Work

SAMPLE/MODEL/EXAMPLE WRITING ASSIGNMENT I-A

BRIEF THREE PARAGRAPH ESSAY ON ‘RATIONAL’ (LOGICAL) THINKING

“Can I Buy a Vowel? Is There an ‘I’?”

David A. Yacavace

Who has not heard the saying, “There is no ‘I’ in team”? As obvious and accurate as the statement appears, perhaps it is ironically off the mark. According to James Harvey Robinson in his essay “On Various Kinds of Thinking,” “the little word my is the most important one in all human affairs” (422). In other words, everything (including a team) exists or matters only in relation to me, myself, and I. The ‘i’ in think is not only a letter of the alphabet, but also a metaphor for the self.

As proof of the ‘self-affirmation’ of any and all species of thought, the first kind of thinking according to Robinson is reverie, a synonym for ‘personal’ daydreaming or free association of ideas common to all individuals. This process can be likened to the twirling vortex of a tornado. The second type of thinking is decision making, a term for making a ‘personal’ judgement. This “making up of one’s mind” can be compared to the balancing scales of justice. The third variety of thinking is rationalization, the ‘self’-justification of one’s beliefs and opinions (valid or not). This commitment to ‘personal’ biases and prejudices reflects the implication of the figure of speech “to wave the flag” in support of one’s ‘own’ thought. The fourth and final category of thinking is Reason, causing one to change his or her mind. This “creative thought,” (Robinson prefers this ‘recent’ term referencing how knowledge “ makes things look different from what they seemed before”). Reason or logic as it is otherwise referenced can be represented by the changing (although uniformed sequenced) patterns of a kaleidoscope.

From Socrates’ adage “know thyself,” through Rene Descartes’ acknowledgement “I think, therefore I am,” up to the current metaverse’s attraction to a “virtual identity,“ personal affirmation of oneself is paramount. It is, therefore, valid to conclude that any ‘I’ndividual can be added to, or subtracted from, a team, but ‘I’ cannot be separated from the process of thinking.

Alternative Leads:

- Thinking is at the same time natural as it is difficult. In his essay “On the Various Kinds of Thinking,” James Harvey Robinson . . . .

- “I think; therefore I am.” Whether one subscribes to the philosophical notion expressed by the 18th century French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau or its antithetical thesis, “I am, therefore

I think,” all thinking is personal. According to James Harvey Robinson, . . . .

- Thinking is something that most people do not think enough about. This very thought illustrates the take-for-granted view, if not denial, of the most defining quality of human nature.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT I-B

BRIEF THREE PARAGRAPH ESSAY ON ‘ABSTRACT’ (PHILOSOPHICAL) THINKING

SAMPLE/MODEL/EXAMPLE WRITING ASSIGNMENT I-C

PARAGRAPH ON ‘SPIRITUAL’ THINKING

“Yes”!

David A. Yacavace

Survival! It’s instinctive. “The birds do it; the bees do it; even the trees do it,” and the beat reverberates through all of creation. More importantly, if survival were not enough by itself, it is what humans have elevated to the quintessence of existence – love. This is the difference between ‘mating’ and ‘the mating of souls.’ In his essay “On Sacramental Things [in Nature],” Hilaire Belloc references the Norse story of the Master Maid. A young man points out a bird and his mate to his lover stating “so was it with you and me....” More than a physical moment in time, the mating of the birds in flight becomes for the young man a ‘sacramental’ moment -- the divine continuation of creation.

So it is with me as well. In particular, Walt Whitman’s poem “The Dalliance of Eagles” inspires in me, not only the meaning and purpose of Nature, but my own reason for being:

Lovers in communion surpass the bounds of earth. Mating souls’ eternal heaven is confirmed in “the rushing, amorous contact high in space together. /Four beating wings, two beaks, ... /

the twain yet one....” It is this image of flight, the soaring of wings, the suspension in air that elevates the mating of birds beyond the earthbound coupling of Nature’s other inhabitants. Even in parting, their separate ways remain on the same pilgrimage: “She hers, he his, pursuing.” The balanced rhythm of the verse reflects the harmony of two hearts beating as one. Even Nature’s time-contained mating season is negated and transcended by the perennial ‘flight’ of human love. It is of the divine.

Love and love making is life in the affirmative. As the modern Greek poet Constantine Cavafy imagines an impossible world where “trees say no to sap and animals say no to propagation,” he proclaims, ‘No’ is a manmade word; nature says ‘Yes’!

