How do we evaluate this human-centered world around us?
And how do our memories shape how we rate our life experiences?

NOTE: Since this is only the second time I've assigned this project—and it's huge in scope and size—please let me know if you find a mistake or a broken link somewhere. I would really appreciate it!

Step 1: Pick a Focus

• Come to a consensus with your table-group members about which of these four focus areas you want to concentrate on: Science and Nature; Art, Music, Food, and Film; Humanity and Memory; Technology. (Links below or at the top of the page too). Note: I've paired Transcendentalist tenets with groupings of John Green's essays so that they belong to one, broad area of concentration. Some prompts for Green's essays will have you consider the Transcendentalist tenets.

Step 2: Divide and Conquer for the Focus Area Assignments

• Within that focus that you choose, your group will do the following:

  • • • Decide which 4 essays your group wants to read

      • Everyone in the group reads those four essays and listens to the podcast (if one is available)

      • Decide who will do what assignment below (one person for each):

        • • • Focus area assignment #1, 250-words...who will complete?

            • Focus area assignment #2, 250-words...who will complete?

            • Focus area assignment #3, 250-words...who will complete?

            • Focus area assignment #4, 250-words...who will complete?

            • Miscellaneous assignment #5, 250-words...who will complete?

Step 3: Each Person Should Write an Individual Review

• Each person will choose some separate item—candy, the North Star, pocket lint...it doesn't matter since it's your choice—and write their own review, a la John Green. Each should be 250 words and should follow the same structure that Green's essays do and employ similar rhetorical strategies.

Step 4: Get a Box

• Get a box. It should be big enough so that each side can accommodate an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper. You should be able to put stuff in it too.

Step 5: Add Your Essays to the Outside and Inside of the Box

• Turn in your box with the following items on to each side (glue or tape is fine):

  • • • Side #1: Focus area assignment #1

      • Side #2: Focus area assignment #2

      • Side #3: Focus area assignment #3

      • Side #4: Focus area assignment #4

      • Side #5: Miscellaneous assignment #5

      • Side #6: Decorate this side so that it thematically reflects your submissions

      • Inside the box: Stash your group's individual reviews, each 250 words

NOTE:

• This is a beautiful, lyrical, deep book. I'd place it in the top 5 I've ever read, especially for non-fiction. So, even though you're only looking at a subset of Green's essays for rhetorical and argumentative analysis, you are more than welcome to check out a copy and take it home to read. These are our class books, so I would be so excited to see you excited about reading them! It's one of those you can read in big, reaching chunks or in small, fulfilling doses.

GRADING:

• You will be graded using a single-point rubric that evaluates you on content, creativity, critical thinking, and the crafting of the final product. You will receive a group grade for this since you are being graded on not only your individual part but on the continuity and cohesiveness of all pieces included.