COMPOSITION I 41

Why did you choose the text you did?  What interested you?  How did you react to what Zeynep Tufekci had to say?  How do you react to what your classmates have to say?

Blog post:  What does “Kiki Kannibal” demonstrate about the risks and rewards of social networking?  Is it a fair portrayal of those risks and rewards?  What else should be considered?

Blog reply:  Reply to one classmate’s post.

5. What role does social media play in providing “surrogators” (219) from whose current experiences we can learn? Will that reverse our refusal “to use others as surrogates” (224)? Has it?

6. Are digital media a means for observing how happy people are in different circumstances (225)? Can we trust what we see online?

7. Does the prevalence of online reviews refute Gilbert’s assertion in the 1^st paragraph on page 222? Why or why not?

8. Can social media make a change in our tendency to see ourselves as “unique” (219)? Does it allow or force us to see that we are like most other people (222)?

After you finish reading Christian’s article, assess the impact of technology on human relationships, using ideas from Christian’s essay as support.  You may want to consider “statelessness” and/or “nexting.”

This question is based on QCR #1 on page 94.  Use the work that we did in class on Turkle and Gardner/Davis and your reading of the first part of Christian in your answer

BLOG post:  Answer question #1 of “Questions for Critical Reading” (on page 280).  You should quote from the article to illustrate your response.  

Read Appiah, pg 73-83. You need to read the whole section. In your group divide these sections with each student taking one:

Local Agreements

Changing Our Minds

Fighting for the Good

Winners and Losers

Become an expert on your assigned section of Appiah. For your section, your job is to understand every small detail. This means, you’ll look up any unfamiliar words or allusions–be sure you’re clear about the terminology he’s using.

In your brief, (one to two paragraph) BLOG post, discuss anything that is unclear in your excerpt, a challenging or important passage, or a question you have. Discuss how this excerpt fits into the overall argument. You will be the expert on your section telling the others in the group what they need to know to fully understand it. Try to cluster the posts from your group together.

What does the choice to “be perceived as powerful” (Levy 268) by acting, sounding, or looking like someone from a more powerful group tell us about the society we live in?  Does it work?  In other words, is what’s described in Levy’s article a potentially effective effort to be perceived as powerful?  How do the “This Is What a ______________ Looks Like” actions respond to this choice?  Comment on one of these and use the text of Levy’s article in your response.

OR

Remembering Yoshino’s call for conversations about when conformity is required and when it is not (558-9), evaluate whether or not Levy’s article will contribute to such conversations.  Will it encourage people to talk to each other across genders?  Will it encourage women who see different paths to empowerment to talk to each other?  Give examples from the text that will encourage or discourage conversations.

Think back to the Muñoz reading where his stepfather accepts the “anglicized,” or English, version of his name.  In your opinion, would Yoshino consider Antonio’s acceptance of the name “Tony” to be an act of “covering”? Why or why not? Please reference specific passages from both the Muñoz and Yoshino texts to support your opinion.

OR

Watch the Yoshino video posted on Blackboard in the Course Materials and the Weekly Sessions folders (Week 3).  What is he saying here about the effect of keeping secrets in our public lives, such as at work or in school?  Do you agree that it limits our “human flourishing” to keep some things private?  Please reference specific passages from the Yoshino video and/or the reading to support your position.

Answer # 2 or 3 of the questions for critical reading by writing a comment.  Remember to read another student’s comment and come to class with your response.