Essay+4+Assignment

Essay # 4: Due Thursday, Dec. 8th
===Drawing upon all of the readings on the theme of the study of science compared to-- and contrasted with-- the study of the humanities, write an essay (3-4 pages long) exploring and explaining both kinds of educational approaches (humanities vs. the specialized sciences), noting the advantages and disadvantages of each, in which you address the following questions: === ====You should quote from some of the outside readings as well (e.g. Orwell’s “What is Science?” Vargas Llosa’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, “Is Google Making us Stupid?” the Carl Sagan essay, the Steve Jobs Stanford commencement speech, “C.P. Snow's 'Two Cultures' Revisited,” etc), in order to support your ideas. If you have any questions, call or email me. ====
 * ====What can be found only in literature? Why can’t it be found in science? ====
 * ====What would be limited without reading? How? ====
 * ====What is important about what Vargas Llosa calls “membership in the collective human experience”? What does he mean by this, and how, if at all, does literature address this experience? How, if at all, does science? In what ways? ====
 * ====Can audiovisual media (film, CDs, etc) provide the rich possibilities of language that literature can? If so, in what ways? ====
 * ====What is Bill Gates’ mission with regard to books? What do you think about his ideas? Do you agree or disagree with them? Why? ====
 * ====Present the main arguments in Snow’s essay (“Two Cultures”) and Vargas Llosa’s essay (“Why Literature?”), and address the advantages and disadvantages of each perspective. Which author is more objective, and who is more biased or one-sided? Give textual support, examples from the texts, to strengthen your arguments. ====
 * ====Define what is specifically a “practical” education versus a “well-rounded” or “liberal” education, and argue for the superiority of one or the other, supporting your case with specific examples from any of the texts we’ve read. ====