Anita Nessin
Webquest
Is it 1984
in 2001?
Introduction:
In
the late 1940’s, George Orwell imagined a future for mankind that wasn’t very
appealing. In his Oceania of the
future, Big Brother was always watching.
He watched through telescreens, police in helicopters, thought police,
neighbors, even children. The Party had
total control of your present, and if you displeased them, they eliminated you
and your past so that you never existed.
Citizens of Oceania had no privacy.
The year 1984 has come and gone, but the idea Orwell came up with of an
ever present Big Brother has stayed around.
We even used “Big Brother” for the name of a recent television program
which had cameras constantly watching a group of people.
Imagine
that you are the spirit of George Orwell, come back to see if he was right in
his predictions. There is little
question that we are being watched, but is it Big Brother watching us? If he is, is he the same Big Brother that
Orwell predicted? In Oceania, citizens
had no privacy because the Party wanted total control. If we have lost privacy, why have we? Perhaps you feel that there are good reasons
for this loss of privacy.
Task:
You
will be evaluating how close we are to the 1984 that George Orwell predicted in
the one of the areas of personal privacy and deciding whether or not it is such
a bad thing.
You
will be surveying articles about an aspect of personal privacy that you have
chosen and summarizing them. You will
be discussing a minimum of four articles.
You’ll
warn us if you think the loss of privacy is a bad thing, or try to persuade us
that we are losing our privacy in a good cause and there is nothing to worry
about.
Process:
1.
Your
job is to select one of the following areas where we are losing our privacy.
The workplace
Medical confidentiality
DNA and Drug testing
The Internet
Personal information (credit cards, social security
numbers etc.)
2.
You will have to explain the reasons privacy is being lost in that area. You are, in effect, following the Public
Policy Steps of defining the problem, identifying causes and evaluating a
policy. Then you have a choice.
·
As
George Orwell, you think we are getting closer to the monster Oceania, and you
want to alert people to take action against this.
·
Or (again as George) you may think that in 2001 there is good reason for
some sort of Big Brother to watch us and you want to persuade us why
this is a good thing.
3. AS GEORGE ORWELL, you will have to
write up your findings with references to the articles you have found and, if
there is time, present them to the class.
You will be warning us of a danger or persuading us that we are being
watched for good reasons. You can
present in the form of a Power Point presentation or a traditional written
report.
Resources:
Remember, searching the web is like finding your way in a maze; there
are many dead ends you run into before you find your way. Be prepared for some
dead ends. It’s also like looking for
love; it takes a lot of looking before you find that special someone. Keep looking.
Also keep in mind that the answers you get depend on
the questions you ask. If you don’t get
results asking one way, try another way.
Use the plus sign (+) between words if you want both in your answer. (workplace + privacy, DNA + testing)
For online databases, we used this site in class to
get articles-
http://galenet.gale.com/a/acp/name
USER
ID: BRON58271
PASSWORD: BRON58271
New York State Attorney General’s Office for links
to DNA testing and workplace protections, as well as other links (US government
for one.)
The American Civil Liberties Union has many links
for information on privacy rights, workers rights and more.
www.aclu.org/issues/privacy/hmprivacy.html
www.aclu.org/issues/worker/hmwr.html (DNA testing)
www.aclu.org/library/pbr5.html (drug testing, privacy + medical + records)
Try this one-
www.privacyrights.org
Don’t forget our own www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal - try
the links for student resources.
There are also many search engines:
You can also use the articles you have if they are
appropriate.
Evaluation:
If you are presenting your
information in a form other than a written report, I will work out an alternate
evaluation with you privately.
In a written report I will be looking for the
following:
1.
A
clear thesis statement indicating which area of privacy you will be investigating.
10 points
2.
Indication
that, as George Orwell, you think the loss of privacy in this area is a good
thing or an evil to be stopped. 15 points
3.
A
survey of four articles about this topic with summaries and proper
citations. This information must support
your opinion, see #2. 40 points
4.
Correct
use of Standard English. Use of
transitional words or phrases so that your writing flows instead of jumping
from one idea to another. 20 points
5.
Cover
page with a title, your name and date. 5 points
6.
A
list of works cited correctly citing Internet sources. 10 points