Article on Food Sovereignty

Santiago Mazzei

Teacher: Stella Maris Saubidet Oyhamburu

Lengua y Expresión Escrita IV-ISFD 41

October 31^st, 2014

Food Sovereignty: a Path to Regional Sustainability and Prosperity

Food Sovereignty constitutes the fundamental right of all peoples, nations and States to control their food production systems, and make decisions on their political concerns regarding this issue. It must provide every citizen of every country high-quality, adequate, economical, nutritious, and culturally appropriate comestibles. This movement also promotes the importance of local and sustainable food systems, fair prices for products and agriculture, and fair trade between countries. But what is more important, it stands for the protection of the common goods of society –that is, against their appropriation and/or privatization. And it is at this point that this issue has turned into a matter of great importance for different societies worldwide. In 1914, Monsanto, the biggest and most important transgenic seeds and fertilizer producer and seller in Latin America, Canada and the USA, started to be active.

This giant of the genetically-modified-seeds business has been responsible of numerous misfortunes along its history. In 1947, for instance, a French freighter that had to transport tons of ammonium nitrate exploded 90 metres from Monsanto’s plastic factory in Texas. 500 people died approximately, and this event is known as the worst incident in the history of the chemical industry. Nowadays, CONICET associates Monsanto with cases of fertility reduction, spontaneous abortions and genetic defects in babies, abnormalities in the development of children, leukaemia and other types of cancer. Related to these situations, there are the cases of people who have been victims of the negligence of enormous corporations like this one and have attempted to take actions against the responsible of their losses and tragic outcomes.

Sofía Gatica, a woman from Argentina who lost her 3-day old daughter to kidney failure, decided to “spearhead an anti-Monsanto movement with other mothers of sick children” (Barrett, 2012). Roundup, a chemical weed-killer created by Monsanto, is used by farmers near her home. She soon noticed that her neighbours had been having health complications.

In fact, researchers found that people in her area had three to four agricultural chemicals in their blood, including one chemical, endosulfan, which is banned in over 80 countries (Barrett, 2012).

After having co-founded the group Madres de Ituzaingó, several researches have been carried out by scientists. They discovered that the cases of deaths and diseases in the area were “more than 40 times the national average” (Barrett, 2012). Thanks to Sofía Gatica’s actions, a decision that no weed-killers could be used near residential areas has been made by the Supreme Court of Argentina. Incidentally, she received threats during this process. She stated that somebody broke into her house with a weapon and told her not to mess with the soybeans. She also said that she received phone calls from men who told her that only two of her children would be left alive. This is only one of the many cases that have been reported in which a world-renowned firm results to be the cause of major inconveniences in a particular region. But these misfortunes not only have to do with people’s physical affections.

            Food Sovereignty stands for the regional control of food production and “the right of peoples to define their own food systems” (WDM, 2014). In 2003, INDEC (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos) revealed that the major supermarket chains in Argentina (most of them international corporations) concentrate 82% of the total food sales, and the 67% of the operations performed with consumers. At the same time, according to the Argentine Ministry of Agriculture, six of these important corporations reunite approximately 60% of the total food sales in the region. Among these six, three sell 70% of these products.  As well as these firms control the sales of most regional agricultural products, Monsanto appears to be controlling who the producers’ seed suppliers have to be and what exporters they have to operate with. This would be done through the signing of a contract. For this reason, the genetically-modified-seeds company was sued in 2012. These examples illustrate the damage international corporations are capable of causing to regional economies.

Not having control over the local food production system is not only harmful for health, but also for economy. People’s freedom to decide the way in which food should be produced and distributed ends up being violated. Food Sovereignty respects people’s right to know what is being consumed. It creates regional sustainability by letting producers choose who to negotiate with and by regulating the local business. Monsanto is only an example of what the results of letting corporations be the owners of most agricultural production valuables will be. Cases like Gatica’s can only be prevented with a regulating system that controls the way in which crops are taken care of. Eventually, peoples’ wellbeing is in the hands of governments and politicians. Nevertheless, as Gatica has shown us, there is always something we can do in order to support Food Sovereignty and defend our rights as members of a free society.

