Goals:
Due:
Write a two- to three-page essay (400-800 words) that addresses one of the options below. In your essay, use ideas from They Say, I Say to help structure and strengthen your argument. Use ideas from Style to help you revise your essay.
Option 1: Tom Standage observes that responses to the telegraph in the 19th Century were very similar to responses to the Internet and the mobile phone (particularly SMS) today. Find a recent article (newspaper or magazine is fine) concerning an issue that has arisen both with the telegraph and with newer technology, such as online dating, information overload, or claims that the technology will cause world peace. In your essay, compare and contrast some aspect of Standage's treatment of the issue with your article's treatment.
Option 2: Ling (2004) and Okabe & Ito (2005) both discuss how mobile phone users interact with people around them, especially in public places, one in Scandanavia and one in Japan. Choose some theme that appears in both articles. In your essay, compare and contrast how the two articles address that theme. (Be careful to limit yourself to one major idea: You probably will not have space to compare the entire content of both essays!)
Option 3: The articles by Ling (2004) and Okabe & Ito (2005) have several things in common: Both are about social norms and regulations addressing the growing use of the mobile phone. Both present research done outside the United States. And both are a few years old. Find a recent article (newspaper or magazine is fine) that discusses developing social norms around a new technology in the United States. This could be the mobile phone, but could be another technology such as the iPod or the laptop computer. Compare and contrast a social norm described in the new article with a related social norm described by Ling or by Okabe & Ito.
If you would like to pursue Option 1 or Option 3 but need help finding an article, please talk with me or a librarian!
In writing your essay, you should think of other first-year students as your audience, but not necessarily students from our class or others who have read these articles. You may need to include some background information about the authors or the articles, but you should not try to summarize the entire article.
You are writing a formal academic paper, so you must be careful to back up your assertions with evidence from the text, including well-chosen quotations, proper page citations, and a works-cited list.
The voice to adopt in the essay is that of a first-year college student. No need to sound like a professor!
The assistant who photocopied Ling (2004) and Okabe & Ito (2005) failed to provide you with the necessary information for citing these articles. Photocopies of the relevant pages from the original books are attached to this assignment.
Tuesday, November 4: Bring a plan for your paper to class. This step serves two purposes: For you to start thinking about how to organize your paper and for me to provide you with feedback on your plan. See my instructions below.
Please clearly indicate which of the three options you are responding to.
If you plan to pursue option 1 or option 3, please provide me with a printed copy of the article you found, or let me know that you need help finding something.
Referring to templates from They Say / I Say, write at least a thesis sentence and possibly the entire first paragraph of your paper.
For each paragraph, write either a topic sentence or a description of what you will write in the paragraph. Use complete sentences. I cannot understand isolated words and phrases.
You may type or handwrite your plan, as you prefer.
Thursday, November 13: Bring four (4) copies of your first draft to class. During class, you will have the opportunity to get feedback from one of your classmates. I will also provide feedback.
The essay must be typed, double-spaced, with a ten- to twelve-point font and margins of at least one inch. Staying within the word limit is more important than staying within the page limit.
Put your name, the date, and a title on the paper, but don't bother with a separate title page for such a short essay.
Printing your paper two-sided, if your printer can do it, is preferred.
If you get any kind of help on the paper (for example, from me, from your roommate, from a librarian, from the Writing Lab), you should acknowledge that help with a note thanking the person who helped you. It is customary to make acknowledgments after the body of the text and before the works-cited list.
Your citations and list of works cited must follow the MLA citation style.
I will grade your essays according to same rubric as I used for your first essays.
Janet Davis (davisjan@cs.grinnell.edu)
Created October 29, 2008 with thanks to Kent McClelland