For the 19th and 21th, be sure to bring all the articles we have read thus far in the second segment of the course so that we can discuss potential paper topics throughout the week's meetings.
I have yet to scan Thursday's reading (p.35-51 from the Hacker text) as I do not have access to the proper technology over the weekend. Therefore, early Monday morning (roughly 11am) I will have this reading appear as an added link to this very posting... thus, please revisit this post, locate the link, then download and print the reading, if need be. Having this reading prepared for class on the 21th is essential for our discussions that day.
Enjoy your weekend,
s.
T 10/19:
~ Discussion of e-journal #7 (post your journal entry, but bring a hard copy to class too) and Essay #2 ideas
~ Be sure to bring Gladwell, Gore, and Winn texts to class
Reading: BH, p.35-51
e-journal #8: After reading from the Hacker text, take one of your paragraphs from e-journal #7 and revise accordingly. Then, as a second requirement, offer a draft thesis statement which you would consider using for your upcoming essay assignment. We will review these anonymously (as can be, after all) in class in order to identify key issues, lines of argumentation, and textual support.
~ Be sure to bring Gladwell, Gore, and Winn texts to class
Reading: BH, p.35-51
e-journal #8: After reading from the Hacker text, take one of your paragraphs from e-journal #7 and revise accordingly. Then, as a second requirement, offer a draft thesis statement which you would consider using for your upcoming essay assignment. We will review these anonymously (as can be, after all) in class in order to identify key issues, lines of argumentation, and textual support.
Th 10/21:
~ Making global revisions, then revising sentences before proofreading
~ Further discussion of possible essay topics, developing thesis statements, and, vitally, the use of quotation and proper citation to support one's thesis
No additional reading or writing assignments… work on your paper and revision!
~ Further discussion of possible essay topics, developing thesis statements, and, vitally, the use of quotation and proper citation to support one's thesis
No additional reading or writing assignments… work on your paper and revision!
Marie Winn’s article TV Addiction has evidence that shows how watching TV has become an addiction. Winn has written a lot on children and television so she has experience in this issue. I have to agree with her points on the ways that TV makes you both lethargic and distracted. I myself have found myself stuck watching television and procrastinating. Al gore would also agree with her since he makes similar points in the introduction of The Assault on Reason. He says, “The purpose of television news now seems primarily to be to “Glue Eyeballs to the screen.” (17). This demonstrates he is aware of the negative effect television can have on someone. It causes them to become addicted and “glued” to the screen. Winn interviews an English instructor with a similar experience, who says “I find television […] irresistible. When the set is on, I cannot ignore it […] I feel sapped, will-less, enervated.” (211) This quote shows how watching television has become a negative experience for some people. All your attention is drained by shows that you don’t have to watch. Both authors acknowledge this effect on people who watch television.
ReplyDeleteDraft thesis statement: By using both Gore’s and Gladwell’s text to understand tipping points, I believe that dramatic changes in technology also brings dramatic changes in our behavior and social lives.
Alcoholics get little respect in society not because alcohol is disliked, but because when people are addicted they turn to lack any accomplishments in other important areas. And television like alcohol has similar effects on us if we become obsessed with it. In the article “TV addiction” by Winn, the author stresses on how people addicted to television feel they “ought” to do other things but always end up succumbing to their television set thus not gaining anything by the end of the day. In the article “Assault on Reason” Gore relates to a similar problem. He talks about how we prefer to watch TV instead of reading and how the principles the country was raised upon is quickly changing. In the end both authors believe that TV stops us from some kind of accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteThesis statement: “Our behaviors of yesterday will change tomorrow” because like an epidemic any new introduction to the society either fashion or technology will quickly spread.
Television became one of the most popular entertainments. However, lately it has turned into a necessary component to keep people entertained. Sadly people became passive. Gore, on the article The Assault on Reason described the interaction on human and TV that “it is accessible in only one direction. There is no true interactivity, and certainly no conversation.”(pp.16) Moreover the whole matter about TV and its programming is based on how inactive and addictive humans can become. Marie Winn on TV Addiction goes even far of the passiveness provoked by the TV, she compares TV and drugs; “Not unlikely drugs and alcohol, the television experience allows the participant to blot out the real world and enter into a pleasurable and passive mental state.” (pp.210) Further she conveys a statement of Robert Kubey who justify that TV “rarely delivers any lasting fulfillment. Only through active engagement with words we inhabit and the people in them can attain for ourselves the rewards and the meaning that lead to psychological well-being.”(pp.215) Therefore, Winn and Gore believe that TV brings to much passiveness to mental-body human being. The extensive use the TV during a free time can result in a bad addiction, isolation and it can even depresses one since there is no true interaction or no fulfillment of our psychological well-being.
