downsizing the social unit
If you have looked ahead to the Final Project, you will see that this is actually a pre-writing activity that leads up to that essay; much of this material may be used in that paper, so do your best here.
The assignment will be submitted the same way you submit your essays. It must by typed in MLA format. Online students can refer to "How to Submit your Work" on our class Writing Assignments information page. Remember that MLA document format and MLA Works Cited format are absolutely required. If you still need to watch that Set-up video as you are setting up your papers, that's fine; that's why it is there for you.
Papers must be between two to four (3-5) full pages (not counting pictures or the Works Cited page). Any paper less than three (3) full pages will not be accepted; a paper less than four (4) full pages will be trying for a "C" maximum; papers that are at least four (4) full pages will be trying for a higher score.
IMPORTANT NOTE: "Intentional Communities" does not refer to large organizations (such as religions), groups located together but without a shared philosophy/goal (such as a gated community or simple co-housing unit or a tiny house park). They can relate to specific artists' colonies, specific co-ops/communes, small religious groups in a shared space (such as a Buddhist monastery in downtown Los Angeles), etc.
The articles we read explore some of the origins, types, philosophies, and challenges of intentional communities. Feel free to use one of those articles as part of this assignment, but you will need to do some additional research as well.
There are five parts to this assignment, but please do not number them. This should be arranged like an essay. You will open with a paragraph, and each of the other sections will be in paragraph form, one following the other (not on separate pages).
The opening paragraph (no more than a page) will create human interest and set the scene. Describe a day in the life of someone in a specific sort of intentional community. Yes, you can use your imagination here and make it up, but it should be reasonably consistent with life on a commune or life in a monastery or life in a streamer house. or life in a Hawaiian yoga village. Pick something unusual. It might be something like the following (of course do not copy this):
Sweating in the noonday sun, a couple bends to the task of picking carrots and potatoes. The fresh farm produce will provide their food for the next week, and by the time the sun is setting, their basket is overflowing. They pick up the product of their hard labor and wave to their neighbors, also in the huge garden, and they walk back to their small, off-the-grid, luxury condo on the outskirts of the central farm. This is not a conventional farm, it is an Eco-Village in Wyoming, a small, intentional community of like-minded individuals who share two common passions: leaving a small footprint and eating organic food.
At the end of this paragraph or the beginning of the next, quote/document a defintion of "intentional community" from one of your sources.
Your next couple of paragraphs will start with a transition explaining that this idea is not new, and you will give a little (just one meaty paragraph is fine) background on the history here. Feel free to quote/document from our readings and from other sources on the history of intentional communities. If you have the appropriate sources, you might also want to look at why these communities are trending again. In this paragraph you will also briefly describe several specific communities that are quite different from one another; they can be old or new, but the goal is to show how diverse and specific each is. You will want to use some quotations and parenthetical citations from your sources to mention some unique features here.
The next one or two or three paragraphs will be more focused. Find at least one article (not one from our reading list) that looks at just one specific current intentional community that is especially unusual or interesting or based on some specific activities the group feels really strong about. Describe the community and what it does and how. What are their core beliefs? What limits inclusion in this very specific community? How is work/responsibility divided? How does the community sustain itself financially? What is it like living there? Be sure to include two or more really detailed, thought-provoking quotations from the article you chose (do not forget the parenthetical citations). Try to give the reader a glimpse into what it would be like living here and how different it is from conventional living.
In the final short paragraph, describe the sort of intentional community you might like to belong to or even create. If you were starting an intentional community of your own, it might be completely unique, or it could be similar to one of the ones you already described? How would it be different? Why? What would life be like there. Do not be general here and write, "It is a community of peace"; differentiate the community: "It would involve shared resources pooled from a variety of YouTube and Twitch streaming channels." And give a few details of what daily life might be like.
Create a correctly-formatted MLA Works Cited entry for the source(s) you used.
NOTE: Try to include pictures in the essay; they do not count as pages of text, but they do enhance your work.
Also, don't forget to look at Sample Student Papers in this Week's Readings folder on Canvas.