“So what?”

1. “So what?” or “And so?”

2. Purpose • Moves from observation to implication and interpretation • Forces you to answer: “Why does this matter?” • Requires you to make a creative leap from data and patterns to meaning • Draw tentative conclusions • Reveal what these observations suggest

3. Purpose (cont’d.) • Make overt what is currently indirect • Show what you think makes the observations interesting • Use reasoning to connect the data to draw a larger meaning • Just when you think you are done, ask “so what?” again

4. So what? Answers specific questions • What does the observation suggest? • Why does this observation matter? • Where does this observation get us? • How can we begin to theorize the significance of the observation?

5. Example • Characteristics of email • Inexpensive • Informal • Often grammatically incorrect • Uses text language, e.g., BTW = By the way • Impermanent • You find impermanence most interesting

6. So what? • Q: So what that it is impermanent? • A: That’s why so many people use it; it doesn’t last • Q: So what that its popularity stems from its impermanence? • A: Well apparently we like being released from formal rules; email frees us • Q: So what?

7. Girls and Computers • A new report by the American Association of University Women shows that a troubling gender gap in computer use exists in high schools. (So what?)

8. A new report by the American Association of University Women shows that a troubling gender gap in computer use exists in high schools. Girls make up only a small percentage of students who take high-level computer courses that might lead to technology careers. (And so?)

9. A new report by the American Association of University Women shows that a troubling gender gap in computer use exists in high schools. Girls make up only a small percentage of students who take high-level computer courses that might lead to technology careers. Yet they are more likely than boys to take data-entry classes, the high-tech equivalent of typing. (Andso?)

10. Girls and Computers The report also found that girls tend to use computers in limited ways, such as for word processing, while boys are more likely to use computers to solve problems or to develop their own programs. (And so?)

11. The report also found that girls tend to use computers in limited ways, such as for word processing, while boys are more likely to use computers to solve problems or to develop their own programs. In one study, girls consistently rated themselves less competent with computers than boys. (So what?)

12. The report also found that girls tend to use computers in limited ways, such as for word processing, while boys are more likely to use computers to solve problems or to develop their own programs. In one study, girls consistently rated themselves less competent with computers than boys. This suggests that many girls are starting to see the high-tech world as a masculine domain.

13. Some of the gender gap is created outside the classroom. Computer toys are more heavily marketed to boys, and most computer games and even educational software have more male characters than female characters. (And so?)

14. Some of the gender gap is created outside the classroom. Computer toys are more heavily marketed to boys, and most computer games and even educational software have more male characters than female characters. But teachers sensitive to these issues could help turn the situation around. (How?)

15. In 1992, the association raised the nation's awareness of a gender gap in enrollment in math and science courses in high school. (So what?)

16. In 1992, the association raised the nation's awareness of a gender gap in enrollment in math and science courses in high school. In less than a decade, that gap has been narrowed because educators worked to increase girls' participation. (So what?)

17. Girls and Computers In 1992, the association raised the nation's awareness of a gender gap in enrollment in math and science courses in high school. In less than a decade, that gap has been narrowed because educators worked to increase girls' participation. Now educators must insure that girls are not inadvertently left out of the computer revolution. The New York Times. October 19, 1998. SECTION: Section A:16.

18. Thesis: The fate of the Earth depends on society realizing its mistakes, taking immediate responsibility, and correcting the problem of global warming. The consequences associated with the failure to control global warming are numerous and severe. One consequence involves destruction of society as we know it by numerous and increasing natural disasters. Some people do not think that the small temperature change constitutes apocalyptic natural disasters, but vast evidence exists to argue otherwise: “It is well known that tropical cyclones form only over warm oceans from which they gain their energy, largely from the latent heat of condensation. Thus, it would not be surprising if a warmer and moister world contained enhanced overall hurricane activity” (Anthes et al. 624). So what?According to this evidence, the threat of increased global disasters is very real, and not as distant as many may hope. Today we only see small changes in temperature, but what about in a hundred years, or a thousand? If humanity continues to advance unchecked, the future may hold temperatures more than just a few degrees hotter than usual, and in turn, exponentially larger hurricanes. And so?

19. Thesis: The fate of the Earth depends on society realizing its mistakes, taking immediate responsibility, and correcting the problem of global warming. Humans are causing harm merely by clearing land to live and grow food on, but the real damage comes from the industry-based deforestation of the natural rainforests around the world to build factories or harvest the trees for paper. But Earth's trees are the grand-daddysof photosynthesis: “trees absorb carbon dioxide while they grow and trap it for many years to come. On average, over thirty years, a tree can absorb 230 kilograms of carbon dioxide” (“How Trees” 2). And so?Notonly have human beings created a potentially hazardous atmospheric condition, but they unknowingly destroyed many of the best known mechanisms for repairing the damage and continue to do so in large-scale today. Human nature's desire to advance and survive is truly amazing, almost scary, but if humans fail to compromise with the environment, their mission of extending and improving life will backfire. And so?