Essay #3---Here is the assignment that was handed out in class...

English —3rd Formal Essay —McFarland—Spring—2014

“A Debt To Pay”

Thom Hartmann—and many other thinkers—believes that the values and beliefs of what he calls the “Younger Culture” are leading humans and our planet in a direction of great danger and calamity. So one reason that Hartmann in his book Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight seems to jump all around in human history, pulling in examples and concepts from deep in our past and from cultures that we may never have even heard of, is that he believes that one solution to this impending calamity is to draw on the wisdom of humans who may have different perspectives than us. He says we should look to the ideas of what he calls the “Older Culture.” (In our movie The Road, the term “carrying the fire” expresses the idea of passing on values and beliefs that benefit civilization.)

In the Afterward of the book, Neale Walsch writes that because you are becoming familiar with the ideas in the book that now you are one of the “Crucial Ones.”  For this paper you will be evaluating Hartmann’s and Walsh’s argument through your own life and experience by looking at the following question:

How are you preparing for the Future?

Of course, this big question has packed in it a lot of smaller questions, or areas of discussion. You will need to figure out what you think these smaller questions/discussion areas are as you start to engage with this paper. You should then consider doing Rule of 3 for each of the questions/discussion areas that you come up with. Be sure that you integrate in some way “Older Culture” and “Crucial Ones” discussion into your paper.

In order to support your points, you need to use the ideas found in the book, the movie The Road, your research, and in any other handouts, info, etc. that we have access to.

You must average a minimum of 3 short quotes per page. You should try to include at least 2 quotes per paragraph. Quote length in a paper of this length should be no more than 1-2 lines.

The essay’s page minimum is 7 full pages…(BNDJTM…)

Paragraph topic sentences should start with concepts. Paragraph topic sentences should also feature KEYWORDS, which are taken from the questions that you will be coming up with.

The paper is due April 29 for the Tues night class.   

The paper is due April 30 for the Wed.  night class and the M/W classes.