Discussion Questions
1. What is the purpose of this
process description? How does that purpose shape the way the web page is
designed and the process is described?
2. Instead of simply providing
a step-by-step presentation of the process, this web- site first describes the
more general process and then provides more detailed steps for the process. Why
did they do this? Is it effective?
3. Why is the illustration
used to help account for this process? How helpful is it? 4. Why doesn't the
website detail the process for cooling?
5. At the end of the website,
it directly states the advantages of a geothermal sys- tem. Does this help or
hinder the process account? Why or why not?
Toward Key Insights
How much do we know about the
processes that strongly shape our life? Why don't many of us pay attention to
such processes? What could be some advantages of our understanding these
processes?
Many complete a college
education without knowing how their car works, their homes are heated, or their
wireless system functions. What if anything should an education teach people
about their technological world? What should we be able to learn on our own?
What does it take to learn about such processes?
Suggestions for Writing
1. Research a process that
influences your life and the lives of others and design a possible website for
that process, including the text and images that explain the process.
2. Take a very technical
process that you understand and rewrite or revise that process so that it is
available to a more general reader.
BETH WALD
Let's Get Vertical!
Beth Wald (born 1960) first
felt the attraction of the mountains when, at age 16, she took a backpacking
trip to Canada. A native of Minnesota, she studied botany and Russian at the
University of Minnesota and then, in the mid-1980s, began a dual career as a
freelance writer and photographer. Her career and her love of climbing have
taken her around the world. Her articles have appeared in a variety of climbing
and outdoor magazines, as have her photographs, which include environmental and
cultural subjects as well as sports and travel. From 1988 to 1992, she was a
contribut ing editor for Climbing Magazine. In our selection, Wald acquaints
potential recruits with the sport of rock climbing.
Here I am, 400 feet up on the
steep west face of Devil's Tower,' a tiny figure in a sea of petrified rock. I
can't find enough footholds and handholds to keep climbing. My climbing partner
anxiously looks up at me from his narrow ledge. I can see the silver sparkle of
the climbing devices I've jammed into the crack every eight feet or so.
I study the last device I've
placed, a half-inch aluminum wedge 12 feet below me. If I slip, it'll catch me,
but only after a 24-foot fall, a real "screamer." It's too difficult
to go back; I have to find a way up before my fingers get too tired. I must act
quickly.
Finding a tiny opening in the
crack, I jam two fingertips in, crimp them, pull hard, and kick my right foot
onto a sloping knob, hoping it won't skid off. At the same time, I slap my
right hand up to what looks like a good hold. To my horror, it's round and
slippery.
My fingers start to slide.
Panic rivets me for a second, but then a surge of adrenalin snaps me back into
action. I scramble my feet higher, lunge with my left hand, and catch a wider
crack. I manage to get a better grip just as my right hand pops off its slick
hold. My feet find edges, and I regain my balance. Whip- ping a chock (wedge)
off my harness, I slip it into the crack and clip my rope through a carabiner
(oblong metal snaplink). After catching my breath, I start moving again, and
the rest of the climb flows upward like a vertical dance.
The Challenges and Rewards
I've tried many sports, but I
haven't found any to match the excitement of rock climbing. It's a unique
world, with its own language, communities, controversies, heroes, villains, and
devoted followers. I've lived in vans, tepees, tents, and caves; worked three
jobs to save money for expenses; driven 24 hours to spend a week- end at a good
rock; and lived on beans and rice for months at a time-all of this to be able
to climb. What is it about scrambling up rocks that inspires such a passion?
The answer is, no other sport offers so many challenges and so many rewards.
The physical challenges are obvious. You need flexibility, balance, and
strength. But climbing is also a psychological game of defeating your fear, and
it demands creative thinking. It's a bit like improvising a gymnastic routine
200 feet in the air which Climbers visit some of the most spectacular places on
earth and see themniques and safety procedures. One of the bees to learning
basic tech- of the best (and least expensive) ways to learn climbing is to
convince a veteran climber in your area to teach you. You can usually meet
these types at the local crag or climbing shop.As another option, many
universities and colleges, some high schools, and some YMCAs have climbing
clubs. Their main purpose is to introduce people to climbing and to teach the
basics. Other clubs, such as the Appalachian Moun- tain Club in the eastern U.S.
and the Mountaineers on the West Coast, also pro- vide instruction. Ask at your
outdoor shop for the names of clubs in your area.If you live in a place
completely lacking rocks and climbers, you can attend one of the fine climbing
schools at the major climbing area closest to you. Magazines like Climbing,
Rock & Ice, and Outside publish lists of these schools. Once you learn the
basics, you're ready to get vertical.In rock climbing, you can both lose
yourself and find yourself. Life and all its troubles are reduced to figuring
out the puzzle of the next section of cliff or forgotten in the challenge and
delight of moving through vertical space. And learning how to control anxiety,
how to piece together a difficult sequence of moves, and how to communicate
with a partner are all skills that prove incred- ibly useful back on the
ground!
MyWritingLab Discussion
Questions
1. Discuss the effectiveness
of Wald's title.
2. At the beginning of the
essay, Wald notes that she is 400 feet up one side of Devil's Tower and
positioned above her climbing partner. What do you think these statements
accomplish?
3. In which paragraphs does
Wald detail the actual process of climbing? What do the remaining paragraphs in
the body of the essay accomplish?
4. Point out two places in the
first four paragraphs where Wald cites reasons for
her actions.
5. What attributes does Wald
believe a rock climber must have? Refer to the essay when answering.
6. After reading this essay,
are you ready to begin rock climbing? Does your answer stem from Wald's
content, the manner of presentation, or both? Discuss.
MyWritingLab Toward Key
Insights
What challenging activities
appeal to you?
What level of risk are you
willing to accept in an activity?
How do you account for your
attitude about taking risks?
MyWritingLab Suggestion for
Writing
Write a process paper in which
you explain the attributes required and the steps involved in one of your
recreational activities.
TANNER CHRISTENSEN
What Is the Creative Process?
Tanner Christensen works as a
product designer for Facebook and lives in Palo Alto, CA. He is the creator of
the iPad app "Brainbean" and the sole creator of a number of creativ
ity apps such as "Prompts." Since 2008 he has maintained a blog
called "Creative Some- thing," where the following selection was
posted.How does a creative idea come to you? Where does it come from and why
does it occur?
These are questions we-as humankind-have been asking for centuries, primarily because the process continues to mystify us. We can do a lot of incred- ible things, but we just can't quite figure out what's going on in our brains when we happen upon an idea that is novel or stumble into a solution for a problem. For a very long time in the history of human thought, creativity was thought of as just that: mysticism, magic, incomprehensible.The ancient Greeks used to believe that creativity was bestowed upon you from a higher, otherworldly being. If you were suitable for acting on an idea, the gods would grant it to you and expect you to follow through. Muses would visit you if you begged for their gifts.
This paper aims to demonstrate the steps and hazards of
completing various procedures. We will compare and contrast two sample
processes, how to grow tomatoes from a seedling and Wald's climbing processes.
We will use these comparisons to determine which sample process demonstrates
the steps and hazards of completing various procedures.
The sampling process of how to grow tomatoes better
explains the process steps than Wald's climbing process. The author explains
that when choosing a seedling, you should choose one that has not started
flowering and has a strong stem. It would be best if you planted the seedlings
in containers, 10 inches in diameter and 1 foot deep. It should be filled with
2/3 inches of gravel and then with soil. When planting the seedling, drill a
hole in the soil with your finger wide and deep enough and place the seedling
in the hole, being careful not to damage the roots, then add mulch. After
planting, all that is left is watering and maintenance. It is recommended to
water the plant in the mornings and to prune it for it to grow well regularly.
In Wald's climbing process, she does not directly explain the process of how
she climbs. She rather describes how she got into climbing and only briefly talks
about free climbing. She explains that there are two climbers, the leader, and
the belayer. The leader climbs first, and the belayer anchors themselves on a
rock or tree. When the leader gets to the end, they becomes the belayer as the
belayer begins their climb. Therefore, I believe the sampling process of how to
grow tomatoes better demonstrates the steps of the procedure.
Wald’s climbing process better explains the hazards of
completing a procedure than growing tomatoes' sampling process. In the sampling
process of how to grow tomatoes, the author does not explain the hazards of
growing tomatoes. Rather, they advise how to avoid making mistakes during the
planting process. However, Beth Wald starts by describing a particularly
difficult climb, where she almost lost balance and slipped. She then explains
that climbing is quite a challenging spot that requires you to have physical
strength, great balance, and flexibility and that she has even spent days
sleeping on vans and eating beans only to climb. She explains that it is very
easy to fall off if you cannot maintain self-control, be creative, and panic
during a particularly difficult climb. I believe she does a good job explaining
the risks involved with climbing but at the same time still advocates for it as
long as you are ready to challenge yourself. Therefore, Beth Wald’s let’s Get
Vertical demonstrates the hazards of completing a procedure.
The two sample processes: how to grow `tomatoes and Wald's
climbing process are similar in that they both describe the steps and hazards
of completing different procedures. However, differ in execution, the former
goes into great detail about the steps while the later goes into great detail
about the hazards. It is a matter of personal preference when deciding which
process better fits the paper's purpose. In my opinion, how to grow potatoes
does a better job because a process involves steps taken to achieve an end. The
author does just that by describing the process of planting the seedling and
taking care of it till it reaches maturity.