ENG 102 COMPOSITION II David A. Yacavace

ENG 102 WRITING ASSIGNMENT I

THINKING ABOUT THINKING

Before writing the following assignment, be sure to complete and follow the Reading Roadmap on “On the Various Kinds of Thinking” attached to this writing prompt.

1) Choose only one (1) of the following three (3) topics.

Be sure to complete all steps in the directions.

Writing I Option B

Short (3 ¶) Essay

on ‘Abstract’ (Philoophical Thinking

Reflection on the Buddha’s

“Silent Sermon” (class instruction)

in contrast to Robinson’s

“On Various Kinds of Thinking” (416-424)

A) Identify and explain the difference between the Buddha’s ‘abstract’

and Robinson’s ‘concrete’

ways of thinking.

B) Contrast the ’lotus flower’ image

with your own original image

for Robinson’s concrete way of thinking.

Writing I Option A

Short (3 ¶) Essay

on ‘Rational’ (Logical) Thinking

Based on James Harvey Robinson’s Essay:

416-424 “On Various Kinds of Thinking”

(See Assignment I Reading Roadmap)

A) Establish your own original thesis

about thinking,

B) Introduce Robinson’s essay listing & explaining his 4 types of thinking,

C) Offer your own original, concrete, visual image (analogy)for each

of the 4 types of thinking.

Writing I Option C

Short (3 ¶) Essay on ‘Spiritual’ (Transcendent) Thinking

Reflection on and response to Hilaire Belloc’s 54-59 “On Sacramental Things”

A) Identify and explain the essay’s central idea.

B) Describe the main ‘sacramental’ image Belloc uses in his essay.

C) Include your own original

“everyday action, event, or scene from nature”

that “has the power to affect [you] deeply and spiritually.”

Continued on the next page

2) Write the essay according to the following specifications:

A) Pay attention to paragraph format:

1) Topic sentence (the main point),

-- the Topic sentence in the intro. paragraph is the essay’s Thesis

2) Developing sentences, and

3) A summary sentence(s).

B) Incorporate within your essay:

1) Unity: Write about one ‘big’ idea.

2) Organization: Follow a plan or pattern, not a random listing.

3) Coherence: Connect ideas (sentences) using transitions.

C) Write this from the point of view of literary interest.

-- Engage a general reader’s interest.

-- Do not consider this a test question response.

Remember that you are writing the essay;

you must establish an original thesis and development (explanation).

- This is not a summary report only on either Robinson, Buddha, or Belloc.

Again, not a test question answer, but your reflection response

on either one of their

D) Follow the norms of formal, academic writing.

1) Include an original title (not within quotation marks nor underlined) for your writing.

2) State both the title of the essay/work/subject to be analyzed (within quotation

marks) and the author before discussing it in your introductory paragraph.

- Specifically refer to either: “On Various Kinds of Thinking by James Harvey Robinson,

the Buddha’s “Silent Sermon,” or “On Sacramental Things” by Hillaire Belloc.

3) Do not use contractions such as don’t (do not) or it’s (it is).

4) Do not use the first person ‘I’ point of view

except when referring to your personal image, analogy, event or nature scene.

5) Do not use the second person ‘you’ point of view.

6) Do use (write in) the third person singular ‘he/him’ (‘she/her’) point of view.

7) After first identifying any one of the three writers by his full name

(James Harvey Robinson, the Buddha, or Hilaire Belloc), subsequently you may

refer to the writer by last name only or the pronoun ‘he.’

8) Do write in the present tense.

Continued on the next page

“On the Various Kinds of Thinking”

Reading Roadmap James Harvey Robinson

Focused note taking on pp. 419-422 & 424 of reading on pp. 416-424.

Identify & explain:

p. 419 ¶’s 1-2 First type of thinking

p. 419 ¶ 2 Sub point comment on ‘rival to all thinking’

p. 420 ¶ 1 Second type of thinking

p. 420 ¶ 2 Third type of thinking

p. 421 ¶ 2 Sub point A) of Third type of thinking

p. 421 ¶ 3 Sub point B) of Third type of thinking

p. 422 ¶ 2 Sub point comment on ‘most important word

in all of human history’

p. 424 ¶ 2 Fourth type of thinking

OUTLINE TEMPLATE: Kinds of Thinking

I. _______________________________

-- __________________________________________________________________

II. _______________________________

III. _______________________________

A. _______________________________

B. _______________________________

-- ____________________________________________________________

IV. ______________________________

ENG 102 COMPOSITION II David A. Yacavace