Composing Climate Change @Lagcc

Conclusions

One thing for you to consider for future writing assignments is conclusions. Conclusions should be opportunities to go further than saying "in conclusion" and re-stating your thesis, which is what students sometimes do.

First, don't bother with "in conclusion." Your reader should be able to tell its your conclusion without you saying that. Instead, use your words to strike a different tone. Instead of sounding "argumentative" and defending your argument, allow yourself to write as if you're doing something else.

For example, you could write as if you were composing a personal essay. Then you could share a personal experience, and talk about how that experience fits into your argument. Another thing you could do is tell someone else's story. Wind down the essay by making it personal in that way - tell a reader how someone specifically was affected by the issues you're writing about. For instance, you could discuss how a hurricane changed the life of someone you read about. The goal here is for your to make your reader feel something, rather than make them know something.

Another positive approach to conclusions is to point your reader in a new and exciting direction that they hadn't considered. This could be a chance to take the essay into a new direction. Bring up an issue that you feel is connected to your argument, but that really points towards another entire essay you could write on the subject. In this case, you could even introduce new evidence. For instance, for your final assignment on climate debt you could talk about slavery. Why slavery? Because slavery used to be "business as usual" and now it isn't. This means that people are capable of making large scale changes to economies if they get organized. You could do this for other subjects as well. The point is to make your reader feel that your argument is meaningful by showing them all the different possibilities that they could imagine are connected to it.

Sample essay with conclusion that includes another source

Defining Life

The success of the CAFO system was started and produced by man. It is safe to assume that with the kind of success the food industry developed, a great deal of responsibility would follow. Unfortunately, very little responsibility has been shown from the people at the top of this corporate ladder. In fact, it’s been the opposite of safe to the health of life in general on this planet. In The CAFO Reader edited by Daniel Imhoff, one can learn that the organization of life by this system is taking over more and more land as time goes by. Doing this has caused major climate change and toxicity to our planet by pushing nature to the side. Moreover, the CAFO system is also using scientists to alter the reproduction in factory farmed animals. This means that the DNA is manipulated by the CAFO system. It is critically important to know this information matters because the CAFO system is partially responsible for the climate change and the loss of the natural order in life on this planet. The persistence of these actions will only bring dire consequences for everyone and everything if change soon isn’t acted upon man itself.

Global disorder is one of the consequences brought upon by the growing of livestock production. In a passage from The CAFO Reader DIET FOR A HOT PLANET by Anna Lappe, she writes, “Scientific consensus has confirmed that increasing levels of human-caused releases of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are trapping more and more heat… more extremes of droughts and floods; more weather-related disasters, including tornadoes and hurricanes” (Lappe 241). Basically, greenhouses gases include methane and carbon dioxide all which are toxic and work together acting as a shield to the planet’s atmosphere. This impacts climate change because the confinement of factory farmed animals prevents them from using the release of these gases (their manure) to fertilize on the grass they are supposed to feed on. One, they do not feed on the grass they evolved from anymore, and two, the emissions of these gases cannot be cycled back onto the fields of feed as fertilizer because simply put, there is too much waste. From half a century ago to today, this country has doubled its meat consumption thanks to the CAFO system. Yet, changing the carnivorous diet a lot of us are on is possible and would help reduce the global disorder we are already seeing. Choosing alternatives like organic or vegetarian proves statistically that less fossil fuels and toxic gases are cut down on; hence, a lot less heated planet if everyone contributes for the better cause.

Not only is climate change effected but life is harmed as well under the CAFO system. The confinement of animals produces more waste that surrounding land cannot safely absorb so it ends up being totally disadvantageous to life in nearby areas. In The CAFO Reader, there is a short passage, CAFO MANURE IS A BENIGN RESOURCE where the author writes, “When lagoons burst, develop leaks, or are overwhelmed by flood events, as often happens, millions of gallons of manure reach waterways and spread microbes that can cause gastroenteritis, fevers, kidney failure, and death” (Imhoff 85). This means it is common for the manure that comes from the CAFOs to be responsible for the massive fish kills and other aquatic life. These frequent accidents are also harming people. Workers in the CAFOs become seriously ill if they don’t die from the deadly gas hydrogen sulfide that is produced from decomposing manure. Then, there are the people that live anywhere near a CAFO who can smell the stench from the excess wastes and becoming ill from the airborne gases. The natural order of life on a real farm would’ve never caused any of these man made problems. It is harmful to everyone and everything on the planet to support CAFOs that pollute the atmosphere and harm if not completely kill off life. However, changing the support system and purchasing from organic and/or local markets is a step. It helps restore the natural order of life from its traditional ways; a farm that is able to manage its plants and its animals altogether.

