the shape of things to come
H.G. Wells

Just like the other topic choices, this one will be built onto work that you have already done in the Discussions.

Google is that search engine company, yes, that seems to have expanded into phones and apps and all sorts of popular tech arenas, but Google's vision is much larger than its in-house projects. As you've seen from this week's readings, Google funds a massive array of projects in wildly-unrelated areas: politics, the arts, medicine, the environment, gaming, bio-tech, robotics/A.I., transportation, the economy, and so on. Your paper is going to be an exploration of Google Projects, but the topic is so huge that it would take a book, so the topic is going to be narrowed down quite a bit.

I'm going to help focus it for you, to make it more manageable and to give you something of a template to structure your paper with.

Note: Papers must be in MLA format and at least three full pages to earn credit; if you are trying for a grade higher than a "C," then your paper needs to be at least four full pages. As always, pictures and the Works Cited page do not count as pages of text.

There are four parts to this assignment, but please do not number them or put headings for each section. This should be arranged as an essay. You will open with a paragraph, and each of the other sections will be in paragraph form, one following the other (not on separate pages). There should be smooth transition sentences leading from one paragraph to the next.

NOTE: this is one section LESS than Paper 1, even though, like Paper 2, this has two introductory sections. That is because the main body of the paper with your argument is going to be longer (it is actually the most like the traditional research paper we have been building towards).

In your opening paragraph you may want to capture your reader's imagination by describing some activity (people wandering the city with cell phones trying to close alien portals or a muralist in the Irish countryside brilliantly painting the side of a bleak, concrete building). After you set the scene creatively, reveal that this is actually a project funded by Google. At the end of this paragraph or the beginning of the next, your transition will explain what Google Projects are. Try to give a general explanation as well as a compelling quotation (quote directly and document) from one of our readings or from a different source.

NOTE: this should be about 2/3 to 1 page (no more).

Your next paragraph will refer to the diversity and broad range of Google projects (begin the paragraph with a transition sentence that says pretty much just that). Mention the different sorts of areas and issues these projects cover. Then describe a handful of them in a two to three very specific sentences each. Try to find some which are very different from each other (some ecological, some medical, some economic, some artistic, and, yes, some high-tech). This will exemplify that diversity and range you are writing about. Then speculate (again, use your research sources; quote and cite in as many of these sections as you can) about why Google is willing to fund/support such an incredibly broad set of projects.

Again, this is not a huge section; you will give a few unique details (introduce/describe or give backgroun/quote/cite) about two or three very diverse (different) projects, and that's all. It will be about a page, and it can definitely include pictures, though, as always, they do not count as pages.

In the larger part of your paper, which comes after you've given the reader some background, you will choose JUST ONE Google Project and explain why Google should, or should not, continue to fund and develop it. This should not just be a personal opinion (such as, "I don't believe in warfare"). Instead, consider the actual implications of the project; imagine (and logically describe) what some of the positive or negative consequences might be and the impact the project might have (plus or minus). Try to be objective. Some projects are "neat" but impractical, beneficial but cost-prohibitive, tantalizing but outside the reach of current science/technology. Here is one instance:

If the driverless car is successfully developed, one of the logical applications would be to eliminate the need for drivers of long-haul trucks. This would potentially eliminate accidents and the need for trucks to be out of service as drivers rest, but it would also eliminate hundreds or thousands of jobs. The effect to the economy might be...

You would need to research (use authoritative, documented quotations in much of this section) that shows (in detail) some of the safety projections, some of the instances that have made the news. Do some research on the cost in jobs, etc. Make comparisons with driverless Uber cars, etc.

As always, about 1/3 of the body of your paper MUST BE direct quotations from your sources; each direct quotation MUST BE followed by a parenthetical citation.

Here are some tips:

And here are a couple of sites on the Google Mural Project (just so you can see some examples; you must pick a different project):

NOTE: this body section with detailed, supported argument should be 2-3 paragraphs, probabbly about 2-3 pages.

Create a correctly-formatted MLA-8 Works Cited page that includes entries for the sources that you quoted above.


NOTE: Try to include pictures in the essay; they do not count as pages of text, but they do enhance your work.

sample assignment

Check out the Sample Student Papers in this week's readings folder in the Files section of Canvas :)