First off, I feel like I need to explain why I started laughing so hard and became incoherent at Trevor's explanation of who Michael Moore was last week. It's because when he asked, "Is he a great big fat person?" he was doing an impression of Ted Levine's character, Jame Gumb, in Silence of the Lambs:
And I found this unbearably funny.
Okay, with that out of the way, this blog assignment is going to be very short. I mostly just want you to read this article because it's something I'd like you to think about for short assignment four, the longer paper due in two weeks, and ultimately the Ronson book as well. I'd like you to read the Keohane article (also available through learn@uw) and do these three things:
* Summarize Keohane's piece in 1-2 sentences - just a very broad overview.
* Answer the question: Have you ever seen this happen to people? People who simply refuse to change their minds no matter what they learn?
* Answer the question: Have you ever changed a strongly-held opinion because you learned something new? If so, what was it? If not, do you think Keohane's explanation of how people react to facts matches your own behavior?
Not long, just something to cement the piece in your head. You'll need it.
I like trying to guess how many of the people on stage have showered recently.
This is pretty standard for what a lot of your blog assignments are going to look like. It's fairly basic; it's going to be a very short version of the Gladwell assignment (Short Assignment Two). Give me two paragraphs:
* One, a paragraph in which you summarize the reading - in this case, Chapters Two and Three of Jon Ronson's So You've Been Publicly Shamed. I had you read the two chapters together because they're more or less part of the same story. Try to just smash them together into a single, short paragraph, with a topic sentence. Here's my example, using the first chapter of the book:
In "Braveheart," the first chapter of So You've Been Publicly Shamed, Jon Ronson explains that he was driven to explore the topic of how people use the Internet to shame others because of an experience he had in which men he disagreed with were attacked on a Youtube video. The disagreement stems from three men professionally interested in Internet algorithms who create a Twitter feed named "Jon Ronson," complete with a pixelated photo of Ronson, which creates tweets based on an algorithm apparently based on Internet information surrounding Ronson's name. Ronson's case is that the Twitter account has basically stolen his identity, and he confronts the men who programmed it, then posts their conversation in a Youtube video. While Ronson eventually "wins" in that the Twitter account is taken down, he is startled by the vicious nature of the Youtube comments attacking the three other men, and it compels him to begin researching the ways and reasons people have used the Internet to insult and harass others who have engaged in "shameful" behavior.
Ronson can genuinely be a difficult author to summarize because he asks more questions than he answers. Do your best, and do the same thing for the second and third chapters - smash them together into a single paragraph that summarizes both.
* Two, a paragraph in which you express your reaction to what you've read. I'll usually provide a few questions in case you can't think of anything. You do not have to answer these questions, but it's a place to start in case you're really stuck. Here are the ones for Chapters Two and Three:
How unethical are Lehrer's actions? How about Moynihan's? At what point does Moynihan seem to change his mind about the morality of his actions, and is it a reasonable point? Do you end up rooting for anyone in this story? What do you think went wrong with Lehrer's apology, and what do you think of the apology, yourself? Can you imagine yourself in a situation like this, either being in Moynihan or Lehrer's shoes? How would you do things differently or the same?
You don't have to watch the video at the head of this post, but if you've never heard "Like a Rolling Stone," the song Chapter Two is partially about, you probably should. Again, this blog assignment should not be something that you are slaving over for hours; it should just be something that helps you focus your thoughts and prepare for class.
