Two problems catapulted Wendy Rihner into service learning: Hurricane Katrina's destruction of Louisiana's coast and the lack of context plaguing so many college composition courses. Rihner undertook a service-learning project with an English  Composition II course in the spring of 2007 that radically changed her pedagogical philosophy. "Providing Context" discusses Rihner's desire to provide her students with a context for writing argumentative essays while raising awareness of the ecological disaster that is unique to Louisiana.