Preview

Thou Shalt Have No Prerequisites

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
273 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Thou Shalt Have No Prerequisites
Postman explains three “thou shalt” and the one that stood out to me the most was the first one. “Thou shalt have no prerequisites”. I disagree, but also agree to some of what it is saying. I understand that in TV shows you are supposed to write each show as if someone could come in and watch it and still understand what is taking place. However, I know that in order for a television show to be good, the show needs to have characters who develop over time. It would be hard to watch a show where you did not have a previous knowledge about the individual in the show. This is why I agree to disagree, because the same way with teaching, I believe each day is a new day to learn something new. Nonetheless, if you do not have the understandings from

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Author Steven Johnson, of the article “Watching TV Makes You Smarter,” argues the evolution of modern television programming has intellectually challenged audiences, rather than stifling complex thoughts—and more, that audiences are craving a more cognitively demanding, complex plot line. Johnson uses multiple examples of drama type shows and even draws positive conclusions from many of the reality shows that are so popular now. He focuses in on a few key factors to take into account when considering the complexity and value of television—the “Sleeper Curve”, televised intelligence, and intentional viewer confusion.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the 17th and 18th century, English populace felt that England was over-crowded and oppressive. They longed to mitigate the problems that arose because of the exaggerated population boom and to establish a government that would allot them the freedom they thought they deserved. The English believed that the best way to go about this was to colonize the New World. Subsequently, many colonies began to develop, and of these colonies, Massachusetts and Virginia were the most well-known. The early settlements of the Massachusetts and Virginia were both established by similar groups of people at the same time; however, their contrasting beginnings as a colony, views on religion, and means of economic stability created two different politics and economic systems.…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Many people will agree with this statement because reality shows are real-life situations. When people see things like so they either run with it or use it as a lesson. What I mean by this is, they will be influenced by what others are doing because their actions are being broadcasted to the world which makes them look “cool.” Others will disagree because some reality shows influence people to take negative actions. What does watching television do for us as a people?…

    • 1185 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Phi 445 Final Paper

    • 2300 Words
    • 10 Pages

    References: Velasquez, M. (2006). Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall…

    • 2300 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Johnson goes on to compare reality television over the decades. He takes a look at earlier shows like The Love Boat and The Newlywed Game and compares them with newer shows like The Apprentice and Survivor. He explains how the earlier reality TV is more structured, and how the rules are mapped out beforehand, therefore requiring less focus to pay attention. However, Johnson compares the structural similarities in today’s reality TV to that of a video game. “…the rules aren’t fully established at the outset. You learn as you play” (290). By this video game structural method, shows like Survivor and The Apprentice keep the audience more engaged and develop more critical thinking.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    A Blessing in the Pressing

    • 2344 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Television as we know it today has drastically changed from the days of yesteryear. Even in my 23 years of living, I can still remember a time when you could actually learn something from watching television. I remember sitcoms like the Cosby Show, A Different World, and Family Matters. These were shows that left you with a sense of pride not only in yourself, but your family, and your community. However, somewhere along the line a paradigm shift happened, if you will and changed the course of television as we know it. The networks that broadcast our favorite shows that we trusted to educate us have now turned around and decided that it is more important to make billions of dollars a year entertaining its audiences instead of…

    • 2344 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    How Tv Makes You Smarter

