For this assignment, you will research the author of one of our readings to get a fuller understanding of their opinions than one can glimpse from just one text. You will use this research to develop a case for the author’s intellectual identity, which in turn will be the foundation for a fictional character.

Main Goal

The goal of this assignment is to explore the coherence of a real person’s identity as it is represented through mostly textual evidence of their life and thoughts (online and in print publications). Since virtual identity is one of the constant foci in discussions about computers and writing, you will have a chance to take a specific case and see if and how representations of ourselves challenge people to form coherent interpretations of who we are.

Developing Your Narrative

THE AUTHOR

Before you can begin to describe a character based on the author you have chosen to research, you need to lay the foundation by discussing in detail the aspects of the author’s background, ideas, and writings that will inform the development of your character. Undoubtedly, you will offer some biographical information, but that should not be the sole focus of this section. The main emphasis in discussing the author should be on their ideas related to cyberspace, virtual identities, gender and race online, copyright for electronic environments, and all other topics they seem to have strong positions about.

After having researched the author’s ideas and having read many of their works, your challenge in this section will be to present them as parts of a coherent intellectual viewpoint. In a way, you will be making a case for how all their various positions fit together to make sense as one identity. This task will require that you draw connections among their ideas, their actions in life, and their interests, values and agendas.

Ultimately, the section will represent your views on what the author’s intellectual viewpoint really is. Be brave in drawing conclusions about the author’s identity based on their writings and actions, but be sure to justify those conclusions with detailed explanations and sufficient evidence. Remember that this is your paper and your interpretation of the author’s views, so feel free to express your comments on them whenever your find it appropriate to do so.

THE CHARACTER

This is the most creative and descriptive ONE page of your paper. You are trying to introduce the character’s traits and personality. You want the reader to have a strong mental image of them, to know how they talk, to know their characteristic ways of doing things, to know something about the character's value system. Character sketches only give snapshots of people; therefore, you should not try to write a history of the person in this section. Instead try to incorporate various aspects of their identity, including but not limited to:

1. Your character's name.
2. A physical description, gestures, habits, disfluencies.
3. What your character wears, or carries around.
4. Major goals in your character’s life.
5. Your character's likes and dislikes.
6. Your character's greatest strengths.
7. Your character's greatest weaknesses.
8. Your character's favorite hangout.

Formal Requirements

FORMAT: Your paper should be 4-6 pages double-spaced. Please follow the formatting instructions presented in the course policy statement.

SOURCES: You are expected to use at least three sources, although I expect that more sources can only make your interpretations of the author’s positions richer and more convincing. Remember that you can learn about someone’s positions not only by what they write, but also by how others respond to their ideas. Be sure to use MLA style of documentation to give credit to all sources.

SUBMIT: To submit your paper, you will upload an electronic copy in my teacher folder. All papers have to be MS Word documents.

Grading Criteria

I will evaluate your paper according to these criteria:

• Focus/Purpose
• adherence to assignment guidelines;
• clear/explicit claims and a coherent overall opinion.
• Development
• sufficient, relevant and varied support for your position;
• clear explanations of how you connect the evidence to your points;
• Organization
• logical arrangement of ideas;
• smooth transitions.
• Tone/Style
• appropriate, formal, scholarly language;
• friendly, but persuasive, tone in “the author” section;
• lively, descriptive language in “the character” section.
• Editing
• correct usage of MLA documentation;
• lack of grammatical problems and mechanical errors.

My grades will follow the overall grading philosophy recommended by the DRW in Chapter 4 of the Student Guide.