Harvard University Module 2 Sustainability Advocacy Letter
Discipline:
- Nutrition
Type of service:
Essay
Spacing:
Double spacing
Paper format:
APA
Number of pages:
3 pages
Number of sources:
5 sources
Paper detalis:
General Guidelines
All assignments will be marked based on four key assessment criteria: 1)
Content; 2) Depth of thinking/analysis; 2) Organization and structure;
3) Polished presentation.
Written components must include evidence of the following: 1)
Reflexivity; 2) Comprehension of course ideas and concepts; 3)
Connections between course ideas across course materials; 4) Extension
of the course ideas to ideas outside of the course material (i.e. to the
activity chosen for the assignment). All written components must be in
double-spaced, 12-point font, and in complete sentences and paragraphs,
unless otherwise specified.
To be complete, your paper must meet the following specifications:
• Be between 1000 and 1250 words, including your references
• Present an analysis of one experiential activity described below, or some other activity
that is pre-approved by the instructor
• At least one paragraph describing the experiential activity, or some other form of prep
work that is used to produce, structure, or define the experience
• Apply the conceptual tool box and/or Guptil, Copelton, and Lucal’s three principles as
appropriate to the chosen activity
• Cite at least three of the complementary articles form the course, as well as Guptil,
Copelton, and Lucal’s chapters included in the module
• Be presented in a polished, well-organized manner that is free of spelling errors
• Use citations to present your analysis appropriately and formatted in APA consistently
throughout the paper
• Include a References section where full bibliographic citations are listed and properly
formatted according to APA format
Although opinions and personal insights are valuable, you must include
evidence of reasoning or rationale to illustrate how or why you arrive
at any opinion or personal insight. Please be sure to not simply state
your opinion (agree or disagree, like or dislike etc) about a reading,
concept, or argument, but to state why you hold the opinion or view that
you do, and use other readings or sources to compare, contrast, or
support your opinion.
Write an advocacy letter to an elected official about sustainability
Writing a letter to those in a position to influence or write policy is
one effective means of advocating for change. Letter writing can be an
effective way of communicating your issue and views. You can write to a
politician to say that you don't like something, and also to let them
know when you support something they do, when you feel more action is
needed, or to thank them for supporting your view. This assignment
option gives you the opportunity to write an advocacy letter to an
elected official. In addition to writing the letter per the guidelines
below, you will write a discussion and rationale in which you draw on
the course readings to discuss the reasons you chose the elected
official you did to receive your letter, and why you chose the issue and
framing you did.
Guidelines for Writing a Good Letter
• Letter is neatly handwritten and signed with a printed name and signature.
• Personalize the letter, don't send generic letters.
• Keep it short, definitely no longer than 2 pages.
• Always close with a statement regarding their response or comments, (e.g."I look forward to
your response."
• Keep a positive and professional tone to the letter.
• Write on only one subject per letter.
• Attach other relevant information, such as a key messages sheet or
newspaper clippings. • Thoroughly edit your letter to correct any
language, grammatical, or punctuation errors. • Include your contact
information.
Don't know your representative?
Municipal
The Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities has contact information on all of Nova Scotia's Municipal units:
www.unsm.ca!
Click on "Membership Directory." Then click on "quick list! Of municipal units" for addresses and phone numbers.
Provincial!
You'll find contact information for all MLAs at: www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/members/Index.html
Federal!
Contact information for all MPs both in Ottawa and in their home ridings can be found at: www.parl.gc.ca
Click on "Senators and Members." Then click on "House of Commons
Current." This page has a handy "Find your MP using your postal code"
feature.
What to include in your letter
1. Begin with who you are and why are you are concerned.
2. Start with a congratulatory or positive remark.
3. State the problem or issue. Be sure to note its impact on health, nutrition, food access, the
environment, the economy, or some sector that the official receiving the letter is concerned
with.
4. Discuss the importance of putting this issue on the public agenda.
5. Include an example to illustrate why this issue is important to you and to the area that the policy maker represents.
6. State what actions you think are needed and why.
7. Indicate that you look forward to hearing back from them about this issue.
General Marking Guidelines
Please note that not all of the criteria described below will relate to
every assignment or piece of work. A range of criteria have been
included below to give students a sense of the features that may be
evaluated in an assignment and the quality of work required for each
grand range. The exact grade step achieved within any grade range will
be determined by the number and mix of criteria that a student meets
across the various grade ranges (i.e. some aspects of a piece of work
may fall within the A range and B range; this may earn an A-).
A range work:
The submitted piece of work meets all guidelines of the assignment (i.e.
page length, spacing, number of references, referencing style etc).
