Paper #4 Assignment

Paper #4: Reviewing Your Life!

For this assignment, you’re still going to respond to a conversation in society, but in a very different fashion. The only research you need to do is find a review of a movie or TV show you like: it can be a bad review or a good review. Read it carefully and note what aspects of the show (the acting, the story, the plot, the dialogue, etc.) the reviewer applauds or criticizes. What makes the film/show successful or a flop according to the reviewer?

THEN, I want you to review something in the real world according to the exact same guidelines. In other words, I want you to be this reviewer, and to review something that is not a movie or show as if it is. This could be anything in the course of your day-to-day existence. You will become a reviewer of your own life!

Some things you could review are:

* A college class

* A job

* A restaurant (but don’t just review the food—review the entire experience)

* A date

* A game (ECU or otherwise)

* A TV or web commercial

The trick here is to write satire: that is, to be ironic (and treating a job like a movie is ironic), and use humor and over-the-top language to help us see what is satirical about this place or event. For example, you might have a class that is really, really boring; maybe the professor only reads off Powerpoint slides all day, every day. So how would the writer of your film review rate your own class? Based on what he/she said about the film, how many stars would he/she give your class? What would he/she like? Dislike? How could he/she discuss your class in terms of the movie? Use the review to satirize what works and doesn’t work about your class, to help us ‘see’ how you feel about it. Irony often helps us see what we would otherwise miss, just as film reviews help us understand why a movie works or doesn’t work.

REQUIREMENTS

• Write this as an actual review of a movie. Use the same author as your film review and try to talk about your event in the same way. Mirror the actual language of the review if possible.
• Turn in the review with your paper: I want to see how closely you modeled your satire on the real review.
• Have fun, be silly, but also make a point: show why the date didn’t work out; show why we lost the game; show why a college class is surprisingly interesting despite the dull subject matter, etc.
• Due the last day of class, Thursday, December 1st by 5pm

Satire Handout (Tuesday)

Satire Workshop, Part I: The Irony of Satire

Humor Vs. Satire:  Which one is humorous and which one is satirical?  What crucial element distinguishes one from the other?

• Professor Dillinger is so hard that it took me the half the semester to figure out I wasn’t even in his class!
• Professor Dillinger gives out so many F’s that even the janitors fail his afternoon trash collection. 
• Professor Dillinger goes out of his way to help and encourage student success.  In fact, just last week, he didn’t just give me a 36 on my exam, but gave me a 36 on the next one so I wouldn’t have to go through all that trouble studying.  What a guy!

“Bush Earmarks 1.5 Billion Gold Stars for Education”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Vowing to give the nation’s public schools “a much-needed boost,” President Bush announced Monday that his 2003 budget proposal would allocate 1.5 billion gold-star stickers for education.  “As class sizes continue to grow and test scores continue to decline, our public schools are in a state of crisis...There is no more time for deliberation.  It is time to act.  Our children need these adhesive gold stars.”

Bush went on to describe the “alarming state” of many of the nation’s public schools, citing underpaid teachers, buildings badly in need of repair, and woefully outdated textbooks.  “If a child is going to learn under these conditions, he or she is going to need lots of encouragement...These gold stars will serve as reinforcement for our best students while motivating underachievers to do better.  I know it made a big difference to me as a child.  Bush said the stars, which are expected to cost the government an estimated $2.3 thousand, are well worth the expense.  “Can we really put a price tag on the future of our nation?” Bush asked.  “Can we ever put a dollar amount on success?” 

Laid-Back Company Allows Employees To Work From Home After 6 pm

GRESHAM, OR—Underscoring the benefits of working for a laid-back company like SocialFire Marketing, founder and CEO Matt Avalon told reporters Tuesday he had instituted an office-wide policy permitting employees to work from home anytime after 6 p.m. “If it helps them be efficient and get more done, I have no problem with people working remotely once they’ve left the office for the day,” said Avalon, who noted that as long as they’re doing their jobs, the location where his staff members choose to work between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. is “completely up to them.” “That’s the kind of relaxed culture we strive to create here—one where you can even be working from your living room couch at two in the morning if you’d like.” Avalon added that since they don’t have to be in the office for any meetings, employees are free to work from home on weekends and holidays as well.

