Consider the following article that was recently posted on the website of the Guardian, a major newspaper in England.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2011/jun/27/water-shortage-china-middle-east
Read it carefully and then, using the “Comment” feature on this blog site write a 250-word response in which you respond to the information and ideas in the article with reference to the information presented in the first 55 pages of the book World on the Edge. You may choose to focus on any part(s) of the news story but you should express opinions and you should support what you say by referencing material in the book.
Things to remember as you write your response:
As you write your response, please remember to paraphrase, quote, and cite correctly --- from both the article and the text. Remember that in using information or ideas presented in either the text or the article you must do the activities in column A and column B.
To quote, you should use the exact words of the source and a citation.
Example:
Saudi Arabia announced three years ago that the aquifer it was using to produce wheat “was largely depleted and they would be phasing out wheat production” (Brown, 2011, p. 21).
***
To paraphrase, you should radically change the words and structure but NOT the meaning AND you should provide a citation.
Example:
Brown (2011) notes that the Saudis have acknowledged that the aquifer they were using to produce wheat is so played out that soon they will not be able to produce wheat any longer in Saudi Arabia (p. 21).
Please remember some other important things:
1. Do not quote statistics. Instead, paraphrase and cite.
Bad example: The Saudis anticipate needing to import grain for “30 million people” (Brown, 2011, p. 21).
Good example: The Saudis anticipate needing to import enough grain to feed 30 million people (Brown, 2011, p. 21).
2. Use APA style. That means that when you cite, you will acknowledge the LAST name of the author, the year of publication, and, where possible, the page number. Since there is no page numbering system for the article, you don’t need to use page numbers. You can cite by either using a signal phrase or an in-text citation.
A signal phrase is a style in which the author’s name and date become the subject of the sentence or a major part of a phrase:
Example: Brown (2011) reports that the Saudis anticipate needing to import enough grain to feed 30 million people (p. 21).
An in-text citation puts the information at the end of the sentence:
Example: The Saudis anticipate needing to import enough grain to feed 30 million people (Brown, 2011, p. 21).
3. Paragraph your writing. Do not just write one giant block of print.
4. Spell check before you submit. I will count off a lot for any posting that is not spell-checked.
Things to remember as you respond to others:
Remember to check back on the blog and to find a response that you would like to respond to. What do you agree or disagree with? Do not just give the writer a compliment or criticism (e.g. “I really like what you said”). Instead, RESPOND. What has the writer forgotten? What other information could the writer use to support his/her point? Responses are shorter (about 100 words), but should also be well paragraphed and spell checked.
Again, use the Comment feature on the blog site to post your response to someone else’s response. Be sure to use the words “In response to XXXX” to show whose comment you are responding to. For example, if you decide to write a response to a comment by somebody named “Tom Harvey” you should write something like, “In response to Tom Harvey’s comment, I want to add . . .”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2011/jun/27/water-shortage-china-middle-east
Read it carefully and then, using the “Comment” feature on this blog site write a 250-word response in which you respond to the information and ideas in the article with reference to the information presented in the first 55 pages of the book World on the Edge. You may choose to focus on any part(s) of the news story but you should express opinions and you should support what you say by referencing material in the book.
Things to remember as you write your response:
As you write your response, please remember to paraphrase, quote, and cite correctly --- from both the article and the text. Remember that in using information or ideas presented in either the text or the article you must do the activities in column A and column B.
| Column A | Column B |
| Quote OR Paraphrase | Cite |
To quote, you should use the exact words of the source and a citation.
Example:
Saudi Arabia announced three years ago that the aquifer it was using to produce wheat “was largely depleted and they would be phasing out wheat production” (Brown, 2011, p. 21).
***
To paraphrase, you should radically change the words and structure but NOT the meaning AND you should provide a citation.
Example:
Brown (2011) notes that the Saudis have acknowledged that the aquifer they were using to produce wheat is so played out that soon they will not be able to produce wheat any longer in Saudi Arabia (p. 21).
Please remember some other important things:
1. Do not quote statistics. Instead, paraphrase and cite.
Bad example: The Saudis anticipate needing to import grain for “30 million people” (Brown, 2011, p. 21).
Good example: The Saudis anticipate needing to import enough grain to feed 30 million people (Brown, 2011, p. 21).
2. Use APA style. That means that when you cite, you will acknowledge the LAST name of the author, the year of publication, and, where possible, the page number. Since there is no page numbering system for the article, you don’t need to use page numbers. You can cite by either using a signal phrase or an in-text citation.
A signal phrase is a style in which the author’s name and date become the subject of the sentence or a major part of a phrase:
Example: Brown (2011) reports that the Saudis anticipate needing to import enough grain to feed 30 million people (p. 21).
An in-text citation puts the information at the end of the sentence:
Example: The Saudis anticipate needing to import enough grain to feed 30 million people (Brown, 2011, p. 21).
3. Paragraph your writing. Do not just write one giant block of print.
4. Spell check before you submit. I will count off a lot for any posting that is not spell-checked.
Things to remember as you respond to others:
Remember to check back on the blog and to find a response that you would like to respond to. What do you agree or disagree with? Do not just give the writer a compliment or criticism (e.g. “I really like what you said”). Instead, RESPOND. What has the writer forgotten? What other information could the writer use to support his/her point? Responses are shorter (about 100 words), but should also be well paragraphed and spell checked.
Again, use the Comment feature on the blog site to post your response to someone else’s response. Be sure to use the words “In response to XXXX” to show whose comment you are responding to. For example, if you decide to write a response to a comment by somebody named “Tom Harvey” you should write something like, “In response to Tom Harvey’s comment, I want to add . . .”
