Response Paper #3
Now You See It, Introduction and Chapter 1 (pages 1-43)
OPTION ONE:
Tell the story of what you think or how you imagine a 21st Century education should look like, feel like, etc.
OPTION TWO:
Think ahead to your post-Baruch life. What do you imagine your career will look like? What do you think are the three most important skills you will need to have in order to succeed? Why?
DUE: Tuesday, March 13 (1-2 pages typed)
Response Paper #2
The Shallows,Chapters 6 & 7 (pages 99-143)
OPTION ONE:
For this response, you will need to compose an “op-ed” piece, an opinionated “column” that will argue either for or against the rise of the “digital reader.” You might want to take a look atThe New York Times for examples of what this kind of writing entails. A successful opinion piece always convinces the reader to agree with or at least consider the author’s argument, and proves the writer’s credibility by using outside sources (in this case Carr’s writing). So, in other words, the question you will argue–“sales of digital readers are now booming” (Carr 101)–is this good or bad?
OPTION TWO:
For this response, turn your attention to Chapter 7 (“The Juggler’s Brain”). Carr writes, “the Net seizes our attention only to scatter it” (118). Do you agree or disagree? What happens to you when you go on the Net? What does a typical thirty minutes in front of your computer look like? Think of this entry as your chance to prove Carr right or wrong by just using details from your own user experience.
DUE: Thursday, February 16 (1-2 pages typed)
Response Paper #1
“Diary” by Sherry Turkle (course site)
The Shallows, Prologue and Chapters 1 & 2 (pages 1-35)
OPTION 1:
Do you agree or disagree with Nicholas Carr when he claims, “what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation” (6)? Do you experience this same difficulty “paying attention”?
Describe your attention span—what does it look like? How might you define it? What happens when you pick up a physical book?
OPTION 2:
For this response, turn your attention to Turkle’s “Diary.” Write your own “diary”—fact or fiction. Have you ever fallen in love with a machine? What do you think it means to be “alive” or human in the year 2012? How would you describe that experience? Would your Darwin exhibit have real turtles or robots? What would that decision-making process look like?
DUE: Tuesday, February 7 (1-2 pages typed)