Clements

Spring 2014

WRIT 150: Technology & Social Change

Sections 64225, 64340, & 64855
Writing Project 4: Protecting The Future

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived

forwards.
-Sren Kierkegaard
Purpose: The first three paper prompts asked you to make
observations regarding the way technology has shaped various aspects
of our lives, and persuade the reader of the validity of your
observations. While many of your papers included a call to action in
some form or another, the structure of the assignment meant it often
appeared as an afterthought, or at least a secondary concern to
proving your thesis.
In this, our fourth and final paper, action becomes the central concern.
You will write a persuasive essay in which you convince your reader not
just of the issue at stake, but also of the steps that should be taking
towards its positive resolution. You will continue to use all the
invention, arrangement, research, and revision techniques we have
learned throughout the course, but we also will turn our eye more
deliberately towards questions of style and tone to round off the
semester.
Premise: Your first three papers proved that technology is not just
something we use and set aside when were done with it. Rather, its
something that is inextricably intertwined with our lives, and affects
the way we think and live in ways profound, subtle, and often
pernicious. To keep ourselves and our relationship with technology
healthy, therefore, we have to be on guard. This is difficult, however,
because technology develops very quickly. Moores Law states that the
rate of technological progress occurs on an exponential, rather than
linear, scale, and futurists are suggesting that we will make more
technological progress in the next twenty years than have done in the
entire course of human history. This means that by the time weve
come to terms with a new technology, its often already out of date.
This is reflected in our rather unimpressive history of technologyrelated legislation: for every forward-thinking law we have created to
protect our society and our humanity such the Human Cloning
Prohibition Act or the Global Online Freedom Act there are a dozen
desperate attempts to close the gate after the horse has left the barn,

Clements
Spring 2014

WRIT 150: Technology & Social Change

Sections 64225, 64340, & 64855

like the aborted Stop Online Piracy Act or the toothless Anti-Online
Spying Bill. To avoid finding ourselves in the latter quagmire, we must
become more proactive and more innovative; we must try to predict
the ways our choices will affect the future, and take decisive action to
steer humanity in a healthy direction.

Writing Task: For this assignment, you are to create two pieces of
writing: a 5-6 page academic essay, and a shorter piece that defends
the same thesis in a different genre, one that you think is most
conducive to the realization of your own personal voice. The prompt for
both pieces is as follows:
What action do we need to take in response to technology
to facilitate a better future?
25% of your grade will be for the academic essay, and 10% will be for
the companion piece.
Your academic paper must include sources. This time, however, I
will not tell you how many or what kind to use. Instead, use your own
judgment. Use as many sources as you need to make your argument in
as clear and powerful a manner as you can, and choose sources that
are appropriate to the argument you are trying to make. You may need
to use different sources in the two pieces of writing, as they may have
different audiences.
For the shorter piece, you may choose from one of the following
literary genres. If you choose to create a written piece, you should
write approximately 750 words. If you choose a recorded piece, aim for
3-5 minutes. If theres a genre you want to work in that is not on this
list, please run it by me first (Ill probably say yes):
Newspaper Op-Ed
individual
Short film script
Stand-up comedy routine
Short story
YouTube video
play

Open letter to a specific

TED Talk
Poem
Political Manifesto
Dramatic monologue from a

Practical Tips

Clements
Spring 2014

WRIT 150: Technology & Social Change

Sections 64225, 64340, & 64855

Decisive action does not always take the form of bans or limitations.
Some action accommodates, rather than restricts, so that new
technologies can develop without impediment. An example of
positive action might be setting up a charity that ensures that all
children have access to laptops, or putting forth a bill that protects
scientists who are researching genetic modification.
Not all action has to go through governmental or other official
channels. You could, for example, persuade your reader that we
need to make changes in our own lives to improve our future, such
as cutting down on our use of mobile phones.
You will probably need to speculate about the future in order to
persuade your reader that your action is essential, but do so with
care; predictions about the future are notoriously unreliable and
rarely convincing. You also run a great risk of writing slippery slope
fallacies.
Make sure your argument is original. Theres no point calling for a
change that has already taken place, or that a substantial number
people are already lobbying for.
Make sure your suggestion could potentially be implemented in the
near future. Theres no point suggesting that we should all create a
clone of ourselves in case we get sick, because the technology is not
there yet.
Dont be afraid of calling for drastic change (banning all cars, for
example), but remember that the more radical the change, the more
convincing your argument has to be.
Make sure you explain exactly how this change should be carried
out. If an opponent could tear down your argument simply by stating
that your suggestion is impossible to implement, youre dead in the
water.
Schedule

Thursday, November 6th: Brainstorm topics.

To do: Do invention activities and create three potential theses.
Tuesday, November 11th: Workshop theses.
To do: Create research plan and begin research.
Thursday, November 13th: Using questions/assumptions to create rough
plan.
To do: Complete outline/rough plan, and continue research.

Clements
Spring 2014

WRIT 150: Technology & Social Change

Sections 64225, 64340, & 64855

Tuesday, November 18th: Class cancelled for conferences.

To do: Write first half of draft. Prepare list of claims/points-to-make for
next class.
Thursday, November 20th: Test claims through debate. Practice
complicating arguments.
To do: Complete first draft of paper. Begin work on companion piece.
Tuesday, November 25th: Circulate draft with peer groups.
To do: Continue to revise paper, and continue work on companion
piece.
Thursday, November 27th: Thanksgiving (no class).
Tuesday, December 2nd: Peer review session.
To do: Make final revisions to paper based on peer review feedback.
Complete companion piece.
Thursday, December 4th: Paper due.