SATIRICAL HEADLINES: How many of the following headlines can you explain to the satirically-challenged? In other words, what is each one making fun of through irony?

·         Voting Machines Elect One Of Their Own As President

·         CIA says that Syria Harboring More Than 15 Million Known Arabs

·         Nation’s Shirtless, Shoeless March on Washington for Equal-Service Rights

·         Thin, Attractive Woman Accepted For Who She Is

No Class on Thursday (due to OLAF)--see below

Remember that class is cancelled on Thursday due to the Oklahoma Literary Arts Festival which will take over Horace Mann. Come back on Tuesday and we'll wrap up our discussion of Escape from Camp 14. That means the paper is due next Thursday instead of Tuesday. 

See you then! 

For Tuesday: Harden, Escape From Camp 14, Chs.21-Epilogue

Be sure to finish the book for Tuesday's class (or get close) so we can discuss the closing chapters. Remember to start thinking about Paper #3 (assigned posted in the post below this one).

Answer ONE of the following:

Q1: According to Harvard psychiatrist Judith Lewis Hermann, many concentration camp survivors have what she calls "a contaminated identity." What does this term mean, and how does it play out in Shin's post-camp life, particularly in America?

Q2: Though many North Koreans try to flee the country and make it to South Korea (where they share a language and a culture), they often have a very difficult time assimilating. Besides the freedom, what other cultural factors does a North Korean have to overcome to make it in South Korea? How does this suggest that (like Q1) escape is as much mental as it is physical?

Q3: The South Korean government will pay employers "up to eighteen hundred dollars if they risk hiring a defector" (167). Additionally, the US is very generous in granting residency and green cards to defectors, in the hopes they can put down roots and start again. Should other countries be so willing to take in defectors and encourage what could quickly become a mass exodus of North Koreans, particularly if their government collapsed? Should their problem become our problem?

Q4: Why does Shin ultimately give up on the US and return to South Korea? Does Harden look at his story as a "failure," either to assimilate or to escape his past? Does the book suggest he is on the way to becoming a true "human being" again, or is he still haunted by the camps? 

For Thursday: Escape From Camp 14, Chapters 16-20; also, Paper #3 assignment

For Thursday, read Chapters 16-20 of Escape from Camp 14. There are no questions this time, though we'll do an in-class writing response based on a specific passage in the work. We'll also discuss more writing techniques to help you with Paper #3, which I handed out in class (see below): 

Paper #3: The Conversation of Camp 14

Choose ONE of the following: 

Option 1: “Tibetans have the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere, Burmese have Aung San Suu Kyi, Darfurians have Mia Farrow and George Clooney...North Koreans have no one like that” (13).

Write a letter to a prominent celebrity (your choice) to interest him or her in taking up the cause of the North Korean camps and refugees like Shin. Why are the camps the “modern day Holocaust,” and why is this an issue that every American should be aware of? Assume that the celebrity knows little to nothing about the camps or North Korean life—it is your job to educate them, explaining the realities of the country, the camps, and Shin’s story. To help verify your story, find at least 2-3 additional sources that can either corroborate, flesh out, or add information to your argument. You should also consider what objections the celebrity would have to making North Korea his or her soapbox issue. What do you think keeps people from talking about it now? How can you address these fears or biases with simple facts and information about the human rights abuses going on in the camps?

Option 2: “Congress passed a law that accepted North Korean refugees for resettlement in the United States, which the North derided as an attempt to topple its government under the pretense of promoting democracy” (144).

