Assignment 2: Understanding and analyzing expert opinion
Background:
A1 was all about you, you, you. You explored your own experiences and practices as a media user in a rapidly changing digital world. Now, you are going to widen your scope and look at a conversation taking place about our changing media world. This assignment will give you the chance to practice one of the most important critical thinking skills, for college and beyond: how to engage with other people’s ideas, summarizing them accurately while keeping your own voice at the heart of your writing.
Assignment:
Choose one of the texts we have read for class. In a total of no less than 1000 and no more than 1500 words (4-5 pages in double-spaced 12 point Times New Roman) respond to this question:
According to this writer, how are changes in media technology changing our culture?
Your response must be divided into sections according to the following structure:
- Thesis: in one or two sentences, sum up your answer to the question.
- Part 1: summarize (around 300 words / 1 page): What is this author’s main argument?
- Part 2: analyze (400-700 words / 2-3 pages): How does the author make their argument? Choose a short section of writing from the article and examine it in detail. What claims does the author make and what evidence do they author draw on? What are some possible counterarguments and how do they address them?
- Part 3: evaluate (300-500 words / 1-2 pages): Give your original response to the author. What are the larger implications of this argument? Do you agree with it? How does it affect your life?
Tips and suggestions:
- Select an essay whose ideas you connected with, or this could be a very boring assignment!
- The section that you analyze in detail should not be the author’s thesis. Choose an interesting passage from the body of the essay.
- It’s okay to use the first person (“I”) occasionally in this assignment, particularly in part 3. But remember that this paper’s goal is to deeply and carefully analyze an expert writer’s ideas.
Due Date: October 22