ESSAY 1:
General Guidance:
Choose 1 out of the following questions and respond to it in an academic essay of 2000 words
(maximum).
When approaching these questions, do you best to consider your point of view on the subject and
see the essay as an attempt to convince your reader of your opinion. To do this effectively, you’ll
need to use descriptive language to explain things as you have understood them – don’t assume
your understanding on Twitter, a digital game, a film (etc.) is the same as everyone else’s; also, a
particular description of something can help get your point across by highlighting particular
elements over others. Each essay question includes a quote from one of your module readings –
start with that.
Beyond this, one way to help get your opinion across is to appear confident in your understanding of
the wider context of an issue: as such, in each question you will be expected to draw on a range of
sources in your answer: at least 3 academic sources along with more popular sources (blogs,
newspapers, social media) if required. This quite often requires more than just mentioning a source
but instead engaging with a source, discussing its strengths and weakness and using this
understanding of sources to help frame your opinion. It can be a good idea to draw on personal
experiences to help make your point, but you must take the time to relate your experiences to a
wide audience – imagine attempting to explain what it’s like to use TikTok to an alien… While this
information can seem insignificant, personal experiences often form the basis of research. Above all,
never forget, we can read the published articles whenever we want: we want to see your informed
but unique opinion on a question!
Essay questions:
1. In a widely read essay in the Atlantic (2008), Nick Carr posited that Google is “making us
stupid.” To what extent do you feel Google (or some other recent technology) has the ability
to impact human beings?
2. In 2002 Stiglitz asked “why has globalization, a force that has brought so much good –
become so controversial?” Do you believe globalization remains a controversial idea in 2020 and
to what extent is this feeling justified?
3. In 1981 the Scarman report stated, “The directions and policy of the Metropolitan Police are
not racist. I totally and unequivocally reject the attack made upon the integrity and impartiality
of the senior direction of the force.” Today, it is easy to access data relating to police stop and
search statistics along with other data. Has this digitization of London as a digital city helped
instigate social change?