Should the US actively encourage North Koreans to flee the country and find asylum in the States? Though immigration has become a dirty word in the current election cycle, is it America’s duty to save these people from human rights abuses? Do people like Shin deserve a chance at a better life where they can become productive (and appreciative) US citizens? Also consider that the more we encourage North Koreans to flee their government, the more the country becomes destabilized, which has long-range benefits to the US. However, many bordering countries, such as China, have begun to discourage refugees and are forcibly returning them to North Korea: what are there “naysayer” reasons for doing so? Are they the same reasons we should discourage bringing them here to the US? Or do the benefits outweigh the potential risks? Use Escape from Camp 14 to make your argument, along with 2-3 additional sources to corroborate, expand upon, or simply flesh out your argument.

REQUIREMENTS

• 4-5 pages double spaced
• You must respond to Harden’s book, Escape from Camp 14, using several passages for support
• Additionally, use 2-3 secondary sources to corroborate or expand upon the conversation of this book
• Use of the Naysayer, as well as consideration of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
• DUE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8th BY 5pm

For Tuesday: Harden, Escape from Camp 14, Chapters 10-15

For Tuesday: Harden, Escape from Camp 14, Chapters 10-15

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Many people who read and/or study the Holocaust wonder why more prisoners didn’t try to escape. The same question could be asked of prisoners of Camp 14 or any other camp in the North Korean system. As if responding to this, why does Harden write in Chapter 15 that “their plan was simply—and insanely optimistic” (109)? Why did Shin and Park’s ignorance play a large role in their escape attempt? And what made Camp 14 particularly difficult, in general, to escape from?

Q2: What does the term “juche” mean and how does it relate not only to North Korea but their famous leader, Kim Il Sung? Related to this, what reality does juche hide from the people—and how does it doom them to starvation and misery both inside and outside the camps?

Q3: Harden writes that “Camp 14 is a fifty-year old Skinner box” (107). What is a ‘Skinner box’ and why is this a useful way to understand the psychology of the camp? Related to this, how could Shin, someone who grew up inside the box, find the strength to escape its physical and mental confines?

Q4: Throughout these chapters, we see Shin trying to act in a more moral fashion: taking a stand against tyrannical bosses, and even refusing to snitch on a fellow inmate. He claims early in the book that he had to learn the meaning of basic concepts such as morality, friendship, etc. So are these passages attempts to write his ‘new’ identity into the narrative? Or are they true without being necessarily the result of a new moral consciousness?

For Tuesday: Harden, Escape from Camp 14, Chapters 3-9

For Tuesday: Harden, Escape from Camp 14, Chapters 3-9

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Why was Shin punished repeatedly for 6 months for informing on his mother and brother? Related to this, why didn’t he speak up for himself until the bitter end? How do the answers to both questions say something important about the psychology of the camps?

Q2: How did you react to the information that Chapter 4 is mostly a lie? Why did Shen tell this lie over and over again in South Korea and the US? What do you think made him finally confide the truth—which is introduced in Chapter 5—to the author?

Q3: Early in the book, Shin argues that words like mother, father, brother, son, daughter, etc., mean nothing in the camps. However, as these chapters point out, that isn’t exactly true. Where do we see true feeling and compassion emerging between family members—and even strangers? Why might some people still be capable of this while others, such as Shin, were left emotionless?

Q4: North Korea is a relatively small and poor country, surrounded by some of the wealthiest nations in Asia—China, South Korea, and Japan. According to the book, how does such a modest country amass such incredible wealth for its leaders and the privileged classes? How is the West somewhat responsible for the rise of North Korea, even though the nation vilifies America and all Western powers? 

For Tuesday: Harden, Escape From Camp 14: Preface-Chapter 2 (pp.xi-32)

For Tuesday: Harden, Escape From Camp 14: Preface-Chapter 2 (pp.xi-32)

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: What did the education of the schoolchildren at Camp 14 consist of? Similarly, what information was hidden from them? How did this education affect his mental and social development?