On top of the climate change and the toxicity of our planet, the CAFO system has put effort to remove the ‘mothering’ genes in the animals and make their own kind of breed. In a passage from The CAFO Reader, GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FARM ANIMALS by Jaydee Hanson, she writes, “…the livestock industry is developing animals that are permanently altered at the genetic level to better fit the CAFO system – redesigning the very biology of animals so they can become more “efficient” production machines and thereby maximize industry profits” (Hanson 273). So, instead of changing their system to fit the physical and psychological needs of the factory farmed animals from all the negative consequences it has brought upon life on the planet, the CAFOs want to use science and technology to start breeding their own kind of animals for more money. Scientists who are practicing this incorporate the genes from other animals, bacteria, fungi into the genome (the DNA) of the test embryo. Although none of this has been yet approved, when and if it does, all it will probably require is labeling to differentiate the products. This process doesn’t even begin to sound safe let alone what kind of chemicals a consumer would intake by eating engineered meat. With such uncertainty and so much at stake with a science-based idea, this shouldn’t even be allowed. However, the manipulation of nature by the CAFO system can only be stopped by society before it is actually accepted by law.

By definition, life to the CAFO system is consumed by the growth of economic power at any expense. They use the average human being to kill themselves with industrialized food, to treat each other harmfully, and this behavior will only lead to our own death. How can one care about the health of life on their planet if they don’t start with their own? In The Eleventh Hour, directed by Leila and Nadia Conners, the film shares a vivid scene informing that the human mind was the key to survival but the acceleration of the mind has become our tragedy. We are committing suicide by thinking we are superior or far worse, separated from nature when in fact, we are a part of it. Man has taken very little consideration of the environment and experts in the film believe this disconnection is now the revenge of the ancient Gods. Perhaps this is true but the actions of each individual will speak louder than those words once we take part to be in harmony with the planet and nature again. In the end, the irresponsibility caused by the CAFO system falls on each and every one of us to change the turmoil man himself started on our mother home, Earth.

Bibliography

Imhoff, Dan. The CAFO reader: the tragedy of industrial animal factories. Healdsburg, Calif.: Watershed Media ;, 2010. Print.

Sample Essay with conclusion

Essay#1

Imagine you’re writing a story and your goal is to bring together a certain group of people. What better way to get these people together than to unite them through emotional empathy and to give them one common enemy to unleash their emotions towards. This was the case in the film The Birth of a Nation and in the short story A Red Record. These works of art display violence as a tool in which the audience of these works can empathize and be driven to action through a common message emphasized in the works being observed. In The Birth of a Nation we are shown a small group of white people being attacked by black people, with the target audience being white Americans we understand that the message of violence is meant to unite the white males to take physical action and go out and avenge the white race against the colored enemy. In A Red Record the author is trying to unite the black population by unveiling the unjustified evil that white men are capable of. Through the violent behavior of the white man the blacks are meant unite though understanding and sadness, not aggression and anger.

In the film The Birth of a Nation we are shown a small southern town under siege by a group of black soldiers from the north during the reconstruction era of the United States. The civil war is over but these soldiers are attacking the white men in town, looting the buildings and trying to get at the white women. The film shows a small group of white women who have barricaded themselves against the black soldiers trying to enter their home. The violent nature of this scene is meant to trigger an emotional response of disgust and offense in the targeted audience who at the time were white men. The violence against the white man in this film is meant to unify the white audience against the unjust and cruel monsters that were the black men. When all seems lost is the film a large group of Ku Klux Klan soldiers ride into town and save the day. The violence now shown in this scene is now a symbol of perseverance and justice for the white victims of this town. This display of violence is now switched to a positive message of American values that if all white men come together they will overcome the black menace and maintain their peaceful American life and preserve the values taught to them by the white people that came before them.

In the story A Red Record we now have the unification of the black population but not to rise against or dominate their oppressors but to unify them through sympathy and to come together against injustice and a hunger for equality by showing the violent nature of their oppressors. The short story centers around a town in Paris Texas hell bent on crucifying a black man named Henry Smith for the murder of a four year old white girl named Myrtle Vance, The daughter of Officer Vance. The story demonstrates how hatred and an unjustified feeling of self-righteousness can lead to acts of cruelty and total disregard for human life. This is evident in the way the story tells of how the murder of a sheriff’s young daughter is extremely exaggerated in its description and that the suspect had obviously had to be a black man who committed this crime out of revenge “Nothing is farther from the truth than that statement. It is a cold blooded, deliberate, brutal falsehood which this Christian (?) Bishop uses to bolster up the Infamous plea that the people of Paris were driven to insanity by learning that the little girl had been viciously assaulted, choked to death, and then torn to pieces by a demon in human form” (Wells,86). The black man was never given a fair hearing and no proof was ever given in order to condemn the suspect. The suspect is caught, paraded before a massive audience where his clothes are ripped to shreds, brutally tortured by having his body poked by red hot brands, his skin terribly burned inch by inch, his lungs being suffocated by the smoke of his burning flesh, his life slowly and painfully taken in the public, “Every groan from the bead, every contortion of his body was cheered by the thickly packed crowd of 10,000 persons” (Wells, 92). The people cheered as thought at a baseball game, each time Henry screamed was equivalent to a player getting a good hit of the baseball. The author describes the brutal vengeance taken by the Vance family “After burning the hands and legs, the hot irons-plenty of fresh ones being at hand-were rolled up and down Smith’s stomach, back and arms. Then the eyes were burned out and irons were thrust down his throat” (Wells, 92). This short description of hatred described the un relenting hatred for a person believed of committing an equally horrific crime. The author strips the avengers of all morality and in blind vengeance shows how the white people of Paris are no better than the monster they made Henry to be. Lastly to show the ultimate display of evil, the people erase Henry from existence by setting his body of fire by being covered in kerosene and lighting the body fire. The audience now watches peacefully as if some form of closure is being performed for the public. The fact that Henry Smith’s body was cremated against his will or the will of his family is a display of disregard for his humanity; he was now less than a person and forced that fact to be acknowledged by anyone who cared about him. There would be no body to clean or to have a prayer read upon, there would be no remains to collect or ashes to scatter because the crowd carried the pieces of charcoal left behind as souvenirs of the event. The gruesome violence depicted here is just the extreme behavior displayed but the more grotesque behavior lies in the actions of the crowd witnessing the violence. This display is meant to expose the cruelty and injustice of the white man during a post-civil war era. The exposure of this event was an example of what the normal behavior was during these times, the display of violence is the fuel which feeds the need for justice and equality. The fact that a man can be convicted and executed without trail was a normal action taken by white southerners and by shedding light to these terrible acts comes the protest of equality and proof that the white man can be the monsters that they make the black man to be.

Both writers have depicted violent stories with the agenda of creating a certain action among its intended viewers or readers. Whether to excite the white man into a violent frenzy in order to bring about white dominance or to sadden the black man by showing the cruel nature of the white oppressor. The works of art use violence as a catalyst to fuel the fires of emotion. Violence in the media can be a powerful thing it can be a tool for good or evil. The violence between one group of people against another will always separate the parties involved. No matter the argument or reason for the violence, it will always be a defining point in the label of the group. Movies show heroes committing violence in order to save the day, we never see superman reasoning with a monster with kind words in order to save Lois Lane instead beating it to death in order to save the day, The newspaper does not tell stories of religious extremist marching peacefully or making attempts to resolve their conflict through peaceful words, instead they depict monsters who murder others to prove points and send messages. The point is that violence written or filmed has been a successful tool in revealing emotions of the intended audience. Whether a form of guiding ones judgment or exposing an emotion, violence is a great tool for the media and its quest to entertain the masses through a positive or negative message.

Composing Climate Change @Lagcc

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Extra Credit Survey: Link here

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Scholarship Opportunity

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Looking ahead to Thursday's "Final Reflection."

Monday, December 10, 2012

Eval number

Blogging the draft workshop

Class Agenda 12-10

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Sample Thesis Template: NDAA (topic #3)