Reflection 06: Stay Out of the Water—Fears of the Ocean

To many of us, the ocean is a place of fun, relaxation, and beauty. However, there are also those of us who view the ocean with dread, a place wrought with danger and fear. In fact, the oceans do touch on many of our most primal fears, including fears of drowning, the unknown, and being out of our element. Which of your fears does the ocean touch upon? What doubts cross your mind, however briefly, as you enter the water?

Include in your discussion at least two of the following:

• "Fitness Guru Pushes Fears Aside to Complete Triathlon" (Naperville Sun)
• "Getting Over Fear of the Ocean" (SurfingHandbook.com)
• "Diver Debunks Sharks' Bad Reputation" (Los Angeles Times)
• "The Most Dangerous Things at the Beach" (LiveScience) 
• "Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning" (Stuff)
• "The World's Most Dangerous Beaches" (Huffington Post)

Required:

• MLA Style
• Must be exactly two-full pages in length

Due: Th 11.07

Week 11

Week 11
Tu 10.29

• Read: COLD—p. 39 – 69 
• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations 

Th 10.31

• Read: COLD—p. 70 – 132
• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations
• Due: REFLECTION 05 (VIA EMAIL BY NOON)

Upcoming:


Week 12
Tu 11.05

• Read: COLD—p. 133 – 182
• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations

Th 11.07

• Class: Lecture—“First Contacts on Film: Dances with Wolves, Contact, and At Play in the Fields of the Lord”
• Due: REFLECTION 06

Reflection 05: Tunes of the Tide—Creating Ocean-Themed Playlist

What is it about the ocean that songwriters find so inspiring? Why is the sea a theme that songs return to again and again? For this reflection, you will create a playlist of six ocean-themed songs. Additionally, you must annotate each song in 2-3 sentences. Your annotations should briefly explain your rationale for their inclusion, as well as the oceanic nature of the song. You songs may come from any genre or era.

Required:

• MLA Style
• Must be exactly one page in length

Due: TH 10.31 @ NOON VIA EMAIL

Ocean News: 10.23.13

• Does a second dead Californian oarfish foretell a massive quake? (NBC News)
• An underwater photographer gets a little too close to a humpback and her calf (GrindTV) 
• $1.7 million: Price paid at auction for violin played on Titanic (CNN)
• Yao Ming tackles China's love for shark fin soup and helps in a dramatic reduction (Yahoo! News)
• An alarming epidemic: Lionfish in the Atlantic (CNN)
• Hawaiian surfer punches a shark (Huffington Post)

Week 10

Week 10
Tu 10.22

• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations

 Th 10.24

• Read: COLD—p. 3 – 38
• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations
• Due: EDITORIAL (FINAL DRAFT; ATTACH DRAFT 1 TO BACK)

Upcoming:

Week 11
Tu 10.29

• Read: COLD—p. 39 – 69 
• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations 

Th 10.31

• Read: COLD—p. 70 – 132
• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations
• Due: REFLECTION 05 

Ocean News 10.17.13

• Giant oarfish found off California coast (Los Angeles Times) 
• Meanwhile: Rare saber-tooth whale washes ashore in Venice beach (Los Angeles Times) 
• The future is now: New fleet of super yachts on the horizon (Daily Telegraph)
• Somali pirate leader lured in by authorities in fake movie offer (ABC News)
• Invasion of the jellyfish (Quartz)
• Has a satellite found a ghost ship off the coast of Australia? (Daily Telegraph)

Week 09

Week 09:
Tu 10.15

• Class: Watch—Excerpts from Ocean of Fear: Worst Shark Attack Ever (2007) and Disasters at Sea: Why Ships Sink (2012)
• Due: REFLECTION 04

Th 10.17

• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop
• Due: EDITORIAL (DRAFT 1; BRING TWO COPIES)

Upcoming:

Week 10
Tu 10.22

• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations

 Th 10.24

• Read: COLD—p. 3 – 38
• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations
• Due: EDITORIAL (FINAL DRAFT; ATTACH DRAFT 1 TO BACK)

Ocean News 10.12.13

• 500,000 evacuated as Cyclone Phailin bears down on India (BBC News)
• Upping the Halloween ante: Pirate ship emerges from Ohio home (Yahoo! News)
• An alarming die-off of starfish from California to Canada (ENENews)
• Presenting the DIY submarine (Popular Science)
• Numbers threatened as crocodiles, including their eggs, increasingly eaten in Jamaica (Yahoo! News)
• Missouri man in Florida latest victim of flesh-eating ocean bacteria  (KSDK-TV)