Q2: How does the camp re-define basic human relationships such as husband, wife, children, brother, sister, and teacher? What does it suggest about human nature that these relationships, which have universal meanings throughout history, can be altered within a single lifetime?

Q3: Suzanne Scholte, an activist who works in Washington, said that “Tibetans have the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere, Burmese have Aung San Suu Kyi, Darfurians have Mia Farrow and George Clooney...North Koreans have no one like that” (13). Given all the suffering and horrors of the camps, why do you think there are no celebrity spokesmen/women for North Koreans? What makes this any different than the Holocaust or other genocides and prison camps?

Q4: The author of the book, who is writing the life and experiences of the North Korean, Shin Dong-Hyuk, writes that “In writing this book, I have sometimes struggled to trust him. He misled me in our first interview about his role in the death of his mother, and he continued to do so in more than a dozen interviews” (10). Based on this, how do we know whether any of this story is true? Why is it difficult to verify his story? And related to this, why might Shin be unwilling (at least initially) to tell Harden the actual, factual truth? 

Discussing and Citing "Audrie and Daisy" in your paper

For those of you interesting in responding to Yoffe's essay/conversation for Paper #2, the film Audrie and Daisy might work well as support for your views or as a naysayer to you and/or Yoffe. However, how do you 'use' a film in your paper? It's not enough simply to recount the plot or to say that it exists. You can do one of two things in your paper:

#1: Quote dialogue from the film that you find significant. For example, the Sheriff of Maryville is quoted as saying, 

"You know, unfortunately, you have a lot of people involved in this that are running around telling a lot of stories, and without pointing fingers, it serves to benefit peoples’s causes by making things up that really didn’t exist...But don’t underestimate the need for attention. Especially young girls. There’s a lot of pressure on young girls in our society to be pretty, to be liked, to be the popular one. It’s not fair, but it is how our society works." 

If I wanted to use this, I might write, "As the Sheriff of Maryville explains, "You know, unfortunately, you have a lot of people involved in this that are running around telling a lot of stories, and without pointing fingers, it serves to benefit peoples’s causes by making things up that really didn’t exist" (Shenk/Cohen). 

#2: Or, you can simply focus on a specific scene in the film which you narrate and then discuss. For example,

In a very important scene from the documentary, Audrie and Daisy, we see the police officer interrogating one of the suspects apologize for having to take the suspect's phone. He even says, "I'm afraid I'll have to take this," as if he truly regrets having to do it. While this may seem like an example of playing "good cop" to get the suspect to relax and eventually confess, throughout the interrogation, he seems never to press too hard or demand too much. The suspect, though uncomfortable, seems surprisingly relaxed and under no fear of serious imprisonment (Shenk/Cohen). 

Then, you would cite the film in your paper's Works Cited page like so:

Audrie and Daisy. Directed by Jon Shenk & Bonnie Cohen. Netflix, 2016. 

For more information about the film, check out this website as well (which you can use as a source, but you can't use it along with the film: either us it OR the film, and then find another second source).
http://jezebel.com/audrie-and-daisy-an-infuriating-and-familiar-look-at-h-1787276546) 

Paper #2 assignment: due Thursday by 5pm

Paper #2: The Cultural Conversation

“We cannot escape our history. All of our solutions to the great problems of health care, education, housing, and economic inequality are troubled by what must go unspoken.” (Coates, “The Case for Reparations”)

The three essays we’ve read for class deal with very difficult, divisive topics in our culture: health care, rape, and race. Once you start listening to the conversation, you realize how deeply each one is rooted in history—a history that spans millions of lives and twice as many discussions and conversations. Below, I’ve given you three naysayer responses to each of the three essays in class. I want you to choose ONE of them as the basis for your Second Paper. You can either (a) use the argument as your general thesis, and write a paper supporting it, or (b) spend your essay refuting it, and trying to prove the opposite side. Either way, you need to employ your own naysayer arguments to show both sides of the conversation, and suggest that whatever you believe, the argument is hardly cut and dry.

