Paper #1 assignment: Welcome From the Future!

NOTE: The questions and reading for Tuesday's class are in the post BELOW this one. 

English 1213

Paper #1: Welcome From the Future!

GUIDING QUOTE: “She taught senior citizens how to successfully navigate their layers. She’s helped a retired doctor upload images of his grandchildren so strangers could congratulate him, and assisted a ninety-three-year-old widow in sharing her mourning with the world. Her main challenge, she said, was getting older folks to understand the value of their layers. “Every class they ask me why we can’t just talk instead.” (Weinstein, “Openness”)

PROMPT: Since we’re now in the “future,” even though it looks like the present to us, it’s a good time to ask the question: do you think people are generally happier, more adapted, more prepared, or simply more satisfied with their lives than they were 25 years ago (circa 2000)? Have advances in technology, communication, travel, entertainment, and education put us on the road to a better, brighter tomorrow? Would ECU students of 2000 be envious of the Class of 2029’s reality?

Answer this question by looking at 1-2 things you have today that ECU students didn’t have in the year 2000 (or not in the same way as we do today). Have these things increased our happiness, our understanding (of society, of each other), and/or our education? Can we do without them today? Should we? Imagine you’re talking to someone from the year 2000 who doesn’t have or use these things, and try to explain why they’re important to you, and what they do for you on a daily basis. Can you justify these changes, or do you feel you need to apologize for them? Would you get rid of them…or would you be excited to share them with the Class of 2004? You might also think about whether college is easier or harder today thanks to our ‘future’ advances?

REQUIREMENTS:

• Answer the prompt with examples from 1-2 modern ‘marvels’
• Don’t talk generally—make this a personal essay. Talk about how you use and experience these innovations.
• Write to a student from the year 2000. Imagine what they didn’t have and might not know about our ‘future.’ Try to explain the normal things that are not normal to them.
• Quote from at least ONE of the essays/stories in class to help support your ideas/discussion. We’ll talk about how to incorporate quotations into your paper.
• DUE Tuesday, September 16^th by 5pm