Week 1 All-Program Meeting Reading and Writing Prompts

  • In Week 1, our All-Program Meeting starts promptly at 12:30pm on Thursday September 27 in the CAL (see Week 1 Schedule; normally our All-Program meeting will be Wednesdays noon-1pm).
  • In advance of this session, please read Cronon’s Only Connect. We will provide paper copies in class on Monday.
  • Below are some writing prompts that we hope will help you engage with the text and prepare for the All-Program Meeting.
    • Please type up responses to the questions below (short responses are fine, but take the space you need).
    • Bring a printed copy of your responses to the All-Program Meeting. You will use it for the class discussion. At the end of the discussion, you will submit it for faculty review: faculty will look for evidence of completion and engagement.
    • Make sure your name is at the top of your printed copy.

Writing Prompts:

  1. What (English) words or phrases that Cronon uses did you need to look up? Even after looking them up and re-reading, what words or phrases would be helpful for you to hear discussed?
  2. What is Cronon actually saying? What are his main points? What are his arguments?
  3. What questions do you have about what Cronon is saying that you would like to discuss in seminar?
    • (Note that while questions whose answers are yes/no or matters of fact that can be looked up can certainly be important questions for you, they tend not to be questions that invite discussion.)
  4. In what ways did you respond positively to what Cronon wrote – in other words, what resonated well for you in the essay? What was most powerful or persuasive for you about the essay?
  5. In what ways did the essay ring hollow for you, leaving you dissatisfied or looking for more? How might those moments be addressed to strengthen the essay?

A note about the sequence of tasks described above: it is important in academic inquiry to understand a statement, argument, essay, etc., to look for its strengths, and then to consider critiques of it. Here we ask you to develop and articulate your understanding of the piece, then to look at the best of what this essay offers, and then to consider what you think it lacks or could do more successfully.