THE NAYSAYER RESPONSES (pick one):

N1: I feel that with the limited time and funds dedicated to fighting diseases, Alzheimer’s has to rank low on the totem pole. Since this is an “end of life” disease, it’s better to spend the money on those who are just starting their lives, who have more hope and promise rather than those who have already fulfilled it.

N2: It’s better to define rape as broadly as possible, since the more cases we prosecute, the more rapists we are likely to catch. Since so many rapes go unreported anyway, it’s better to risk being wrong rather than let thousands of women go without justice. Besides, as rape allegations become more commonplace, it will drive the serial rapists from campus and eventually stop the epidemic altogether.

N3: The past is the past. We can’t make up for it, we can’t pay money to it, and we can’t move forward by looking backward. While some believe that reparations will heal financial and psychological wounds, the only real way to do that is simply to work hard and stay strong. We’ve come a long way, and reparations are a step backward for everyone, including the victims.

REQUIREMENTS:

• Use the corresponding essay in your paper significantly: quote from it and use it as a way “in” to the conversation.
• 2-3 secondary sources: these should be articles from EBSCO or another trustworthy source (articles/websites with authors). Use these in your paper as support or as naysayers. Be sure to quote and respond to them in your paper.
• See Quotation Handout: Introduce quotes, cite them properly, and respond to each one. Include a Works Cited page.
• At least 4-5 pages, double spaced
• DUE Thursday, October 6 by 5pm

For Tuesday: Coates, “The Case for Reparations”

For Tuesday: Coates, “The Case for Reparations”

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Coates gives us a prominent naysayer early in the essay, Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter, who says, “Too many men making too many babies they don’t want to take care of...Pull your pants up and buy a belt, because no one wants to see your underwear or the crack of your butt” (15). Why does Coates argue that simply acting ‘respectable’ and providing positive roles models for youth isn’t going to arrest or reverse the problem? What else is causing the poverty and disparity in many inner-city African-American neighborhoods?

Q2: What does Coates mean when he writes, “To proudly claim the veteran and disown the slaveowner is patriotism à la carte” (19)? Or, as he says at the end of the essay, “To celebrate freedom and democracy while forgetting America’s origins in a slavery economy is patriotism à la carte” (41)? How does this relate to the issue of reparations?

Q3: Many people would argue that the past is past: it’s ancient history, and we’ll never move forward if we become mired in old arguments and ideas. Yet Coates argues that “We cannot escape our history. All of our solutions to the great problems of health care, education, housing, and economic inequality are troubled by what must go unspoken” (46-47). How does he support this argument in his essay? Where to the ‘sins of the fathers’ haunt their children and grandchildren?

Q4: Critics of reparations would cite people like Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama, who are not only successful but have reached a standard of living greater than millions of white Americans. And yet, Coates says that “Barack and Michelle Obama have won. But they’ve won by being twice as good—and enduring twice as much” (15). Or, as he says later, “Some black people always will be twice as good. But they generally find white predation to be thrice as fast” (37). What does he mean by this? Is this simply a ‘sour grapes’ attitude? What evidence does he offer that many African-Americans (and other ethnic minorities) have to work twice as hard for the same rights and privileges as their white peers?

For Tuesday: Yoffe, “The College Rape Overcorrection” (pp.75-110)

For Tuesday: Yoffe, “The College Rape Overcorrection” (pp.75-110)

DEFINITIONS: Look up any words you don’t know, especially if they seem important to the essay—we’ll discuss some in class on Tuesday.

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: What does Yoffe mean when she writes, “At Ohio State University, two young people who want to engage in sexual congress might be well advised to first consult with the philosophy department and the law school” (100-101)? Why might the age of consensual relationships be on its last legs in college?

Q2: Yoffe has been widely criticized for this article and others like it, as her detractors have “denounced [her] for “victim blaming”...a student organization that had invited me decided my presence would make student victims “feel unsafe” (103). Is Yoffe critical of women who report rape on student campuses and/or blaming these same women for bringing the crime on themselves? Why or why not?

