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last.updated 9.11.05

 

Blair and Adams

Purpose
To give you the opportunity to demonstrate that you understand how Hugh Blair thinks about style.

Instructions

Douglas Adams, most famous for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, also wrote a lot of short articles about various subjects, especially technology--which he was fascinated by. Read Adams's short article "What do We have to Lose?" from the first issue of Wired magazine.

Now consider the following situation:

Let say Hugh Blair crossed Hadrian's Wall and some serious space time continuums (Hey, this is Douglas Adams we're talking about) and sat down with Douglas Adams at a London pub. Blair has just recently read "What do We have to Lose?" and wants to discuss both the content and presentation of this article with Adams.

Write a 250-350 word dialogue between the two gentlemen. This dialogue is a psuedo-analysis, but it should be done in the spirit of the two men. Therefore, you will want to...

  • use Blair's theory to guide some of the points that he makes in this conversation. Use this to demonstrate your understanding of Blair.
  • use the ethos of each men (at least according to the works that you read) to establish their character in the dialogue
  • have some fun with this

Submit your work prior to class (7 pm) in the body of an email addressed to the instructor.