Writing Homework Help

Draft 2:

• Length: 1200 Words, double-spaced
• Sources: At least two (Debord, Carr, and/or Turkle)
• Cited (in-text and with works cited page) according to MLA requirements
• Graded based on the five categories below

Now that you have spent some time thinking about the three texts we have read for this essay, it is time to work with them together. This process is called synthesis, and it’s a more complex form of comparison/contrast. Instead of just noticing what is similar or different, you will actively work to connect and compare ideas from different texts. As you do so, you will come up with a new, more complex idea that is informed by both.

Content:

For this essay, you’ll need to connect and compare different ideas from across two or three of the essays we have just read by Guy Debord, Sherry Turkle, and Nicholas Carr. In so doing, you will actually be making new ideas all your own.

• For your argument, stating completely in a thesis in the essay’s introduction, you will discuss the complex connection between two different ideas in the readings. This connection should not be obvious–for example, “all three of the authors discuss technology.” Rather, it should be a more interesting connection that others may not realize.
• Show how the ideas are connected, and then discuss why this is interesting or important. As you dive into this “so what” question, you may discover that you are creating a new idea of your own. That’s the heart of a synthesis essay.
• Use quote sandwiches to compare, connect, and weave together these ideas.
• In the conclusion, restate the synthesis you have created and then consider spending more time on the so what question. Why is this important? Why should the reader care? What, more broadly, do these ideas imply?

Assessment:

Papers are graded on argument, evidence, organization, voice, and mechanics / MLA (see rubric below).

Topic:

• The paper compares and connects ideas from two or three of the essays for this section.
• The argument is complex and interesting, going beyond simple connections.
• The argument addresses the “so what?” question, more deeply exploring the synthesis.

Evidence:

• The paper supports its argument with relevant, warranted evidence from the essays.
• Outside evidence is presented in “quote sandwich” structures including introductions and thorough analysis.
• All outside evidence is cited accurately via in-text citations and a works-cited page.

Organization:

• The paper uses an organization system (such as Classical Oration) to give the entire essay a clear, logical order.
• The paper includes an introduction that presents the topic and argument as well as a conclusion that summarizes and finalizes.
• A background section introduces your readers to important ideas, terms, or bits of history.
• The paper’s flow of ideas from paragraph to paragraph is clear and logical, using effective transitions and connections.

Academic Voice:

• The writer’s ethos is matched effectively to their (academic) audience’s expectations.
• The voice shows strong and effective specificity, clarity, and authority in its structure and word choice.
• Verbs especially are often from Latin or French origins.

For today, reread these two texts:

Debord Society of the Spectacle Excerpts.docx

Turkle Sherry Alone Together Introduction.pdf

Then, add one more:

“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr