A Focused, Well-Presented Issue: Reframing Through Contrast

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 Analyze 
Use the basic features.

Writers sometimes have to remind their readers why an issue is controversial. Beginning with the title, Solove works to undermine the widely held assumption that the erosion of privacy should not be a concern. He does this primarily by contrasting two different ways of thinking about threats to privacy, which he calls Orwellian and Kafkaesque, based on the novels 1984, by George Orwell, and The Trial, by Franz Kafka. To present this contrast, Solove uses sentence patterns like these:

Here are a couple of examples from Solove’s position argument:

The problems are not just Orwellian but Kafkaesque. (par. 10)

Legal and policy solutions focus too much on the problems under the Orwellian metaphor—those of surveillance—and aren’t adequately addressing the Kafkaesque problems—those of information processing. (par. 9)

ANALYZE & WRITE

Write a few paragraphs analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of Solove’s use of contrast to reframe the issue for readers:

  1. Notice how Solove uses sources in his first two paragraphs. Given his purpose to reframe a commonly held view of privacy, why do you think he begins this way?
  2. Reread paragraphs 6–7 to see how Solove explains the two contrasting metaphors. Then skim paragraphs 8–10, highlighting any sentence patterns used to mark the contrast.
  3. Has Solove’s reframing of the discussion affected your understanding of privacy and your concerns about its loss? Why or why not?

    Question