ReplyDeleteDraft thesis statement: With an extensive study of Gore's and Gladwell articles is possible to notice how important and destructive technologies can result. The facility, the enjoyment and the addition are three keys to understand the revolution of Tv and Cell-phones.
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ReplyDeleteThe negative effects that Winn sees in habitat TV watching is she believes that television is an addiction, almost like drug- use. She believes once you watch the television you can’t stop. In some cases that may be true but not all. Television can cause a distraction but not an addiction. I understand where Winn might be coming from though. Television has tooken over in our society, where media conveys stories in different ways. People began to think one thing over another causing us, to change our behaviors in how we act. Both Gore and Winn agreed it changes our behavior. Gore stated, “Moreover, as advertisers quickly discovered, television’s power to motivate changes in behavior was also unprecedented.” Television causes people to act in a certain way, showing them how to dress, act, party, and basically live their life. We are influence by media and have been since we were babies. The influence from media controls our behavior. Winn gave an example of how a child screamed when the mother was trying to shut off the television (214). Television has so much influence to the point where it controls our attitudes during our daily act ivies. The little boy for example, screams and yells for the TV because he has o watch it. Cutting the television off is basically the end of the world top him.
ReplyDeleteThesis: As television continues to grow throughout our society, people continue to be influenced by media causing distractions in our daily actives and our behavior.
Watching TV is something most of us enjoy to do. It can have both negative and positive effects. To writer Mari Winn she sees television as having more negative effects than positive. In her article,"TV Addiction" she states, "The television habit distorts the sense of time. It renders other experiences vague and curiously unreal while taking on a greater reality for itself. It weakens relationships by reducing and sometimes eliminating normal opportunities for talking, for communicating." (Winn, 211 paragraph 7) In his article "The Assault On Reason" Former Vice President Al Gore stated, "And while American television watchers were collectively devoting a hundred million hours of their lives each week to these and other similar stories, our nation was in the process of more quietly making what future historians will certainly describe as a serious of catastrophically mistaken decisions on issues of war and peace, the global climate and human survival, freedom and barbarity, justice and fairness." (Gore, 4) Gore agrees with Winn's sentiments. They both state that television can distract people from important events in life such as communicating with one another and also by allowing people to get caught up in an unrealistic fantasy. Gore believes that people were being so preoccupied with TV, that they did not notice how fast our nation was cruising going downhill. Television will always be a part of American lives; however it is up to them to not let it control their lives.
ReplyDeleteThesis: Television is known as one of the greatest invention that was ever made. It is also known as the American Past Time. Some have come to dislike TV because it is a major distraction and creates false fantasies.
Habitual TV watching as described by Winn is an "Addiction". Much Like a drug, Winn describes the power that television has over its watcher, he states " The television expierence allows the participant to blot out the real world and enter a pleasurable and passive mental state"(Winn, 210 paragraph 3). This passive mental state itself is a negative side effect of Tv. It causes children to become couch potatoes and utterly useless, Adults forget the social ettiquete that they were raised with. Winn points out many cases and examples in her article about the negative impact Tv has imposed on some of her participants.
ReplyDeleteGore's approach is slighlty different although they both state that Tv has a negative impact. Gore's approach to how Tv has impacted society speaks on the amount of growth that has occured in terms of media and how information is spread. Gore points out that Tv has made other forms of obsolete;such as radio and newspapers. Gore makes no mention of the addictive nature of television in his article. He Does however point out how " Americans made a dramatic change in their daily routine and started sitting motionless staring at flickering images on a screen for more than thirty hours each week." This idea ties in very closely with Winn's article. In the fact that it renders the viewer helpless to the mind control of TV, The unexplainable inability to resist watching. In Gore's Article " The Assualt On Reason" he Provides a qoute from a young politician that states" If it's not on television, it doesn't exsist" I believe this qoute captures the idea of both Winn and Gore quite beautifully because it mirrors the perception that in my opinion is the view of many americans today.
Tv is a growing media and will forever change the routine and impact it has on our lives. With that being said Both Gore and Winn have valid points That are agreeable in both respects. Tv does have an addictive nature, much like books and Music,and sports,etc. How we use Television is the determining factor of it's addictive and/or overpowering nature.
Thesis: The invention of television has caused wide spread controversy, which has led to the addiction that many have. This addiction to television is the downfall for many and is causing many to become lazy and misplaced in society.
