Homework
Before you begin this homework, please view the PowerPoint Slide Shows: Media History. Web search: John Dewey; Harold Innis; Walter Ong; Marshall McLuhan; Robert W. Homework; Neil Postman.
o After researching Dewey, McLuhan, and Homework, discuss whether their ideas are similar or divergent.
o Do you believe, like Dewey, that media make community? What is your prognosis for the future of media and society?
o Using specific examples, how media developments affected human societies over the past 500 years?
o What do you think is the most important invention of your generation and why? Of the last 50 years and why? Of the last hundred years and why?
o How much of your daily life is spent engaging in media activities and how do they affect your life? Give examples. Which forms of Mass Media could you live without?
o Explain how the influence of mass media extends beyond what we know to include how we relate to the social world.
o What do sociologists mean by the terms structure and agency? Use an example from your own media use habits to examine how these terms can be applied to media.
o What are the key defining characteristics of "mass media"? In what ways are digital media forms similar to and different older forms of mass media?
o How do you think the presence of television changed family life? How is the Internet changing family life in similar and different ways to television?
o How interactive do you think the Internet is? How much do you and your friends do to take advantage of the Internet's potential for interactivity?
o What social or political issues do you care about passionately? How does media coverage affect your politics?
Format your homework according to the following formatting requirements:
o The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
o The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the homework, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
o Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.