Q3: In a major study of rapes on college campuses, the conclusions determine that “young American college women are raped at a rate similar to women in Congo, where rape has been used as a weapon of war” (90). Is this a true, accurate statement? What might make us pause at such an assertion—and why do so many colleges take it at face value?

Q4: According to Yoffe, alcohol is the ‘elephant in the room’ in any discussion about the college rape epidemic—but it’s the last thing anyone talks about. Why is this? Why is the role of college drinking underplayed by college administrators, and why does Yoffe think alcohol—even more than serial rapists—are to blame for growing reports of sexual assault on campus?

For Next Week: Paper #1 Conferences In My Office

Remember that there is no class next week: instead, I want you to come to my office (HM 348) at a prearranged time to discuss your Paper #1 assignment (which I'll have graded and ready to return to you). If you miss your conference, it counts as TWO absences, so please show up OR contact me to schedule a new time. The sign up sheet is below, so if you missed class on Thursday, please e-mail me about one of the available times:

TUESDAY 13
9:30 Carli
:40 Danny
:50 Brenna

10:00 Anna
:10 Emily N.
:20 David 
:30 Ethan H.
:40 Steven
:50 Simrika

11:00 Kristin
:10 Megan 
:20 Danielle
:30 Nikki
:40 Ben
:50 Hayden

12:00 Michaela
:10 Mya
:20
:30 Kaitlin

1:00 Emily C.
:10 Jack
:20 Dava
:30 Qua'ry

2:00 Shambhavi
:20 Tiffany

WEDNESDAY 14
2:00 Cameron
:10 Colton

THURSDAY 15
10:00 Dustin
:40 Alexia
:50 Nathan

11:00 Ashley 
:10 Taylor
:20 Cody
:30 Lisa
:40 Brooke
:50 Rachel

12:00 Emily
:10 Pramila

12:30 to 2:30 is OPEN for those who haven't scheduled a confernece

For Thursday: Stanley, "Jackie's Goodbye" (pp.379-408)

Original Art from the National Journal issue with "Jackie's Goodbye"

REMEMBER: No class on Tuesday--just finish/turn in Paper #1 to my office. Then start reading and responding to the questions below...

For Thursday: Stanley, “Jackie’s Goodbye” (pp.379-408)

Definitions:

deplorable (379)

incredulous (380)

burgeoning (383)

sporadic (385)

tenuous (390)

extraneous (392)

cognition (395)

euthanasia (400)

panacea (403)

mandate (406)

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Why is Alzheimer’s a relatively recent disease, one that we didn’t think a lot about 100 years ago? Related to this, why has so little been done to a disease that now affects around 5 millions people, “with more than 400,00 new cases each year—numbers that are expected to double by 2050”?

Q2: Why did Jim Crabtree call the triple-murder of his wife and mother by his father a “mercy killing”? Though she calls this “particularly chilling,” is Stanley at all sympathetic with his story? Why or why not?

Q3: When talking about Alzeheimer’s we typically talk about the victims, but in Stanley’s essay she talks about another set of victims—the patient’s family/caregivers. How does Alzeheimer’s afflict everyone related to the disease, and in some cases, prove just as deadly to those not afflicted with it?

Q4: Though not all of us will get Alzheimer’s or have to care for anyone who does, why is this still an important essay for us to read? What weaknesses of modern American life does this reveal? What are our cultural “blind spots” both as individuals and as a nation? What does Stanley want us to see/recognize about ourselves in this piece? 

For Tuesday: Van Meter, “Follow Me” (pp.363-376)

Link to the Vogue article: http://www.vogue.com/865148/kate-upton-model-social-media/

DEFINITIONS:

counterintuitive (366)

synergy (367)

überthin (or über itself) (367)

jargon (371)

cheeky (372)

scrutiny (372)

voyeuristic (373)

palpably (373)

outliers (375)

bodacious (376)

QUESTIONS: Answer TWO of the following...

