Project: Analysis

To write your Analysis essay for Project 1, please choose from among the following prompts.

When composing your essay, be sure that your paragraph offers a summary of the essay(s) you're analyzing. This opening/ summary paragraph should be followed by a shorter paragraph (3-5 sentences long), containing your Analytical Thesis.

1. Write an analysis of Lam's "I Tweet, Therefore, I Am" (p. 24) by focusing in on one of his major ideas (e.g., an image or emphasized phrase). Discuss the role that this idea plays in his overall argument. Then, distinguish your own views from his. In order to make this distinction, cite one example from your own experience with social media, news media, instantaneous communication, and/ or any of the platforms Lam mentions in his piece (i.e., YouTube, Facebook, etc.).

2. Write an essay that analyzes how Lam and Hayles frame the effects of new media in different ways. Take care to explain how each writer's framing of the issue sets up: a.) the claims that they make, b.) the evidence that they present, and c.) the consequences to which they allude. In order to get your point across, be sure to cite from the two articles. In your conclusion, you might consider discussing which perspective (Lam or Hayles) you find most useful.

3. Write an essay that analyzes how Turkle and Gopnik frame the effects of new media. In your essay, consider how Turkle and Gopnik frame how they think about the ways new media are rewiring us. Consider, for example, how Gopnik puts communication media such as the telegraph, books, and telephone into historical perspective; also consider how Turkle discusses communication media such as Twitter, and so on. What does this show about does the perspective of Gopnik's commentary on Turkle's book?

4. Presents your own perspective on the issue of whether new media are rewiring us by linking together one main idea from each of the unit's 4 readings. For this prompt, you will need to first present your own view on this topic, and then support it by examining a major point from each of the writers we've read. The task here is to keep a kind of dialogue going between all of these writers (i.e.,by extending and linking their ideas) while also articulating your own perspective (i.e., distinguishing your views).

5. Come up with your own prompt! Just be sure to email it to me for approval, or discuss it with me.