Clements WRIT 150: Technology & Social ChangeSpring 2014 Sections 64225, 64340, & 64855

Writing Project 4: Protecting The Future

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”-Søren Kierkegaard

Purpose: The first three paper prompts asked you to make observations regarding the way technology has shaped various aspects of our lives, and persuade the reader of the validity of your observations. While many of your papers included a “call to action” in some form or another, the structure of the assignment meant it often appeared as an afterthought, or at least a secondary concern to proving your thesis.

In this, our fourth and final paper, action becomes the central concern. You will write a persuasive essay in which you convince your reader not just of the issue at stake, but also of the steps that should be taking towards its positive resolution. You will continue to use all the invention, arrangement, research, and revision techniques we have learned throughout the course, but we also will turn our eye more deliberately towards questions of style and tone to round off the semester.

Premise: Your first three papers proved that technology is not just something we use and set aside when we’re done with it. Rather, it’s something that is inextricably intertwined with our lives, and affects the way we think and live in ways profound, subtle, and often pernicious. To keep ourselves and our relationship with technology healthy, therefore, we have to be on guard. This is difficult, however, because technology develops very quickly. Moore’s Law states that the rate of technological progress occurs on an exponential, rather than linear, scale, and futurists are suggesting that we will make more technological progress in the next twenty years than have done in the entire course of human history. This means that by the time we’ve come to terms with a new technology, it’s often already out of date.

This is reflected in our rather unimpressive history of technology-related legislation: for every forward-thinking law we have created to protect our society and our humanity – such the Human Cloning Prohibition Act or the Global Online Freedom Act – there are a dozen desperate attempts to close the gate after the horse has left the barn, like the aborted Stop Online Piracy Act or the toothless Anti-Online Spying Bill. To avoid finding ourselves in the latter quagmire, we must become more proactive and more innovative; we must try to predict the ways our choices will affect the future, and take decisive action to steer humanity in a healthy direction.

Clements WRIT 150: Technology & Social ChangeSpring 2014 Sections 64225, 64340, & 64855

Writing Task: For this assignment, you are to create two pieces of writing: a 5-6 page academic essay, and a shorter piece that defends the same thesis in a different genre, one that you think is most conducive to the realization of your own personal voice. The prompt for both pieces is as follows:

What action do we need to take in response to technology to facilitate a better future?

25% of your grade will be for the academic essay, and 10% will be for the companion piece.

Your academic paper must include sources. This time, however, I will not tell you how many or what kind to use. Instead, use your own judgment. Use as many sources as you need to make your argument in as clear and powerful a manner as you can, and choose sources that are appropriate to the argument you are trying to make. You may need to use different sources in the two pieces of writing, as they may have different audiences.

For the shorter piece, you may choose from one of the following literary genres. If you choose to create a written piece, you should write approximately 750 words. If you choose a recorded piece, aim for 3-5 minutes. If there’s a genre you want to work in that is not on this list, please run it by me first (I’ll probably say yes):

Newspaper Op-Ed Open letter to a specific individualShort film script TED TalkStand-up comedy routine PoemShort story Political ManifestoYouTube video Dramatic monologue from a play

Practical Tips

Decisive action does not always take the form of bans or limitations. Some action accommodates, rather than restricts, so that new technologies can develop without impediment. An example of positive action might be setting up a charity that ensures that all children have access to laptops, or putting forth a bill that protects scientists who are researching genetic modification.

Not all action has to go through governmental or other official channels. You could, for example, persuade your reader that we need to make changes in our own lives to improve our future, such as cutting down on our use of mobile phones.

You will probably need to speculate about the future in order to persuade your reader that your action is essential, but do so with care; predictions about the future

Clements WRIT 150: Technology & Social ChangeSpring 2014 Sections 64225, 64340, & 64855

are notoriously unreliable and rarely convincing. You also run a great risk of writing slippery slope fallacies.

Make sure your argument is original. There’s no point calling for a change that has already taken place, or that a substantial number people are already lobbying for.

Make sure your suggestion could potentially be implemented in the near future. There’s no point suggesting that we should all create a clone of ourselves in case we get sick, because the technology is not there yet.

Don’t be afraid of calling for drastic change (banning all cars, for example), but remember that the more radical the change, the more convincing your argument has to be.

Make sure you explain exactly how this change should be carried out. If an opponent could tear down your argument simply by stating that your suggestion is impossible to implement, you’re dead in the water.

Schedule

Thursday, November 6 th : Brainstorm topics.To do: Do invention activities and create three potential theses.

Tuesday, November 11 th : Workshop theses.To do: Create research plan and begin research.

Thursday, November 13 th : Using questions/assumptions to create rough plan.To do: Complete outline/rough plan, and continue research.

Tuesday, November 18 th : Class cancelled for conferences.To do: Write first half of draft. Prepare list of claims/points-to-make for next class.

Thursday, November 20 th : Test claims through debate. Practice complicating arguments.To do: Complete first draft of paper. Begin work on companion piece.

Tuesday, November 25 th : Circulate draft with peer groups.To do: Continue to revise paper, and continue work on companion piece.

Thursday, November 27 th : Thanksgiving (no class).

Tuesday, December 2 nd : Peer review session.To do: Make final revisions to paper based on peer review feedback. Complete companion piece.

Thursday, December 4 th : Paper due.