Reading and Writing for Monday September 30th

Watching TV Makes You Smarter by Steven Johnson

   Watching TV makes you smarter its Steven Johnson's passage title and also his main argument. By watching television we are developing our brains. The author is supporting his argument specifically on page 279 in the very first sentence where he is referring to the hit drama 24, he is stating that anybody who is watching 24 must pay attention, make inferences and track shifting social relationships in order to understand 24. Moreover he claims that you have to put your mind to work, you have to think very carefully and you have to connect the events in order to comprehend the hit drama. In addition on page 294 the author mentions that by watching TV not only kids get the change to learn but also grown ups. They can decipher all the new technological terms and meanings and both kids with parents can have fun by playing a game on Television or by watching a movie.

Thinking Outside the Idiot Box by Dana Stevens

   Dana Stevens is totally disagreeing with Johnson's main idea that TV makes us smarter. We can understand hers denying by the very first sentence "Does watching TV make you smarter ?" "Duh, I dunno".
Stevens on page 298 is supporting that a lot of people are choosing what they like to watch based on what is popular and based on all the advertisements. Also she challenges everyone to just turn off the television for one week and she is saying ironically that no one will get any dumber if we spend our time by doing something more creative. Furthermore she believes that a kid who is new to this world spends his free time by reading a book or by playing with his friend, he might not even want to watch television after all.