The Role of Social Media in the January 2011 Egyptian Protests
The Egyptian protest movement of January 2011 has been called a “Facebook Revolt” (Giglio 1) and “A multi-media uprising” (Aljazeera). Almost every day, news media churned out articles describing the influence of Facebook and Twitter on the protests. “Since the rise of the Internet in the early 1990’s, the world’s networked population has grown from the low millions to the low billions” (Shirky 13).
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Projection, Empathy, and Propagation
Dot. Dot. Dot. My classmate’s examination paper was scattered on her desk, pencil tapping on a barren sheet. Glancing up briefly from my work, I managed to catch her staring out of the classroom window, pencil revolving absentmindedly around her fingers. Briefly bemused, I suppressed the smirk that had spread across my face and returned my focus to the exam. Even as I continued my own essay, I could imagine her conjuring up numerous beginnings in an instant and discarding them in half the time. Impatient rapping of graphite on desk alerts me to the onset of writer’s block.
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The Ocean of Narcissus: Technology, Social Media, and Expression
Under the claxon call of the school-ending bell, my hand finally gave way. A long graphite streak was cut into the illegible gibberish of my English essay. As the rest of my fellow freshmen filed out to freedom, I remained behind to nurse my wounds. The problem lay not with the prompt, but with my palms. Even a writer with sublime rhetoric can be thwarted by the mutiny of peripheral neuropathy.
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America Must Find Alternative Fuel Sources
Audience Analysis
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Spring 2012
Journal Information
Spring 2012 Essays
Considering Another Side Essays
Experience as Evidence Essays
Inquiry Essay
Position Paper
Articles copyright © 2024 the original authors. No part of the contents of this Web journal may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission from the author or the Academic Writing Program of the University of Maryland. The views expressed in these essays do not represent the views of the Academic Writing Program or the University of Maryland.
"Consider the Lobster": A Summary
David Foster Wallace's 2004 article "Consider the Lobster," originally published in Gourmet magazine, investigates a topic not generally covered by such publications—the sensations of one of the animals who becomes our food. Wallace, an American essayist, novelist, and English professor, dubs himself as readers' "assigned correspondent" of the 56th Annual Maine Lobster Festival (236). Boasting 25,000 pounds of fresh-caught lobster, cooking competitions, carnival rides, live music, and a beauty pageant, the MLF draws 100,000 visitors from across the country (236).
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The Rise of Neoconservative Foreign Policy
There may be no event as impactful in 21st century U.S. history as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda. Killing thousands of civilians, the coordinated airplane strikes comprised the largest terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil, leaving the entire country shaken and confused. One of the first places people turned to make sense of the senseless was the news. Yet, helping the public understand September 11 proved difficult for the media, as the study of terrorism was also fundamentally shaken by the attacks and the meaning of terrorism became difficult to identify.
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Social Media as a Causal Mechanism for Risky Behavior
Much of the data available suggests that the historical trend of risky behavior in adolescents has been decreasing, but spikes in recent years have proven the contrary to be true. Despite the enactment of many precautionary driver safety laws and programs to increase teenage safety on the road, 2011 marked the first year of increasing numbers of adolescent driving fatalities after eight consecutive years of decline (Copel).
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Rethinking National University Rankings
Every year when the popular American magazine U.S. News & World Report releases its "National Universities Rankings" online and in print, it sends shockwaves through the education world. High school students fixate themselves on the order and delete poorly-ranked colleges from their Common Application. College students hold their breath as they scroll down the web page, silently praying their school has not fallen in the rankings.
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Rainbow Over Capitol Hill?
Audience Analysis: The audience of this paper will include United States Representative Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland’s 5th district, which encompasses College Park. Since 1981, Hoyer has sponsored several progressive pieces of legislation, including the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007 (“Steny’s Legislative Information”). While Hoyer has not advocated for any legislation protecting Sexual Minority Youth in schools, he did recently announce his support for same-sex marriage.
Articles copyright © 2024 the original authors. No part of the contents of this Web journal may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission from the author or the Academic Writing Program of the University of Maryland. The views expressed in these essays do not represent the views of the Academic Writing Program or the University of Maryland.