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages

    People all over the world turn on their television each night and watch a few moments to a few hours of television and it is hard to miss a reality show which on almost any channel. If they were to pause on one of these shows they might not know it but they would bettering themselves on a personal level. Based on the ideas of Steven Johnson the average person could learn a thing or two from reality TV. In his article called, “Watching TV Makes You Smarter” Johnson states that; "For decades, we've worked under the assumption that mass culture follows a path declining steadily toward lowest-common-denominator standards, presumably because the "masses" want dumb, simple pleasures and big media companies try to give the masses what they want. But as that 24 episode suggests, the exact opposite is happening: culture is getting more cognitively demanding, not less."(214). Johnson talks explicitly about what a scholar might call the “dumbing down of America”, which in his mind is completely false. Watching reality television in his mind makes a person more aware of the everyday occurrences that happen. The major point first made in Johnsons article is based on his theory called, “The Sleeper Curve”. This theory is about how: “television alters the mental development of young people for the better” (215). Johnson talks about reality TV affecting younger generations in a positive light and helping with personal development. Another major topic discussed is how; “multiple threads in new television episodes are much more complex than old television shows.” In talking about this Johnson refers to the Mary Tyler More show being cookie cutter whereas reality TV today has real life issues. Through this kind of television our younger generation can be taught how to handle tough situations. The third major topic that is brought up in Johnson’s article is about how younger generations are given mindless television that provides them with…

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    The first criteria reality TV shows should have is to be based on real emotions and…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    I agree with Lawrence, television has a conscience. TV has changed from inspiration to a moral ambiguity, Shows like Andy Griffin, has been replaced with Mysteries, and Private Eyes, shows. However, I discover That television force on you what they want you to see, also Lauren Zalaznick argument Says shows, that were once dominant…

    • 1196 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    People that live reality and people that live the television life have many similarities and differences.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    unreality tv

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It seems that almost every TV channels has their own reality TV show. It’s crazy what they do on those shows, most of the episodes on Jersey Shore the cast drinks so much that they black out or Chef Ramsey cusses out one of the contestant’s family because they didn’t cook the fish properly. The negative aspects exceed the positive one vastly. According to Google the definition of a reality TV show is “a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations” (Google). The truth is that most of these shows are rehearsed and scripted which makes it even worse because we should know that its not actually reality TV it’s more like unreality TV These shows are well known for harmfully influencing our behaviour, our minds and give us a shallow prospective on life. It’s outrageous how unreal these shows are, how they lower society’s values and how it has such a huge impact on us. Shows that portray any kind of extreme negative behaviour should not be allowed on TV. Instead people should watch educational shows or game shows.…

    • 600 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    comic book

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Johnson argues that by watching TV shows you can become smarter. “to keep up…you have to pay attention make inferences, track shifting relationships” (pg279) Johnson calls this the” sleeper curve.” Just by us watching an episode of 24 our cognitive skills are growing because were learning about world culture. The show 24 is based on Muslim terrorist and extremely violent scenes, but Johnson believes by exposing us to information such as this were learning as we go. Decades ago we had very simple plots and scenarios in our television shows such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, didn’t make us think too much. Johnson explains ...”there’s no intellectual labor involved in enjoying the show as a viewer” (p280). Shows that we watch today keep us guessing as to what will happen next, we sometimes don’t even realize that our brains are working thinking about more complex details that could happen. The show ER is a good example of even if we don’t understand the entire dialog between the doctors and characters it keeps us intrigued and we follow along best we can with the medical terms we already know. Following along to such dialog we can learn a thing or two and start to understand what we’re…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    this diverse, but there are many people in the world who could relate this television show to their…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin, reality television shows are detrimental to society because they influence bad behavior among teenagers. These programs often show young individuals that break the law, drink alcohol, are disrespectful to people around them, and are in bad situations. The last part of the brain to develop is the part that distinguishes was is right to what is wrong. Therefore, many young viewers are influenced by these individuals and look up to them. Some individuals are such big fans of the stars in some of these shows that they mimic them. The popular saying “monkey see, monkey do” definitely applies to this controversy. These shows make it seem as if everyone is acting in the way that the characters in the show act. Rather then provide viewers with encouragements to pursue a better education and to act responsibly, many of these programs portray actors to act irresponsibly. Some experts believe that this could lead to many more irresponsible individuals. America’s society is weakening because of the harmful affects reality television programs have on teenagers.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gerard Manley Hopkins

    • 492 Words
    • 1 Page

    A look at Hopkins’ use of images and sound to portray God’s presence in nature and life.…

    • 492 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays