AIR CONDITIONING

1. Read this essay in the book. As you read, take notes on how John Green lays out his claim, reasons, evidence, and explanation. Look at his rhetorical choices.

2. Listen to the podcast associated with this essay.

3. Answer these questions in 250 words:

CNN

1. Read this essay in the book. As you read, take notes on how John Green lays out his claim, reasons, evidence, and explanation. Look at his rhetorical choices.

2. Listen to the podcast associated with this essay.

3. Answer these questions in 250 words: In The Anthropocene Reviewed, Green features the review “CNN” in which he recalls watching coverage of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. At one point, the camera focused on a house featuring graffiti in Arabic while the reporter spoke of the “anger in the street, and the hatred” (132). Green’s roommate Hassan, who spoke Arabic, began to laugh because the graffiti spelled out “Happy birthday, sir, despite the circumstances” (132). Green gives CNN just two stars, but the message about news services and human communication stretches more broadly than just that network. Re-read the review, and consider why many people would assume that the graffiti spelled out something negative or hateful. What is Green saying about communication, a global community, and understanding others? Later in the review, Green writes, “I imagine lives that feel different from mine monolithically” (132). What does he mean here, and how does it apply to us all as people who share the planet? What are the benefits of understanding others who differ from us? What are the complications? What does Green want readers to think about at the individual level? Compose a thesis-driven essay in which you examine Green’s intent and make an argument about community and understanding. Be sure to cite the text.

SUPER MARIO KART or THE NOTES APP or THE QWERTY KEYBOARD or TETRIS or THE ANTHROPOCENE REVIEWED PODCAST

1. Read this essay in the book. As you read, take notes on how John Green lays out his claim, reasons, evidence, and explanation. Look at his rhetorical choices.

2. Listen to the podcast associated with this essay: Super Mario Kart, The Notes App, the QWERTY Keyboard, Tetris, The Anthropocene Reviewed Podcast.

3. Answer these questions in 250 words: Choose one of these podcasts and do some quick research to see whether Transcendentalist thinking would approve or disapprove of it. What would a Transcendentalist say, for instance, about Tetris?