For your final exam you are going to write a 4-6 page double spaced size 12 font formal essay that pulls from as much of the course material as possible.
Prompt: Throughout this course we have discussed both the merits and potential drawbacks of various technology. On the positive side, technology has allowed us to live longer, healthier lives with greater degrees of comfort and global access. On the negative side we have seen the rise of increasingly dangerous wars, global pandemics, environmental damage/climate change, artificial products, and other social drawbacks. After viewing the materials from this course what are your thoughts on technological advancement?
Do you believe that technological advancement is generally a process that benefits humanity, or do you view it as something that rather contributes to our suffering and environmental destruction? Or do you see it as a complex combination of these two things? Each lecture focuses on some positive and negative components of technological “advancement” for you to consider. If you need more evidence for the potential negatives associated with modern society especially consider the last two lectures–especially the material presented next week in the final mini-lecture on climate change, nuclear energy, artificial society, etc.
Ultimately, there is no right or wrong answer here because clearly the case could be made for either side. Some historians have pointed to the modern era as the era of mass stress, environmental destruction etc, while others choose to highlight the many ways in which we have become more accepting, healthier, happier, and more comfortable as a species. Your job here is to think about where you stand and more importantly, to find a variety of evidence over different time periods to support your answers. Think about the cultural changes — “us and them”–those with power and those without and what technology has done for this divide. Think about global connectivity and the benefits and pitfalls of this. Think about technology’s role in empire and again the multifaceted legacy of empire/colonialism. On the other hand think about the role that medicine, agricultural advancements, and other scientific advancements have done for humans. There are many ways to look at this question.
You should aim to include as many pieces of evidence from the course as you possibly can (cited in text or with a footnote, any format you prefer), as this shows us as graders that you have paid attention, and also makes it clear that this was human-created work instead of AI (which is quite talented at answering this question, but of course has no idea many of the specific nuances we have brought to the course).
Please Note!: All essays will be analyzed using various tools and human-based analysis in order to identify and submit cases of any suspected “AI” use. AI is not allowed to be used on assignments including essays, this includes Grammarly, ChatGPT, Gemini, and even various AI-based translation and “paraphrase” apps that students have told me about. According to COAM, these techs are all banned by OSU (and my personal) policy.
On the less scary side, I am here to help you all with any problems or questions you may have, there should never be a need to use AI because I am happy to read essays or theses/outlines in advance, I will not take off for minor grammar/usage issues (so Grammarly should not be necessary), and ALL of the info you need to write an A level paper is right there for you in lectures 1-5 and here in your final exam folder (my video on this essay is the perfect place to start!). I also want to add that it is not my goal to catch and report students to COAM, I would far rather spend this time working with you all to help you earn the grades you deserve, so I ask again that you put some confidence in your own minds and abilities and do your own human-based work, I know you all can do it, I have confidence in your skills!
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We do not use a strict rubric with these papers, as it is common to grade history work “holistically,” but here are the main elements we will be looking at as we grade:
1. Page length–is the paper 4-6 pages long double spaced?
2. Thesis–is it clear from the first paragraph what you are arguing/are you answering the main bold question from the prompt?
3. Arguments/evidence: Are you giving SPECIFIC arguments and cited evidence from the course to support your ideas?
4. Organization: Does each paragraph introduce a new sub-argument and related evidence? Paragraphs should avoid continuing thoughts from previous paragraphs. Instead, you should begin each paragraph with a strong topic sentence that sets the tone for the evidence you will bring in.
5. Conclusion: Do you wrap up your arguments with a strong summary of your evidence and restatement of the thesis?
The big points here are to make sure you pick a side –tech good/tech bad and then support this with as much evidence as possible while considering why the alternative argument is less potent based on our evidence.
