FYSM 1217_Reading Assignment sheet (1).docx - Reading Assignment FYSM 1217 Wasting Time on the Internet Carleton University Dept of Journalism and

Reading Assignment FYSM 1217: Wasting Time on the Internet Carleton University, Dept. of Journalism and Communication Dr. Liam Cole Young || Winter 2019 INSTRUCTIONS: This assignment asks you to test a few different reading techniques. Please complete the following tasks below using EITHER Ira Wagman’s “wasteaminute.com: Notes on Office Work and Digital Distraction” or David Graeber’s “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant”. Feel free to fill out this assignment sheet digitally (as a Word file), but please print off a hard copy for submission. Task 1 Do a little bit of research about the author . Who is he? What is his job? Where in the world is he located? What kind of training does he have? What else can you find out about him? Then tell me: how does this biographical information bring context to the piece he has written? Task 2 What can you tell me about the intellectual context of this piece? What kinds of other authors and writings does the author cite? From what intellectual disciplines? With whom does he seem

Unformatted text preview: to agree, and with whom does he disagree? Task 3 What are 5-7 keywords that seem particularly important to this text? Where do they appear and why do they seem important? If you had to narrow it down to just 3, which ones would you identify as most important? Task 4 Read Paul Edwards’ “ How to Read a Book ,” particularly the section (p. 6) on “High Information Content.” How does your article demonstrate the ‘hourglass’ structure? Give a brief overview of how a paragraph from the text is structured in roughly this way (moving from “high info content” and general remarks to more specific data or examples). Task 5 What is the overall argument of this piece of writing? How could you summarize it in 2-3 sentences? Is there a clear and concise thesis statement? Where is it located? How does the author go about backing it up over the course of the essay (what kind of examples or data does he use)?...
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