Conversation Paper #1 due Tuesday, October 1st by 5pm

Conversation Paper #1: Traveling to Utopia

One of the advantages of reading about other cultures is the sense of being an outsider looking into a completely strange and mysterious world: in some ways, it’s like peering into the future. This is especially true when the societies are trying to transform cutting-edge ideas into new ways of thinking and being. In the essays we read for class, Japan, Korea, and Estonia are all chasing perfection in their own way. The question is, should we follow their example? Are they leading us to a brave new world…or an apocalyptic nightmare?

Choose one of the topics below and discuss why, to you, it comes closest to creating a modern-day utopia. OR, write a paper where you discuss why one of the following is recipe for a dystopia in the making:

• A world where everything is viewed as art, and expensive quality is better than affordable quantity: “Biting into one sliver of the fruit, I had the sense I was tasting in color for the first time” (37).
• A world where technology can erase our human weaknesses and make us better versions of ourselves: “The automation of society seems to feed directly into the longing for perfection; a machine will simply do things better and more efficiently, whether scanning your license plate or annihilating you at a Go tournament” (262).
• A world where everyone is part of a global community, without borders, states, or nations: “nationality is determined not so much by where you live as what you log onto” (158).

The GOAL of this assignment is to have a conversation about what could solve our  society’s problems—or potentially make them worse. Choose only ONE of the topics above and explore it through other writers’ ideas and concerns, responding to them with your own insights or observations we made in class. Make sure to include a NAYSAYER response from other sources (see below).

SOURCES: You must have at least FOUR sources for this paper: TWO must be essays from class (feel free to use one of the quotes I provided), and TWO must be outside articles, books, or websites. We’ll discuss how to do this in class next week. Be sure to QUOTE your sources and integrate them into your paper (don’t simply sprinkle unrelated quotes throughout your paper). Use the sources to help you see more sides of the story, and consider ideas that you may not have considered before. In other words, try to respond to other voices—don’t try to write the entire essay by yourself!

REQUIREMENTS:

• At least 4 pages, double spaced, but you can do more
• At least 4 sources, 2 from our essays, 2 from journals, web, etc.
• Quote sources and integrate them into your essay
• Show a conversation between your ideas and other essays/writers
• DUE Tuesday, October 1^st by 5pm