Paper #1 on privacy assigned. - English

English 300: Language and lawFor each topic, write a 3-5 page essay (750-1,500 words) discussing the topic, focusingon an aspect of your choice, framing your discussion as an argument that stakes out aposition, frames a problem, or otherwise proves a thesis, and giving pertinent and detailedexamples to support your claims.Essay topics are stated very generally to encourage you to find a specific, narrow topicwithin their broad scope that interests you, and you would like to discuss in detail.Bring a hard copy of your essay to class on the day that workshopping is scheduled, andemail the final, revised draft to me before class on the day that it is due. Your essayshould be titled lastnamen, where last name = your last name, and n=the essay number. Itshould be saved as a .doc, .docx, .txt, .rtf, or .pdf file and emailed as an attachment.for example: natarajan2.docxEssay 1: Language and privacy lawTechnological innovations often create situations which challenge or strain traditionalnotions of privacy. The printing press, the photograph, the internet, and the cell phonevideo are but four examples of inventions that make private language public, sometimeswith and sometimes without our consent. Discuss an example where technology hasforced us to reconsider traditional notions of privacy, forcing a new understanding of thedivide between public and private. What are the legal implications of such redefinitionsand reconfigurations of the private/public boundaries?Resources for privacy issues:http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/PrivacyEssay 2: Language and the First AmendmentThe First Amendment deals in large part with speech, broadly defined to include notionsof spoken and written language and the duty of government to allow such speech ratherthan preventing it. And yet the First Amendment, as it is understood by the courts, is a farcry from the commonly-held belief, “It’s a free country, I can say (write) whatever Iwant.” Examine a free speech issue and how it has been dealt with, adequately orinadequately, by the law and by the courts.Essay 3: The law, official language, and minority language rightsThroughout American history, legislation and court challenges from the local to thefederal levels have attempted to deal with the fact that English may be the dominantlanguage in the United States, but it’s not the first language to be used here and it is farfrom the only language used here. Identify a specific problem or issue within this broad

topic and write an essay on one aspect of official language law, minority language ordialect protection, or issues involving bilingualism in schools or the workplace.Essay 4: Legal issues in workplace language, trademark, and copyrightIssues involving workplace language often raise concerns about privacy, freedom ofexpression, and employer control of employee language. Issues of trademark andcopyright treat yet another aspect of language as property. Write an essay on the legalramifications of one significant aspect of workplace language or of language-as-property.