Thesis: The development of green architecture has given humans a chance to fix the world that they have created.

Building materials of houses, sidewalks, and the environment around us has created a livable environment for humans but not the earth. A lot of the production of these materials causes pollution in our environments  The development of green architecture is a great example of how humanity is taking responsibility of the world that we have created. This topic would allow me to analyze the growing impact of green architecture in our environment.

Opposing argument:
The green architecture may negative health effects.

Sources:
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2008/11/19/environmental-impacts-green-buildings
http://www.environment.gen.tr/environment-and-architecture/80-green-building.html
http://blog.rmi.org/CanGreenBuildingsNegativeHealthEffects

Topics that interests me:

Human/Social Interaction - how technology affects human interaction negatively. 

Reading (kindle and other devices for reading other than books and it's reading experience) 

The gadgets that exists today makes communication impersonal for relationships. 

Active Reading Homework

I read the article once, underlining what I thought was the main ideas of each paragraph, defining key terms and also defining words that I didn't understand. Sometimes I would be unsure if a point is important but I underline it anyway. After reading it the first time, I was able to get a general sense of the article. Then, I would go back and reread it, and rewrite the "main idea sentences" so that it would make sense to me. By doing so, I am able to grasp the points that the author is making and the general flow of the essay because I am rereading things that I defined and underlined. Active reading definitely helped because I know that if I read without underlining anything, I would overlook key points and just skim the article and never really understand it. For example, in the beginning of the article it was talking about "duck and cover." I remember in class I was thinking to myself, what the heck does this have to do with cyber-attacks?? I was very confused about that paragraph as a whole and because of active reading, I was able to see it's relationship with the outdated regimes that spoken about throughout the article. Oh and most importantly, and I make sure I use a pen with a lot of colors because it forces to to want to use it so I make sure I'm actively reading! Oh yeah!

Outline for First Draft

Introduction
Thesis: In a modern day context, Hitler, Germany's Fuhrer during WW2, is a example of the controller of the mega machine.
Body 1 
Main idea/topic sentence: Adolf Hilter is an example of kingship that created "elaborate structure" in modern terms.
Explaination: With the support of the Pope and the political power that he had, he was able to create a constructive bearacracy machine was that soley controlled by himself.
Body 2
Main idea/topic sentence: The existence of Hilter's megamachine was made possible by the labor machine.
Explaination: This labor force molds what Mumford describes as the "constructive form" of the megamachine.
Body 3
Main idea/topic sentence: The military machine is the last essential component to the megamachine.
Explaination:  Like the labor machine, the military machine consists of social structures that existed to comply with Hitler's operations.
Conclusion
Topic Sentence: The co-existance of the bearcracy, labor, and military machine made the Nazi Regime possible.

Does the outline meet the criteria we discussed on the 12th? How? How not?
The outline meets the criteria that we talked about on the 12th because it has a thesis in the introduction (although I don't exactly like it), topic sentences in my body paragraphs, a topic sentence in my conclusion.  However, I didn't include the details because I felt like it would be my whole essay. I also feel that my topic sentences weren't strong enough and my explainations are more like the topic sentences.

Would it have been more helpful to make the outline before writing the first draft or after? Why?
I think it would have been more helpful to make an outline before the first draft because it would give me an idea on the transitions of topics what I will touch upon. Personally I am not the type of person who can write without thinking about what to write and I think that writing an outline would be more organized. Writing an outline after the first draft helped me figure out what works and what doesn't. For example, I realize that my topic sentences and thesis aren't exactly the way that I want them to be. Therefore, I think that both are helpful to the first draft but the outline before writing doesn't exactly have to be set in stone the structure that you are going to write.