Paper 2 Proposal

Are computers morally neutral, or have they been designed to promote certain values and suppress others? What about books? What about speech? There's an essay in Rereading America that argues that the culture of debates is biased against women; do computers, which were developed in a male-dominated military culture -- where we "kill" programs, where we must "defend" programs against "attacks" from hackers -- exclude women? Or does hypertext, with its multiple paths, inclusive links, and disruption of the rigidity of the linear narrative -- provide a special environment where women's creativity can thrive? Who has written about gender and cybertext, or gender and handwriting, or gender and speech?

How is Calvino's fractured narrative is like an oral epic, or like a collection of Wii minigames.  How is a World of Warcraft narrative arc like an oral epic?  How does the current media coverage of the iPad differ from the media coverage Apple received when it released its first hand-held computer, the Newton? How can we apply Darnton's questions about bibliography (the study of the manufacture, distribution, and preservation of books) to increase our understanding of a classic literary work? Did J.K. Rowling change the text of the earlier Harry Potter books as she continued writing the series? (Yes she did.... what can we learn about authorship and print culture from these changes? What lessons contradict what Eisenstein tells us about print culture, and what lessons support it?)

• What words from computer and digital culture reflect the military origins of computing technology? Are there other terms (such as "parent directory" or "going live") that suggest a more organic alternative to thinking about computer culture? Do books also have the same mix of military terms and organic terms?  What scholarship has been published recently on the language and metaphors we use to refer to describe digital culture?
• How does magic change the function of print culture in the Harry Potter world, and in what ways does magic re-imagine, re-present, or reject digital culture? What scholarship has been published recently on the representation of media in the Harry Potter world?

• If you can find 20 books devoted to the topic you chose, you probably need to narrow.

• If you can't find a single book or article devoted to your subject, that's good! 

• It means you are covering fresh ground. 
  
• You should broaden your search (maybe look at studies of the wizarding world in general, or the relationship between Harry Potter's magic and modern technology, or look at fantasy and young adult literature in general).
• Get a sense of what people are writing about, even if they aren't actually talking about your chosen topic.
• Retain your narrow focus as you start to zero in on a thesis.