A. Read “Little Brother” by Cory Doctorow and develop an argument that specifically connects this novel to the weekly course material covered during the semester.
❗️ You must engage with Little Brother and the assigned readings and lectures from at least three different weeks (at least one of the weeks must be from before the midterm and one must be from after the midterm. The third week and any other weeks’ material you choose to cover can be from any point in the semester).
!!! i attached a course calendar which has a list of articles (assigned readings) and textbook chapters before and after midtem. it has a link for a free access to the textbook. i also attached slides of lectures.
!!! let me know if you can’t find the articles or anything.
B. Possible Questions to Answer:
You are free to develop your own question to answer/argument to make, provided that it meets the requirements below. The following are just suggestions. You can mix any of these suggestions together if you think it makes sense to do so, but it is recommended that students pick one question from the following list.
Despite being technically illegal, how does (or could) hacking relate to the practice of democracy and efforts for social change in the US?
How does Little Brother help us better understand the relationship between technology, media, and the function of the US government and practices of politics (beyond/outside government institutions) in the US?
How does Little Brother expose and explore the relationship between US foreign policy and US domestic politics?
What lessons does Little Brother offer for people in the US interested in promoting and achieving systemic/social change?
Little Brother raises a number of important political concerns, but what is the overarching political argument of the novel? Do you find it persuasive, why or why not? (Only use this suggestion if you actually think the novel has an overarching political argument; whether you find it persuasive or not.)
C. Requirements:
a)Make a clear argument that is explicitly stated and takes a position on the question you are answering (i.e., you need a thesis statement-which is the answer to the question; the answer/position that will be defending in the rest of the paper). Your argument/thesis/position should be referred back to throughout the paper.
1. You are free to explore the nuances of different possible answers and explain the complexities involved that may lead different people to take different positions, but you must take a particular position* that you explain and defend.
2. The position you take doesn’t have to be, and won’t be assumed to be, your actual political position. It can be. That’s great. You can use this paper to explore and develop your own politics but it doesn’t have to do that. You can treat it strictly as an intellectual exercise if that’s easier for you (though I encourage taking the opportunity to reflect on and perhaps even rethink your views).
b)You must substantially engage with, and properly reference (see II, C), the readings and lectures from at least three weeks.
c)All references must be properly cited with page numbers/lecture slide titles, using either footnotes or parenthetical citations including for both direct quotes and paraphrasing (putting an author’s words/ideas into your own words). ❗️only get references from the textbook or assigned readings (articles), or lecture slides
Link to the book “Little Brother”
https://craphound.com/littlebrother/Cory_Doctorow_-_Little_Brother.pdf
Link to the textbook
https://openstax.org/details/books/american-government-3e
