“The End of Solitude,” 48-hour news blackout

 BACKGROUND Do a thorough read of the article “The End of Solitude,” which is in the September readings folder on the class website. In it, Deresiewicz traces how solitude has changed through the ages and how our digital information society has almost eliminated any hope of being alone, while doing little to allay our notions and tendencies toward loneliness– and even less toward building true friendships and communities. Specifically, you should focus on what the author says about our culture of celebrity and connectivity. Do you see yourself in his argument? How so? ASSIGNMENT 1) You need to throw yourself in a Twilight Zone of partial solitude. After you’ve read the article, disconnect yourself from all news for 48 hours. No TV news, no cable news, no New York Times, no iPhone apps to news sites, no radio, no Web news sites. No social media sites that post news such as Facebook and Twitter. Instagram, too. None. No cheating. No talking to or listening to family or friends about news events. No weather forecasts, no sports stories. ESPN is news, so NO ESPN. Take notes of your reactions and observations. Are you experiencing any of the solitude Deresiewicz describes or are you finding yourself anxious? Are you just substituting other faux social activities to fill the gaps? Keep track of that stuff. The idea is to develop an understanding of the information that we normally rely on to make decisions–what we call “actionable information.” You should consider why and how the news is important and the Extent to which we take its presence for granted. Is news a necessary intrusion of our solitude? Or, perhaps, does news create more solitude by making us think for ourselves? (continued) 2) After the blackout, write a blog of about 500 words that describes your experience. YES, YOU MAY USE FIRST PERSON, but you cannot use “I feel” or “I think.” The purpose of the paper is not to simply describe your feelings, but to analyze them. It is essential that you make specific references to the Solitude essay.