Works Cited

Barrett, Mike. "Woman Receives Anonymous Threats after Opposing Monsanto." Natural Society. 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. <http://naturalsociety.com/woman-receives-anonymous-threats-opposing-monsanto/>.

Carballo González, Carlos. "Soberanía Alimentaria Y Agricultura Familiar En Argentina." Http://www.unicen.edu.ar/content/soberanía-alimentaria-y-agricultura-familiar-en-argentina. UNICEN, 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2014.

Giachino, Sergio. "¿Usted Sabe Que Es MONSANTO?" Diario El Argentino. El Argentino, 8 June 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. <http://www.diarioelargentino.com.ar/noticias/92489/usted-sabe-que-es-monsanto>.

Premici, Sebastián. "Abuso De Monsanto Con La Venta De Semillas." Página 12. 1 Sept. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. <http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/economia/2-254264-2014-09-01.html>.

RIA. "Argentina: Soberanía Alimentaria." Revista De Investigaciones Agropecuarias. RIA, 31 Oct. 2011. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. <http://ria.inta.gov.ar/?p=5119>.

"What Is Food Sovereignty?" World Development Movement. WDM, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2014. <http://www.wdm.org.uk/food-sovereignty>.

Barenboim and his Ideals: Democracy and the Wagner Controversy

Santiago Mazzei

Teacher: Stella Maris Saubidet Oyhamburu

Lengua y Expresión Escrita IV-ISFD 41

September, 2014

Barenboim and his Ideals: Democracy and the Wagner Controversy

In the year 2001, Maestro Daniel Barenboim decided to conduct one of his most favorite pieces in music in a concert that took place in the state of Israel. He decided to do this being aware of the controversy this event would raise not only in Israel, but in the whole world. The classical piece he decided to play was the historically renowned “The Valkyrie”. But the detail that has to be mentioned here is that this masterpiece of classical music belonged to Richard Wagner. This German musician developed his art during the romantic period and is known not only because of his music, but also because of his anti-Semitic literary works and thoughts. As a matter of fact, this composer was Adolf Hitler’s favorite artist and many Jews were executed in the gas chambers to the sound of his music. Many voices have risen against the Argentinean composer’s actions, but he knew how to confront these accusations. Although there is a belief that Richard Wagner’s real legacy in music is one of racial ideology and prejudice even in our modern days, Daniel Barenboim has managed to prove that this matter can be seen from a different perspective and to gain support from many people around the globe.

            Despite the fact that we imagine ourselves living in a post-Holocaust mélange of musical sounds, we still inhabit “Wagner’s world” (Loeffler, 2014). At least this is the point of view that James Loeffler, professor of history at the University of Virginia, adopts towards this issue. Daniel Barenboim, among others, claimed that Wagner appreciated some members of the Jewish German community. Loeffler claims that this fact is not strong enough as to give an end to the debate of whether Wagner’s music can be conceived as something separate from his anti-Semitic ideology. There is a belief in the moral autonomy of artistic productions that comes from the Enlightenment, and that is what motivated most Hebrew geniuses to make music. This has been, for instance, the case of the Mendelssohn family. This Jewish musical success drove Wagner to write his essay Das Judenthum in der Musik in 1850. This written work was about the way in which Jewish traditional sonorities had changed the German musical scene. He claimed, for example, that the “Jews are a pariah nation with no land or language of their own” (Loeffler, 2014). He finished his work by saying that the only possible solution to this situation would be the suppression of Jews from the societies of Europe. In addition to his view, Romanticism carried a nationalist tendency within itself that spread all over Europe, and music in particular was the vehicle for political ideas at the time. Later on, two opposing cultural sides could be differentiated. There were the “German-speaking Jews seeking cultural acceptance as Germans [and the] ethnic Germans seeking political independence as a unified nation” (Loeffler, 2014). According to Michael Haas, Wagner’s literature has been the only significantly important influence in Hitler’s ideology years later, but yet that is not the main point. There is a tendency nowadays to ignore the Jewish musical legacy in many educational institutions from Europe and other parts of the world. However, something different happened in Israel, where Richard Wagner’s music has been banned for half a century.

In 2001, Daniel Barenboim decided to perform a piece from Wagner in Israel, claiming that his music can be listened as something separate from its associations to the holocaust. The conductor of the Berlineer Staatsoper asked “if any person has the right to deprive another who does not have these same associations of hearing Wagner’s music” (Barenboim, 2001). Soon after the end of WW II the Israel Philharmonic did not accept formerly Jewish musicians who had gone through a conversion to another religion during the conflict. Since nowadays 20% of the population of Israel is non-Jewish, conversion does not have a negative connotation anymore. Moreover, “Israel has the obligation to treat these inhabitants as equal citizens” (Barenboim, 2001). Incidentally, if we focus our attention into Wagner’s purely musical contributions, we will find that his ideas of tempi and acoustics have changed the way in which classical music is played and written even in modern times. Despite the fact that his personality was “…appalling… [and] …despicable…” (Barenboim, 1998), neither Hitler nor the German composer has created the anti-Semitic way of thinking. It is something that preceded them. It is also important to remark that there are no traces of anti-Semitism in Wagner’s operas: there are only interpretations that we can make about the subject. In the same way, one should make a distinction between the musician’s ideology and what the Nazis implemented it for. Barenboim understands music as a trans-national manifestation of art: it does not belong to any language or nationality.

Because his revolutionary ideas stand for the eradication of racial and ideological differences through the universal language of music, Barenboim has gained recognition all over the world. The Protestant Academy of Tutzing gave him the Tolerance Prize in 2002. This was due to his attempt and success of bringing people from Israel and Palestine together through classical music. This success was achieved via the creation of the Western-Eastern Divan Workshop in 1999, in which Barenboim included two concertmasters: One of them was Lebanese, the other from Israel. This has to do with his involvement in politics. Since music has become the breeding ground of his political views; many feel interested in his particular vision of what can be achieved through dialogue. Barenboim states that authentic dialogue, the one that implies listening openly to what the other is saying, is the only hope we have to peacefully live together. Five years later, the UN named him Messenger of Peace, and “in February 2009, he was awarded the Moses Mendelssohn Medal for his contribution to tolerance and international understanding” (Barenboim, 2011). His efforts to promote peaceful relationships between nations have not only made him a recognized figure in the scenario of international politics, but also built a controversial image for him.

The fact that Richard Wagner was an anti-Semite rings a bell for many people at the time of appreciating his music. It is really hard to ignore the composer’s way of thinking just by turning our heads the other way. However, there is a question that arises from this matter: Why should people to whom this music does not imply reviving painful memories be deprived from the possibility of appreciating it? Moreover, is it worth it to continue identifying Wagner’s music with the Nazi holocaust in Europe? Daniel Barenboim has managed to show us that banning or holding a grudge against a composer’s music just because it is associated with a historical tragedy is almost at the same level as burning books because they are contrary to a certain totalitarian ideology. We have to be careful not to fight fire with fire, because, as Barenboim pointed out, that has never worked and will never work for us to attain peace between nations. Dialogue is the only hope we have; everything else has just failed. In any case, we should try to stop Wagner’s music from having any direct or indirect influence in contemporary anti-Semitism. And best way to do it is by getting rid of the taboo and start separating the musical genius from the repulsive xenophobic ideologist –even if he was Hitler’s favourite composer and literate. In Barenboim’s words regarding his past presentation in Israel, “this is a case where Israel can and should define itself as a democracy” (Barenboim, 2001).

Works Cited

BARENBOIM D. & SAID E., Wagner and Ideology, Daniel Barenboim, Retrieved on September 30, 2014 from http://www.danielbarenboim.com/journal/wagner-and-ideology.html

BARENBOIM D., As a Democratic State, Israel Should Allow Wagner to be Played, NPQ, Retrieved on September 30, 2014 from http://www.digitalnpq.org/global_services/global%20viewpoint/05-21-01.html

BARENBOIM D., Daniel Barenboim – A Builder of Musical Bridges, Daniel Barenboim, Retrieved on September 30, 2014 from http://www.danielbarenboim.com/about/biography.html

LOEFFLER J., Wagner's Anti-Semitism Still Matters, New Republic, Retrieved on September 30, 2014 from http://www.newrepublic.com/article/118331/forbidden-music-michael-haas-reviewed-james-loeffler

