Final Project and Presentation: Week 10 and 11

You are to write a 5-page, double-spaced Social Commentary on "What if the Internet went away, never to return?" and then present this social commentary to the class in Week 10 or 11, based on a sign-up sheet. The presentation guidelines are further down the page.

This is to be a creative, analytical, controlled (read: focused) rant in which you address the specific technology (the Internet) as a cultural tool, and how its disappearance would affect society-at-large. But, rather than listing a handful of effects and leaving those effects at that, you are to thoroughly explore one use of the Internet and what would the effect(s) be on 21st century society if the Internet was no longer available for that use.

Take into account our readings this quarter, but rather than allow those author's points to control your response, only use 2-4 quotes from our readings as support. Your job is to outline and explain your ideas, but focus on the subject -- culture and the Internet. This means, no "I" in your essay. 

You may provide outside research, and will find it necessary to do so, for statistics and support. Never make generalizations without substantiating. In other words, don't root your argument in unexplained and unsupported opinion. 

To help get your minds focused but flowing with ideas, here are some questions that your audience, based on the prompt, may expect to be indirectly answered in your rant (Don't feel pressured to re-state or force answers to all of them. Simply, use these as inspirational guides):

1) What has the Internet replaced? 

2) What would societies go back to or have to create if the Internet no longer fulfilled a duty?

3) What kinds of strategies might a society have to implement? What and how do they adjust?

4) What might the social impact be if the Internet did not fulfill this use? Why? How did it fulfill this use, and what were its benefits? Don't generalize here, but provide specific, practical examples if you were to answer this one.

5) Who would benefit from Internet going away? Who is harmed? In what ways? 

6) What is found on the Internet? 

7) Who uses the Internet?'

8) How does the Internet represent various arguments made by the authors this semester? This is one that, when/if addressed, you'd need to offer individual comparisons rather than generalize all of them together in one pot.

9) How do we access the Internet? What other tools would be affected by the disappearance of the Internet?

10) How can the Internet be used as a tool for future societies? 

11) Is the Internet ultimately necessary for progress? 

12) What could be done to make sure Internet doesn't run away?

14) What are your first thoughts, when you hear "the Internet"?

14) What other questions should we consider? I will add other questions to this list as we think of them, if we need them.

Class Presentations:

In the final week of class, each of you will present your paper to the class. In doing so, you will provide the thesis for your rant. What use of the tool did you focus on, what did you have to say if the Internet could no longer be used to fulfill that societal use? 

You may present the paper as your creative piece, performing your rant. Or, you may provide a supplemental presentation that includes ...using the Internet and/or other visual aids to demonstrate the main argument of your paper. 

The most specific guideline I want to give is, consider human behavior and how we deal with the technology and how can you represent that to the class, visually. This may be through a collection of individual examples, or one well thought-out and performed example of "humans and their use of technology"

This presentation must be at least 10 minutes long, but no longer than 20 minutes. This presentation will factor in to your grade on the final.

Some examples of what you may do:

- Create a worksheet/activity for your course mates to do. Give them time to do the worksheet, and then go over the worksheet with them. But, show some ingenuity and rationale in having us do your activity! 

- Write and perform a brief play/poem/commercial that serves as a visual representation of your paper -- one that exemplifies society before, during, after the Internet...

- Create a collage of newspaper clippings that have to deal with the Internet and your own argument.

- Create a photo album/slide show of people using (or not using) the technology, and explain their behavior.

- ???