John Muir on Wilderness
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Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.” –John Muir
We’re reaching the end of the line before the test. Finish strong by doing some reviews and checking out the review material online.
Multiple Choice Reviews
- Saturday, 5 p.m.
- Monday in class
- Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Essays
- Louv Analysis Essay (due Monday in class)
- Full, 3 Essay Practice Session (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
Review Materials
Security Council
- USA: Andrew
- Russia: Kirsten (Expelled 5/20)
- China: Darcie
- France: Carrie
- United Kingdom: Rooster
- South African: Willem (For African Affairs)
Other nations are located here. Our Secretary General, who will be setting the docket, is Marshall (Syria).
Topic Areas
- Public Health Developing World
- Overpopulation
- Terrorism
- Space
- Global Warming
- Womyn
- UN Reform
- Former Soviet Union
Resolution Proposals
- Once you have decided on a topic and direction for your resolution, edit the Google Doc here.
- The actual resolutions for debate are located here.
Background Information on the United Nations
- Structure of the United Nations
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Timeline of Major Events in the UN
- Current UN Peacekeeping Operations
- The World Health Organization
Information for Class Activity
Document Sharing
Once you have completed your position paper and your resolution, please share them with dpogreba@gmail.com. When you do, please put your name, country, and title in the title of the documents.
Rules of Procedure
Position Paper Information
This is the link for your position paper guide. Every student will need to submit a position paper before the session. Your position paper will need to state your country’s position (based on politics, beliefs, and region) for at least three of the topics being debated. Your position paper should have the following requirements met:
- No more than two pages in length, 12 pt. font
- Single Spaced
- Divided by topic
This is an example of what a position paper looks like.
Resolution writing guide is located here. Key terms for resolutions are located here.
Instructions
Give yourself about 5-7 minutes for each of these. In that time, develop and write your intro and thesis statement. I will post more here if you are interested in doing them.
Prompt 1
In his 2004 book, Status Anxiety, Alain de Botton argues that the chief aim of humorists is not merely to entertain but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” Think about the implications of de Botton’s view of the role of humorists (cartoonists, stand-up comics, satirical writers, hosts of television programs, etc.). Then write an essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies de Botton’s claim.
Prompt 2
In his famous “Vast Wasteland” address to the National Association of Broadcaster in May of 1961, Newton Minow, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, spoke about the power of television to influence the taste, knowledge, and opinions of its viewers around the world. Carefully read the following, paying close attention to how timely it is today, especially in light of the worldwide Internet.
Minow ended his speech warning that “The power of instantaneous sight and sound is without precedent in mankind’s history. This is an awesome power. It has limitless capabilities for good—and for evil. And it carries with it awesome responsibilities—responsibilities which you and [the government] cannot escape…”
Using your own knowledge and your own experiences or reading, write a carefully constructed essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies Minow’s ideas.
Prompt 3
Former Vice President Al Gore argued that “we are monumentally distracted by a pervasive technological culture that appears to have a life of its own, one that insists on our full attention, continually seducing us and pulling us away from the opportunity to experience directly the true meaning of our own lives.”
Using your own knowledge, experience, or reading, defend, refute or qualify Gore’s assertion.
This video, which probably contains some salty language, discusses some of the themes we discussed with Thoreau and personal responsibility today.
These are a couple of great quotes from Gospel of Freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and the Struggle That Changed a Nation by Jonathan Rieder:
The “Letter” is compelling as well on literary grounds. Its swerves and swings are remarkable. One moment it offers reflective argument; the next it crackles with prophetic anger. The poise and politesse of the author dissolve into hints of sarcastic disdain, passive aggression, even self-pity. King drops the names of revered philosophers but leavens his erudition with a voyage into the inner recesses of black vulnerability (“When your first name becomes ‘nigger,’ your middle name ‘boy’”) and a tour of white America (“I have looked at the South’s beautiful churches … [and] found myself asking … Who is their God?”). There is also the staccato embrace of extremism, with a sequence of questions and answers that startle like a slap in the face.
And:
As we move through the “Letter,” we witness a striking transformation. In the first half, we are mainly in the presence of a patient and gracious man, who crafts little moments of brotherhood and tries to win over his critics through appeals to their reason, sympathy, and conscience. But around the midpoint, there’s a distinct shift, really a second act. King drops the mask. He begins to speak more bluntly. Instead of explaining himself, he chides and criticizes. He shows himself to be not just a black man but an angry black man. The diplomat gives way to the prophet.
Enjoy. If you let yourself, you’re going to have the opportunity to read one of the finest pieces of rhetoric ever written.
