In the “Coda” to The Optimist’s Telescope, Bina Venkataraman proposes five appro

In the “Coda” to The Optimist’s Telescope, Bina Venkataraman proposes five approaches to future threats, especially climate change, that might enable us to take effective action in the present. She encourages us to “look beyond near-term targets,” “stoke the imagination,” “create immediate rewards for future goals,” “direct attention away from immediate urges,” and to “demand and design better institutions.”
Choose two of these “strategies” and explain what Venkataraman means by them, exactly. What does she want us to do, and what examples does she provide? Evaluate the chances of success for the strategies you have chosen: if they are followed, will they work? Could they be followed? What actions would individuals, communities, and governments have to take to make them work? What do you recommend that individuals and the government do to address long term problems and resist the urge for immediate gratification?
You should also include 1-3 quotations from David Wallace-Wells’s “The Uninhabitable Earth.”
Papers should be from 4-7 pages long.
1. Begin by getting right to the point — Venkataraman’s book. Resist the temptation to talk about global issues or history in general. In your first paragraph:
Start out by saying, for example, “In The Optimist’s Telescope,” Bina Venkataraman writes that to solve our problems we must–”
You don’t need to give her biography or anything like that.
Identify the two approaches from the “Coda” to the book that you have chosen to focus on; do this in your second and third sentences.
Right after that, identify one or two of the kinds of long term problems she discusses (climate change, disease, economic challenges, and so on) and briefly explain whether or not you believe her approach would work, and why. Keep it
Finally, explain what you believe we need to do globally, nationally, and locally to address these issues. What should we do? Answer in 1-2 sentences: this is your thesis.
2. In your next one or two paragraphs, take the first of the five approaches you have selected and explain how Venkataraman applies it to a specific problem.
Suppose you have chosen “look beyond near-term targets.” Find a place in the book where she shows how certain individuals or groups failed to do this (such as the red snapper fishermen) and explain how their approach got them in trouble and how they either succeeded or failed in changing their outlook.
Feel free to use material from your Discussion posts here! You have already written about this — use that material.
Be sure to quote the book directly! This paragraph (or paragraphs) should contain at least 2-3 quotations.
3. In your next one or two paragraphs, take the second of the five approaches you have selected and explain how Venkataraman applies it to a specific problem.
Suppose you have chosen ” direct attention away from immediate urges.” Find a place in the book where she shows how certain individuals or groups failed to do this (such as doctors over-prescribing antibiotics) and explain how their approach got them in trouble and how they either succeeded or failed in changing their outlook.
Feel free to use material from your Discussion posts here! You have already written about this — use that material.
Be sure to quote the book directly! This paragraph (or paragraphs) should contain at least 2-3 quotations.
4. In your next one or two paragraphs, look back to your introduction and go into more detail about what you believe we need to do globally, nationally, and locally to address one or two big issues — climate change, disease, economic challenges, and so on. What should we do?
Make a clear and direct argument. If you are optimistic, be realistic. If you are pessimistic, explain your reasons carefully.
Feel free to use material from your Discussion posts here! You have already written about this — use that material.
this would be a logical place to quote from “The Uninhabitable Earth.”
IMPORTANT:
You MUST carefully read and follow the instructions in the Organizing Essay 2 document! This will show you what you need to focus on in each paragraph of the paper. It will show you where you should put quotes. (For example, it will show you where you should quote Wallace-Wells’ article.)
Remember that you need to focus on the book in close detail. Describe specific examples and episodes (like Venkataraman’s discussion of the Japanese tsunamis, or the problems caused by over-prescribing antibiotics, and so on). Not focusing on the book and not discussing details is the most typical reason students in the past have not done well on this essay.
If you only quote The Optimist’s Telescope once or twice, that is a problem.
If you focus on the article as much as you focus on the book, that is also a problem.
You do not to do research for Essay 2. Focus on the book!
Use MLA or APA whatever is easiest/ preferred! 🙂
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2017/07/climate-change-earth-too-hot-for-humans.html