ENGL 4275/WRDS 4011: “Rhetoric of Technology” » February 27th: Writing Workshop, etc.

February 27th: Writing Workshop, etc.

Technology and Yourself Essay Revisions are due next Friday, 3/01, 11:00pm

Plan for the Day

Your Midterm Exam will not have questions from Hunter Havelin Adams III’s “African Observers of the Universe: The Sirius Question,” but your Final Exam will.

Fallows’s “The American Army and the M-16 Rifle”

Let’s head back to last Thursday’s webpage and pick up the M-16.

Social Construction of Technology Essays

These essays should give me good insight into your understanding of the issues we’ve explored in class. At the very least, you should be looking at technology from a perspective that might not be familiar to you. The first thing you need to do is focus on the culture from which a technology comes; then, show how a technology adheres to the cultural values of (most likely) American culture. If you don’t begin your essay by discussing cultural values, you’re doing the wrong thing.

  • Identify a cultural value or multiple values
  • Explain how that value(s) is pervasive or prevalent in the culture–give examples
  • Discuss how the technology you’re covering embodies those values

Here are some basic things to consider when approaching this essay:

  • Technological Determinism
  • Social Construction of Technology
  • Dynamic/Dialectic Nature of Technology
    • Changing practices and behaviors vs changing values
  • Overarching Values or Ideology
  • Minor values or desires
    • Instant gratification
    • Convenience
    • Success
    • Security
    • Wealth

Of course, there are a few other issues to address related to essays themselves:

  • Give proof! Don’t just assert.
  • Organization
  • In-text Citations
  • PROOFREAD

Thinking Further (Time Permitting)

Thinking about this next essay will also help reinforce some major themes of this course, which will benefit you when taking the Midterm Exam on Thursday. If possible, open up your Google Doc, or have your outline/notes handy. Perhaps we have time to discuss the following:

Cultural Analysis Cultural Analysis Cultural Analysis

Everyone’s writing process is different, but I know some students like more guidance than others, so I am happy to offer advice. These are suggestions to help you brainstorm and expand upon your topic. Consider having at least 3 pages devoted to cultural analysis that might begin the following way (after some reasonable introduction):

  • Identify a cultural value or multiple values
  • Explain how that value(s) is pervasive or prevalent in the culture–give examples
    • Consider 3 places where this value appears
    • American History
    • Media, education, Family, or any institution would be a good place to find reinforcement of this value
  • Then, after all the previous information, the essay should discuss how the technology you’re covering embodies those values

You should be able to find 3-4 supports for why a particular value or ideology is prevalent in American (or another) culture. If you can’t, you may need to add values to analyze, or change the value(s). Don’t ignore this part about incorporating more cultural analysis to fulfill the essay goal of explaining how a technology is a product of the culture from which it comes. Remember, you find prevailing cultural values by noticing what narratives get retold over and over and through your own critical thinking. Commercials, TV shows, films, novels, etc. all hold cultural values, and they can support your claims about culture.

Still Stuck?

If you need a source to help you argue that hegemonic values push for technologies to come about, you can use David F. Noble’s book, which all of you read. He traces a thousand years of history, demonstrating that technological and scientific pursuits were conditioned by cultural forces and, more importantly, hegemony (the elite run things, and their values are considered over the masses). Find two passages (quotations) from Noble or our other readings that can contribute to an analysis on how the technology has or had an origin that was not common (for the everyday person at first) but stemmed from a powerful group. Even if the technology appears to be for anyone, we know that technologies are often pursued by the interests of those more powerful first; then, the technology makes its way to the everyday consumer.

For instance, we’ve talked about how military applications such as the precursor to the Internet was researched and developed by the government. The Internet wasn’t developed to allow online shopping; it started as a way for the military to share information about research. Remember, technologies often trickle down to consumers, and, as we’ve read, it’s not unusual for technologies to be used by powerful groups (the government, the rich, etc.) before being commonplace.

Even if a discussion on hegemony doesn’t make sense for your essay’s context, you should still be able to add examples of how the technology embodies cultural values.

Future Fun

Your Midterm Exam is on Thursday, 2/29! I’ll open it up on Canvas at 8am, and it will close promptly at 11:00pm. We will not be meeting as a class that day, so do the Midterm wherever you have internet access. Also, your Technology and Yourself Essay revisions are due Friday, 3/01, 11:00pm, on Canvas.

Then, I’m giving you the following week off (3/4-3/10): I even got your other professors to cancel their classes, so you’re good until Monday, 3/11. Don’t forget that we have a novel to read after Spring Break–Neuromancer by William Gibson. If you haven’t seen The Matrix or Inception, you should try to watch those films over the break.