More From Coursera

I finished the course entitled The Age of Jefferson. I wanted to finish it today because on Monday I'm beginning one called Emergence of Life and it looks as though it will be taking up a considerable amount of time. It's eight weeks long and includes lectures, quizzes, scientific writing and discussions. I can pass the course by simply taking the quizzes, but I'll see what the nature of the discussions are and I might do some of the writing. It's been a few years since I've done any scientific writing, so it will be a challenge.

The Crafting an Effective Writer course appears to have gone well. So far, I've been given full marks on the writing I've submitted for peer assessment and only came up four points shy of perfect on the quizzes. Monday morning will have the last of the assessment grades and I'll see then how I did. I already have enough points to pass the course, but it would be nice to get full marks for my final submission. In all honesty, however, it wasn't my best work.

My Last Writing Assignment

So here it is, my final paragraph. I've enjoyed the class and met some interesting and friendly people online. Next up are a couple of self-paced courses that shouldn't be too challenging.

My final paragraph….

Cooking and the Gift of Good Health

Learning to cook, along with the study of biochemistry and good farming practices, as well as avoiding commercially processed foods, has resulted in much better health for me and for my family. My journey towards a healthier life and a love of cooking began approximately 10 years ago and now cooking has become a necessity in my life. As an American, I've spent years following the path of eating meals at fast food restaurants or assembling them from packaged, processed foods. I never really took the time to read labels or do any research on the effects all these foods had on my body. Having developed a number of chronic diseases as well as some food allergies, I found myself with the need to examine what I was eating. Other members of my family were suffering with some of the same problems. Most of us were also overweight. Having once studied biochemistry, I made a self-evaluation and determined that I was consuming too many carbohydrates; these are all classified as sugars and are predominantly found in processed foods. In America, foods are advertised as conveniently or rapidly prepared. As a result, many contain high levels of carbohydrate as well as wheat gluten, a protein thought to be instrumental in the development of allergies. Having to be more careful about what we consume, my entire family began cooking meals prepared only from fresh foods and along the way, we all discovered how easy it can be as well as not at all time-consuming. Mayonnaise is a good example of this. It takes only five minutes of my day to make it myself from fresh, organic ingredients. On a Sunday afternoon, my daughter, in around 20 minutes, makes enough chicken or fish salad to last for a full week of lunches. Trips to restaurants would take far more time out of her days and there would be no guarantee that the food would be organic or made without preservatives. All of us now experiment with fresh, organic foods, herbs and spices. Always trying to invent new and tasty meals, we savor the wonderful flavor combinations that arise from our experiments and we have all developed a love of cooking. Learning about foods, cooking, and sharing our love of cooking has brought us all together as well as given us much improved health. 

Unit 5 Writing Assignment

It's time to tackle that last of the writing assignments for my Coursera class, Crafting an Effective Writer. I'm posting the assignment here to make it accessible from anywhere. There's a Coursera app, but it doesn't allow access to the writing assignment and sometimes I like to write down ideas when I don't have access to anything except my cell phone. So here is the assignment.

For your final writing assignment, you will compose a direct paragraph, one that has

• a title;
• a clear topic sentence;
• a fully developed body, which includes necessary and sufficient details and examples;
• necessary and appropriate transitions;
  
• a logical conclusion; and
  
• a minimum of fifteen (15) sentences.

Before you submit your paper for peer grading, plan to proofread for

• subject-verb agreement errors,
• pronoun-antecedent agreement errors,
• shifts in verb tense,
• faulty parallel structure, and
• comma, capitalization, number, word choice, and spelling errors.

You should imagine your peers in this course as your readers/audience. Because of the diverse population of students enrolled in this course, you need to be keenly aware of the need to provide details and examples that are clear and precise. Keeping in mind a living audience, rather than one you imagine, will help you convey more reliably the value of your perspective in the topic upon which you choose to write.
Choose one of the following four topics to write your final paragraph about:
Topic #1
Discuss at least four (4) short term and/or long term effects that finishing Crafting an Effective Writer: Tools of the Trade will have upon you personally, academically, and/or professionally.
Topic #2
Identify and describe a favorite activity or interest and provide at least four reasons why this activity or interest holds your attention and/or is enjoyable to you.
Topic #3
Identify and describe at least three (3) ways a person, male and/or female, is recognized as an adult in your culture. (Note:  three ways is different from the number of details required by the rubric.  These details are used to develop the three ways a person is recognized as an adult.)
Topic #4
Identify and describe a traditional ethnic food from your culture. Provide at least four reasons why this food has remained an essential, primary food in your culture. While you may include the recipe, this topic asks you to discuss the importance of the food in your culture.

I'm looking at choosing Topic #2. For a subject, I think I'd like to tackle cooking and why I do it. 

Unit 4 Writing Assignment

Time to do the writing assignment for Unit 4. Here is my paragraph in rough form, noting at the end of each sentence exactly what type it is and which type of phrase or clause is used.

I live in San Diego. (simple) 

Located in Southern California, it is one of America's largest cities and borders the country of Mexico. (compound with participial phrase) 

Most of the time the sun shines, but occasionally it rains. (compound) 

My home is a three story condominium town home at the northern edge of the city. (simple with prep phrase) 

Although many condominium complexes in San Diego have very little vegetation surrounding them, our town home sits among grass, trees and gardens.  (complex using adverb clause)

Our neighborhood, which is located near many shopping areas, is a popular place to live and whenever I go for a walk, I meet many nice people. (compound-complex with adj. clause and adverb clause)

There is also a park close by and to improve our health, we meet our trainer there twice each week. (compound with infinitive phrase)

Amid this ideal setting, all is not perfect. (prep phrase)

Windows open on a sunny day, we can't avoid the noise of traffic coming from a nearby highway. (absolute phrase)

Also, our neighbors, grandparents of a teenage girl living with them, argue loudly and frequently. (appositive)

To escape these noisier occurrences, we often spend a relaxing day visiting the world famous San Diego Zoo or drive up to the little town of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains. (compound with inf. phrase and prep phrases)

Although sometimes the days are not perfect, I like where I live and I will always enjoy it. (compound-complex with adv. clause)

I identified all these things so that I could check them off as I wrote them since all were required to satisfy the assignment. Hmm…in consulting the rubric for this assignment, I see that I have to eliminate my linking verbs. This is not easy to do since adjective clauses use them a lot. 

Okay, first sentence now becomes…When we decided to retire, we chose San Diego. Here is the fully corrected version eliminating all forms of the verb "to be".

When we decided to retire, we chose San Diego. (simple with adj clause) 

Located in Southern California, the city numbers among America's largest urban areas and borders the country of Mexico. (compound with participial phrase) 

Most of the time the sun shines, but occasionally it rains. (compound) 

My home, a three story condominium town home at the northern edge of the city sits within a lovely neighborhood. (simple with prep phrase) 

Although many condominium complexes in San Diego have very little vegetation surrounding them, ours rests amid grass, trees and gardens.  (complex using adverb clause)

Close by, a park sits at the center of the complex and to improve our health, we meet our trainer there twice each week. (compound with infinitive phrase)

Amid this ideal setting, all is not perfect. ( simple prep phrase)

Windows open on a sunny day, we can't avoid the noise of traffic coming from a nearby highway. (absolute phrase)

Also, our neighbors, grandparents of a teenage girl living with them, argue loudly and frequently. (appositive)

To escape these noisier occurrences, we often spend a relaxing day visiting the world famous San Diego Zoo or drive up to the little town of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains. (compound with inf. phrase)

Although sometimes the days lack perfection, I enjoy San Diego and I love my neighborhood. (compound-complex with adv. clause)

Although the first sentence is in the past tense and the rest use action verbs in the present tense, it's just going to have to stand because there's no way I can figure out how to change it and still be able to use an adjectival phrase. 

Coursera Unit 3 Assignment

It's the second week of my Coursera writing course and I just submitted the assignment for Unit 3. I had to write a descriptive paragraph containing 8 or more sentences composed while observing people in a public setting. I went to the UTC mall and came up with 12 sentences, but by the time I was done combining them, they numbered only 9. I think it's the first time I ever composed anything without using any form of the verb "to be". So here is my paragraph.

I enter the local shopping mall on a beautiful, sunny, Southern California day and find a seat outdoors near the food court where I can sit and watch the people around me.  A fountain bubbles cheerfully nearby, a light breeze blowing a fine mist on those sitting closest to it and a small child looks at it with interest before his mother guides him away. So many people walk by with their attention captivated by whatever appears on the screens of their cell phones and I feel sad that they take no time to relax and enjoy their surroundings. Soon, a young woman climbs onto the stage, sets up a keyboard and begins to sing to the crowd accompanied by pre-recorded vocal and instrumental tracks. I enjoy her performance even as she needs to increase her volume to compete with the noise of a Marine Corps FA-18 flying overhead. My husband approaches, carrying two dishes of Mexican chocolate gelato from one of our favorite shops and as I sit, enjoying this glorious day, eating a delicious gelato, I reflect on how much I love living here. Finishing our indulgent treat, we begin walking to our car, but before exiting the mall, we stop at a gourmet tea shop where Adam, the sales associate, provides samples for us to taste. As usual, since I love everything he presents to me, I buy several varieties. Afterwards, my husband and I continue our stroll to the parking lot, looking into store windows and talking about all we see and our enjoyment with each other and the beautiful day. 

Nice Time in the Mountains

On Thursday, my daughter and I drove up to our cottage in Big Bear Lake. The original idea was for just the two of us to spend a few days here relaxing, but as soon as we arrived, she realized that she had forgotten to pack the power cord for recharging her electric vehicle. She spent some time exploring possibilities for getting the job done, but in the end, we called my husband, Dave, and had him bring it to us. So our all-girl weekend became something else. Since with Dave's arrival, I had my own transportation, today our daughter left to go back home and Dave and I will head back tomorrow morning. 

Even with all the little changes to the schedule, I have managed to attack my to-do list. First of all, we harvested all the apples and pears. The trees didn't have as much fruit on them as last year, but we got enough to keep us in fruit for a while. They also weren't completely ripe, but temperatures are beginning to drop into the 30s at night and I didn't want to risk them all freezing. They won't be as tasty as tree-ripened fruit, but they'll ripen enough after sitting a week or so. 

My two other big tasks were focused on the house. After the July 4th earthquake, we had some cracks appear in the walls so I filled them. I also finally worked on some spot refinishing on the dining and side tables. Everything is looking much better now. In addition to all this, I finally managed to assemble the wire storage cubes that have been sitting in the spare closet for several years. We now have a better place for storing books and shoes. 

Unit 2 Submissions

I gathered my courage and sent in my two sample sentences for the writing assignment. Fortunately, in case I change my mind about them, there's a handy re-submit button and I have until the Monday morning deadline to use it if I want. I'm pretty satisfied with my submission so I'll likely leave things as they are.