Q1: Van Meter writes, “There’s no such thing as living in the moment anymore. Thanks to social media, every event, from the Super Bowl to the State of the Union, from the Olympics to your best friend’s wedding, now happens in real time and “real” time” (373). What does he mean by using real time once in quotes and once without? What are the two kinds of “real” he’s referring to, and why might our constant need to document life create a “real” inside the real?

Q2: Why do modeling agencies now demand that models have Twitter and Instagram accounts? Why do models now have to be more than models, but actual brands, tweeting and revealing their lives?

Q3: Discussing her presence on social media, Kate Upton said, “People think I am an expert on social media, but I am still trying to figure it out, too. How much do you want to put yourself out there?...Well, I am out there. There’s no turning back for me” (368). How do you think she means this statement? Does she feel she’s gone “too far”? What consequences might there be for a model who becomes too successful and too visible on social media?  How might this relate to Amanda Hess’ article?

Q4: The Chinese supermodel Liu Wen explains that “Chinese people have a word. We say, Not you happy—you have to make everyone happy. To share the happy. That is very important” (370). How might this statement represent not only the modeling/advertising world, but also the internet in general? How can a single person’s social media be about making “everyone happy”? 

Paper #1: The Virtual Conversation due Tuesday, September 6th by 5pm

There’s no such thing as living in the moment anymore. Thanks to social media, every event, from the Super Bowl to the State of the Union, from the Olympics to your best friend’s wedding, now happens in real time and “real” time” (Van Meter, “Follow Me”)

For this paper, I want you to respond (writing is a response, remember?) to the conversation started by our three writers: Hess, Lewinsky, and Van Meter. This is a conversation about the brave new world of the internet, and how we ‘play’ our lives on it—for better or for worse. The virtual world is a paradox, since we know it’s fake and can be easily manipulated, and yet, we spend more and more time on it, to the exclusion of real life and real moments. So is the internet real and are the abuses of the internet real crimes creating real monsters and real victims?

Your paper should develop one of the following questions by introducing the conversation and giving your ideas/responses:

• Does the Internet encourage the idea that life is a video game where you create a persona, collect followers, and destroy your opponents?
• Is the Internet rigged for men and biased against women?
• Does the Internet merely shine a new light on an old problem: we enjoy the pain of others?

Note that you can disagree with any of the above questions and spend your response arguing against it. However, whether you agree or disagree with the writers, you must QUOTE from at least TWO of the essays in question for support. Use them to respond to, support your ideas, or simply to bring people up to speed with the conversation. We’ll discuss how to integrate quotations into papers according to MLA format in our next class. Remember, the goal of this paper is to respond to a conversation: tell people what it is, who’s engaging in it, and how you contribute to the discussion. It’s as simple as that.

REQUIREMENTS:

• At least 3-4 pages double spaced
• Integrates quotations from at least 2 of the essays in class
• Cites quotations according to MLA guidelines with a Works Cited page
• Typed with an attempt at proofreading
• Due TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6th BY 5pm

For Thursday: Lewinsky, “Shame and Survival” (pp.133-148)

LINK TO THE ARTICLE: http://www.vanityfair.com/style/society/2014/06/monica-lewinsky-humiliation-culture 

DEFINITIONS:

Schadenfreude (135)

Notoriety (136)

Indemnification (137)

Resuscitated (139)

Narcissistic (140)

Surreptitiously (142)

Imbroglios (142)

Derision (143)

Obliquely (143)

Pundit (145)  

Bonus: Prufrockian (139)

QUESTIONS: Answer TWO of the following…

Q1: Far from simply calling out men for misogyny in this essay, Lewinsky also singles out the cruel indifference of other women. What charges does she level at her fellow women, and why does she feel that women—even women known as feminists—were so eager to throw her under the bus?

