Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory - Response #2

For your homework this weekend, listen to the This American Life's episode entitled "Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory". You may initially note that this is a distinctly different kind of writing and arguing than we have encountered thus far in the semester. This episode is constructed as a memoir or narrative essay in which Mike Daisey tells the story of his trip to China to visit the factories in which many popular gadgets, including Apple's iPhone and iPad, are created, and as a result it is constructed quite differently than the things we have read in class up to this point.

Despite the changes in the form of reading that we are doing (i.e. we are listening, not reading, and we are listening to a narrative as opposed to a more formal argumentative essay), respond to the episode much like you have to the rest of our readings in class. Critically analyze the piece, and try to get a good understanding of the logic Daisey is using to argue his point.

As promised, we still have bad clip art to accompany each of my posts.

The Specifics:

Write a 500 word post, responding to the episode in whichever way you would like; agree, disagree, pose questions, etc. Be sure to keep in mind that the issue is not black or white.  There a number of ways to approach the issue.

Good sorts of questions to ask when writing are the type that either complicate the situation Daisey has presented us with or question his line of reasoning, such as: 

• How much these consumer electronics items would cost if they were made by American hands? 
• Would American business action on the issue (i.e. businesses pulling out of China) change the situation? Would other business simply fill the void left behind? 
• What sorts of legislative mechanisms exist to clean up the factory conditions in the Chinese manufacturing industry, and are they being leveraged to their fullest extent?
• As consumers, what are viable actions to combat this sort of manufacturing activity?

Also keep in mind that, as we have been discussing in class for the last few days, that most academic writing is a product of the combined motions of summary and argument. I expect you to be simultaneously summarizing the content of the episode and generating your own opinions and progressing the logic of your argument.

This post is due by the beginning of class, Tuesday, Febrary 7th.

Have a great weekend!