Formal essay

Write an essay on one of the topics below.   Be sure to have or develop a main idea.  
Your essay should be 2-3 pages long (about 600-750 words), typed, double-spaced, on Microsoft Word, Pages, Googledocs, or whatever other platform you feel comfortable with. (If it’s a platform I cannot download for some reason, I will let you know.)  E-mail your essay to me by Wednesday night, Feb. 17, 11:59 pm (just before midnight). Know that you will have the opportunity to revise it and improve it after receiving feedback from me and/or your fellow students (your peers).
Your topic should be developed out of one of our readings on the theme of technology. For example, you can write on ONE of the following topics:

Smart Houses: How does the house in Bradbury’s story compare with “smart houses” that we have now? What is similar, and what is different?  Would you like to live in the house described by Bradbury? Why or why not? 
Robotics:  How does Bradbury describe the robots in the house in his story?  How intelligent are these robots?  Do they have feelings?  What are their advantages and limitations?  How do you feel about robots in general?  Can robots turn out to be dangerous? (You may use other sources, such as movies, to discuss this question, if you want to.)
Nukes: How accurate is the description of a nuclear attack in this story? What evidence might there be today that we are indeed heading in the direction of the world described by Bradbury after a nuclear attack?  Could this story come true?  Why, or why not? 
“Is Google Making Us Stupid?” What is meant by “stupid” here? Is this true? Or is Google making us smarter? Is access to so much information good or bad for humanity? 
“Adoption”:  On the model of this reading, choose a topic that can lend itself to the question of what’s good and bad about the Internet in general, or Social Media in particular.  How the Internet has affected adoptions is one possible topic. How it has affected dating could be another—or looking for a job, or gathering a group of people for a meeting or a demonstration, or almost any other activity you can think of.  How do social media help or hurt humankind?

These are suggestions. If you think of a different topic relating to these readings or issues, feel free to pursue it for your first formal essay; or you can combine topics if you wish. You also don’t have to take up every subtopic within a given topic. Ask if you aren’t sure your plan is appropriate for this assignment. Again, the purpose of choosing a topic is to move on to developing a main idea:  What about this topic?  
This is not your research essay. You do not necessarily have to consult other sources than the readings themselves (or just one of them) in to write a good paper, but if you do choose to do so, you must give your sources and add a “Works Cited” page. Even if you just use one of these readings as a source, try adding the “Works Cited” page, because it’s good practice. This is true even if you summarize or  paraphrase the words of a source (that is, put them in your own words, whether briefly or at some length).  If you quote a source, you must also use quotation marks.  Please be very careful not to plagiarize!  If you have any questions concerning the proper use of sources (or anything else), please ask me during our Zoom class, or by e-mail.