MCHS JUNIOR ENGLISH
PROJECT #3
TWO REVOLUTIONS
For this project, we will be looking at two revolutions, one in the past -the Industrial Revolution as manifested in the textile mills in the 19th Century- and the Communications Revolution- the current revolution of which each of you is a part and which will affect your future careers and lifestyles- .
The Computer Revolution
I. Inventors and inventions
1. Begin with reading the invention of the personal computer and answer the questions below.
1. Who invented the first computer in 1940?
2. Why didn't he make a fortune? From this you can deduce and answer: what conditions are necessary for a person to make a fortune on a single invention?
•Extra Credit: Read the timeline for development of computer technology in Triumph of the Nerds.
Explain how Microsoft made its fortune - what factors contributed to its success?
II. Magazine Articles
Questions 3 & 4
Choose two of the articles from the following list of articles dealing with Silicon Valley employees.
Then, as you read the articles, answer the question which is the title of each article:
ARTICLES TO CHOOSE FROM:
Article #1 What does it take to make it big in this industry?
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Article#2 What impact does a boom economy have on its location?
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Article #3.Who
has succeeded and who hasn't from this boom?
Article #4 Who benefits from a downturn in the economy?
Article #5 How did most employees get rich in Silicon Valley?
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Article #6 .Life in the Valley- How does the computer industry affect the two-career family life?
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Article#8 Are women succeeding at the same pace as men in this latest revolution?
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 Lowell girls going BA grades (left) |
III. Employees: What skills do they need?
Now locate an entry level job finder website. Look over the entry level jobs offered by current computer - tech industries (not including support services such as secretarial jobs.)
5. What are they looking for? What are minimum requirements?
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THE OTHER REVOLUTION (INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
What you have examined so far in history class has been the birth of industry in the textile mills of New England (as represented in Lowell, Massachusetts.) As you know from your study of the next wave of industrialization, fueled this time by labor of immigrants, by the turn of the century industrialization has changed the landscape of cities, the lives of its inhabitants, and the entire economy of the United States.
As you surf these sites, answer the questions under each site coded in green. Keep in mind that you are looking for common elements to discuss in your comparison/contrast of the industrial revolution with the computer revolution.
ART AND THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
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Locate the National Museum of American Art's "Metropolitan Lives: The Ashcan Artists and Their New York" site. Choose three paintings, one in each of the following sections in the sidebar:
"Changing New York" ,
"Rich and Poor", and
"Immigration".
6,7, and 8. Describe what you see in each and how it may be seen as an SIDE EFFECT or DIRECT RESULT of rapid industrialization.
INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE COMMON WAGE EARNER
Read the transcript of the interview with a "mule-spinner" in 1883.
9. Explain how changes in the textile industry affected his job.
10. Consider whether current entry level wage earners experience a similar situation in today's computer/information economy.
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11,12. What generalizations can you make about the lifestyle, income level, and difficulties experienced by these entry level wage earners? Write two quotations from the Tenement Museum reading as examples.
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For your essay at the end of this web project, you may use all information from readings about the industrial revolution covered in your history class, narratives by the Lowell Mills girls, and readings from The Jungle covered in your English class as well as the information you have gleaned from this site. Remember that the essay should deal specifically with these points: