Exploring the Text

  1. What audience is Steven Johnson addressing? How can you tell? How does he establish ethos?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 11 - Watching TV Makes You Smarter - Exploring the Text: What audience is Steven Johnson addressing? How can you tell? How does he establish ethos?
  2. How would you describe the tone of Johnson’s piece? Why might it be particularly well suited to his subject matter?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 11 - Watching TV Makes You Smarter - Exploring the Text: How would you describe the tone of Johnson’s piece? Why might it be particularly well suited to his subject matter?
  3. Johnson calls his theory—that the “most debased forms of mass diversion” (para. 4) turn out to be good for us, after all—the “Sleeper Curve,” after a scene in a Woody Allen movie. How does using one form of popular culture to examine another form affect Johnson’s argument? Find other examples of Johnson connecting different forms of popular culture to help develop his argument.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 11 - Watching TV Makes You Smarter - Exploring the Text: Johnson calls his theory—that the “most debased forms of mass diversion” (para. 4) turn out to be good for us, after all—the “Sleeper Curve,” after a scene in a Woody Allen movie. How does using one form of popular culture to examine another form affect Johnson’s argument? Find other examples of Johnson connecting different forms of popular culture to help develop his argument.
  4. How do the charts accompanying the essay illustrate Johnson’s points? How important is it to know the television programs to which the charts refer? Do the charts provide sufficient evidence that viewers are “cognitively engaged”? What other evidence might Johnson have used?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 11 - Watching TV Makes You Smarter - Exploring the Text: How do the charts accompanying the essay illustrate Johnson’s points? How important is it to know the television programs to which the charts refer? Do the charts provide sufficient evidence that viewers are “cognitively engaged”? What other evidence might Johnson have used?
  5. In the section “Televised Intelligence,” Johnson equates the intellectual demands of television with those ascribed to reading. Do multiple threading, flashing arrows, and social networks match up with attention, patience, retention, and the need to follow several narrative threads? What qualities do they have in common? What are their differences?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 11 - Watching TV Makes You Smarter - Exploring the Text: In the section “Televised Intelligence,” Johnson equates the intellectual demands of television with those ascribed to reading. Do multiple threading, flashing arrows, and social networks match up with attention, patience, retention, and the need to follow several narrative threads? What qualities do they have in common? What are their differences?
  6. Examine the ways that Johnson provides counterarguments and responds to them.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 11 - Watching TV Makes You Smarter - Exploring the Text: Examine the ways that Johnson provides counterarguments and responds to them.
  7. What economic explanation does Johnson offer for why television has become more intellectually demanding? What are the reasons that you watch your favorite television shows and movies multiple times?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 11 - Watching TV Makes You Smarter - Exploring the Text: What economic explanation does Johnson offer for why television has become more intellectually demanding? What are the reasons that you watch your favorite television shows and movies multiple times?
  8. Johnson says that “flashing arrows” (the way the audience is given the information it needs to follow the plot) have grown increasingly scarce as television narratives have grown more complicated. How does he connect that observation to the relationship between texture and substance (para. 21)? Based on your own television watching, do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 11 - Watching TV Makes You Smarter - Exploring the Text: Johnson says that “flashing arrows” (the way the audience is given the information it needs to follow the plot) have grown increasingly scarce as television narratives have grown more complicated. How does he connect that observation to the relationship between texture and substance (para. 21)? Based on your own television watching, do you agree or disagree? Explain your answer.
  9. Create a chart that illustrates the “active threads” in a show you watch. How does it compare to the charts Johnson uses? How do your findings support or challenge Johnson’s argument?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 11 - Watching TV Makes You Smarter - Exploring the Text: Create a chart that illustrates the “active threads” in a show you watch. How does it compare to the charts Johnson uses? How do your findings support or challenge Johnson’s argument?