CIE100: Common Intellectual Experience - The Machine Stops Writing Prompt (10 Points)

Assignment Goals

The goals of this assignment are:

1. To reflect upon the course texts in preparation for thoughtful discussion
2. To organize thoughts into a concise and cohesive response to a targeted question
3. To consider multiple viewpoints about ideas

The Assignment

In this writing prompt, you will consider the questions below and respond by writing a letter addressed to the author, equivalent in length to a 1-2 paragraph response. In the letter, respond to the reading in your own voice, quoting the text at least once in support of what you say, and raise one respectful counterargument, supported by a quote, that the author would have to answer. Submit your letter through Canvas before the start of class.

UDL choice: this genre is the default for this reading, but you may swap in any of the five response genres (analytic, letter, dialogue, marginalia+aphorism, or the Four A’s) as long as the quote and counterargument requirements are met.

Struggling with the reading itself? See the guide: How to Read Hard Texts in CIE.

Writing Prompt

1. Forster published this story in 1909, and yet it anticipates video calls, content feeds, and lives mediated entirely by machines. Which prediction unsettles you most, and why? Quote the passage. What has Vashti lost, and why does she not notice the loss?

2. Kuno warns that the Machine stops. What is your Machine: the system whose silent functioning your daily life most depends upon? What would its stopping reveal about you, and is Forster’s ending a warning, a hope, or both? You will have the option of a voluntary 24 hour fast from one application before our second discussion; if you attempt it, describe what you noticed.

Submission

Submit a word processed or PDF document.

Please refer to the Style Guide for code quality examples and guidelines.