Answer one of the following questions clearly, directly, and completely. Be sure to quote and
analyze specific passages from the course readings to support your answer. Answers that do
not include such support will receive no credit. You may use additional sources to support
your answer if you wish.
You should be able to answer the question in 500 words or so, but feel free to go longer. Make
sure your answer reflects your best writing, and proofread before you submit your final draft on
iLearn. Make sure you present your response in a series of well-developed paragraphs. Answers that consist of a single paragraph will receive no credit.
1. Does the !sharing economy,” as described by Doug Henwood, reflect San Francisco values
as you understand them? Why or why not? In your answer, be sure to discuss both sets of values and how they do or do not overlap.
2. San Francisco writer Rebecca Solnit called Anna Wiener’s Uncanny Valley, the book-length
version of the article we read, as “Joan Didion at a startup.” What are some points of contact
between Wiener’s work and Didion’s?
3. The Fred Turner interview mentions the notion of “techno-utopianism.” How is that similar to,
or different from, other utopian versions of the Bay Area we have seen in this class—for example, the Gold Rush and San Francisco counterculture? In your answer, be sure to cite specific
examples from Turner, Henwood, or Wiener.
4. Michael Anton argues that the central purpose of San Francisco Values is “to justify, obfuscate, glamorize, exalt, and deflect attention from” high levels of wealth concentration and inequality. Which values does he have in mind? Do you find his analysis persuasive? Why or why
not?
5. How did the San Francisco counterculture influence a young Steve Jobs? Give specific examples and quote the relevant passages from the Isaacson biography to support your answer.
I have the links to all articles so feel free to choose any prompt 🙂