ReplyDeleteThe article of “TV Addiction” graphically depicts the author’s, Marie Winn position on the effects of television in modern times. From the very beginning Winn does not agree with the pull that television has on people. While often speaking out against the addiction, Winn uses the accounts of others to explain her point. In an excerpt from her book, Winn interviews a college English instructor and the person states, “I find television to be irresistible. When the set is on, I cannot ignore it. I can’t turn it off. I feel sapped, will-less, enervated. As I reach out to turn off the set, the strength goes out of my arms. So I sit there for hours and hours” (Winn 211). Here is an example of the constant addiction that Winn sees in many people and compares to that of the effects of alcohol. Just as alcoholism is inadvertently irresistible so is that of the television to many people.
TV has become a major need in American society without us realizing it. My outlook on this “plague” is proven through the articles, “The Assault on Reason” by Al Gore and “TV Addiction” by Marie Winn. Winn emphasizes television being as a “drug”, while Gore argues how sudden things can change in a generation. Both address the topic on the negatives of TV in different aspects. Winn uses testimonies while on the other hand Gore uses studies to prove his opinion. Winn uses unspecified citation while Gore cites his facts, excellent for the reader to research. The TV blocks one from the world and distracts one from daily tasks; it’s only growing day by day.
ReplyDeleteAccording to article “TV Addiction” by Marie Winn, she describes the negative effects that she sees in habitual TV watching. Winn states, “the lives of heavy viewers are unbalanced by their television “habit” as drug addicts’ or alcoholics’ lives.” (211). The analogy being made is that people who are addicted to the tube are like drug addicts or alcoholics. A disadvantage that Winn sees is that it blocks out the real world and brings one into an enjoyable but mental state; in a way consuming ones’ life. A similarity in belief is shown in the article “The Assault on Reason” by Al Gore when he states how television overlooks American society in a negative aspect. In a sense Gore agrees with Winn on the concept that television is corrupt and has a powerful effect on everyday life. Gore states, “The purpose of television news now seems primarily to be to “glue eyeballs to the screen” in order to build ratings and sell advertising” (17), explaining that the news broadcast mostly the bad to draw you in. He declares how sudden things can change in a generation and the smallest things can have a big effect.
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ReplyDeleteThesis: The topic of habitual TV watching is the premise for Gore's "The Assault on Reasoning" and Winn's "TV Addiction". Each side both make valid points in there argument against watching too much TV. Winn uses the testimony of others and Gore uses studies from numerous sources to back there points.
ReplyDeleteIn Winn’s article “TV Addiction” she shows many examples of the negative effects of habitual TV watching. She states “television habit distorts the sense of time. It renders other experiences vague” (211). I fully agree with this statement because when I am watching a TV show or movie that is very interesting I do not notice anything around me. My mother would be trying to speak with me and I would not even realize, thus “rendering other experiences vague”. This is a problem that Winn realizes need to be addressed as it also “weakens relationships by reducing and sometimes eliminating normal opportunities for communicating” shown by my own experience. Gore shares similar views on habitual TV watching in his article “Assault on Runaway”. Gore says that watching TV is “one-sided and individuals only receive, but cannot send... there is no true interactivity, and certainly no conversation” (16). There is no real conversation or thought process being made when watching TV unlike when we are reading the printed word.
Thesis: How the invention on the telvision has brain watch most of its daily watcher. Also how tis affecting the life of the wtchers and the impact it has on others in society.
ReplyDeleteThe author Marie Winn describes in her article that television is one of, if not the most addictive technology created in our time. Winn argues in her article,(pg.211)"Just as alcoholics are only vaguely aware of their addiction, feeling that they control their drinking more than they really do.('I can cut it out anytime I want-I just like to have three or four drinks before dinner')", that means television addicts don't necessarily think they are addicted to it, they think they can easily stop anytime they want just as alcoholics claims.
Al Gore agrees with Winn based on the intro article he wrote "The Assault on Reason", that when the television was invented back in 1963 it took over the press such as the newsprints; etc... he also stated in the same article that "the television is like a one way road, meaning we can only receive and cannot interact back." I think that statement supports Winn's article "TV Addiction."
