Choose a world event that occurred sometime between July 1, 2019 and October 1, 2018, and create a 1,000-word essay 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/lectures 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?

Visual media are an important part of the final essay. Use images, videos, and web links as evidence to illustrate your thesis. If you have trouble with media on the WordPress site, you may email a pdf, Word, or Publisher formatted copy of your essay to your writing coach. You should have a minimum of 5article or web sources, one of which is scholarly. An excellent essay will likely have more sources than 5. Use MLA for your citation format, but don’t worry about indentations or margins (they’re a problem on WordPress). The works cited list will not count against the 1,000 word limit. 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 sperateWordPress posts.

Thesis and sources 

Thesis: Having access to ammunition has become very easy to do in the 21st century. There have been multiple school shootings happening within this year by people between the ages of 16-25. Being able to create ammo yourselves will become much more problematic for society. Individuals would worry about massacres being committed, the threat of big government intrusions, regulatory barriers, market shortages or price hikes that might limit access to essential supplies like lead or gunpowder. Media sites like YouTube and Bing worry about the consequences of D.I.Y (Do it yourself), which has caused them to ban it on their websites.

Bibliography:

1. Warlow, Tom. Firearms, the Law, and Forensic Ballistics, Chapman and Hall/CRC, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/fiu/detail.action?docID=827020.

This book talks about the development of arms and ammunition from the fourteenth century to the present day, by examining firearms laws around the world, including legal challenges raised in the U.S. by the Daubert decision. It talks about firearms manufacturing processes, the mechanisms of various firearms, and the linking of a particular bullet or spent cartridges with a suspected weapon. I found this in the proquest database.

2. Gojanovic, M. D. (1995). Fatal firearm injuries caused by handmade weapons.Journal of Clinical Forensic Medicine, 2(4), 213-216. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.fiu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.fiu.edu/docview/17071030?accountid=10901

This article talks about six cases of accidental death caused by a shot from handmade or improvised firearms. There’s one case where the weapon used was a shop-made gun with home-made ammunition. I found this in the proquest database.

3. News Reporter, RICHARD VERNALLS. “ANTIQUES MURDER SHOW – BRUM SCIENTISTS LEAD BATTLE AGAINST ROGUE DEALERS WHO ARE TURNING OBSOLETE GUNS INTO DEADLY WEAPONS.” Birmingham Mail (England), 01 ed., sec. News, 20 Oct. 2018, p. 22,23. NewsBank, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/16F334FF1D9E90B8. Accessed 23 Oct. 2018.

Richard talks about the consequences that Birmingham faces against rogue dealers bringing antique weapons back. He talks about a licensed firearms trader named Edmunds, bringing obsolete calibre weapons back by handcrafting the bullets from a garage workshop.

4.Urbina, Ian. “Inside the World of D.I.Y. Ammunition.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Oct. 2018, http://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/05/us/3d-printed-guns-homemade-ammunition.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftechnology.

Urbina talks about a 29-year old gunsmith by the name of Michael Crumling show a collection of lead bullets that he crafted himself from scratch. He talks about bullets that wouldn’t ruin the plastic firearms. I found this on ny times website

5. Stamm, Dan. “Police Find Handmade Gun & 1,600 Rounds in HS Threat Case.” NBC 10 Philadelphia, NBC 10 Philadelphia, 2 Apr. 2018, http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Exchange-Student-Bonner-Prendergast-Gun-Ammunition-Threats-478530693.html.

This article talks about an 18-year old Taiwanese high school exchange student that brought a handmade 9mm gun using parts that he bought online with 1600 rounds of ammunition to school. I found this on the nbc news website.

6. “Safety of Imaging Exploding Bullets With Ultrasound.” Annals of Emergency Medicine, Mosby, 2 Nov. 2005, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196064496700604.

They’re talking about evaluating the safety of using ultrasound technology to image exploding bullets that have not detonated. They use various types of exploding bullets at various depths with various transducers and using standard radiography.