John C. Rude (b. 1941) is a freelance writer and educational consultant. He is co-founder and secretary of the Thirst for Learning Foundation, which supports schools in developing countries. Rude served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Eritrea in the 1960s, as a member of the African-American Institute team that monitored the 1992 Ethiopian elections, and as a consultant for the Eritrean ministry of education in 1995. This article, based on his experience in the Horn of Africa, originally appeared in 1996 in The Humanist, published by the The American Humanist Association, and was updated by the author for inclusion in Composing Cyberspace. According to its editors, The Humanist "applies humanism -- a naturalistic and democratic outlook informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion -- to broad areas of social and personal concern."
"Birth of a Nation in Cyberspace" (Composing Cyberspace p. 275) is not available online.
1. Rude writes that the example of Eritrea runs "completely counter to the common image of a chaotic, degenerate Africa" (¶ 3). How common is that image in your experience? Collect and analyze some examples of how Africa is portrayed in newspapers or magazines, on TV, or on the Internet. How does RudeÕs portrayal of Eritrea compare to these other examples?
2. Rude quotes a large selection of specific postings to Dehai. What is he trying to show with each example or set of examples? How might you analyze these examples in further depth? For example, how do you see the participants' dual identities (as Eritrean and American, British, Swedish, etc.), their elite social status, or their idiosyncratic use of English manifested in their messages?
3. Based on this article, how would you describe the relationship between Dehai or "Virtual Eritrea" and real-life Eritrea? Thomas Keneally suggests that Dehai is a "laboratory for the emergent nation-state" (¶s 2 and 31). How do you think that laboratory looks similar and different in the cases of the three major controversies discussed by Rude -- religion, women's rights, and traditional laws and practices?
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