I will be writing a counterargument to two of Marie Winn’s assertions in her essay titled, “Television and Reading.” The first assertion that Winn points out is that,” acquired through years and years of television viewing, has influenced adversely viewers’ ability to concentrate, to read, to write clearly-in short, to demonstrate any of the verbal skills a literate society requires” (49).
I don’t think this is true at all. There are a lot of good writers out there that grew up watching tv. Most preschoolers and toddlers now and days, whose parents can’t afford school, learn how to have a conversation from tv programs and the basic essential they will need to know by the time they get old enough to attend school, so this gives them the verbal skills in order to talk right and to know how to pronounce certain words. Some kids can’t sit still long enough to have a book read to them so the programs on tv introduce them to characters or people they wouldn’t meet other wise opening up their imaginations. The second assertion pointed out by Winn is that, “If someone enters the room while we ” re watching television-a friend, a relative, a child, someone, perhaps, we have not seen for some time-we must continue to watch or else we ” ll lose the thread” (50).
This may be true but the same goes with books, if the book is really interesting what happens most of the time is that, you can’t seem to put the book down. You can’t stop turning the pages because you already placed yourself in the book and to get back intothe groove might take a couple of pages and to put the book down right now might leave a feeling of regret and a sense of being uneasy because you have to know what’s going to happen next and you feel like your losing time. So it’s not all true when she says, “Book, of course, can be set aside, with a pang of regret, perhaps, but with no sense of permanent loss” (50).
The Essay on Peak – Time Executions as a Television Spectacular
Executions as a Television Spectacular Peak-time Executions As a Television Spectacular by Ellen Goodman. Written for The Washington Post in America in 1954 and later published in the British newspaper The Guardian Weekly on April 1, 1984. The article is about how the murderer James David Autry wants his execution to be on the television and Goodman asks questions to whether or not it is okay to ...
