media analysis

Assignment 2: Two Views of Media & Technology

(10 points)

in PDF FORMAT

Instructions:

The objective of this assignment is for you to bring together what you’ve learned in the course about media literacy, media effects, and social implications of media and to describe how you see it influencing our future. In other words, we want to know what you think the role of media and information technology is in our current society. Many people have different arguments that typically range from technology is bad to technology is good, with many people acknowledging that there is an in-between. For this assignment, you will be watching two talks and comparing their arguments, as well as describing your position on the debate.

During the course of this class, we’ve seen how communication technology has changed. Communication technology was once a matter of the printing press and was dependent on co-location. Media has become digital, and because of the internet, smartphones, and social media, information spreads in different way than it did before. This includes media constructions such as advertisements, social media, video games, the internet, user-generated content like YouTube videos, memes, and web forums like Reddit among others. So far, we’ve learned that media are constructed to transmit certain messages. And sometimes, those messages are constructed to influence particular groups of people for profitable gains at the exploitation of certain people. But at other times, messages are constructed to provide resources or information to people.

Therefore, as mentioned above, you will write an analytical essay comparing two tracks of thought regarding the social benefits and risks of media production in an increasingly connected world. Specifically, you will compare the arguments of (right-click or control-click and chose “Open in Link in New Tab”):

1) Sherry Turkle (dystopic)

2) Stefana Broadbent (utopic)

Your essay should be organized as described below:

· Intro (What are you going to talk about in this essay?)

· Main thesis (What are you arguing for?)

· Supporting evidence (Based on your thesis, what evidence is provided via both examples?)

· Counter-argument (Based on the evidence, where do you see flaws in your argument?)

· Conclusion (What is the summary of what you argued?)

Requirements:

To receive full credit, the total word count of your responses must be 450-500 words (not including references). Text must be in Times New Roman, double spaced, and 12pt font. One-inch margins are required. Essays must address each of the aforementioned bullet points. Put your full name and student ID number at the top right corner of the page. Submit your assignment as a PDF or Word document . Plagiarism will not be tolerated.

Resources:

· Argument essay ( https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/724/1/ ) ( https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/05/ )

· Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Review of MSU’s policy on plagiarism can be found here . All assignments will be automatically checked for originality (i.e., plagiarism). You will be able to see your own originality reports on D2L . If you have a high score when you originally submit the paper (which suggests you have plagiarized another author), then you should use the originality report and update your paper. After you have updated the paper to decrease the appearance of plagiarism, you can resubmit the paper. You can submit a paper multiple times on D2L, as long as your final version is submitted by the deadline noted at the top. Excessive quotations (e.g., more than 60 words) will results in large grade deductions – and must be reported to the university administration.

· References (i.e., properly attributing information in your essay to the source of the information, at the point in the text of your essay where it is used) is the only way to avoid the risk of plagiarism. There are several different styles for presenting your references (citations). Most common within the disciplines of communication, media studies, and social science more broadly are APA and the Chicago Manual . All assignments must include proper citations. See the template below for example of how to reference an advertisement.

· Reading Opportunities

· The Atlantic - How has technology changed the concept of community?

· The Atlantic - Why People Really Love Technology

· Psychology Today - Is your cellphone your best friend?

· Wired - Is technology helping or hurting your relationships?

· Slate - Smartphones haven’t destroyed a generation

· The New Yorker - As Technology Gets Better, Will Society Get Worse?

[Template for Assignment 2 on following page.]

Template for Assignment 2:

The examples below are merely meant to be a guide for how you are to structure your essay and are not meant to be exact word counts of each of your sections. Your entire essay (not counting references) must be between 450 and 500 words to receive full credit.

NAME

DATE

Assignment #3

Section 1: Introduction + Thesis

(50-75 words)

Section 2: Supporting Evidence of Thesis

(75-100 words)

Section 3: Counter Argument to Thesis

(75-100 words)

Section 4: Conclusion

(150-200 words)

References: (not included in word limit)

Video Source:

Name of Company. (Year). Title of image [Advertisement]. Retrieved from [WEB ADDRESS HERE]

Peer-reviewed, academic journal:

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy