intentional communities
OK, let's see if we can do something useful again. You have an essay coming due, and it would be nice to get some of the groundwork done. So, this week will be less of a discussion and more of a share week. You are not required to put up responses to other people's Posts this week (though you are welcome to); your entire score will be based on your Post and your Reply to your own Post.
Intentional Communities are incredibly varied, but not every group with similar philosophies is an intentional community, and shared location is not enough to make a group an intentional community.
Christians do not make up an intentional community; however, Goldensun, a Menonite community occupying two buildings in Glendale, Arizona, is an intentional community.
Eco-activists do not make up an intentional community; however, EcoVillage in Los Angeles is an intentional community.
People living in houses in the same gated community are (probably) not part of an intentional community; however, if that gated community was bought entirely by a group of doomsday preppers who intend to share the responsibilities of preparing for the apocalypse, then it would be an intentional community.
Here's the task:
Your Post
Just what are intentional communities? Explain in your own words and then draw upon this week's reading (yes, and quote/cite), but go beyond that. First, find a definition of "intentional community" from a credible source. Quote that definition directly, and share the source (if it's a Web source, then provide the URL (link) for the class. Yes, one part of next week's essay will include this definition and document the source, so this is one task you can check off.
Ideally, the class will then have serveal great definitions to choose from. And, in fact, if you see the same defintion/source going up over and over, it's a good idea to find a different defintion/source. Show that you have those research skills.
After your explanation and definition of intentional communities, do some research to find some on the internet. Describe one in some detail. What is it called? Where is it? What is its purpose? What has it accomplished? What are some of the restrictions/benefits? and so on. Provide the source URL (link). These can be older (historical) intentional communities, or they can be current ones. Include that information in your description of the community.
Again, if you see a community already discussed on the board, you will earn more points if you put up information on a different community (or provide a different source with added information about that same community).
Your Reply to your own Post
Create and share the opening paragraph of your paper based on what the prompt asks you to do for the paper's opening.
You may absolutely use some of the information from your own Post where you describe a particular community.
You may, in part, invent the opening with made-up characters as you IMAGINE what a day in the live in that community would be like.
Of course you will want to use this opening for your actual paper.
Looking at the Sample Student papers might help with this.
All of this should serve as terrific notes for the Intentional Communities Essay :)