Writing Prompt: Like the city that shares its name, the Los Angeles River has a very tortured and complicated history. One writer, Jenny Price, calls it an “outsize concrete sewer…most famous for being forgotten.” Write a persuasive essay about how the city of Los Angeles should handle the future of its river. Back up your argument with specific evidence. Include cited evidence from the Los Angeles Times articles and other online resources. Online resources:
- Friends of the Los Angeles River
- A ‘linear Central Park’: Frank Gehry’s plan for L.A. River takes shape (LA Times)
- Can Frank Gehry fix the L.A. River? (LA Times)
- L.A.’s share of river restoration could hit $1.2 billion (LA Times)
- Federal officials recommend $453-million L.A. River restoration plan (LA Times)
- Ambitious goal for L.A. River: Continuous 51-mile path by 2020 (LA Times)
- A new course for the L.A. River (LA Times)
- State to pitch in $25 million for ‘crown jewel’ of L.A. River restoration (LA Times)
- Activists win round in bid to keep vegetation near mouth of L.A. River (LA Times)
- Army Corps to recommend $1-billion L.A. River project (LA Times)
- How California is turning drainage canals back to rivers (LA Times)
- Kayaking the Los Angeles River (LA Times)
- Restoring the Los Angeles River (LA Times)
- Los Angeles River: From Concrete Ditch to Urban Oasis (National Geographic)
- L.A. River (KCET)
- Los Angeles River refreshes, even during a drought (USA Today)
- Building Sponge City: Redesigning LA For Long-Term Drought (NPR)
- Thirteen Ways of Seeing Nature in L.A. (The Believer)
- LA River Articles (LA Curbed)
- Why Can’t LA Have a Big, Comprehensive LA River Restoration? (LA Curbed)
- 25 Photos of the Los Angeles River Before It Was Paved in 1938 (LA Curbed)
- Cool Map of Old Los Angeles (1909)
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could I stay after school for some help on my LA River draft?
Yes! I usually do tutoring Tuesday afternoons after school. All are welcome. Nittle
Can we use first person on the paper?
I would recommend avoiding first person normally.
Can you send me the page numbers that were assigned to each group?
Harvard: pg. 235-250
Princeton: 250-265
Stanford: 265-274
USC: 274-283
UCLA: 284-301
Best,
Nittle
Can we use our own experiences in the L.A. River essay?
Sorry for the late reply. Yes, you can. But I would stick primarily to the text as evidence.
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I can’t find any sites against the River!
There’s one site that says LA City Councilman Gil Cedillo wants to put money supposed to be used for river redevelopment towards other community priorities:
http://www.theeastsiderla.com/2013/08/councilman-cedillo-diverts-funds-away-from-l-a-river/
However, it’s not specific which priorities those would be.
You don’t necessarily need resources against the river redevelopment project in order to argue against the project. Just remember back to all the problems that the river has posed over the years and think about whether this is the main priority we should be considering, or if any other issues need higher priority. Remember, this would be a very expensive and long time-intensive project.
Hope this helps,
Nittle
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