Poster by former Apple and Microsoft student, Karen Cruz
Draft of Introduction Due: Monday 11.28
Rough Draft Due: Wednesday 12.7
Final Draft Due: Monday 12.12
Your final essay this term will argue why Douglas Coupland's novel Microserfs (1995) is relevant in 2015. Topics you might address include the novel's audience, its characters, the history of Apple and Microsoft, and the computer industry now. Consider how you would advertise the novel now. Who would find it interesting and why? How have audiences changed since the novel was published? You can address these aspects as they relate to your argument..
You essay must be at least 750 words. You will need to select a narrow focus that you can analyze in depth. It may help to examine a particular character, moment, or set of moments in the novel. Tracing the use of a word or phrase in the text might also help to focus and anchor your analysis. You can search texts electronically and see what words appear frequently using tools like Voyant. You can also use Voyant to see what words you might overuse or what underlying themes might be present in your essay.
Your essay will analyze approximately four to six quotations from the novel (about two per paragraph, depending on what you address). Drawing on the strategies in Understanding Rhetoric and They Say, I Say, your essay will respond to others' arguments. Your essay will also address at least three secondary sources that you have located using such resources as ProQuest, FirstSearch, SIRS Knowledge, and the CQ Researcher in order to explore multiple positions on the issues you examine and to strengthen your own thesis.
Research Guide from NYIT Library: http://libguides.nyit.edu/c.php?g=560755&p=4000476
Please also use Project Muse, available from the NYIT Library until December 15: http://arktos.nyit.edu/login?url=http://muse.jhu.edu
You are welcome to reuse, revise, and build from aspects of your blog postings, but you must make sure that your essay reads fluidly.
The rough and final drafts of your essays must be typed in 12 point, Times New Roman font, and demonstrate correct use of MLA style. You must include a list of works cited and cite all images you have used and sources you have consulted, including webpages.
You must upload your rough and final drafts to Blackboard at least thirty minutes before class on the dates indicated above.
Bill Gates at NYIT, 1999 http://www.nyit.edu/box/multimedia/throwback_thursday_photo_bill_gates