How does Technology Influences Culture?

Assignment Summary:
Write a 1250-word essay connecting at least one reading from each of the three modules of the course (at least three readings in total) with some object or issue of your own choosing;
Correctly quote and cite at least one sentence from each reading you choose.
To get an A:
Read this entire assignment and the linked rubric;
Proofread your paper before submitting it.
Assignment:
Write an essay of 1250 words reflecting upon and responding to the themes and readings of the class, and specifically each of the three course modules (Machines, Codes, and Cultures). In your essay, relate these readings and themes to some object or issue of your choosing.
For example:
How does the question of materialism operate in Mattern's analysis of the early city, Weiner's notion of cybernetics, and Plant's description of feminist cyberculture? Which is the most compelling formulation and why?
Are humans programmable? Using examples of how humans acts as machines (such as in factory work settings) with their movements, consider whether actions like walking without thinking are similar to a passive program being run on a computer? What would the difference between machines and humans be, in this case, if any?
Why has the Buffalo area shrunk so much in recent decades? How much of a role has automation played? What about outsourcing? Computerization? (In order to address this type of question some outside sources may be needed.)
You should not use these exact examples, but develop ones of your own.
The title of your essay should be the question you are addressing, and a sentence proposing your answer should be included in the first paragraph of the essay (i.e., your thesis sentence). Your essay should go on to demonstrate and elaborate upon this answer. Your interpretation must address the work of a specific writer or writers from each of the three course modules.
Your first paragraph should introduce your object or issue and summarize the argument you will make in the rest of your paper. In your second, third, and, fourth paragraphs, connect this object or issue to one of readings assigned in each module, using one paragraph for each module. In your fifth and final paragraph, relate the object or issue and the arguments made in the three texts you have chosen to the larger themes of the course such as: culture's influence on technology, technology's influence on culture, determinism, etc.
Your essay must include and address a sentence-length quote from at least three assigned written texts (not screenings/videos), one from each of the three course modules (Machines, Codes, and Cultures). Your essay must go on to relate your understanding of the readings to both an outside object or issue and the course themes. You are free to cite additional sources, including screenings. Cite your sources in MLA in-text style, and employ proper grammar and punctuation. Unless you include sources from outside of the course materials, you are not required to provide a Works Cited section at the end of the paper.
More information on in-text MLA citation can be found here:
https://owl(dot)purdue(dot)edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html
More information on creating a Works Cited section can be found here:
https://owl(dot)purdue(dot)edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html
Please upload your response to UBlearns as a .pdf or .docx file.
If you’re stuck:
Frame a question about an object (e.g. a video game, website, app, computer platform) or issue (e.g. automation, determinism, computation, programming) that you can answer effectively by referring to the texts you have read in this course over the semester. This question should not be answerable simply by summarizing what we've read or what the lectures have said, but rather by offering your own, additional interpretation and response to the course themes;
Now, start to write. The title of your paper should be the question you framed in step 1. You can begin your opening paragraph with the object or issue, the question, or your answer to it, but, regardless, be sure you provide the necessary context for readers to be able to understand your interpretation. It makes perfect sense to include part of the question in your answer, e.g., “What does Marx think about X? Marx thinks that X causes Y,” but you can also simply start with “Marx thinks that X causes Y”;
Write a further one or two sentences expanding on your answer, explaining what you mean;
Conclude your first paragraph with a sentence summarizing your argument, e.g., "In this paper, I will argue that X actually represents Z." This will be your thesis statement;
Begin a new paragraph. In the first sentence of this paragraph, describe how your object or issue relates to a course reading from one of the course modules;
Quote a sentence from the reading that supports your answer. Don’t forget to cite it. Your quotation will be most effective if you do not set it apart from your own writing as a stand-alone sentence, but incorporate it into one of your sentences, e.g., “In analyzing the commodity, Marx is most concerned with what lies behind its appearance that makes ‘the relationships between the producers, within which the social characteristics of their labours are manifested, take on the form of a social relation between the products of labour.’ (Marx 164)”;
Write one or two sentences explaining why that quotation supports your answer from step 5;
Write a sentence summarizing your case, and connecting it to the larger question your essay is addressing. This should tie the paragraph to your main point (i.e. your argument about the course themes, or thesis) and/or to the next paragraph, the topic of which will be another assigned reading and its relation to your object or issue. Each paragraph, in turn, will be one link in a chain of argument reinforcing the thesis you laid out in step 4;
Repeat steps 5-8 for paragraphs three and four, this time drawing from an assigned reading from a course module you have not covered yet. Wherever there is an opportunity to connect this reading with the readings you have covered in previous paragraphs and/or the course themes, do so explicitly;
Write a final paragraph summarizing your argument, evaluation of the readings, and how the readings can offer a better understanding of your chosen object or issue, connecting them to the larger themes of the course;
If you aren't at the word count, first check that you have explained your reasoning fully and clearly, then repeat step 10;
Create a Works Cited section for your evaluated article and any other outside sources you have used.