PROJECT # 1: Writing in Response to a Single Text

In “The Empathy Diaries” Sherry Turkle discusses what she considers the detrimental effect that technological tools for communication have had on genuine conversation and, by extension, on our capacity to empathize with others. Positioning her project as a call to action, she urges readers to reconsider how technologies are designed and how we “bring [them] into our lives” (346).

Your Task:

Write an essay of 1250-1500 words (essentially 5 pages, not counting Works Cited) in which you respond to Turkle’s call to “reclaim conversation” (352).  Is this something you think 21st century readers would want to, or could, do? How so?

To help you get started, use your annotations and reading responses to help you pinpoint key examples as well as questions you’ve raised in your reading. Use the following to help you brainstorm possible responses:

• What is a conversation, and do you share Turkle’s sense of the importance of conversation in our lives?
• What problems/issues might result from not being able or willing to be in conversation with others?  
• Empathy—what is it?  What is its value in the human experience? 
• Is the ability to be “social” at any time or place using the internet truly a way to have meaningful connections with people?   
• Which passages make you think Turkle is on to something, that the model of conversation she’s describing is appealing or necessary?
• Do you see any shortcomings in Turkle’s thinking, or are there important factors Turkle doesn’t consider which make her ideas about conversation less appealing, relevant, or feasible?
• To what extent do you share her sense of the problem posed by digital technology/tools for communication?
• Turkle fears we might be “forever elsewhere”—if you share those fears, what are you doing to address them?  If you don’t, in what way(s) has your ability to be present helped you succeed in your life? Difficult question: Do you know if you’re actually fully present?
• Consider your biases: How much does age or other factors shape your reactions to Turkle’s perspective? (also: Where does Sherry Turkle teach—what does M.I.T. stand for?) 

Take note: These ARE NOT questions to answer as a way of checking off a box in the project—the questions above are meant to get you thinking BEYOND what I’ve presented on the page here and what we’ve already discussed in class.  This project is asking you to take a leap forward…

In Your Paper, Be Sure To:

• Use Sherry Turkle’s essay to set up your own project (the “They say” to your “I say”). Remember, you are “entering a conversation” that others have begun in order to push it in a direction you determine. It’s not a book report.  You should have a point of view!
• Work only with Turkle’s text. DO NOT do any additional research. DO draw on your personal experience.
• Incorporate at least THREE directly quoted passages (2-4 sentences) into your essay. Explain what Turkle means by them and explain how they illustrate or complicate the particular point you’re using them to make. You can also represent what Turkle has said through summary and paraphrase to set up your quotations.
• Avoid letting “I” dominate your discussion—this doesn’t mean you can’t narrate your experiences with I.  However, your goal is to really engage Turkle while also including your perspective in the mix of the discussion.  Treat your own ideas and experiences with technology as kind of text to draw from, extend, push back on, or complicate the discussion of Turkle.  You drafted that “technology” essay draft already—revisit it and draw from it to shape your discussion.
• Document all sources using MLA style, with in-text parenthetical references and a Works Cited page. (Use The Little Seagull to assist you on these pieces.)
• Create a Project 1 page on your ePortfolio.  Make sure ALL drafts are located on there.

KEY DATES PROJECT 1, SPRING 2024:

• WEEK 3: Unpack Project 1 (in-class, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13)
• WEEK 4: Complete a 400-500 word draft as JOURNAL # 6 by TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 class time.  Be sure to also POST it on our course site AND label it on your PROJECT # 1 page.
• WEEK 4: Come to class with an 800-word draft on FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20; POST and label on PROJECT # 1 page—we’ll have in-class writing time on FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 to build to 1000+ words.
• WEEK 4: Exchange 1000+ word draft for peer review: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, POST and label on PROJECT # 1 page.
• WEEK 5: Peer review on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24.
• WEEK 5: Revised PROJECT # 1 essay due on our first SUBMISSION DAY—FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27; I will give you time in-class to PROOFREAD your essay. Email as a Word doc or Google Doc.  For full credit, make sure you receive a “Got it” back from me; otherwise, I didn’t get it.

AND

• POST and label on PROJECT # 1 page

A version of the notes from class on Turkle: