1. It over exadurates how much TV has affected us and how thats all we do in life. We need to learn to turn off the tv on a sunny day and go outside and excersize. There are more ways to have fun than sitting in front of the tv all day.
2.You could just have the pictures but the writing puts the poster that much more over the top. It’s sad that they are explaining how to do things. The words put a much bigger significance to the poster.
3.yes the airline safety cards give you step by step instructions on how to survive so i think they are hinting that we need to go out and live a little.
I thought it was so funny how dead on David Denby was about the looks and personality of the popular people in school. The head girl (blonde of course) who is really mean to everyone and thinks everyone worships her when really everyone is just scared of her. And the guy who isn’t really smart but has the looks to keep him going. The map of the lunch room was a good example of how everyone is categorized and i thought that while the movie was a little over the top it did a good job at giving an example of Denby’s article.
1. Yes it addresses that threat because someone actually did it, but it also talks about the airport and the bank.
2. Julia Scott likes the idea of the device but doesn’t think it should be used for the wrong reasons. For example, it shouldn’t be used just to get a reaction, and she didn’t use it when the TV program was educational and about nature.
3.The tone was very opinionated but calm at the same time. The credibility was not lowered by calmness or opinionated tone.
4. At the very end of the article it talks about how so many Americans still think there was a connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. TV needs to focus on getting people informed on important info instead of dumb ads.
1. He assumes that everyone has at least one television in their house, and that they are around college student ages.
2.He is writing for an online magazine so the majority of people reading the article are late teens early 20s. The television shows he refers to are ones that people those ages would be watching, then when he says, “We can all go out and shake our asses all night. We can all engage in deep illumination conversations with out closest buds. And one thing’s for damn sure, we call all read a book. These are activities younger people would be doing.
3. The question do we really know what we’re up against at the end of the first paragraph is put in to make you stop and think about what your answer to that question would be before you go on and read his opinion on it. As for his answer i agree that watching TV doesn’t take much effort and it makes us lazy, but i know it would be very difficult for me to stay entertained without it. Now that i wrote that i realize how lazy i am. I would probably be a body builder without something to keep me so entertained just sitting on the couch. 
4. Turbey’s use of classification strengthens his argument by giving the reader a better perspective of what he is saying. It helps get his point across.
5. Not citing his information gives it much less credibility because for all the reader knows he could have ased 10 of his neighbors done the math and put the statistics in his article.
6. The lists do strengthen his argument, they really show you how consumed we are with television and how it is affecting our life styles.
Synthesis essays are a way for people to state their opinions but back it up with research and statistics as well as other reliable authors’ opinions. It’s important that people don’t just cite the whole paper with other people’s work; you need to let the reader know your view on the subject but having citations is a good way to back up your view point. You need statistics and facts to make your paper credible so people don’t just think you are making things up, maybe a small story to get the reader interested but synthesis is just a way for you to back up your opinion and maybe get others to agree with you when they see your research.
- Robert Putnam establishes credibility with his profession as a Harvard professor, but also with his citations of other credible work.
- Comstock- Evolution of American Television
Robinson and Godbey- Time for Life
Needham- Where Does the Time Go?
Kunstler- Geography Nowhere
- Having three different sources makes the reader believe in the paper that much more because of the amount of opinion put into it.
- Although the information may seem obvious to the reader it’s important that he puts it in to give the reader more statistics to help get his point across.
- He is saying that usually if people say they want to stay at home it’s usually because they are going to enjoy a nice peaceful night in front of the television. TV is the source of entertainment at home and without it more people would get out of the house.
- Putman’s argument is the affect that TV has on people, Kunstler’s argument is that it has taken over the way we live life. It provides us with entertainment and lets us know what’s going on in the world. It’s how we spend time with our family. It shows you how dependant we are on TV.
- It shows that he researched his topic and didn’t just sit down and write his own opinion on paper. It makes the paper more reliable.
The film Merchants of Cool was a real eye opener to how society works. I didn’t realize how much effort companies put into following teen trends. The cycle of trends was really fascinating We see the majority of people following a certain trend but then someone decides that it’s old or that they don’t want to wear the same thing as everyone else so they start their own new style. Depending on how big an influence this person has on society the new trend may or may not catch on, even if the person doesn’t want everyone to follow their new found trend. A lot of the same trends have gone in and out of style throughout the years. People get tired of the current one but don’t have enough originality to come up with something completely new, so basically no matter what everyone keeps following the same trend.
I thought it was interesting in the film how they said as soon as companies catch on to the latest trends they are already changing to something new. The amount of research they do really only helps them for a short time before they have to go back out and do the same thing again.
2) The male villain in Denby’s description differs from the female because he is more of a pranker with no brain. He isn’t able to think of mean things to say like the girl because he can’t think of them, but still no one would dare mess with him
3) There are changes in Denby’s tone pretty much every time he has a break in between paragraphs. He stays on the same subject but moves away from the previous in depth point and moves on to a new one.
4) He goes from talking about specifics in high school to let us know what he is talking about, to more in depth discussion that really gets you thinking.
5)
6) Seeing that Denby is a well known movie critic, it gives him credibility to share with us what he thinks. His knowledge of movies gives him the expertise of others – implicitly and explicitly to support his argument.
7) I think his main argument is showing how pop culture affects high school kids. While not every school is like this there is usually something very similar.
9) He is saying that these artists usually tie their own childhood misery into a movie character, but show that they will succeed in the end.
10) Because these kids were so smart, they would have been the ones to achieve something great after high school, they would have eventually gotten the girl and the popularity out of their success and their oppressors would be the nerd no one wanted.
11) He is saying that these movies go beyond the screen, its really what happens in high school not just in entertainment.
12) The likely audience is kids in high school who are trying to learn the mechanics of how the world works after high school, maybe to give the “nerds” some hope.
- Twains purpose in Corn Pone opinions is that no one really makes their own decisions, everyone just goes along with what the majority of other people are saying.
- When Twain says I he is talking about his opinions and what he has to do, but when he says we he expands the situation to his entire audience.
- The anecdote adds a firm statement of how he believes people make decisions. It gives the topic for his essay. It doesn’t detract in any way.
- Jerry thought that everyone got their opinions from everyone else, Twain says that while most people get their opinions from others one person had to come up with the opinion in the first place.
- The appeals (hoopskirts, bloomers and wineglasses) strengthen his appeal because they are all great examples of how everyone follows the first example, given that the trend setter has some credibility.
- It’s ironic because calculations are supposed to be facts, the opinions that everyone forms to think are not set in stone the correct answer like calculations.
- I think his purpose for making paragraph 3 so long was to help get as many examples into one paragraph before the reader stopped for a break to really help get his point across. If he were to break it up anywhere I think it would e when he says “Broadly speaking, there are none but corn pone opinions.”
- He is saying while men are supposed to be great leaders who make their own decisions, they really just follow the crowd.
- I think its almost like putting quotation marks around the words, it makes the reader really pay attention to the words and puts his voice behind them
11. When he says “if Eve should come back” that is a hyperbole because walking around naked would be way over the top. A nobody introduced the bloomer is an understatement because they were obviously “somebody” enough to start a new trend.
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