Q2: How does Lewinksy’s essay directly respond, in some sense, to Amanda Hess’? Though Hess is talking about on-line stalking and Lewinsky is discussing a pre-internet scandal, how are the two related? In other words, how might one essay help us understand the other?

Q3: Why does Lewinsky’s name keep coming up in the “national conversation?” What does she represent for both political parties, and why does she characterize this continuing attention as “abuse”?

Q4; According to Lewinksy, quoting the historian Nicolaus Mills, we have entered a “culture of humiliation.” What caused this? Did new technology, like the internet, create this? Or was it already here, and factors of modern life have merely intensified it? How does her story exemplify this “culture of humiliation”?

Link to Amanda Hess' article

If you don't have the book yet, you can find a link to the entire article here: https://psmag.com/why-women-aren-t-welcome-on-the-internet-aa21fdbc8d6#.re0fgwv26

For Tuesday: Hess, “Women Aren’t Welcome Here” (pp.51-72)

NOTE: There is some disturbing material and graphic language in a few passages of this essay. However, it’s important for the author to reveal the language of her stalkers so we understand what she’s going through. Feel free to skim/skip these passages if they disturb you, but also consider that this language could be directed at any of us—so we might have to deal with it at some time whether we want to or not (which is her point in writing the essay).

PART I: Definitions (define the following words even if you think you know them; and don’t be afraid to look them up if you don’t!)

1. Noxious (52)                     6. visceral (61)

2. misogyny (54)                  7. unequivocal (61) 

3. ruse (57)                            8. proliferated (66)

4. vitriol (59)                        9. banality (67)

5. vagabond (60)                  10. Sisyphean (69)

PART II: Questions: answer TWO of the four questions in a short paragraph—at least a few sentences. These are not “yes” or “no” questions, meaning they require a little thought and have more than one clear answer. Try to respond to the questions as specifically as possible using support/ideas from the article and avoid answers like, “yes, because that’s what it said,” etc.

1.         On page 61, Hess explains that “one person is feeling the reality of the Internet very viscerally: the person who is being threatened...It’s a lot easier for the person who made the threat—and the person investigating the threat—to believe that what’s happening on the Internet isn’t real.” Why do you think Internet crimes/harassment seem less “real” to everyone but the victim? Why do victims seem to have less right that perpetrators?

2.         What does Hess mean when she writes that “On the internet, men are tourists and women are vagabonds” (60)? Why does the internet, in her opinion, privilege men over women, and why can’t women find a stable ‘home’ there?

3.         According to the article, why do many people, including Twitter, object to policing the internet? Even though terrible abuses are occurring every day, what stops companies and/or the government from protecting victims like Hess? What makes this such a complicated and hot-button topic?

4.         Hess, a victim of online harassment and rape/murder threats, claims there is a “monetary penalty for being a woman” (67). Why do women have to pay more for the right to be online and enjoy the same freedoms as men? 

Welcome to the Course

Welcome to Freshman Composition I, Sections 13 and 16.

This is a first-semester writing course that strives to accomplish two goals: (a) show the connection between reading and writing, and (b) make writing part of a local or global conversation with other writers. Once you become knowledgeable about a given topic, you can then add to the conversation with your own writing, which extends this discussion into new avenues of thought (or connects to old ones). Writing should never be something done to fill up space or to sound ‘smart’; the goal of writing is to communicate to an audience that shares your concerns, but may have never considered the topic from your point of view. Writing—and publishing your writing—has never been easier or more accessible than it is now. With a potential audience of millions on the internet and elsewhere, the burden is on you to actually have something to say!

Bookmark this page, as I will post daily reading assignments here, as well as paper assignments, handouts, and other announcements. Also, be sure to buy the books for the class as soon as possible--we will start reading next week! You can find these books in the ECU bookstore. Please let me know if you have any questions--you can e-mail me at jgrasso@ecok.edu. 

REQUIRED TEXTS (2):

·        The Best American Magazine Writing 2015. Ed. Holt.

·        Harden, Escape From Camp 14.