Rationale:

This paper owes its origins to several classes that I have taken which have touched on the topic of the environment recently, most notably Environmental Science, Environmental Law, and Economics.  I have formulated my own belief on solutions to environmental problems which I have coined "middle ground."  This work was my attempt to adequately define "middle ground."

Invention:

As I said previously, the idea to write this story formulated while taking the above mentioned college courses.  During my education I have had the advantage or curse, depending on how one looks at it, of being able to identify with both sides of the argument.  While I believe we need to arrest the downward slide our environment is currently on I also believe that we cannot completely rearrange our culture as a whole and have come to what I have coined as "the middle ground." 

For examples I tapped into my own personnel knowledge on subjects.  First, I have always attempted to keep abreast of international current events and subsequently was previously informed as to one child initiative currently adopted by the Chinese as a mode of population control.  With my experience as a US Navy Submariner I was intimately familiar with the dangers faced by submarine crews, the anti fouling paint used on submarine hulls, and current initiatives by some to enforce EPA standards on the US Naval Submarine Force.  Finally, my passion in life is the ocean.  This passion has led me to personally own a boat.  Maintaining a boat is, to say the least, a financially draining endeavor and as such I do all the maintenance needed to keep it afloat.  That being said, I am very familiar with EPA rules regarding the anti fouling paint as I just painted the bottom of my boat myself roughly two months ago.

Composition: 

To preface, I would like to address that I did not touch on sustainability directly for good reason.  I think it goes without saying that environmental changes are those which benefit the environment in the long run.  I believe the smallest child knows that band aids won't help the environments "boo-boo."  As college students we all grasp the relationship between environmental and sustainability.  To attempt to define environmental sustainability would take the definitional piece off an a tangent which would make the work choppy and hard to read at best.

The most notable techniques I used when constructing this is paper are using questions, and defining opinions which oppose my own.  I believe the use of questions is one of the best ways to direct a readers thoughts in the direction one wants it go rather than trying to tell them where it should go.  This greatly contributes to the fluidity of my writing.  Additionally, when I defined the two opposing sides it perfectly "set the stage" for me to nestle my opinion directly in between two which not only lets me define my opinion with fewer words, resulting in less chance for the reader to stray but it also helps lend boundaries to my thought.

When I wrote this I had two majors objectives.  The first was to adequately define what this middle ground is and where it lies in environmental arguments.  The second was, as with all my work, I attempted to make the definition as fluid and engaging as possible.  What I am most proud of is also my best technique.  My use of EPA regulations on submarines in this work not only served as a good example for an exception to my rule of middle ground but also allowed me to briefly yet smoothly introduce a persuasive essay against EPA regulations on Submarines inside of an already formed definition paper.

Evaluation: 

I would like my definition to be graded on how well it grabbed and held the readers attention, and how well I was able to define what my interpretation of middle ground is. 

I implore those grading this that I would not like this to be graded on writing mechanics.  While in the past some have commended me on works I have written, I have never been commended on my writing mechanics.  Please do not take off points for a comma in the wrong place, something not being capitalized or anything of the like. 

Thank you and I hope you enjoy reading my paper as I did writing it.