Page 67 - SpringBoard_Writing_Workshop_Grade7_Flipbook

Writing Workshop 5 (continued)
My Notes
In fact, those light-green environmentalists who chose not to lecture about sacrifice and promote the trendiness of eco-sensitive products may be on to something.
Michael Shellenberger, a partner at American Environics, a market research firm in Oakland, Calif., said that his company ran a series of focus groups in April for the environmental group Earthjustice, and was surprised by the results.
People considered their trip down the Eco Options aisles at Home Depot a beginning, not an end point. “We didn’t find that people felt that their consumption gave them a pass, so to speak,” Mr. Shellenberger said. “They knew what they were doing wasn’t going to deal with the problems, and these little consumer things won’t add up. But they do it as a practice of mindfulness. They didn’t see it as antithetical to political action. Folks who were engaged in these green practices were actually becoming more committed to more transformative political action on global warming.”
After Reading
2. Use the SOAPSTone strategy to analyze the text and to take notes about the text. Complete the graphic organizer below.
SOAPSTone
Speaker:
What does the reader know about the writer?
Occasion:
What are the circumstances surrounding this text?
Audience:
Who is the target audience?
Purpose:
Why did the author write this text?
Subject:
What is the topic?
Tone:
What is the writer’s attitude toward the subject?
The essay starts out doubtful and is then surprised.
“Critics question the notion that we can avert global warming by buying so-called earth-friendly produces, from clothing and cars to homes and vacations, when the cumulative effect of our consumption remains enormous and hazardous.”
“Such choices are rendered fashionable as celebrities worried about global warming appear on the cover of Vanity Fair’s ‘green issue,’. . .”
“The vision of an eco-sensitive life as a series of choices about what to buy appeals to millions of consumers. . .”
“A lot of what we need to do doesn’t have to do with what you put in your shopping basket,” he said. “It has to do with mass transit, housing density. It has to do with the war and subsidies for the coal and fossil fuel industry.”
“Some 35 million Americans regularly buy products that claim to be earth-friendly.”
“Folks who were engaged in these green practices were actually becoming more committed to more transformative political action on global warming.”
Sample responses:
The writer questions the effectiveness of consumers shopping only for earth-friendly products.
12 SpringBoard® Writing Workshop with Grammar Activities Grade 7
Analysis
Textual Support
Alex Williams acknowledges doubt about the effectiveness of earth- friendly shopping.
All consumers.
To question whether consumers and the Green Movement can make a difference in the serious environmental issues the planet faces.
Whether it is effective for consumers to buy earth-friendly products.
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