Television is a modern marvel and speaking for myself I couldn't imagine my life without it. Television is an inanimate object simply used for two things either to retrieve and/or to relay information. Watching television isn't a horrible thing unless used wisely it can be very dangerous. In both TV Addiction by Marie Winn and The Assault on Reason by Al Gore negative aspects of television watching are brought into the light. In this article the word "addiction" is used profusely to make a point that people can be very addicted to television where it "might have been a choice earlier" it later is "so ingrained" it becomes a “necessity” (Winn 215). It seems ludacris when something like television is described as a “necessity” because the definition of necessity is something that one can’t live without. Winn specifically uses this word because negative connotations we have with the word “addiction” will draw a correlating relationship of negative feelings to the process of television watching. Winn writes about testimony given by individual who were or are so consumed by television that everything else in their lives became neglected. These people stated things like "will-less" when in front of the television (Winn 211). They couldn't "turn it off" even thou they had to "get something started" or even when they became "angry" at themselves (Winn 212,213). A homemaker in this article said that she was "letting the machine take precedence over people" which seems so silly but it happens all the time (Winn 213).
ReplyDeleteIn The Assault on Reason written by Al Gore he writes about how the television taking over how people in America receive their information. He even says that our country is reign by “the empire of television” (Gore 6). He clearly agrees that television can be a very bad thing because it is making the "well-informed citizenry" into a "well-assumed audience" (Gore 16). I believe both writers want to warn us about how powerful television is in our everyday lives and to be weary of that fact.
Marie Winn shows in her article "TV Addiction" how too much television watching can be viewed as a literal addiction. In the article Winn compares heavy TV watchers to alcoholics saying how just like alcoholics feel they can control their drinking “people overestimate their control over television watching” (pg. 211). This shows that just how alcoholics and other addicts often don’t know they are addicted, people who are addicted to television also may not know it. They feel it is something their doing because they want to, when really it has turned into something they have to do. Winn quotes from psychologists, Robert Kubey’s and MIhaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book, “What might have been a choice years earlier is now a necessity” (pg.215). Winn finds this addiction to television a bad thing because it forces people to devote their time to television when they could be doing something more productive. Winn speaks of heavy television watchers confessing they “ought” to be doing better things with their time but “those activities are no longer as desirable as television” (pg.211). I believe Al Gore would agree to these ideas since in his own article, “The Assault on Reason”, he has similar statements. He states in his article, “Americans now watch television an average of four hours and thirty-five minutes every day […] that is almost three-quarters of all the discretionary time an average Ameridan has”(pg.6). However, Gore finds other problems with heavy television watching besides the worthless time consumption television addiction has. In Gore’s article he focuses more on the effect television has on a person’s thinking. He describes how over the last generation television has changed from a positive “market place of ideas” to irrelevant entertainment. He gives examples on how television today revolves more around celebrity trials for public amusement rather than for actual news. He also mentions how television persuades our thinking using advertisements. I personally, have given television a lot of my time in the past and had allowed it to get in the way of better thing I could have been doing with my time. So I agree with Winn’s idea that television watching can turn into an addiction and consumes a lot of time which could be better used.
ReplyDeleteGore goes more into dept when talking about the effects of habitual TV watching in his article, "The Assault on Reason". He realized that Americans now no longer use reason, logic, and truth in order to make important decisions and explains that the reason is because of television watching. He says, "The television networks mimicked the nation's leading newspapers by faithfully following the standards of journalism proffession"(pg.7). People do not feel the need to read newspapers or read books anymore because television has simply mimicked them, giving people a visual perspective of what is in the writing. Television refrain people from drawing logic, reason, and truth through their own perspectives because television has a negative effect on the people's way of thinking and living. While Winn only touches on one aspect, which is the fact that television is addictive, Gore goes more into dept by talking about the way television has impacted not only the lives of individuals but their thought process on many different aspects of life. Thesis statement: Television has an overall impact on its viewers, from their uncontrollable need to watch it to their thought process and its effect on the many other inventions made in the past.
