Hw#14-Second Text

Short Excerpt 1 TV

In the excerpt they made points out such as that movies like horror films(student bodies and Halloween) that they use these flashing arrows to help you know was going on like referring back to the scene and tell you the main idea or help you keep track of whats going on. Also in the text they talked about "reality effect" are designed to create the aura of real life through their sheer meaninglessness which are described throughout the text of how television shows do those types of things. One main argument that the writer talked about that was catchy was how when television starts off in the beginning they may say words or something that is confusing to engage the viewer and make it more enjoyable which i think allows the viewer to think more and later understand the show and actually make them more smarter.

In the excerpt when the writer showed E.R as an example of how they do not talk down to the audience instead they talk fast using words that people do not usually understand and they use the flashing arrows to help understand the text even though it was ambiguity. After reading the script and the author elaborating what it means and breaking it down, it help me have a better understanding of the text and the main point about the how the kid's blood type was rare.

After reading the excerpt about television and how it has these different threads and techniques about how t.v shows and movies use them, i thought it was really interesting even though it was a little confusing i got the overall meaning of it. I never really thought of t.v like that until reading this making have a deeper meaning about how t.v shows and movies actually work and make you brain execrise. I thought it was interesting how in the mid 1900s they made "TV simpler because they assumed that their audience at the time wasn't ready for anything complicated" i was on the fence with this because how did they actually know that were they supposedly stupid?


I think when reading Feed it was talking about all the bad things digitization does to the characters and stuck to that idea the whole time. It did not says anything good about digitization like Steven Johnson did. He other hand said like even though these things are bad there are also good things about them such as the threads and literary devices they use on shows and movies. I think that is the main difference between the two texts. Feed is i think is more bias and stuck to one idea that all digital things are bad for you.

Short Excerpt 2 Video Games

The excerpt i believe had mad some major points on video games and reading. First of all, the author makes it a point that children are better off reading than playing video games but then later says how video games are not so bad after all. In the text, says like why would someone who has worked all day at work to go home and spend hours on a computer in a virtual world that causes you to get frustrated but it is fun and pleasurable. At the same time he talks about how teachers, parents feel about the frenzy of reading such as that books are isolating while games have complex social relationships with their peers, building and exploring new worlds.

I think basically the author is saying how video games are addicting and how people spend somany hours trying to figure out these codes and spending money on cheat codes which in the end is not helping yourself at all. In addition, that reading does not allow you to some complexity but it has concentration,attention, and the ability to make sense of words.

After reading this i think it was really well thought out because i did not think reading can make you do all those things and i do not think as reading as active participation. I disagree when they said that people who do not read are more likely to go to musical performances and attend museums because not all people are like that, i know people who read a lot and do not got to museums at all. I feel like video games are more active than reading since you are in this virtual world it allows you to do things that are not happening in a book that is just full of words. There are video games like the Wii Fit which allows you to be active and execrise, so i do not believe that is true.

I found it interesting how a guy who does handy work for a living and came home became so wrapped up in this virtual world spending so many hours to just to do one simple task which took forever. I do agree that people do play games and get frustrated because they may not find a way to get somewhere or find something but they have fun doing so which i find weird. I wonder the same question of why is this fun and why people so wrapped up in it?

Reading this short excerpt rather than the first i feel it relates more to Feed because it talks more about the downside of video games. When it talks about people spending money and buying all these cheats sheets to find their way to same place or some where its just like when the Feed were telling the kids to buy all these clothes because they are so cool. I would also like to add that its like virtual world is a feed for the people in the real world they listen to the step by step manual to help get through things just like the in the book the Feed tells them what to buy and how to live.