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\centerline{MONT 102N -- Modeling the Environment}
\centerline{Paper 2 -- Human Effects on the Natural World in Massachusetts and Montana}
\centerline{{\it Due Date:}  Friday November 4}
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{\it General Information}
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The second larger paper assignment for the semester will involve tying together:
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\item{$\bullet$} A chapter in {\it Collapse} that we did not discuss very much or
at all--the Montana chapter at the start (Chapter 1), 
\item{$\bullet$} Some of the history of land use in Massachusetts that
we will see on the Harvard Forest trips September 17 and October 22, and
\item{$\bullet$} Some of the scientific work carried out at Harvard Forest on evolution of 
landscapes over time with human interaction, detailed in the articles posted on the course
homepage.  

Your essay should be {\it about 5 double-spaced pages in length} (but don't worry if 
you go a bit over or are a bit short -- the length is not the main point).  Prepare
your essays using Microsoft Word or equivalent software, and submit your work to me by
email to:
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\centerline{\tt jlittle@holycross.edu}
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This is due no later than 5:00pm on Friday, November 4.  
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{\it The General Topic}
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Consider time frames from the immediate decades before European settlement, to 
the century or two after European settlement, to the present in both Montana and 
Massachusetts.  How have the landscape and environments (especially the plant and 
animal species present) in these two areas changed over time?  
How do we know that -- how is it possible to {\it quantify} and {\it measure} these changes?  
(You will have more information here about the situation in Massachusetts
from observations you make on the field trips and from the two articles posted on the 
course homepage.  You can use that information without trying to say anything parallel 
about Montana because many of the same techniques would apply to the study of other 
geographical areas too.)  Are there similarities in the two courses of development?  
Are there differences?  Have people's {\it cultural values} influenced their choices 
about land use and possibly contributed to environmental problems in these areas?  
Is Montana similar to the Northeast in terms of suitability for 
agriculture?   Would the landscape of Massachusetts look different now if the U.S. 
ended at the western borders of Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut (if the U.S. 
had not expanded to the west)?  
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{\it More Details}
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This will probably be a bit more of a ``research paper'' than the first
assignment.  You will need to consult at least {\it Collapse} 
and the articles mentioned above.  The ``they say/I say'' framework
will still be useful to keep in mind.   
A good paper should definitely have a specific point of view about the
questions above, and the first thing you will want to do is to 
identify what it is you want to say and how you will tie everything together.   

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As always, write in a
reasonably formal style incorporating correct grammar, spelling, and usage. 
Your essay should be well-structured with paragraphs corresponding
to the major points in your outline, arranged in a logical 
sequence.  (Feel free to use some of the ``templates'' from 
``They Say/I Say'' to help structure things -- no footnotes are necessary
for that.)   Your job is to convince your reader of the soundness of 
your conclusions, starting ``from the beginning.''  That is, you should 
not assume the reader has been present for any of the discussions that 
we have had in class, or that you might have had with other Natural 
World Cluster students.  You might try explaining possible opposing 
points of view (``introducing a naysayer''), then giving your reasons for 
rejecting them, as part 
of your argument.   

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I will expect to see specific
details from your sources cited as {\it evidence\/} to support
your assertions, and in many cases short quotations from the other text
will be the most effective way to provide evidence.  Please identify
any such quotations by the page(s) on which they appear.  Use
the following style:
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Diamond writes that our world ``cannot sustain China and other Third 
World countries and current First World countries all operating at 
First World levels.'' (Diamond, p. 376).
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Use of other sources and direct quotations or other
information should follow the following guidelines:
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\item{1)}  Identify direct quotations with quotation marks 
\item{2)}  All direct quotations and {\it paraphrases} of 
arguments found in {\it Collapse} or other sources should 
be identified by notes in parentheses giving information where the quote
can be found within your source,
\item{3)}  List all your sources in a References
section at the end of your paper:
\itemitem{a)} For books, give the 
author(s), the title, city where the publisher is located, the publisher, and year of publication.
\itemitem{b)} For magazine or newspaper articles, give the author(s), the title
of the article, the title of the 
magazine or newspaper, the date of publication, and the starting and
final page number of the specific article.  
\itemitem{c)}  For web sites, give an author (if you can 
determine that), the full URL (web address) and the date you 
accessed it (since information on the web often changes!)
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