The thesis statement, if required, has a thoughtful, creative argument
and is clear and precise; it is a complete sentence and contains an
identifiable "what," "how," and "so what"
Thesis is very well-supported by supporting arguments that develop the
main thesis in a logical way throughout the paper. The thesis (or main
argument) doesn't rely on opinion, bias, or prejudice, but instead takes
into consideration a range of evidence
The mapping statement follows the thesis statement and provides a
concise and effective road map to the supporting arguments that will be
used throughout the paper to develop the thesis statement
Arguments are well-developed, relevant, and sophisticated. They show
evidence of analyzing and interpreting the material using appropriate
course concepts rather than observing and describing. They demonstrate
insightful and/or original interpretation of the course concept(s) as
it(they) relate to the material and the topic. The essay contains only
necessary recall of important events or details from the reference
material and does little summarizing
Information is taken from source(s) with enough
interpretation/evaluation to develop a comprehensive analysis or
synthesis. Viewpoints of experts are questioned thoroughly
Connection is made between course concepts and the students’ prior
learning, other life experiences, and future goals. The connections made
are eloquent and insightful; and there is clear evidence of the student
applying the course material to make sense of, gain deeper insight
into, or critically think about prior learning or experiences
Knowledge of course and reference material is intimate and evident
(e.g., no factual errors, attention to detail, understands the timeline
of the story, and maybe even remarks on the significance of this
temporality)
Knowledge of the course concept(s) used is intimate and evident. The
course concepts are used to interpret and make sense of the events and
themes of the reference material in a meaningful way.
Concluding paragraph ties up any loose ends, leaves the reader with a clear sense of the "so what" of the essay
Masterful use of formal academic language. Choice and placement of words
seems accurate and natural, not forced: clear, simple prose rather than
pompous, grandiloquent diction (Hint: beware the thesaurus!); no
colloquialisms, slang, or contractions
Sentences are well-constructed with varied length and structure
Paragraphs are tight, well-structured, logical: they develop one point,
have a clear and argumentative topic sentence, are approx. 5-10
sentences long, and their relation to the thesis is evident
No errors of grammar, punctuation and/or spelling. Polished
presentation. (Hint: proofread, proofread, proofread, ideally out loud)
Quotations are exceptionally well-used: they are relevant to the
argument they are supposed to be supporting, are integrated well into
the prose (i.e., they don't interrupt flow of text), and are introduced
and analyzed adequately
Referenced according to APA (or other according to assignment guidelines) requirements, including proper in-text citations
B range work:
The submitted piece of work meets most guidelines of the assignment
(i.e. page length, spacing, number of references, referencing style
etc).
The piece of work addresses the main point of the assignment fairly
well. The piece of work demonstrates an understanding of the course
concepts but these may not be used to interpret the topic or questions
of the assignment quite as elegantly or as deeply. The course concepts
used are appropriate to the topic or question and are used in a way that
elucidate the events, themes, and main ideas.
Introductory paragraph is appropriate (i.e., it effectively introduces the topic to be covered in the piece of work)
Thesis statement is clear, argumentative, states the topic, and is a
complete sentence. It may contain a strong and interesting "what" and
"how" without a strong "so what"
Thesis is reasonably well-supported by accurate evidence from the course or reference material
The mapping statement follows the thesis statement and provides a fairly
accurate, although perhaps overly lengthy or cumbersome description of
the supporting arguments that will be used throughout the paper to
develop the thesis statement
Arguments are clear, convincing, logically organized. They show evidence
of analyzing the course or reference material using appropriate course
concepts rather than observing and describing, though the arguments are
not as complex, insightful, or original as an A-range paper.
Information is taken from source(s) with enough
interpretation/evaluation to develop a coherent analysis or synthesis.
Viewpoints of experts are subject to questioning.
Knowledge of course or reference material is obvious: no errors, but
perhaps some relevant details are omitted or glossed over or the scope
of evidence, including the nuances of the relationships, events, or
themes
Knowledge of the course concept(s) used is intimate and evident. The
course concepts are used to interpret and make sense of the topic or
themes of the assignment in a meaningful way. There is more to the use
of the course concepts in the paper than a simple mention of the course
concept
Connection is made between course concepts and the students’ prior
learning, other life experiences, and future goals. The connections made
are interesting, but not as eloquent or insightful as an A range piece
of work. Connections made are appropriate but are not used to illuminate
or dig deeper as in an A range paper.
Student reflects on own biases and positions and uses course material to
illuminate change ways of thinking or understanding. Student does not
attempt to or poorly explains how and why they arrived at news modes of
thinking.
Concluding paragraph explains how the essay developed, recaps the
argument rather than making its relevance obvious to the reader
A variety of vocabulary is used appropriately. The choice and placement
of words may be inaccurate at times and/or seems overdone (e.g., overuse
of thesaurus, word choice problems). Language contains very few
colloquialisms, slang, contractions
Most sentences are well constructed and have varied structure and length
Paragraphs are mostly logical, with appropriate transitions. May rely
too much on disparate points that all relate to the thesis, but that
don't develop over the course of the paper (i.e., 2 or 3 separate points
that are all interchangeable rather than additive). Might lack a topic
sentence but still have cohesion. May be too long
There are a few errors in grammar, punctuation and/or spelling but they do not interfere with understanding
Quotes are well-used: they are analyzed and relevant to argument, but perhaps not elegantly integrated into the text
Referenced according to APA (or other style as per assignment
guidelines) requirements (including in-text citations) with minor errors
C range work:
The submitted piece of work meets few guidelines of the assignment (i.e.
page length, spacing, number of references, referencing style etc).
