Essay #2: Thinking in a Digital World
Essay Prompt:
Write an argumentative essay on the following topic: Does the Internet encourage a form of thinking that is superior to, inferior to, or simply different from that offered by print books? In other words, if the next generation shifts completely from print books to digital devices and applications, will this be a cognitive improvement, a decline, or something that is neither better nor worse? In addition to rigorous logic and clear writing, an excellent paper will use sources to make its claims more sophisticated and persuasive.
Maryanne Wolf’s Reader, Come Home must be used as a significant source in the paper. You can use Wolf to support your argument, or you can use her as a counterargument that you criticize. In addition to Wolf, the paper must use at least two sources from Edge.org (you may choose from the ones I selected or dig deeper to find others from the website). Other sources may also be used to make your argument more persuasive and sophisticated. The sources and your own ideas should be woven together in way so that the paper’s argument does not feel like just a summary of Wolf’s ideas.