Paper Guidelines: Writing the Digital Information Technologies Synthesis DEFINITION AND PURPOSE: YOU ARE WRITING AN ESSAY THAT REQUIRES ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS. AN ANALYSIS IS AN ESSAY THAT INVOLVES CRITICAL READING AND REFLECTION IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY IMPORTANT IDEAS AND THEIR DETAILS. SYNTHESIS REQUIRES YOU TO ESTABLISH THE CONNECTIONS AMONG THOSE IDEAS AND DETAILS. THE OBJECT OF THIS PAPER IS TO DEEPLY UNDERSTAND THE ARTICLES THAT YOU ARE READING IN ORDER TO CREATE AN INFORMED OPINION THAT BLENDS THOSE DISPARATE PIECES OF INFORMATION FROM THOSE ARTICLES INTO A NEW WHOLE. TOPIC AND THESIS: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DIGITAL INFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES? YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO EXPLORE BOTH THE POSITIVES AND THE NEGATIVES, AND SHOULD CONSIDER ARTICLE COMMENTARY ON SOCIAL MEDIA, INTELLIGENT ASSISTANTS, AND THE IMPACT OF INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES. LENGTH: THE ESSAY SHOULD BE A MINIMUM OF 1000 WORDS (EXCLUDING THE WORKS CITED PAGE). Audience: Using the rules of standard written English, address the essay to an average audience. Since this paper is a formal, academic essay, you should not use first-person pronouns or second-person pronouns; use only third person. Title: Use an academic, two-part title. The first part should be the interesting main title; the second part is the specific subtitle. Separate the two parts of the title with a colon. Do not underline or put the title in quotations. Organization: Use standard essay organization. The intro should have a powerful opener that transitions to the topic and its importance before ending with the thesis. Be especially cognizant of creating topic sentences that relate to the thesis, provide the main idea(s) of the paragraph, and encompass all supporting examples within the paragraph. Use transitions between and within paragraphs. Write a meaningful conclusion. SOURCES: THE ESSAY MUST USE THE FOLLOWING WRITERS: CARR (“GOOGLE”), CARR (“WORLD”), SHIRKY, BOLICK, NEWMAN, AND GLADWELL. DO NOT RELY TOO HEAVILY ON ONE OR TWO ARTICLES, OR YOUR PAPER WILL BE LACK SYNTHESIS. QUOTING AND PARAPHRASING: YOU SHOULD AIM FOR AT LEAST ONE QUOTE AND PARAPHRASE FROM EACH SOURCE. ALL QUOTES MUST BE INTRODUCED, AND MAKE SURE YOU USE A VARIETY OF METHODS FOR INTEGRATING QUOTATIONS. MAKE SURE THAT PARAPHRASES REFLECT YOUR OWN VOICE. USE THE APPROPRIATE INTERNAL CITATIONS. DOCUMENTATION: USE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (MLA) DOCUMENTATION STYLE. DOCUMENTATION INCLUDES INTERNAL, PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION AS WELL AS A WORKS CITED PAGE. BE SURE TO USE PARENTHETICAL DOCUMENTATION BOTH WITH DIRECT QUOTES AND WITH PARAPHRASES. FAILURE TO DOCUMENT IS PLAGIARISM. REMEMBER THAT THE WORKS CITED BEGINS ON A NEW PAGE. FORMATTING: THE PAPER MUST BE TYPED AND DOUBLE-SPACED, USE 12 POINT FONT, AND HAVE 1” MARGINS. SEE THE SYLLABUS FOR MORE DETAILS OF FORMATTING. I WILL DEDUCT FIVE POINTS FOR EACH INSTRUCTION THAT IS IGNORED (INCLUDING THE OMISSION OF WORD COUNT AND FAILURE TO DOUBLESPACE). Mechanics and grammar: After writing a final draft (one that has been through at least one or two revisions), proofread your papers in order to identify and eliminate mechanical and grammatical errors. EVALUATION: THE ESSAY WILL BE EVALUATED ON THE QUALITY OF THE ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS (INCLUDING YOUR ABILITY TO IDENTIFY KEY IDEAS AND THEIR CONNECTIONS IN A VARIETY OF GIVEN SOURCES). OF COURSE, THE STANDARD REQUIREMENTS FOR GOOD WRITING WILL BE IN PLAY AS WELL (BOTH ORGANIZATION AND MECHANICS). SEE YOUR GRADE SHEET FOR MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ON EVALUATION OF THIS ESSAY