For this paper, you will choose some issue raised during the semester that piqued your curiosity and do some further research on it. The general topic is how digital technology is shaping and will continue to shape our lives in the future. Within this general topic, however, you need to carve out both a manageable scope and a meaningful argument.
One of the keys to a successful research project is having a strong research question. Despite the intentionally provocative title of his article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, in The Shallows, Nicholas Carr was not asking “Is the Internet good or bad?” He wasn’t even asking “Do the costs of Internet usage outweigh the benefits?” (This would have been the book some of you wanted to read—a cost/benefit analysis that weighed both sides and then made an ostensibly objective judgment based on empirical evidence). Rather, the author Carr’s research question in his book was something more like “What are the historical, social, cultural, and neurological implications of our extensive Internet connectivity and should we be concerned about those implications?” I invite you to reflect on the differences between these various sample research questions, and formulate a research question of your own that aspires to the nuance and comprehensiveness of Carr’s.
As many of you commented on in your analysis of Carr’s book, he was not an impartial author. He had, as most authors do, an argument and a purpose in writing. His argument was that yes, indeed, we should be concerned about the implications of our Internet connectivity, and his purpose was to bring readers’ awareness to the seriousness, in his view, of the neurological implications most especially. So too should you have an argument and a purpose in your argumentative research paper. Your argument can be “anti” or “pro-“ technology in tone, although that’s a rather simplistic way of thinking about it. Hopefully you have a measured position that can consider different viewpoints, even as you strongly formulate your own viewpoint. If you’ve been champing at the bit all semester at the perceived “anti-technology” theme, here’s your opportunity to celebrate the achievements of technology—although you need to do so in a well-argued and substantiated way. You will be required to use five quality sources in support of your position. Your research should strive to investigate not only the actual purpose and usage (current and future) of some digital technology, but also whatever conversation is being had by commentators about that technology.
You should consider the following questions:
• How is this technology currently being used? What are its benefits? How do its creators imagine it being used in the future?
• What concerns have been raised by others about this technology? What potential drawbacks or unforeseen uses exist?
• What implications (historical, social, cultural, neurological, political, economic, environmental, etc.) are there in the use of this technology? What are people possibly not considering when they adopt this technology?
• What is your own position on the use of this technology?
ESSAY REQUIREMENTS:
• 1,500-2,000 words, typed and double-spaced. Word count at end of paper.
• Interesting and informative title.
• An opening thesis paragraph outlining a manageable scope and a meaningful argument about one
specific facet of digital technology.
• Well-organized body paragraphs with clear focus for each paragraph and elegant transitions between
paragraphs
• Five research sources to explain current and future usage, elucidate ongoing conversations, and
support your own position.
• Effective use of quotes from your sources. Quotes should be smoothly and correctly incorporated into
your own sentences (no dropped quotes).
• Correct use of MLA Style for formatting, quotations, and citations.
• A conclusion that encapsulates your main points.
• A properly formatted Works Cited.
• College-level vocabulary and sentence structures.
• Interesting to read, demonstrating depth of thought and insight.
• Carefully proofread, with no grammatical, mechanical or word usage errors.
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