Instructions:

Choose a world event that occurred sometime between September 1, 2015 and February 7, 2016, and create a 1,000-word wiki that explains, from a critical and global perspective, how the trajectory of this event was shaped by various information systems. Your goal is to evaluate the authenticity and credibility of information reported about this world event, so the essay should demonstrate your understanding of the diverse and complex nature of information, bringing order to, and maximizing the value of, the information for the audience it reaches. True to the title of this course, your essay will help you come full circle, in that you must explain how we know what we know about this world event. Thus, your essay should state a thesis, and your paper should analyze, how the event was covered or how information about the event was manipulated or suppressed. Finally, your essay should address what all that means on a global level.

Your writing should CRITICALLY examine HOW WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW about your event. You need to challenge assumptions and expand the bounds of debate. Don’t just give a recap of the event. As voracious readers, we already KNOW what happened. Think instead of how the public got the information and how it might have been influenced – manipulated, suppressed, etc. Look at all the different players and facets involved in the event. Media, business, government, and the public from countries around the world may have been affected. Be careful of sweeping generalizations such as, “the media only want sensational stories”, or, “the government always lies.” Back up your claims with facts and expert opinions that are cited.

The concepts covered in the course should be the building blocks of your essay. Descriptions of events do not constitute analysis, which is the application of learned concepts to create new ways of looking at the world. How does the rhetorical triangle apply in your analysis? Who’s keeping secrets? Who’s penetrating secrets? Who’s manipulating information? How is information created, harvested, conveyed, and used?

For the first purpose, you should select an international event and do a thorough-going read of articles related to that event. Imagine that you are tearing apart an engine, piece by piece, examining every part for wear, tear and defective workmanship. Remember, information usually is a collection of a lot of moving parts. Challenge assumptions, expand the bounds of debate and make sure your analysis is beneficial to global society.

For the second purpose, how do the readings/web explorations this semester frame your examination of the event? What role, if any, did secrecy, revelation, intellectual property, freedom of information or suppression play in this event? Review readings and lecture notes to focus your thinking. Was there an example of how lies protect secrets or how secrets protect lies? Or, perhaps, how was rhetoric used to shape and convey the event? Use every lens you’ve been provided this semester to examine the event and select those that bring it into focus.

If you do that, you’ll be in great shape to tackle the third purpose, which is to determine how a person, movement or technology influenced this event. How did one or more of those alter the global culture? How do any (or all) of those bring desirable or undesirable change?

You should have a minimum of 5 sources, one of which is scholarly. Use MLA for your citation format, but don’t worry about indentations or margins (they’re a problem on WikiSpaces). Remember to examine everything that is covered in class: readings, assignments, discussions, tutorials, as potential tools useful to crafting your final assignment. The essay and thesis will be created on Wikispaces. 

Content:

The Mexican Drug Cartel: A Spotlight On The Man They Call El Chapo

If one reads about the Mexican drug cartel, then it is inevitable to come across Joaquin Guzman Loera, also known as El Chapo, the king of the tunnels. He is somewhat a legend in Mexico because of his daring escape from prison, not once, but twice. Needless to say, El Chapo is a complicated character to deal with. While the rest of the world imagines him as a ruthless drug lord who gets his way through threats and bribes, his wife describes him as a “loving family man…not violent, not rude” (Hernandez). And based on Sean Penn’s narration of his meeting with the man, he seems to be respectful too: “We follow him to where the family who had cooked our dinner stands dutifully behind a serving table.