Short Paper #3: Eyewitness to History
INTRO: This is the flip side of Short Paper #2: I want you
to imagine that in the future, things really work out and we solve a lot of our
‘dystopian’ problems. Your children—or your children’s children—live in a very
different world than we do, and the problems of the early 21st
century now seem remote and almost impossible. However, you were there—you
remember this. So I want you to act as an eyewitness and explain to these later
generations what the world was like when you were just starting college.
ASSIGNMENT: For this paper, you don’t have to do much
writing (not yet, anyway). Instead, I want you to identify ONE specific problem
or issue we’re dealing with today that you hope will be conquered in 50 years.
It could be anything from student loans, environmental issues, racial unrest, health
issues, political parties, etc. In just 1-2 pages, I want you to briefly
introduce this issue to someone who doesn’t understand it (the later
generations) and explain why it was such a big problem. You don’t have to
explain all the complexities of the issue yet—just introduce it to someone who
has never heard of it, so they can appreciate why it matters and why we needed
to solve it.
SOURCES: The biggest part of this assignment is SOURCES: I
want you to include an ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY of 5-6 sources that you would
offer as “recommended reading” to your audience. At least TWO of these sources
can be stories from class, since the stories all use metaphors and science
fiction/fantasy to help examine various aspects of our world. THREE (or more)
sources should be journal articles, relevant websites, books, You Tube videos,
etc. You’ll list each sources just as you would in a Works Cited page, but
after each source, you’ll provide a few sentences summarizing the main
points/ideas of the source for your audience. This way, they’ll know how the
source is relevant and what they should look for as they read/examine it.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Strauss, Valerie. “A University of Wisconsin
campus pushes plan to drop 13
majors.” The Washington
Post. 12 March 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news. Accessed 29 March 2018.
This article discusses the university’s argument for making
a very controversial decision—scrapping most humanities majors in favor of more
“lucrative” or “hands-on” career fields. Even though many claim this goes
against the very fabric of what a university stands for (character building
rather than mere job creation), the university feels that this will better meet
“the state’s workforce needs.” The article also explains that this is part of a
trend in Wisconsin politics which has tried to
undermine a liberal arts education under Governor Scott Walker’s leadership.
SHORT PAPER #3 IS DUE FRIDAY, APRIL 12th by 5pm [no class that day]
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