Theme I Chose:

Technology

Why I Chose This Theme

Technology has been a part of my life since I was born. As soon as I burst out of my mother’s womb, I was surrounded by technology. Blinking lights and mechanical whirs filled the hospital room with sensations and possibilities. I don’t really remember all that, but I assume all hospital rooms in the eighties made lots of weirds machine sounds.. Recently in my life I became very interested in the secret world of technology. The hard plastics and copper wires and processed bits that only the experts could tell you about in detail. I unscrewed an old alarm clock to see what made it tick and was confronted by tiny bulbs, coated wires, and symbols stolen from what might as well be an ancient dead language. I was confused by it all, but more than that I was consumed by the magic that a few bits of energy coursing through this little machine could tell me when it was time to wake up, eat dinner, or start my homework, and I wanted to know how and why and who came up with it.

I’d like to explore technology through the essay assignment by exploring technology in it’s many uses.

For my memoir I’d like to recall a technology fad from my youth and how technology for play taught me and my peers some sound life lessons.

In my ethnography essay I’d like to research the community of computer programmers. In my experience the community is very helpful, forward thinking, and driven to create. I want to know what makes its members so willing to dive deep into logical problems and come out with workable solutions. I want to know how front-end developers feel about back-end developers, how JavaScript experts relate to C experts, how those fluent in Perl might scoff at those fluent in Python, etc…

For my argument essay I’d like to take a stance on books in print vs. books on screen. I’ve known many avid readers who swore by printed paper, and I’ve known many who never left the house without their Amazon Kindle. I don’t feel passionately one way or the other, but through research I wish to find the true advantage in one of the two.

For my Photo Essay, to tie it in to my argument essay, I’d like to showcase how the communication of stories has progressed through history through technological innovation. The photos and captions will lean towards my intended argument and bring the researched standpoint full circle.