Overview:
Some people believe that the general encroachment of
technology has destroyed our ability to become heroic—some
say that our lives online have made us hide our inner
light and allowed us to become crafty and less communicative.
In essence, some say that technology has impeded our
ability to love and to feel empathy for other human
beings.
I don't believe that. I just think we need to search
harder.
That is the main purpose of this assignment. Your job
is to find new heroes, ones who can give you hope to
get through the semester, get through a hard day of
work, get through your 'drama,' get through your pain.
Look for them via technology. Disprove those people
who say that it's hard to find new heroes.
Your job is to SCOUR through the Internet and to find
evidence of heroism: heroism in a YouTube clip, on a
MySpace page, on a website, on a blog. You define what
you think heroism is, and then you search for it.
Here are some examples, but there are countless other
things you can search for.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/cnn.heroes/
http://podcast.com/show/15875/
(CNN HEROES)
The purpose of this assignment is to convince us that
there are true heroes in the world DESPITE negative
media coverage to convince us otherwise. Every day,
the news reports crime statistics, a plummeting economy,
a lack of hope and a downturn of faith—we become
cynical, perhaps, because we believe that the world
is a darker, crueler place, a world where heroism is
dead and quickly dying.
Search for an example of a hero or heroism and prove
the naysayers wrong. We might connect this search with
the immortal hero's search for meaning and solace as
found in several of the texts we've explored this semester.
Student-Learning Outcomes
Practice web-searching skills in a focused manner:
looking for a clear example of heroism that isn't just
randomly selected across the Web, but an example that
helps to really define your individual definition of
heroism.
Explain, once you have found your Web-based example,
be it a clip, posting, article, song, or any other material—why
that assists in your conception of heroes or heroism.
Draft a writeup of your search for heroes and include
the source material, if possible, or at least the relevant
web link:
Share, if you'd like, the webclip you've selected (if
it is an embed-capable .flv movie) on the blog.
Example: Lynch, Tim. "DSN Trials and Tribble-ations
Review." Psi Phi: Bradley's
Science Fiction Club. 1996. Bradley University. 8
Oct. 1997 <http://
www.bradley.edu/campusorg/psiphi/DS9/ep/503r.html>.
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