Writing Assignment 8: Introduction to Course Anthology

Summary: In this exercise, you will create a potential introduction for an anthology of work from this Tutorial, tentatively titled Owning the Intangible. (You may choose to do either this assignment or Miscellaneous Assignment 14, in which you draw a cover for the same anthology.)

Purposes: To give you the opportunity to reflect on the topics we have covered in the class. To give you a final opportunity to write for this class.

Due: 8:00 a.m., Thursday, 2 December 2010

Length: An order of the essays plus three-four pages of narrative introduction.

Turning it in:

• Bring three printed copies of your work to class.
• Email me an anonymous version of your work so that I may distribute it to the class.

Background: Each member of this Tutorial has selected a particular issue or topic that relates to the resolution of conflict in online communities. You have now had the opportunity to read drafts of the essays and to see them presented. You will soon receive final versions of the essays.

We are now ready to organize the essays into a book. There are two aspects of organizing essays. You must decide on an appropriate order for the essays (including, perhaps, organizing them around particular themes). You must also introduce the group of essays.

The Assignment: Write a short (three-four page) introduction to an anthology of the work from this class. Your introduction should create a context for the essays and should describe each within that context. In particular, your introduction should try to describe a coherent path of ideas through the essays.

Your introduction should also demonstrate that you've thought broadly about the topics in this tutorial: how the Internet supports freedom, and what mechanisms are used to support control of that freedom.

Choosing the Best: I will distribute all the introductions and covers electronically and anonymously. We will all consider these works and rank them. The cover and introduction that are ranked the best will be used for a self-published anthology I might create from this Tutorial. (The author of the introduction and the designer of the cover will receive some special bonus, although I'm not sure what it is.)