ENGL2030 San Diego State University Giving Up Our Privacy Analysis Essay 1
Structure Analysis Essay 1 Prompt
For your first paper you will be required to write an essay at least four pages long evaluating an argument article. Find and read a published article that makes a clear argument in a specific topic. You may use an article from our textbook, or one you select from the library. After reading through the article, you will write your own essay, explaining how the argument is constructed, both in terms of organization and content. Does the author start with their thesis clearly in the introduction, or do they wait until the conclusion to make their argument clear? Does the author use a range of ethical, emotional, and logical evidence to support their argument, or do they rely on one type of evidence the most? Does the author arrange their argument fromweakest to strongest evidence, and if so why do they do this? You are writing an argument onhow and why the article you read is organized and written the way it is, to persuade readers toagree with the author’s point. You will argue how well the author succeeded at convincing youof their goals.
Your essay needs to be clear and unified under your thesis. Make sure to include specific evidence from the article you read, to show how and why you analyzed the article the way you did in your essay. Make sure to review the section in your textbook on proper MLA citation for any quotes or paraphrases you use from your outside source.
Grading Criteria….Successful papers will have:
1. A developed introductory paragraph, with a clear thesis. Must state why the article was persuasive or not. (10 points)
2. Well-supported, unified body paragraphs with specific examples that reinforce your thesis. Include your original thoughts on the evidence, and how it supports your thesis. (15 points)
3. Analysis of how the articles organization enhances or distracts from the author’s argument. (10 points)
4. Smoothly integrated quotes from an outside source. (5 points)
5. A conclusion that summarizes your main point, and offers a final thought about the value of your argument. (5 points)
6. Your paper will also be thoroughly edited for sentence-level errors. If you have any questions on sentence structure or grammar, visit the Writing Center, or see me in my office. (5 points)
Total points 50
Article:
Whitney Cramer ENGL 203-017
Dr. Winchell September 15, 2017
Giving Up Our Privacy: Is It Worth It?
The Internet is many things to many people. It provides a quick way to find information, an easy way to shop from the comfort of home or dorm room, and a way to stay in touch with friends and family. Most of us would probably not think of the Internet as a means of surveillance — that is, until we read Bruce Schneier’s essay “The Internet Is a Surveillance State,” posted to cnn.com on March 16, 2013. Primarily through his use of examples, Schneier builds a convincing case that by using the Internet, we have given up our privacy without even a fight, but he fails to acknowledge what some of his other examples reveal: that there are times when we want the Internet to be a surveillance state.
Schneier opens his essay with examples of three people who have been caught in indiscretions at least and in crimes at most by means of the Internet. Chinese hackers who targeted the American government and corporations were caught because they accessed Facebook on the same network. Hector Monsegur, another hacker, was caught by the FBI when he made one mistake and revealed his identity. Paula Broadwell’s affair with the director of the CIA was discovered because she emailed him using public networks. But aren’t these exactly the types of crimes and indiscretions that we should want revealed? Schneier writes, “If the director of the CIA can’t maintain his privacy on the Internet, we’ve got no hope.” But do we want the director of the CIA to use his Internet privacy to hide his wrongdoing?
Part of the reason we have no hope is that governments and corporations have joined forces to track us. Schneier cites Google, Apple, and Facebook as examples of companies that track users. Facebook, for example, combines what it knows about your online activity with information about your offline buying habits. Governments use what corporations collect, and corporations use what the government collects, for a price. Perhaps most unsettling, cell phones and closed-circuit TV’s can be used to track your movements. Big Brother knows where you are and what you are doing (Schneier).
Schneier gives examples of things we can do to protect our privacy, but he admits that none of them matter. We could turn off our cell phones and our computers, but we have become so used to them that we would rather give up our privacy than give up our electronics. We could limit what we search, use aliases, and use cash rather than credit, but since the spying is not obvious, it is easy to ignore. And there is the other side of the issue — the good that Internet surveillance does. In spite of his opening examples, Schneier fails to acknowledge that for those who are doing no wrong, Internet surveillance may be annoying, but it may be worth the loss of privacy to protect the innocent against those who use the Internet to commit crimes.
Work Cited Schneier, Bruce. “The Internet Is a Surveillance State.” CNN.com, 16 Mar. 2013, http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/16/opinion/schneier-internet-surveillance/index.html. Reprinted in Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader, 12th ed., edited by Annette T. Rottenberg and Donna Haisty Winchell, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2018, pp. 63–65.
