Free What Is The Main Thesis Of Mcluhan’s Essay? Essay Sample

PART A.

In a paragraph, summarize the main arguments of McLuhan’s essay.
McLuhan’s essay entitled “The Changing Face of Literacy” talks about how people now regard reading and writing in the face of advancements in technology. While bookstores still abound and sell the latest book crazes worldwide, McLuhan claims that only about 15% of all books sold are actually read. This is primarily because books are more often used now as decorative pieces in living rooms instead of being appreciated for its content. In terms of reading, people’s interest has considerably dwindled because of reading materials and alternatives available on the internet. Students are, in fact, vocal in saying that they seldom understand what they read unless they read out the text aloud, which equates to students now having low reading comprehension. This can be attributed to electronic media that “trains” people’s minds to jump from one topic to another without the benefit of appreciating the whole story or sentence. With just one click, another set of information (related or not) comes up, which reduces the reader’s attention span instantly. In terms of writing, McLuhan reiterates how different the writing style is now as compared with the old times, which showed affinity with the English language. Paragraphs then used to have seven to 10 sentences as compared to what some writers do now, which allows a sentence to be considered a paragraph already. He calls this the “staccato writing style”. The beauty of the English language and the ability to play with words and come up with flowing, descriptive sentences and paragraphs are gone. Finally, the essay also mentioned about the use of bullet points to stress specific points of an essay. With bullets, writers are given the opportunity to further break the rules of grammar and vocabulary considering that only important words are included in bullets.

The main thesis of McLuhan’s essay is that due to the decreasing attention span of most people when it comes to reading and writing, it is inevitable that people will soon lose interest in the art of reading and writing, including a decrease in appreciation of literature, due to man’s increasing dependence on computers and the internet in acquiring knowledge.
Identify and explain two devices (techniques) used in the essay. You may wish to choose from the following list: diction, metaphor, imagery, rhetorical question, repetition, example, statistics.
Two devices used in the essay are repetition and imagery. Repetition pertains to the reiteration of certain words or phrases within a paragraph in order to stress or highlight a point. This is helpful because reader recall is higher considering that the audience sees or hears the word several times. Used correctly, this could be a good rhetorical strategy to enhance emphasis on certain thoughts or ideas. However, used incorrectly, it could also result to audience boredom.
Another rhetorical strategy is imagery, which pertains to the use very descriptive words or figurative language that describe actions, objects, and ideas that appeals to the audiences’ senses.

What is the intended audience of the essay?

The intended audiences of the essay include students and writers who are required to read and write while still studying in school and those who already make a career out of writing, respectively.
Using your own experience, write a personal essay on literacy of 300-500 words, which draws on some of the arguments in McLuhan’s essay.
I have always loved reading from the time I was small. My appreciation of the language began when I received my first picture book. Every night, my mother would read to me Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat until I remembered each word and learned to associate a picture with a particular word. My creative mind began to explore and wonder about other stories that the famous cat was involved in. There were Green Eggs and Ham and How the Grinch Stole Christmas and more. My fascination with words did not stop there. Soon, I found myself exploring detective stories and anything about the universe. I thought everything would stay that way and nothing could shake my love for reading. My focus was so much that I would sometimes miss out on lunch just because I preferred to immerse myself in the wonderful and creative worlds each story told.
Soon after, I became exposed on various other media, including the television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and of course, the myriad of available reading selections on the Internet. All these satisfied my insatiable need for information. But then again, because information was all over the Internet and can be had in just one click, I realized that I could jump from one subject to another without having to finish the entire selection of words and sentences. At first I breezed through various websites and when something caught my attention, I would click the link that would lead me to another page. And on that page, again I would find myself clicking all links that opened up to other new pages. It was an exhilarating feeling to know that information is indeed at the tips of one’s fingers. However, the downside of this is that my attention span slowly decreased and my interest in reading eventually dwindled. My creative mind and unquenchable thirst for information were soon replaced with bouts of impatience when it came to reading. I now no longer savor each word in stories that I read. I merely scan the page for any interesting facts or whatever catches my fancy. The sad part is I now seldom read anything. If I ever gather the strength to read, I would soon put the book back on the stand and just attempt to reconnect with people rather than read and appreciate a good, old story.
While reading was a great pastime for me before, now it has become a tedious task even during study period. I would sometimes end up just staring at a book page without really understanding its meaning and content. My brain seems to have been rewired to understand only those paragraphs that are short and those that only use easy words. With the onset of various kinds of media, my desire to learn more words and read various subjects has decreased over time.
PART B. Essay writing on Definition essays.

Defining Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is considered as one of the psychological disorders that affect thousands of people these days. The reason it is called “bipolar” is because an individual suffering from it can experience two opposite, extreme moods at a time. For instance, the individual might show signs of intense happiness then the next minute becomes easily depressed. Sometimes, the condition is also called manic-depressive disorder, which explains why an individual feels hyper one time and then low and depressed the next time. People with this disorder often experience mood swings from the highs of mania to the lows of depression. Of these two, depression is the most common feature of the disorder.
Oftentimes, people who are bipolar are said to be suffering from sleep deprivation. They are easily irritated, depressed, and show signs of anger. They are impulsive and would often speak in exaggeration because they sometimes do not have a sense of reality. They have poor concentration and have difficulty making sound decisions. Their appetite changes as well, which results to either weight gain or weight loss for the sufferer. Apart from adults, children and teens may manifest symptoms of manic-depression. Misdiagnosis could also occur because symptoms are sometimes similar with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, and borderline personality disorder.
The behavior exhibited by bipolar disorder patients could affect their relationships with people they interact with in school, at work, or at home. Instead of building wonderful relationships with them, they could actually unknowingly be creating walls between them and their family, friends, and colleagues. The term bipolar provides a glimpse of what goes through the mind of a patient suffering from the disorder. For instance, the patient could be contemplating thoughts about love and nurturing relationships and then all of a sudden their mood shifts to a more somber and morbid thoughts, such as suicidal thoughts. This clearly points out what the term bipolar really is all about. First, it deals with two emotions at a time, which feels like an emotional rollercoaster ride for the sufferer. Secondly, the sufferer is not merely dealing with simple emotions because these emotions are actually like poles apart, akin to the North and South poles, which accounts to the patients’ dealing with extreme emotions at a time. However, it is not to say that bipolar disorder sufferers do not experience normal mood behaviors because they actually do. But the point is bipolar disorder pushes them to great emotions that they even consider hurting themselves when they are feeling down.
Because of their behavioral qualities, individuals who are bipolar are often misunderstood. While the impression is that they are always high-strung, it is actually because they have no control over their thoughts and emotions. Even if they do not want to be extremely happy or extremely sad, they are often overwhelmed by their feelings. They do not have a grip over reality because most often, they are enveloped with bouts of sadness and loss of energy. Therefore, instead of ridiculing them for being too grouchy or dramatic, they should be understood and shown love and tolerance.