The piece of work demonstrates some understanding of the course concept(s), but little insight or application.
Introductory statement or paragraph is broad and general, or hyperbolic,
or relies on assumptions that are not elaborated in the paper
Thesis statement is provided but is unclear, vague, a truism, or merely description or opinion rather than argument
Thesis is not particularly well-supported by the evidence from the
course or reference material: there may be unsubstantiated claims,
irrelevant examples, or omission of evidence that contradicts thesis
There is no mapping statement, the mapping statement is overly long as
to be unwieldy, or there is not discernment between the main argument
presented by the thesis and the mapping statement.
Arguments state the obvious (summarize) or are somewhat flawed: too much
opinion or description rather than interpretation or analysis; don't
support/not linked to thesis; don't fit together to build a coherent
argument; repetition rather than development of ideas
Information is taken from source(s) with some interpretation/evaluation,
but not enough to develop a coherent analysis or synthesis. Viewpoints
of experts are taken as mostly fact, with little questioning.
Knowledge of course or reference material is unclear or doubtful at
times: some minor factual errors; unable to accurately name
concepts/facts; minor confusion about chronology
Knowledge of course concepts(s) is questionable. The course concepts are
simply referred to without being applied in a way that makes sense of
or interprets main themes, arguments, or events in the piece of work
Student makes little or weak attempt to reflect on own biases and positions
Connection is made between course concepts and the students’ prior
learning, other life experiences, and future goals but the connection is
left as self-evident and not explained as to the significance of the
connection
Concluding paragraph simply restates essay topic and summarizes main points.
Inaccurate or confused word choice and sentence structure makes it
difficult to decipher ideas (i.e. clichés may be used to articulate key
ideas, overuse of thesaurus has made ideas markedly unclear and vague)
Most sentences are well-constructed but have a similar structure and/or
length. The choice and placement of words is confused at times
Frequent errors in grammar, punctuation and/or spelling interfere with understanding
Paragraphs do not always flow well; no transitions to the next
paragraph; usually lacks topic sentence; paragraphing doesn't organize
ideas in a clear way (i.e., one idea is not elaborated per paragraph);
may be too long or too short
Quotations are sometimes not introduced, may be poorly chosen (not
relevant to thesis), may be poorly placed and integrated in paragraph
(sometimes will appear as first or last sentence of paragraph), not
always analyzed
Some referencing and in-text citations conform to APA (or other style as per assignment guidelines) requirements.
D range work:
The ideas or argument in the essay vaguely resembles the assignment
guidelines. The essay demonstrates little understanding of the course
concept(s) with little to no application to the themes or ideas in the
piece of work
Introduction lacks basic elements and/or includes sweeping generalizations
Thesis statement is lacking, confusing, or difficult to identify
There is no mapping statement
Recounts concepts, ideas, or arguments from course or reference material
without using these as evidence that can support an argument. The
majority of the paper is summary of course or reference material, course
readings, or lectures.
Arguments are flawed: irrelevant to thesis; may contradict evidence; rely almost entirely on opinion or prejudice
Information is taken from source(s) without any
interpretation/evaluation. Viewpoints of experts are taken as fact,
without question.
Knowledge of the course concepts is doubtful: factual errors; unable to accurately name key ideas; confusion about chronology
Knowledge of course concepts(s) is absent. The course concepts are
simply described, but are not referred to using terminology used in
class or in the readings and are not used to interprets main themes,
arguments
No connection of course material to learning or experiences outside of the course.
No evidence of reflexive thinking
Conclusion is unrelated to the rest of the paper or introduces new ideas
Word choice is exceedingly poor. Jargon, clichés, and overuse of
thesaurus detracts from the meaning. Marked overuse of the thesaurus.
Sentences are mostly awkward, distractingly repetitive or difficult to understand
Numerous errors in grammar, punctuation and/or spelling that interfere with understanding
Paragraphs are jumbled with multiple ideas and no clear flow
No, inappropriate, or excessive use of quotations without adequate explanation or contextualization
Poorly referenced and/or incorrect use of in-text citation
An “F” essay
No useful introduction
No or completely garbled thesis statement
Evidence irrelevant or lacking
No or inappropriate quotations
Arguments are incoherent
Knowledge of book lacking
No conclusion
Vocabulary is limited and inappropriate
Many sentences are incomplete or meaningless
Paragraphs have no organization or flow
Frequent errors in grammar, punctuation and/or spelling that interfere with understanding
Incorrect referencing and in-text citations 1-Page Summary