[Get Solution]Conversations About Technology

Essay #2 – Conversations About Technology Gutfield uses the occasion of Time magazine’s decision to name “You” (that is, Web 2.0 users) as its Person of the Year to attack both Time and the uses to which the Internet has been put.  Focusing on the trivial nature of Web content, Greg Gutfield, in his satiric essay “Mad About You,” does not hold back in his attack on those who create content for the Web and those who use the Web for entertainment.  You must examine and analyze Greg Gutfield’s essay “Mad About You.”   Essay Prompt:       Greg Gutfield believes there are several negative effects that result from Internet use, including internet users demeaning each other while hiding behind a computer, alienating themselves from relationships and being obsessed with trivial information.  Do you agree or disagree with Gutfield’s ideas?  Why or why not?  Write a 5 to 6-page analysis of Gutfield’s essay that demonstrates your opinion.  You must include ideas from at least two other sources (Nicholas Carr, the Pew Research Center, Moises Naim, Trent Batson, Katherine Allen, “Generation Like” or Marco della Cava) to support your claims about Gutfield.    Guidelines: Before you begin writing this paper, please read pages 56 – 71 of your Rules for Writers book which discusses “Reading and Writing Critically.”  Pay particular attention to pages 66 – 71 which discuss how to write an Analytical Essay.  You should follow the process here to create your essay, paying particular attention to the sample essay on page 67-69.  This is a short sample of an Analysis essay.  You will be doing a longer one, which includes other sources used as support.  To support your claims, you must refer to ideas and examples from Gutfield and at least two other sources we have read (or watched) about the internet and technology for our class.  Use quotations and/or cited paraphrases or summaries from the readings to enhance your discussion but be careful not to overuse quotes.  Use at least 2-3 quotations per body paragraph.  Also, keep in mind that a direct quotation and a paraphrase or summary are not the same things.  Remember that the majority of the essay should be in your own words.  Keep in mind that when you summarize and paraphrase specific ideas from your sources, you need to include a parenthetical citation as well.  Make sure to cite your sources correctly using MLA guidelines and make sure to include a Works Cited page.  Please refer to your handbook Rules for Writers, p. 397-429 to learn how to cite in the text of your essay appropriately.  Read p. 429-463 to learn the guidelines for the Works Cited page.  It is important that you read these pages closely and more than once to understand MLA guidelines. In addition, your essay should follow MLA format.  This includes one-inch margins on all-sides, 12 point font in Arial or Times New Roman, name, class name, professor’s name, and date in upper left-hand corner, last name and page number in upper right-hand corner, a centered title, and double spacing throughout the document. (see p. 464 in Rules for Writers for an example)  Your essay should have an original title. Your essay should have a clear thesis statement at the end of the introduction. Your essay should have organized paragraphs.  Your essay should have no more than 5-6 body paragraphs, including the introduction and conclusion. Your essay should be a minimum of 5-6 well-developed pages. Your essay should have a works cited page. Anyone caught plagiarizing will receive an immediate and permanent “F.”  You will not be able to revise your work.   Pointers for Essay #2: Do not use “I” or “you” in the essay.  Again, you should be able to express your opinion without always using “I”  Also, refrain from putting in your opinion about what you personally think of Gutfield or any other author—-that is not the point of the essay.  This is an academic essay where you are analyzing the texts. Remember that you must cite not only direct quotations but also when you summarize or paraphrase an author’s ideas in your own words.  Your introduction should provide some brief background on Gutfield and his ideas as well as his credentials.  When you mention an author for the first time, you need to mention him or her by full name and explain his or her expertise, as well as name the article or essay.  (Once you mention the author by full name, you can refer to him or her by the last name).  The introduction should also provide the reader with a summary of Gutfield’s main ideas in the introduction.  You should then end with your thesis which should be no more than 1 – 2 sentences at the end of the introduction.  Your thesis is the argument you are making—it is your opinion regarding the question being posed in the prompt—do you agree with Gutfield’s assessment about internet use?  When you state your thesis, avoid using “I.” Titles of essays should go in quotation marks, not italics.  Book, newspaper and magazine titles are italicized. Also, your introduction should be at least 1/2 of a page but no longer than one page.  If it is longer than a page, you are probably saying too much. Your body paragraphs are where you should present your points to defend your thesis; do not just summarize the author’s essay.  For example, your first body paragraph should discuss one negative effect, according to Gutfield, that results from internet use.  The topic sentence should clearly state your first point, and this should tell the reader what the negative effect is and whether, or not, you agree with Gutfield.  Once you develop your ideas, look through Gutfield’s essay and cite effective quotations to defend your analysis.  Please avoid citing quotations that are 5 sentences or longer.  In addition, you may want to discuss and cite from one of the other authors (Nicholas Carr, the Pew Research Center, Moises Naim, Trent Batson, Katherine Allen, “Generation Like” or Marco Della Cava) to bolster the point further.  This should be done within the same paragraph and not a separate one; in addition, another source has to be used at least twice in the essay.  Again, when you mention an author for the first time, you need to mention him or her by full name and explain his or her expertise, as well as name the article or essay you are quoting from.  The following example is taken from Essay #1, but the model of how to introduce an author still applies.  For example, I might state something like this:  Kathleen Anderson was a teacher for two years in primary school and studied the work of John Taylor Gatto, Ken Robinson and John Holt.  In her essay, “Reflections in Education: Considering the Impact of Schooling on the Learner,” she argues that “We grade everything students do throughout the day from socializing and participating to their attendance and the work they produce.  They are constantly being evaluated” (67).  Once you mention the author by full name and the article by full name, you do not have to state it again.  Also, notice that Anderson’s name is not in the parenthetical citation because her last name was used in the signal phrase.  When the author’s name is in the signal phrase, only the page number is needed in the citation—without the “p.” You should have at least 3 to 4 points to defend your thesis.  This means that you need to have at least 3 to 4 body paragraphs that repeat the method you followed in body paragraph #1, just with a new point.  You then need to conclude and sum up your ideas. For the works cited page, you need to consult your Rules for Writers book.  Your works cited should look like the one on pages 475-476 of your Hacker book.  Works cited pages should be double-spaced and in alphabetical order by last name.  If a name is not available for your source, then use the next item in the citation.  The following pages in Hacker should be used for your sources: ·         p. 448, #29 or #30 – to cite essays from the anthology Conversations, this includes Gutfield, Naim, Batson, Pew Research Center and Allen.  A sample is on the Canvas site under “Files.” ·         p. 441, #13b – to cite Carr’s essay from The Atlantic ·         p. 455, #42 – to cite Generation Like – Frontline (author) PBS (website) ·         p. 451, #36 – to cite Marco Della Cava’s essay (cite the Canvas website)   9.      For essays from our anthology, Carr and for Della Cava, you cite page numbers since we have PDFs.  However, there are no page numbers to cite for Generation Like.  To understand how to cite sources in the text of your essay, read ALL lectures on citing and the pages assigned in Hacker.

So much stress and so little time? We’ve got you covered. Get your paper proofread, edited or written from scratch within the tight deadline.