Essay 4

Digital Lives Research Essay

Using an issue raised by The Circle, you will conduct research on a recent issue raised by the
development of digital technology. This essay will draw on the skills you learned over the course of the
semester and will add a research component. In an essay of approximately 1800-2400 words, you will
select a contemporary issue raised by The Circle that you care about and you will write a research essay
that develops an analysis of the issue, how it is presented by various media stakeholders, and will
provide a nuanced argument about the issue.

Assignment Goals
 Utilize textual evidence to make an interpretation of a work
 Make connections between literature and contemporary cultural issues
 Assess the relevance and validity of sources, and use those sources ethically
 Develop a sustained argument about an issue drawing from a variety of sources
 Produce an organized, mature, coherent, persuasive essay that follows the conventions of
academic writing

Basics
 Times New Roman 12 pt. font, 1” margins all around
 MLA format (article titles should be in quotations, longer work titles should be italicized,
quotations should have page attributions, etc.)
 1800-2400 words; Longer quotations should not be included in the word count.
 Conducts a close reading of short passages from the novel (see The Little Tiger pp. 62-65)
 Works Cited page
 Outside research—you must cite at least seven sources aside from the text (including, but not
limited to: historical accounts, literary analyses, interviews with authors, psychological studies,
sociological studies, economics papers, etc.)

Sources Required
 at least two media representations (how is the issue represented in popular culture like in news
media, television, film, etc.) for the rhetorical analysis
 at least three scholarly sources (sociological or psychological studies, income data, analyses of
technology from within disciplinary journals, etc.)
 at least two periodical sources to support or amplify your field research and scholarly research
(for example, newspaper or magazine articles)
 you may choose to use other kinds of sources (interviews, observations, etc.) with my approval.
Remember that surveys need IRB approval and so are not ideal for short-term research projects

Issues
 Balancing digital and “real world”  Privacy and surveillance
social lives  Monopolies
 Work-Life balance  Quantification of all human endeavor
 The use (or misuse) of apps  Corporate media
 Social media  Corporate-government relationships
 The effect of information saturation
Organization

 Introduction: introduce the issue, explain the connection to The Circle, summarize plot points
that are relevant to your thesis, and state your thesis
 Each body paragraph should have a topic sentence that connects to a particular part of the
thesis. Never begin a paragraph with a quote.
o After your topic sentence, contextualize your evidence, then quote.
o Explain in several sentences why this quote supports your thesis.
 First body paragraph(s) should be Literary Analysis: analysis of two passages from The Circle
 Second couple of body paragraphs Representation: develop a rhetorical analysis of two
competing media presentations regarding aspects of that issue.
 Subsequent paragraphs Researched Argument: develop your own argument about the issue
using your own research, synthesis, and analysis. You should explore the issue, citing evidence
from your sources and making an argument
 Conclusion: make a broader claim about what The Circle says about the current issue/event or
about contemporary life and what lesson we should take from it.