Editorial Essay: In Harm's Way

After enduring both the violent sinking of their ship and the ensuing life-or-death drama at the mercy of hundreds of tiger sharks, the crew of the USS Indianapolis eventually had to bear the court-martial of their captain, Charles Butler McVay III. In what many have called one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in the Navy's history, McVay was convicted of "suffering a vessel to be hazarded through negligence" and "hazarding his ship by failing to zigzag." But as Doug Stanton illustrates in In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors, the captain's trial was less than fair and impartial. In fact, Navy officials used the sinking of the cruiser to distance itself from the incident and impugn the captain's reputation. In a concise editorial, mount a robust defense for the Indianapolis' Captain McVay against the Navy’s charge of negligence. Cite specific evidence from Stanton's In Harm's Way to support to clear the captain's reputation.

Requirements:

• MLA format, including parenthetical citation
• 3-page minimum

The best papers will:

• Have a title that articulates its point of view
• Have a concise thesis with a clear argument against the indictment of Captain McVay
• Utilize rhetorical techniques in order to convince readers of your position 
• Are written in a voice that is casual, yet informed
• Support their thesis with solid evidence organized in a logical structure
• Properly cite evidence, using MLA's parenthetical citation method
• Conclude with a summation of main points
• Be in MLA Style 

Sample editorials from around the country:

• "Shutdown: The Tea Party’s Last Stand" (Washington Post) 
• "Limits for Online Data Collection" (Denver Post)
• "The Haze Around E-Cigarettes" (Los Angles Times) 
• "'Socialism' Charge Doesn't Stick as Obamacare Exchanges Open" (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• "Sex, Doubt, and the Pope" (New York Times)

Due: TU 10.15 (DRAFT 1; BRING TWO COPIES)

Reflection 04: Boxed In—Cetaceans in Captivity

Recently, marine parks and resorts in the United Stats, and around the world, have come under increased pressure to release their captive marine mammals, particularly those that participate in "swim with dolphins" programs or aquatic shows. Proponents argue that the presence of ceaceans in these parks and resorts is integral, and serves not only as entertainment, but raises public awareness and encourages oceanic conservation. Indeed, orca and dolphin shows have been a mainstay of the these parks and resorts for decades, often reaping great profits. Animal rights activists argue that these are not only highly intelligent animals, sometimes surprisingly so, but very often dangerous predators. Thus, their captivity sets the stage for potentially perilous situations—for both the humans and the animals. Sadly, we were reminded of this in 2010 when, as chronicled in the recent Blackfish, a SeaWorld orca killed its trainer. Is the captivity of these animals for primarily entertainment purposes appropriate? What is our responsibility as consumers? Does our participation in these shows or programs signify our approval?

Include at least two of the following in your discussion:

• "SeaWorld Condemns 'Blackfish' Documentary's Critical Take on Captivity" (Rolling Stone)
• "So Wrong, But Thanks for All the Fish" (San Antonio Current)
• "Captivity Drives Killer Whales Crazy: SeaWorld Fights Fines For Placing Profit Over Safety" (PsychologyToday)
• "Activist Sursara Sends Message to SeaWorld: Captivity is Not Conservation" (Examiner.com)
• "Report Outlines Why Orcas Shouldn’t be Captive" (Orlando Sentinel)
• "In Defense of SeaWorld" (Pressruns)

Required:

• MLA Style
• Must be exactly two-full pages in length
• Include a Works Cited page

Due: Tu 10.15

Week 08

Week 08
Tu 10.08

•  Read: HARM—p. 163 – 208 
• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations

Th 10.10

• Read: HARM—p. 209 – 288 
• Class: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Upcoming:

Week 09:
Tu 10.15

• Class: Watch—Excerpts from Ocean of Fear: Worst Shark Attack Ever (2007) and Disasters at Sea: Why Ships Sink (2012)
• Due: REFLECTION 04

Th 10.17

• Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations; Writers workshop
• Due: EDITORIAL (DRAFT 1; BRING TWO COPIES)

Ocean News 10.03.13

• Government shutdown shutters Alcatraz (Wall Street Journal)
• Let's eat: Channel Islands tourists get rare glimpse of Great White sharks feasting on a dead whale (NBC Los Angeles)
• That sinking feeling: Satellite data reveals how quickly Venice is sinking (Huffington Post)
• Researchers: Early Easter Island inhabitants survived on rats, not fish (International Business Times)
• Russian military seizes Greenpeace vessel by force (Time)
• Ice melt forces the movement of 10,000 walruses in Alaska (CBS News)