LUCCHINI L., Daniel Barenboim: "El diálogo es la única idea que nos puede salvar; todo lo demás falló", La Nación, Retrieved on September 30, 2014 from http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1525391-daniel-barenboim-el-dialogo-es-la-unica-idea-que-nos-puede-salvar-todo-lo-demas-fallo

Listening in the Light of Writing

Lee4 august from GABecquer

This has been a very interesting work in which we, as a group, had to get organized and cooperate with each other. It has been a very productive experience since we had to be creative and analytical at the same time. We have never stopped sharing our ideas or offering help to our classmates. The real challenge has been the manipulation and creation of new activities and slides as a group. Despite the fact that there have been some difficulties for us to be able gather in one place and at the same time, our knowledge regarding the relation that exists between listening and writing has grown considerably. It is also important to highlight that the implementation of virtual platforms such as Slideshare and Google Presentation has been particularly enriching. We have all learnt something from each other, and that is reflected in our final product. In my view, working with Celce-Murcia's text has made us discover that there is a world of relations between the four macro skills. It is our work as teachers to develop strategies that enable our students to learn in the best possible ways and apply them in the classroom.

Essay on Comfort Women

Santiago Mazzei

Teacher: Stella Maris Saubidet Oyhamburu

Lengua y Expresión Escrita IV-ISFD 41

August, 2014

Comfort Women

The term “Comfort Women” is a wrongly-used softened expression implemented in Japan and Korea to refer to the 200.000 sexual slaves that were coerced to become servants of the Japanese Army in the course of the Pacific War. The first of them to declare did it in 1990 and afterwards, others followed her example. Lee Ok-Seon is now 86 years old and describes the brothel in which she was kept 70 years ago as a “slaughter house” (Felden, 2013). Hah Sang Suk, another victim, stated in an interview that “There were no rest days, and the women couldn’t leave the brothel” (3). Similarly, Yung Tu-Ri was also forced to serve the military in a “comfort station” and during an interview she recalled among other things that she “was too painful to lie down, but […] was [yet] forced to receive soldiers” (35). Although the fight for an official recognition and an apology carried out by the former “comfort women” has gained power internationally, the Japanese Government refuses to take full responsibility to the matter and to openly admit its past crimes concerning human trafficking and forced sexual exploitation during WWII.

Japan has been the perpetrator of one of the biggest cases of sex crimes during World War II.  The Geneva Conventions in 1949 agreed that any side to a war dispute between nations or within one must remain respectful towards the main postulates of the International Humanitarian Laws. Hence, any act of torture, sexual violence, humiliation or rape is nowadays considered a war crime. If not “purchased from destitute parents” (Amnesty International, 2009, p. 1), many women and children from different Asian regions were abducted or deceived by the Japanese Military during war with hopeful prospects of working in factories. Afterwards, they were enclosed in facilities called “comfort stations” in which they were raped by 20 to 50 soldiers every day. An estimate of two thirds of them did not survive and of those who did, “many are infertile as a result of their enslavement” (Amnesty International, 2009, p. 1). Having gone through this experience, the remaining former so called “Comfort Women” gather every Wednesday in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul seeking for recognition and compensation.

Up to this day the fight for the recognition of these now elder Asian women’s rights has won support. In 1995, the UN Commission on Human Rights treated this subject claiming that after committing “a minimum 125 million rapes […] Japan has paid nothing to these victims” (UN, 1995). In addition, Amnesty International, an organization for the protection of Human Rights from New Zealand, has created a symbol for the cause in the shape of a butterfly that can be sent online to several politicians with a call for support. Up to this date, more than 18.000 Australians have already sent theirs. Another supporter is the Korean-American artist Chang-Jin Lee who has recently spread public posters throughout New York City with the phrase “COMFORT WOMEN WANTED”. She has also made a documentary and a "Re-creation of a Military Comfort Station" (Lee, 2013) for The Comfort Women Museum in Taipei, Taiwan. Over time more and more people seem to join the cause and seek for justice.

Despite the support this case has in other parts of the world, the Japanese Government still denies owing anything to the survivors. In 1993, the land of the rising sun apologized for the damage caused to these women “…that, in many cases […] were recruited against their own will" (Williamson, 2013) in words of the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono. Since Japanese textbooks seem to ignore this war crime and many members of the Government sustain that the victims remained in the “comfort stations” by their own will, the former Comfort Women do not think the apology was an honest one. Indeed, the Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, said in 2007 that “there was ‘no proof that the women were forced’ to work in the brothels” (Felden, 2013). The 78 years old South-Korean Lee Yong Soo recently declared that she was abducted from her home by members of the Japanese Military at the age of 14 to serve in Taiwan as a sex slave. Evidently, an agreement between both sides is not likely to be achieved in the near future.

Seven former comfort women are living the last stage of their life in “House of Sharing”, founded in 1992 “through [the contributions] of […] various social [and religious] circles of society” (Nanum-ae-Jip, 2001). These and the rest of them keep telling the world about the devastating and unjustified misfortune that has ruined their existence. By contrast, voices like Toru Hashimoto’s, Governor of Osaka, who said in 2013 that “sex slavery was ‘necessary’ to keep the discipline among the troops” (Felden, 2013), and Shinzo Abe’s seem to deny the undeniable. Everything comes down to the responsibility of a Nation to repair the damage caused to around 200.000 human lives. After all, as Ok-Seon said recently, “Historically speaking the war might have stopped, but for us it's still going on, it never ended” (Williamson, 2013).

Works Cited

Abe’s Violent Denial: Japan’s Prime Minister and the ‘Comfort Women',

DUDDEN A. & MIZOGUCHI K., Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from http://www.japanfocus.org/-Alexis-Dudden/2368

COMFORT WOMEN WANTED, LEE C. J., Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from

http://changjinlee.net/cww/

Comfort women: South Korea's survivors of Japanese brothels, WILLIAMSON

L., Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22680705

Encyclopedia of Rape, SMITH M. D., Westport: Library of Congress, 2004. Paper.

Former comfort woman tells uncomforting story, FELDEN E., Retrieved on

August 18, 2014 from http://www.dw.de/former-comfort-woman-tells-uncomforting-story/a-17060384

Introduction to the House of Sharing, NANUM-AE-JIP, Retrieved on

August 18, 2014 from http://www.nanum.org/eng/

Japan Apologizes to WWII Sex Slaves, HISTORY AUSTRALIA & NEW

ZEALAND, Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from http://www.historychannel.com.au/classroom/day-in-history/737/japan-apologizes-to-wwii-sex-slaves

Japan, South Korea to discuss 'comfort women' almost 70 years after World

War II, HANCOCKS P., Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/16/world/asia/south-korea-japan-comfort-women/

Japan's Abe says won't alter 1993 apology on 'comfort women', REUTERS &

KATO I., Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/us-japan-korea-idUSBREA2D04R20140314

ORAL
HISTORIES
OF THE
 “COMFORT
WOMEN”, COLUMBIA

UNIVERSITY, Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/korea/comfort_women.pdf

Posttraumatic stress disorder in former 'comfort women', MIN S.K., LEE

C. H. , KIM J. Y . & SIM E. J., Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/22141139

Session Agenda item 11, UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN

RIGHTS, Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from http://www.guidetoaction.org/parker/c95-11.html

STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: “COMFORT WOMEN”, AMNESTY

INTERNATIONAL, Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from http://www.amnesty.org.nz/files/Comfort-Women-factsheet.pdf

Testimonies of former „Comfort Women“ from Korea, KOREA VERBAND,

Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from http://koreaverband.ahkorea.com/_file/trostfrauen/Testimonies_KoreanComfortWomen_english.pdf

The History Of 'Comfort Women': A WWII Tragedy We Can't Forget, BROOKS

K., Retrieved on August 18, 2014 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/comfort-women-wanted_n_4325584.html

In case you want to check the Google document n MLA format, use this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12vx5uRnXPEtGh1v29JafGDhTpIkhw_WvXnlxDtsvihQ/edit#

SUMMARY: What is “Academic” Writing?

Santiago Mazzei

Teacher: Stella Maris Saubidet

Lengua y Expresión Escrita IV-ISFD 41

July, 2014

What is “Academic” Writing?

          L. Lennie Irvin

INTRODUCTION: THE ACADEMIC WRITING TASK

Since the development of a written text is not easy and being proficient at it is of great importance for communicating ideas, you must take this lesson as something precious. The present section has the aim of making things easier for you when having to successfully accomplish an academic writing task and giving you a first idea of what this type of writing is about.

In academic writing, the comprehension of your procedure and the right strategy lead to success. We therefore have to get rid of some misinterpretations about certain aspects of the subject before dealing with the most relevant issues.

MYTHS ABOUT WRITING

The following wrong concepts drive writers to unsuccessful results:

1.     Writing is an inflexible straight procedure. As a matter of fact, we go all over again through the different stages of the writing process as we proceed with a task.

2.     One has to have everything sorted out before writing. The truth is that new ideas may come up as we perform the writing task. We can add, remove or rephrase anything later.

3.     A first draft has to be definite and excelling. Again, successful writing takes going all over through the process as many times as necessary.

4.     One is determined to write in a certain way and cannot become a better writer.

5.     I cannot write if I am not good at grammar. “Writing is about achieving your desired effect upon an intended audience.” (Irvin, 2010, p. 5)

6.     I have to stick to/reject the five-paragraph essay. It is beneficial to know it, but it is just a base model that you will leave behind as you improve your way of writing.

7.     I must avoid the use of “I”. In semi-formal style, it is not wrong to implement it.

Ø     The Academic Writing Situation

Since the most important mistakes in academic writing are connected to an inadequate comprehension of the general “writing situation” (Irvin, 210, p. 5), it is necessary to go over the contrast between spoken and written productions.

In speaking, three dimensions are dealt with, whereas in writing, only two. We therefore have to mentally bring about the contextual circumstances.

It is of great importance that you grow a “writer’s sense” (Irvin, 2010, p. 6) not beyond the writing circumstances.

Looking More Closely at the “Academic Writing” Situation

Academic writing has “its own codes and conventions” (Irvin, 2010, p. 7). You have to know:

ü     Your audience,

ü     The context,

ü     Your message,

ü     Your purpose,

ü     The documents or genres used.

Lee Ann Carroll has evidenced the type of writing you are likely to deal with in an academic context.

Since a good familiarity with research skills, a clear understanding of complicated texts, an ability to summarize and a developed critical sense are required in university apart from the usual writing skills, Carroll claims that ‘writing assignments’ should be defined as ‘literacy tasks’.

Writing in college has evaluative purposes so you have to reflect your excellence and your capacities. It is therefore useful to get into the aspects of a “literacy task”.

Ø     Knowledge of Research Skills

Knowing the right way of finding information anywhere and understanding that Research is procedural (constant focus on the different origins of your information is required) are a must. It is also necessary to become aware of that the research of information plays a determining role within the writing task, and thus a lot of effort has to be invested in the process.

Ø     The Ability to Read Complex Texts

Critical thinking in the reading process is a must: detecting nonobjectivity and presumptions, as well as ”making inferences” -how we relate the different parts of (a) text/s.

…an inference is a belief (or statement) about something unknown made on the basis of something known […] based upon the known factors we discover from our reading […] our job becomes to get our readers to make the same inferences we have made (Irvin, 2010, p. 8).

Ø     The Understanding of Key Disciplinary Concepts

Teachers are going to want to see how you utilize and manipulate the concepts you have been asked for in your writing assignments. They want you to show them what you have learnt. So analyze carefully for what concepts they want you to implement into your work.

Ø     Strategies for Synthesizing, Analyzing, and Responding Critically to New Information

Developing tactics for extracting relevant information to later utilize it in your assignment is a must. The acquisition of methods for the organization and identification of relevant schemes in any new material is a necessity.

IN COLLEGE, EVERYTHING’S AN ARGUMENT: A GUIDE FOR DECODING COLLEGE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

In academic writing you will have the necessity of presenting a conjecture in which you make a statement (called the “thesis”) and standing for it with effective arguments supported by properly introduced corroborative elements. This can be confusing for new learners, so it deserves a deeper analysis.

Ø     Academic Writing Is an Argument

A point of view that is founded on proper evidence is called an “argument”. That point of view has to receive your examiner’s approval. You have to be convincing by providing grounds for belief. To be successful, a well-structured display of your argument and solid elements that support it are needed.