ReplyDeleteWinn and Gore agree that television has negative effects on peoples’ life. In Winn’s article ‘‘TV Addiction’’, she states the negative effects of habitual television watching. She argues that ‘‘the television experience allows the participants to blot out the real world and enter into a pleasurable and passive mental state’’. I agree with her, because I believe that when we watch TV continuously, it will break the connection of people with reality and make them enter the imaginary world. Moreover, the TV will make those addicted people to forget that they have other things or important work to be completed on time. Secondly, she pointed out that ‘‘it weakens relationships […]’’ (p. 211). Most of the people, especially children, rather spend a lot of time on watching television than have time to spend with their family members or friends. Additionally, they hate everybody to bother them while they are watching TV. These behaviors will affect negatively on family as well as social relationship once they addict to TV. If a person spends countless hours in front of TV and ceases to do any crucial works, from the description of Winn that the inability to function normally without the activity to which one has become addicted. As Winn argues that ‘‘television as like drugs and alcohol, damages those who consume their lives.’’ In my opinion, drug or alcohol gives initial satisfaction to addicted people but TV doesn’t. If we consume high amount of drugs or alcohol, they will definitely harm us in physical way or we could be die. But no one will die from a nonstop watching TV. Gore agrees with Winn’s statement that spending too much hours on TV can affect peoples’ behavior and the way they live. He states that the main cause of the decline of reasoned political thought is television. He says that when more Americans getting their news from TV instead of newspaper, an activity that by its nature activate the parts of the brain involved with reasoning, the emphasis changed from reading to watching, which elicits emotion but not thought. For instance, when we watch movie, advertisement, news, TV shows etc, we will get more influences or probable aggressive though emotion and behavior. Thesis statement: television is an invisible hazard. Winn‘s article “Television Addiction” illustrates the effects of television on children and families. The usage of television commences innocently enough. Most often television is used as a child keeper so that parents can obtain some peace and quiet. But dangers hide in this innocent scenario and parents unaware or sometimes helpless surrender their children to this danger. Before long, the kids are addicted on watching, and parents are addicted on a mechanism for having the kids out of the way.
ReplyDeleteThesis: Marie Winn as well as Al Gore have both came to the conclusion that TV is somehow excluding individuals from reality and people are getting emotionally attached to television programs instead of things taking place in the real world
ReplyDeleteIn the article TV Addiction by Marie Winn, she describes how people are so addicted to TV that they block out the real world and are so indulged in their television. This is similar to Al Gores article the Assault on Reason where he states on television is taking over rapidly throughout the years and newspapers and radios have diminished and are no longer the main source of information and entertainment. I think Gore agrees with Winn even though Gores points aren’t as exaggerated as Winn’s. Gore is talking more about the effect on society while Winn describes peoples personal experiences. Gore states “television first overtook newsprint to become the dominant source of information in America in 1963” as you can tell Gore uses facts and bases it on American society. Winn’s approach is much different “I watch TV the way an alcoholic drinks. If i come home and sit in front of the TV, I’ll watch any program at all, even if there’s nothing on that especially appeals to me”. I agree with both Winn and Gore because they are 100 percent right about the affect that TV plays on individuals
in the winns article it tells us alot about the negative effects and uses alot of analogies of the effects of tv. tv is something that atleast 95% in my opinion of Americans watch and enjoy tv. Winn believes that TV watching is a bad thing because it can turn into a literal addiction. Winn compares TV watchers to those who are alcoholics. In her article, “people overestimate their control over television watching” (pg 211). It means most people who are addicted to tv dont even know it. They as well as we feel as if it is something their doing because they want to when really it has turned into something they have to do or has become part of their lives or habitual. However Gore disapproves of television for other reasons besides it consuming so much time. He puts forth that it is a good preposition for the new upliftment of ideas but opposes that overtime television has turned from something that spread a positive “market place for ideas” to something that displays irrelevant entertainment. he focuses more on the effect the television viewed has on a person’s thought. while winn focuses on that it is an addiction and a time consumer.
ReplyDeletethesis statment:TV watching is a bad thing because it can turn into a literal addiction. Winn compares TV watchers to those who are alcoholics. In her article, “people overestimate their control over television watching” (pg 211). It means most people who are addicted to tv dont even know it. They as well as we feel as if it is something their doing because they want to when really it has turned into something they have to do or has become part of their lives or habitual.
Television had affected many people in certain ways. The article T.V. addiction by Marie Winn states that television has a negative effect in one’s person life. She compares television with drugs and alcohol telling us the readers that those things are similar to television addiction (211). Also, she illustrates different situations where children are often addictive to T.V. For example, a mother reports that her ten years old son is dependent on T.V. such as an alcoholic is dependent on drink. This example tells us how a kid has being influenced by T.V. to the point of asking her mother for more time to watch T.V. even if he can’t watch T.V. the next day (214). The Assault on Reason by Al Gore agrees with Winn article because they have many points in common about T.V. addiction. For example, as it’s illustrates in the article that “The purpose of television news seems primarily to be to “glue eyeballs” to the screen” in order to build ratings and sell advertising. This demonstrates how T.V. have a negative effects in one’s person life by making people sit on their sofa or chair like if they were stuck with glue. In my opinion I don’t agree with both articles because I know T.V. is a powerful habit but not to the extreme of comparing drugs and alcohol because I had never hear about a case where a person have died because of T.V. addiction but alcohol and drugs have taken away a person life.
ReplyDeleteThesis- Due to television many kids have being influenced in a negative way making TV a powerful habit in their lives.