared for Monday, read and annotate the article "Culture of Corpulence." Follow these guidelines:

1. Read, underline, highlight and put notes in the margin to summarize ideas.
2. Also, write agree, argue, or action by quotations that fit those terms.

agree = quotes you agree with

argue = quotes you disagree with

action = quotes that might spur you to take action

Nectar vs. Bride Notebook Writing Prompt

After you complete your double bubble map, select a thematic idea that appears in both Nectar in a Sieve and Bride and Prejudice. In a well-organized paragraph with at least two PIEs, compare and contrast the book and the film in terms of what they teach about your selected theme. For theme ideas, refer to your yellow chart. The I for each PIE should contain two illustrations--one being a direct quotation from the book and the other a specific detail from the film (you most likely won’t recall a direct quote from the movie).

NOTE: Your notebook is due Friday, March 19 for your third quarter points. Carlito Vocabulary and Nectar in a Sieve book test is also scheduled for Friday, March 19.

Anticipation Guide

I was out today reading May term applications. This is a great endeavor to consider in your senior year. You can create a project, study or internship and be excused from school for two weeks to do something you are passionate about. Super cool.


So, if you were also absent on Wednesday here is a class activity you will want to enter in your notebook.


Create a Table of Contents entry for this Anticipation Guide. Write down each statement and then decide whether you agree or disagree. Write an A or D next to each statement. Beneath each statement write a justification or explanation for your response. Include an illustration/example to support your rationale when possible.


1.The true human story of history is best learned through fiction.
2.Financial status, not race, education or religion, makes the strongest connection between people.
3.Arranged marriages will never work in the 21st Century.
4.Progess and change are always good.
5.Education and food are basic human rights.
6.People in power should fight for human rights for everyone.
7.An orderly society requires people to do their duty and suffer in silence rather than speak out against perceived injustices.

Extra Credit Opportunities for Q3

You may complete both of these opportunities, for up to 10 extra credit points in Quarter 3. These points can make a big difference in your grade, especially if you missed an assignment along the way; take advantage.

Option 1
Memorize the following sonnet by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the last two lines of which provide the epigraph for Nectar in a Sieve. Recite this accurately and with feeling on March 18 for up to 5 extra credit points.

All Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair --
The bees are stirring -- birds are on the wing --
And Winter slumbering in the open air,
Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!
And I the while, the sole unbusy thing,
Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.

Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow,
Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.
Bloom, O ye amaranths! bloom for whom ye may,
For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!
With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow, I stroll:
And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?
Work without Hope draws nectar in a sieve,
And Hope without an object cannot live.


Option 2
Read and annotate the short story "Tribal Scars" and answer throughly and thoughtfully the 13 questions on the back. Responses must be typed to earn full points. Also, the annotation of the text must show significant interaction with the reading. That is, in addition to underlining there must be questions, comments, and observations written in the margins. This is due on March 22 for up to 5 extra credit points.

Nectar in a Sieve Reading Schedule

The date indicates the night you should read the assigned pages as homework:

March 2: Chapters 1 & 2, pp. 3-17
March 3: Chapters 3 & 4, pp. 18-30
March 4: Chapters 5 to 7, pp. 31-45
March 5: Chapters 8 to 10, pp. 46-57
March 8: Chapters 11 to 13, pp. 58-77
March 9: Chapters 14 & 15, pp. 78-91
March 10: Chapters 16 & 17, pp. 92-102
March 11: Chapters 18 to 21, pp. 103-123
March 12: Chapters 22 to 24, pp. 124-149
March 15: Chapters 25 & 26, pp. 150-164
March 16: Chapter 27, pp. 165-176
March 17: Chapters 28 to 30, pp. 177-186
March 19: Final Vocabulary and Reading Test

“Work without hope draws
nectar in a sieve,
And hope without an object
cannot live.”
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge