Project - World Heritage Essay

Overview

World Heritage sites are often cared for very carefully, but this is not always the case. In this essay, lets look at some sites that are in danger. For example:

• Edinburgh: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-15353402
• Istanbul: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11095638
• Liverpool: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-18592334
• Syria: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29255315

Step 1: Choose a World Heritage site

• List of sites in danger
• Choose something
  • interesting
  • we do not know
  • that is in danger
  • is overseas and not your home country(i.e. not kyoto)
• Post it to Classroom Stream.
  • e.g. “Hi, I’m Hiroko, and I choose Angkor Wat”
  • “First come first served.” - if someone else posted your place, choose again!

Step 2: Research your site

• Research
  • Read 3 articles about your site (Japanese OK)
  • Read 3 more articles (English only)
  • Avoid bad sources (wikipedia, about.com).
  • Try to use good sources (news, NGO, government sources, etc)
  • Take notes. Try Cornell style.
• Suggestions for description research:
  • DEFINE “Angkor Wat is a Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia, the largest of its kind in the world”
  • PARTITION “There are two main areas in Angkor Wat - outer and inner - of which…”)
  • COMPARE CONTRAST (“Angkor Wat is similar to Kinkakuji in that….however…”)
  • TIME ORDER (“Angkor Wat was built in the 12th century by…because…. After that… then… However…”)
  • Importance (“This is an important site because…”
  • A number showing the size of the problem (things lost, area destroyed, tourist numbers, etc)
• Suggestions for problem research:
  • tourism ( garbage, graffiti, vandalism, erosion by feet)
  • theft (for local construction, for souvenirs)
  • destructive development (roads, dams, hotels)
  • Natural disasters (e.g. earthquake, climate change, wind erosion, rain,
  • Pollution (air, acid rain)
  • Management (political instability, corruption, lack of interest)
  • conflict (can cause deliberate damage, accidental, or just interrupt maintenance)
• Suggestions for solutions research (prevention or restoration)
  • Organisations (UNESCO, NGOs, national groups)
  • Changes to tourism (ecotourism, number limits, building new infrastructure visitors are stressing)
  • Transferring things to museums
  • Repairing / Restoring
  • Solving related issues that make things worse (local poverty, corruption, conflict)

Step 4: Arrange your ideas

• This essay has multiple versions, from 1 to 11 paragraphs.
• I will send the correct template and example later.
• For next week, just research

Example structure (4 paragraphs)

• Intro
  • General Background (World Heritage in danger)
  • Specific Background (Name of your site)
  • Description sentence (Your choice - definition, importance, etc)
  • Thesis statement (“This essay looks at some problems that SITE NAME is facing, and some possible solutions”
• Problems
  • Topic Sentence “This paragraph looks at three problems impacting SITE NAME - 1, 2, and 3.”
  • Structure sentence “The first problem is 1.”
    • Detail on problem
    • More detail on problem. Don’t forget “For example / However / In addition/ etc”
  • Structure sentence “The second problem is 2.”
    • Detail on problem
    • More detail on problem.
  • Structure sentence “The third problem is 3.”
    • Detail on problem
    • More detail on problem.
  • Summary (“In summary, there are three main problems - 1, 2, and 3 - of which the most serious is ?”
• Problems
  • Topic Sentence “This paragraph looks at three solutions to the issues outlined above - 1, 2, and 3.”
  • Structure sentence “The first solution is 1.”
    • Detail on solution
    • More detail on solution. Don’t forget “For example / However / In addition/ etc”
  • Structure sentence “The second solution is 2.”
    • Detail on solution
    • More detail on solution.
  • Structure sentence “The third solution is 3.”
    • Detail on solution
    • More detail on solution.
  • Summary (“In summary there are three solutions - 1, 2, and 3 - of which the most effective is ?”)
• Conclusion
  • Conclusion Topic sentence = Thesis statement in other words and in past tense
  • Summary of ESSAY (you could just repeat the paragraph summaries, but that’s boring.)
  • Final Comment (A recommendation. I will explain more in class)

Homework 3D - Check the list of common mistakes

• Link is here