Paper #3 Due Friday, April 24--Note changed due date!

Paper #3 Topic:

• Put together two texts that disagree with each other on some important point about technology and its representation, and write about which one makes the more convincing argument and why
• Alternately, you can focus your paper on some interesting way that their representation of technology differs, exploring the differences and the implications of their different views.  
• Or you might look for an surprising similarity between two texts that seem different on first reading;
• Or, you might find a surprising difference between texts that initially seem to share a similar representation. 

It might be especially interesting to pair a fiction text (or poem or film) with a non-fiction text. If a text showcases two opposed viewpoints, like Plug & Pray, it’s okay if you concentrate on just one of those views.

What will the thesis look like?

            Your thesis might answer a question like: which of these texts makes the more convincing argument through its representation and why?  What elements of form and content contribute to its success? Note that it’s important that you pay attention to the details of both texts.
             Or: Text X represents technology as harmful to humanity, while Text Y represents the same technology as beneficial.  Why this difference?  What does each fail to see about the other? Do these texts represent the same technology in importantly different ways?
             Or: Although both Text X and Text Y present dystopian views of the future of technology, Text X suggests that people, rather than technology, will be the problem, while Text Y argues the reverse.

Who is the audience?

             Someone who is already familiar with these texts. No plot summary is necessary, though you will need to contextualize your evidence.

Length

            4-5 pages, though it’s okay if you write more.  If your paper is shorter than you’d like, add more ideas and examples, not generalizations.

How to develop the thesis?

            Write answers to each of these freewriting prompts below for both texts.  That activity will help you refine your thesis and remind you of important details from each. 

            Then take the best parts of your freewriting and organize them into your paper, adding and revising as necessary to develop your arguments.

Freewriting prompts:

·      What does each text argue for? Which character or person represents that argument?

·      What do these people say that asserts the argument (select your quotations)?

·      What scenes or moments are the most important for in representing this view and why are they significant? 

·      What particular details of form (like a character’s name, or the setting, or music or other elements of mise-en-scène) help their argument? 

·      Are there particular details of form that hurt or work against their argument? 

Some tips:

It is a good idea to ask me about the texts you’re pairing if you have doubts.

Plan to work on your paper in 4 stages:

• Look over everything we've read and pick one or two pairs that will work well together.
• Freewrite in response to the freewriting prompts.
• Write a draft of your paper, using the technique below (about the outside reader) to organize your paragraphs.
• Polish your draft, paying special attention to the areas I noted that you need to work on.
• NOTE: every full page that is free of punctuation errors (this includes punctuation around quotations) will get 2 extra points/full page added to the final grade (up to 8 pts)!

The "outside reader" technique:

When you organize your argument, consider using the technique we worked on in class:  Imagine a reader encountering your thesis for the first time.  What questions would she ask?  Which would be the most pressing?  Which would be more specific?  Rank these questions from most pressing to most specific (that will be the order of paragraphs in your paper) and make the answers to them your TS.  This procedure can help you organize your paragraphs and have them follow clearly from your thesis.

Some sample pairings (these are just preliminary suggestions):

Joseph Weizenbaum from Plug & Pray and Yeats’ “Sailing to Byzantium”

Ray Kurzweil from Plug & Pray and Brautigan’s “All Watched Over…”

Ray Kurzweil from Plug & Pray and “BRB”

“The Life and Times of Multivac” and The War of the Worlds—okay, even though these are both fiction

Prometheus Bound and Blade Runner—okay, even though these are both fiction