PAPER 2: Measuring an Argument Against Your Own Experience

1250 Words
Rough Draft Composed in Class Friday, 10/2
Second Draft Due in Class 10/14
Third Draft Due for Evaluation & Critique of Interim Portfolio on 11/6
Final Draft Submitted with Interim Portfolio on 11/16


In this essay, you will assess the thesis and argument of another author and then evaluate the claims of that author against your own experience. This assignment will also require you to articulate and defend your own thesis on the same issue.

You have a choice between two authors for this assignment: David E. Nye ("Work: More or Less, Better or Worse?" in Nye, Technology Matters 109-134." and Kevin Carey ("College for $99 a Month" The Washington Monthly, September/October 2009). If you choose to write on Nye's essay, your job will be to evaluate his thesis on how technology affects the world of work, and measure his claims against your own experience. If you write on Kevin Carey's article, you will be required to evaluate his claims on how technology is affecting the world of higher education, and measure his claims against your own experience. In each case, you will also be required to articulate and advance your own position on the issue.