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What's the Story? The Vermont Young People Social Action Team is sponsored by Middlebury College, Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English, and the Bread Loaf Teacher Network.
HI Greta,
I haven’t commented here before, but in scanning through these entries I just had to drop in and say how impressed I am with this mind map. A job well done!
Bob,
Thank you! I guess my mind needed mapping 🙂
Greta
Greta,
I have to agree with Mr. Uhl you did a really good job on this map! Looks like you have a lot of ideas and thoughts about this story. It is also very aesthetically pleasing, I really like the color and the picture around the main idea. Even though you had just started digging into it you can tell that you have discovered a lot of information. I was wondering if you are going to keep pursuing this project, and going to present it at the retreat. Or are you going to go back to the issue of climate change in Vermont?
-Petra
Thank you, Petra! I’m glad you liked it.
I’ve decided that this is what I want to present at the retreat. Obviously, I have a lot of thoughts about it and a lot of directions I can take it in, so I want to at least try. I’m still interested in Vermont’s environment, but I’ve decided that this is the angle I want to look at it from. Hopefully other people are willing to join me!
Greta
Greta,
First, let me say that although it makes it more complicated to work through, I love that you drew dotted lines to show connections between things grouped in different categories. It shows a deep level of analysis and understanding of the topic. (I love the color coding, too.)
So my question for you is, I think, pretty similar to what you are being asked to do for Blog #7. That is, what’s the story here? Or more specifically, what lens are you thinking you will use to tell this story? Is the pipeline a story of environmental versus economic considerations? Does it illustrate the power of local action? Is this a story of local governance? Does the pipeline show the power, or problems, of compromise? There are lots of ways the story of the pipeline could be framed and I’m wondering how you are thinking of framing it.
Erik
Erik,
Thank you! My goal was that the combination of the dotted lines and the color coding would help me find the connections between different areas of the topics. I got to see that change and conflict are often linked, as well as conflict and importance. In other words, the conflict is over what we should do to change the pipeline, and that is where the importance of the story is.
After making the mind map, I think there are two lenses I might look through to tell the story. These are the two real levels of conflict, impact, importance, AND change: a) environmental impact, b) public involvement. The environment is what I came into this topic really interested in, and it is certainly one of the hearts of the story. But the other heart is public involvement, and living in the small state of Vermont, I think that is crucial to almost any issue and this one in particular. So maybe I will frame it as a combination of the two:
The natural gas pipeline demonstrates the importance of public involvement in protecting the environment and balancing the stakes of change.
Thanks for your help, as always!
Greta