First, be sure to leave a short hello comment on the Welcome post!
For your first blog assignment, due Tuesday, you’ll need to start by carefully reading the three short texts I handed out at the end of class on Thursday: the excerpt from Plato’s Phaedrus and the two essays by tech writer Nicholas Carr (links below if you’d like to check out the other articles he links to).
The Oral World and the Written Word
In a short post of no more than 500 words, explain your take on the three texts. What do you make of Socrates’ argument in Phaedrus? How do you understand the contradiction inherent in the fact that Plato is himself a writer, *writing* about the idea that writing is bad? Do you think Carr’s argument about the internet is solid? Why or why not? Your post should reference at least one particular moment (a passage or a sentence) in each of the three texts; be sure to use quotation marks if you’re quoting directly and to cite page numbers so that others can find what you’re talking about. Your post shouldn’t just offer a summary or paraphrase of the texts but should instead start to respond by pointing out a moment or moments of inconsistency or confusion, making a case *against* a position offered by one or more of the texts, or extending a position offered by one or more of the texts. Feel free here to reference your own experience!
This should be a new post of your own (not a comment on this post); you can start a new post by going to the “+New” button at the top of this screen. Before you “Publish” your post, be sure to proofread it carefully and please tag your post (in the window to the right)—you can use existing tags or create new ones of your own. If you’re still learning how to use the blog platform, check out the “Help!” button at the top of the screen. A rubric for how blog posts are evaluated can be found on the syllabus and under the “assignments” tab.