Paper #2
ENGL 101 Fall 2010
Your second paper will be based on the electronic versions of the exchange between Edison and Westinghouse on the Cornell Making of America site. Jill Jonnes discusses the exchange in Empires of Light (200-203). Use the URLs at the bottom of each citation below to locate and read the exchange. You will now be able to study what Edison and Westinghouse wrote after the electrocution of the Western Union lineman John Feeks (Jonnes 198) before you choose sides and write a letter supporting either Westinghouse or Edison. Imagine you are either Westinghouse or Edison--or one of their associates-- and write a follow up piece for The North American Review or supporting letter to another paper or journal. Or, imagine that you are an "objective" observer or regulator trying to sort through both Edison and Westinghouse's positions and come up with a judgment on the case. In each case, you can use the exchange as a model. Remember that you are writing for a general audience, not just other engineers, and so will need to explain the technical issues you cover. You should discuss the advantages and dangers of Alternating and Direct Current as well as the events that provoked the exchange and draw on your previous study of the War of the Currents, transformers, Edison and Westinghouse. You may decide to be more informal, personal or contemporary in your writing than either Westinghouse or Edison but whatever style you use, take a position on the specific issues that came up in the debate. Use the MLA citation format and try and integrate quotes and paraphrases from the material from Jonnes and The North American Review into the style of your letter.
You should post an initial draft of your letter to the blog before class on Oct 7th, add to your posting before class on Oct 14th, and revise it for submission as a print paper on Oct 19th. Your paper must include detailed evidence pulled from Jonnes and the North American Review exchange. In class on Oct 14th, you will critique at least two of your fellow student's postings, using the comment feature of Wordpress. You will then have time to revise your blog posting, taking into account comments and responses left by your fellow students. The final, typed version (2-3 pages, double-spaced) of the piece is due at the beginning of class on Oct 19th. You should include in-text cites and a works cited page.
I am also requiring that you
send me an electronic copy of the final letter before class that day. The citations and
URL for the two pieces are as follows:
Thomas Edison, The Dangers of Electric Lighting
North American Review Volume 149, Issue 396
November 1889 pp. 625-635 (click on the 13th article on the Contents page)
George Westinghouse, Jr., A Reply to Mr. Edison
North American Review Volume 149, Issue 397
December 1889 pp. 653-665 (click on the 4th article on the Contents page)
NOTE: For extra-credit on paper #2 (or later, on paper #3), schedule a face-to-face meeting with a tutor from the Writing Center to go over a draft of a print copy of your paper and substantially revise the paper. Also write an account of what you went over in your tutoring session, what you changed as a result, and what you see as the advantages and disadvantages of online (OWL) vs. face-to-face tutoring. For paper #2, the session must be held between Oct 7th and Oct 18th. To receive credit, you must include all print drafts as well as a visit verification form.