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
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