PROMPT 1:
Do You Expect Changes in Extreme Weather Due to Climate Change to Affect You?

For this exercise you are writing from the perspective of a conservative or liberal.

• You have a Conservative voice if your last name starts with the letter A-K.
• You have a Liberal voice if your last name starts with the letter L-Z.

You’re a homeowner on the seacoast of Florida.  You are asked by your [liberal/conservative[1]] college son/daughter if you are concerned about the increased risk of flooding/damage due to tropical storms.

This prompt is an exercise in ‘writing to learn.’ By taking a stand on the potential for increased risk from hurricanes, you are challenged to express your assigned opinion and support it with evidence. But beyond that, this exercise requires you to consider how to conduct a conversation with someone you disagree. You are asked to frame your responses in the peer-review stage to let the author hear that you have heard their arguments and designed your feedback in a way that invites continued dialog. [READ: Stating ‘truths’ rarely changes opinions.]

Initial Draft

To Do

Write a statement describing your concern about the risks of future tropical storms at your location. Include in your statement:

• What you like about living on the seacoast of Florida ?
• To what degree you are personally worried about a tropical storm affecting your well-being?
• To what degree you are personally worried about a tropical storm affecting your property?
• To what degree do you believe that the frequency or flooding potential of hurricanes is changing?
• To what degree do you believe that climate change is affecting the strength of hurricanes

Requirements

• 400 words max, cite all resources used.
• Write as if your audience has reasonable knowledge on the evolution of tropical storm systems.
• Be direct in the opinions you think best represent the views of the political view you are portraying.
  Note: Please avoid the ALL CAPS mode for communication that seems to be popular with opinionated people of all political viewpoints.

Resources:

https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/tackle-climate-change/climate-change-stories/how-to-have-a-connected-conversation-about-climate-change/

Peer Review

To Do

In the Peer Review stage, you now take on the opposite political leanings of the author. Hence you may have to represent both sides of the political spectrum during the review stage.

• You are asked to first summarize what the author has said in their letter, focusing on the key concepts.
• Summarize to the writer what you think are the main points of their letter.

Keep your summary focused on the key points, and in no more than three sentences. (1 pt for each summary)

Peer Review Assessment:

• Professionalism
• Civility

Assessment:

1. Did the author describe what they liked about living on the seacoast of Florida
2. Did the author describe whether they were personally worried about a tropical storm affecting their well-being?
3. Did the author describe whether they were personally worried about a tropical storm affecting their property?
4. Did the author describe to what degree they believe that the frequency or flooding potential of hurricanes is changing?
5. Did the author describe to what degree they believe that climate change is affecting the strength of hurricanes?

Revision

Guidelines

For the revision assignment, you are asked to revise and improve your draft about your level of concern about the risks of future tropical storms at your location as well as to include a specific response to feedback from your peer. Thus, this revision assignment asks you to add to your perspective about your level of concern about the risks of future tropical storms at your location by explicitly addressing one of the questions you received through peer feedback. Your final submission should include this rebuttal or agreement and be up to 100 words longer to accommodate this additional content.

Revising our work means re-seeing it in a different light. You now have different perspectives about your level of concern about the risks of future tropical storms and your original draft based on the feedback you gave and the feedback you received. This revision assignment allows you to use this to improve your piece and make it stronger.

• Re-read the prompt.
• Read and summarize the feedback you received from your peers.
• Re-read the revision rubric and consider what a complete and effective response would include, noting what you do not fully address.
• With these things in mind, re-read your draft and mark places where you can improve the content. (You should use the peer review assignment as an opportunity to get ideas about how to improve your draft.)
• Add content that addresses one of the questions posed by your peer. In this part of your response, acknowledge what your peer said and then elaborate on either why this changes your thinking about your stance or why it doesn't.

Assessment for Revision:

1. Did the author provide evidence to support their position about hurricane risk? Here, we are looking for specifics about the science behind hurricane formation. 4 pts
2. Did the author give their opinion about the personal risks they face and support it with evidence (including citations as appropriate)? 3 pts
3. Response to Peer Question: Respond to one of the points raised in your peer feedback; In responding to this feedback, you should add to your response in light of this feedback and specifically address a point(s) raised by their peer. To do this, try to acknowledge or summarize what your peer’s point is. If you think it is right then expand on why and how you think it is important to consider and definitely relevant; or if you think their point(s) might not be as relevant, then why not? 3 pts

Revision - we will allow for an additional 100 words for this part, so a total of 500 words max.

[1] If you are taking the role of being a conservative your son/daughter is liberal learning and vice-versa.