Electric Car Exercise

CRTW 201

Dr. Fike

STEP ONE

Finish watching the film; stop at 1 hour and 21 minutes.  (Penultimate scene before stopping:  gal in garage with red car.  Stop on Nadar.)

STEP TWO

Group Exercise:  Put the film through the following elements:

• Q @ I:  Who killed the electric car?

Quadrant 1:  Purpose and context

Quadrant 2:  Point of view and concepts

Quadrant 3:  Information and consequences

Quadrant 4:  Assumptions

NOTE:  ALL of you need to be mindful of alternatives. 

STEP THREE

Based on your analysis, what conclusions emerge?  (Conclusions answer the Q @ I.)

STEP FOUR

Watch the conclusions section of the film starting at 1 hour and 21 minutes.  Note differences between your conclusions and those that the film provides.

STEP FIVE (if time)

Apply the standards of critical thinking to your analysis of the film.  Which standards does the film fulfill?  Which does it not?

STEP SIX

Here are some questions at issue.  Your task is to apply the elements.  If you can, answer your question(s).  If you cannot, use the standards to figure out why you cannot answer it/them properly. 

Quadrant 1:

• If we move to electric cars, will there be more pollution b/c electricity comes primarily from coal?
• Is “corporate profits vs. environmental protection” a true opposition? 

Quadrant 2:

• Who controls the future? 
• If there are one trillion barrels of oil left (@ ~$100 per bbl.), why shouldn’t we just continue to run our cars on internal combustion?

Quadrant 3:

• Did President Bush and Vice President Cheney (former oilmen) use their offices to promote the oil industry?
• Why did President Reagan have solar panels removed from the White House?

Quadrant 4:

• If you were head of GM, what kind of future would you design?