Ø     Academic Writing Is an Analysis

One has to know what the teacher’s expectations are. In some cases these remain tacit, and thus difficult to detect. In the first place, summarize only if you are told to do so. Secondly, your resulting work will depend directly on your previous analysis of the subject matter.

Analyzing implies following:

1.     Carry out an investigation and remain open-minded towards the various possible answers that you may find.

2.     Detect the relevant pieces of information.

3.     Study these isolated pieces of information and find out the way in which they are connected to each other.

New notions will come up from the isolation and inspection of the different items of information that conform the subject of your essay. At the same time, your point of view of the way in which these different pieces of information connect with each other conforms your thesis statement, and the objective of your work is to place an argument that defends that point of view validating it and making it a solid one. Separate the different pieces of your investigation and take notes of the particular features of each. As new schemes show up, you have to consistently relate each element. Analysis is an extremely important element of the “literacy task”.

Ø     Three Common Types of College Writing Assignments

There are three types of college writing tasks:

Ø     The Closed Writing Assignment

Two opposing statements are presented, and you have to decide (based on your research) which the most solid is. The important part of your work is showing the way in which you arrived at that conclusion.

A deeper inspection of the main issue may lead you to ambiguous assumptions. Do not use a “simplistic thesis” (Irvin, 2010, p. 12).

Ø     The Semi-Open Writing Assignment

“Discuss […] Explain […] Compare […] Show how…” (Irvin, 2010, p. 12)

Avoid using statements that are too obvious. Make relations between the sort of elements you are going to use, their natural origin and role and what leads to them. You have to “dig […] and see what you find” (Irvin, 2010, p. 12).

Do not summarize or merely account for things in this type of essay. Bringing an argument up is also required. Your professors will want to see how you get to your discernments into schemes and connections related to the topic. Your work is required to show what you arrived to from this research.

Ø     The Open Writing Assignment

“Analyze […] a character […] Compare and contrast two themes…” (Irvin, 2010, p. 12)

You have to determine your subject and your thesis statement. One has to comprehend the relevant pieces of information, and from there choose the proper theme. The most important is to determine your subject and reducing it to a malleable proportion.

Ø     Picking and Limiting a Writing Topic

Seek for what is of interest to you, as well as what gives you reachable results. Present your subject as an attractive interrogative. That interrogative will indicate you the best path to follow and what the core aspect of your statement is, as that statement will provide the result to that previous interrogative.

Reduce your subject to malleable proportions as it will make things easier.

Ø     Three Characteristics of Academic Writing

Thais and Zawacky say that there are three aspects:

1.     Perseverance, an open-mind, and method within the writer.

2.     Logic first; passions come in second place.

3.     Answers arrived at with the use of reason.

Everything mentioned in this section is what your examiners want to perceive in your written assignments.

THE FORMAT OF THE ACADEMIC ESSAY

Specific characteristics are attributed to the text. The format should not be arrived at with the use of formulas; the process requires flexibility.

Ø     Characteristics of the Critical Essay

1.     It “MAKES A POINT and SUPPORTS IT.” (Irvin, 2010, p. 15)

2.     The statement is naturally expository. Such claim is a declaration that is more suitably placed after the introductory paragraphs.

3.     Structure: “a clear introduction, body and conclusion.” (Irvin, 2010, p. 12)

4.     Supporting sources: The use of quotes indicating the sources of information is a must. No argument has to lack supporting elements. A sufficient amount of supporting material is needed, not only one piece of it.

5.     Every source of information has to be documented indicating its origin.

6.     “Transition” (Irvin, 2010, p. 16) sentences should be related to the main statement since hey indicate the theme of that part of your work.

7.     MLA or APA style is required.

8.     No inconveniences concerning grammar should be found in your essay.

CONCLUSION

The key is to comprehend one’s actions and the way in which one proceeds when working in an academic writing assignment. The base is to have the proper direction at the time of writing an essay.

Works Cited

Carroll, Lee Ann. Rehearsing New Roles: How College Students Develop as

Writers. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2002. Print.

Irvin, L. Lennie. What Is “Academic” Writing? Library of Congress Cataloging-in-

Publication Data, 2010. Print.

Thaiss, Chris and Terry Zawacki. Engaged Writers & Dynamic Disciplines:

Research on the Academic Writing Life. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook, 2006. Print.