This post must be at least 600 words minimum length. The whole should be clearly organized with an introduction, clear paragraphing, and a conclusion. Be sure to read the entire prompt before you begin writing.
This week, you listened to the first episode of historian Jill Lepore's podcast, The Last Archive, and you watched the first twenty minutes of a talk she gave at the Media Lab at MIT. In both, she is interested in one of the most important questions that confronts us when we research and write: how do we know what we think we know?
Using exact quotations from both her podcast and media lab talk, write a discussion post in which you reflect on what you have learned. You can write about your responses to any aspect of Lepore's work, but you must include the following:
- According to Lepore, what is a fact?
- Why was the creation of the jury system so important to creating a culture of facts?
- What are some of the ways we can establish a fact?
- Did the jury in "The Case of the Blue Bottle" convict the right person? Explain.
- In the Media Lab talk, Lepore argues that in our contemporary world, data has become more important than facts. What is the difference between the two, and why does Lepore think this change happened?
- What did you find most interesting in Lepore's work? Why?
As you write, be sure to ground your points in exact quotations. Make sure you introduce each quotation you use to support your points and that the source is clear to your reader. For Jill Lepore's podcast and video, make sure to include a parenthetical citation with a timestamp for when the quotation appears. For example, (MLT Talk 19:27) would indicate the quotation came nineteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds into the recording. This will allow other readers to go back and listen to exactly what you were listening to and thus confirm the fact that she said what you claim she said. (For more help, please review the Purdue Owl Page for how to do in-text citations in MLA).
Remember, your goal in this post is to show that you have have taken the time to carefully read, comprehend, and reflect on what you have learned.
In addition, you need to practice all the skills of good writing, including the following:
- An introduction
- Clear and effective organization (paragraphing and sign-posting with topic sentences and transitions)
- The frequent use of brief quotations from your key sources, with proper in-text citation, to support your points
- Inventive and engaging writing informed by careful reading and reflection
Links: The last archive episode 1 the case of the blue bottle
https://www.thelastarchive.com/
podcast
https://youtu.be/s_BrFTxfom8
