Assignment 2 is due on Thursday January 20 at 10am. It should be roughly 750 words in length and is worth 5 marks.
Kevin Kelly and Sven Birkerts capture well two conflicting responses to the Internet: surrender and refusal.
These papers were written at a time when the Internet was not so widespread. Nevertheless, some of the arguments for embracing the Internet or for feeling very concerned about its impact on our lives still apply. Discuss where you personally stand with respect to these two extremes. Try to examine the origins of your opinions and to support them with facts and reasoning. Be sure to include at least a brief mention of the papers that inspired this assignment, to demonstrate that you understood their messages.
You may find that the topic is simply too big for the amount of space you have, and in order to say anything meaningful you may have to restrict scope somewhat.
This, the second of our short assignments gets you used to expressing an informed opinion in an area where there are no clear answers, no agreements on terms, and the present, let alone the future, is difficult to pin down. It will take some effort on your part not to lapse into cliche or catchphrases, and to avoid simply repeating the arguments of others.