Anxiety in the Internet Age”

Anxiety in the Internet Age”
Worth up to 75 Points

Four Double-Spaced Full Pages (does not include the works cited page)
A Works Cited Page is Required for this Essay
Consult the syllabus for font, size, and spacing format requirements in our syllabus.
Proofread for spelling, usage, syntax, and logic: errors of these types will have a
negative effect on the points for this assignment.
WRITING PROMPT
We have read about social media, privacy, and the stress our “digital lives” may
cause in this era of the Internet and this assignment will require that you do further
reading in our textbook about technology and its uses. Your basic tasks in this essay
are to:
Use evidence (quoted and/or paraphrased) from the articles listed below to
support your own arguments. Your work might argue that there are many
negatives about digital culture; both negatives and positives; or just positives.
Select a few experiences from your life and use them to support your claims
about the negatives and positives of leading our lives in a digital universe.
REQUIRED SOURCE MATERIALS
 Use at least one piece of evidence from each of the following articles in
Acting Out Culture:
“The Quagmire of Social Media Friendships.” Curtis Silver.
“The Touch-Screen Generation.” Hanna Rosin.
“Digital Detox, A Tech-Free Retreat for Internet Addicts.” Claire Suddath.
 The PowerPoint presentation, “Digital Stress,” may also be helpful for your work
and you are welcome to use it as supporting evidence. Please consult Owl.edu for
help with citing a PowerPoint presentation in MLA style.
 Along with evidences from the articles, include your own experiences with digital
culture to support the essay’s argument points. You should probably limit personal
anecdotes to no more than three discussion points in order not to overwhelm your
core analytical tasks.
 Make sure the works cited page lists the required articles, the PowerPoint (if you
use it) and any other resources used for the paper. Ensure that all quotes,
paraphrases, and ideas used from the source articles are cited in “in-text quote”
MLA style. Consult our “Writing” module in Canvas for assistance with MLA style
formatting.
We have an online writing tutor just one click away! Tutoring information is in our Writing
module; make sure to schedule an appointment ASAP, as tutors get very
busy toward the end of the summer semesters.
CHECKLIST: ELEMENTS OF AN ANALYTICAL ESSAY
Title
 Give your paper a title that is not “Essay Three” or “Anxiety in the Internet Age” –
get creative!
Introduction/thesis paragraph
 Use the opening paragraph to invite your readers into the work of the paper. You
might consider presenting a situation, imagery, or quote from one of the articles that
will aid in introducing the reader to your ideas.
 The thesis argument for this short essay should appear at the end of the introduction
material (usually the first or second paragraph of the paper). You must take a position
on the central question presented in the prompt; inform readers what your “big idea”
is.
Body paragraphs
A note about paragraph length: the maximum length for a paragraph should not exceed
¾ of a double-spaced page (and even this is a bit long!) As you edit your work, keep an
eyeball out for really looooong paragraphs. See “Paragraph Structuring Tips” in our
Writing module.
 The body of the paper must present and analyze evidence, in the form of quotes/ideas
from the required source articles and your own thinking and experiences.
 Strong papers will contain clear topic sentences, quotes from sources throughout, a
thorough explanation/exploration of the quotes, and consistent links between body
paragraphs and your thesis argument. Keep in mind that simply providing quotes
without exploration is not analysis; you need to “unpack” the evidence and consider
how it supports your thesis argument. Use They Say/I Say for assistance with all
aspects of this essay! This weeks’ chapter, “Yes/No/Okay” may be of great help for
this assignment.
 Do not waste space discussing material that isn’t pertinent to supporting your thesis
argument; assume your readers are already knowledgeable about digital culture and,
for example, don’t need an explanation of what Facebook is.
 Use the concluding paragraph(s) to remind readers what you have analyzed in the
essay and what your final conclusion(s) are about digital culture. The intent is to
“circle back” to the thesis statement and leave readers with strong, definite
impression of the work that has been accomplished in your piece.
Useful tips:
 Write your essay in first-person voice. Consult the “Ain’t So/Is Not” chapter in
They Say for tips on using first-person in academic essays. (However, recognizing
that many of us were taught not to use “I” in academic writing, you may rely on thirdperson voice if you’re really uncomfortable with the writing style).
 They Say has great resources on how to quote and distinguish your claims from
those of other scholars. Use this book as a study guide!
 Use our They Say/I Say “templates” to help with your analytical writing (the
templates begin on page 293). You may copy the templates word-for-word – the
authors encourage students to use their phrases – no need to provide citations for
template phrasing.
REMINDER: This course uses the Bucks’ anti-plagiarism program, TurnItIn.com. Responses submitted
for this assignment are processed through this program. Consult information given with previous
assignments and in our course syllabus.

http://writedom.com/api/download/218336