Announcement - Interesting Thread and Extra Credit

When you get the chance, check out the very short exchange on Beth’s blog entitled “Isn’t it Ironic” on January 30^th . The issue about the utility of blogs won’t die and I’m glad it won’t because it is too important and interesting.

I like how Beth wrote something very short that is based on what we are doing, but not about a particular assignment. A simple sentence can get people thinking.

I hope somebody takes me up on the extra credit assignments for Fahrenheit 451 – See important documents. If you write a formal, longer essay, about 2 double spaced pages, you will get more points, BUT you will also earn extra credit points if you simply write a thoughtful blog entry. Just put “Extra Credit – Your Title -- Date” in the title of you blog and comment here to let me know.

Another question to consider: What would Bradbury have thought about blogging?

The purpose of all this is not to label a certain technological development as “good” or “bad” but to think about its potential to encourage or inhibit free and critical thought, and how it might, or might not, shape our lives in other ways.

The following links will take you to some interesting technology related articles. The first one, “Newspapers and After” is about the negative consequences that the internet has for newspapers and how that can damage democracy. This is the one that I quoted to you some time ago in class. The second one “Mirror, Mirror …” is about the culture of narcissism that develops on the internet.

You can blog about these for extra credit, just follow the procdures above so I can distinguish what is extra credit or not.

“Newspapers and After”

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070129/nichols

“Mirror, Mirror on the Web”

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070129/chaudry

Mr. J