Composition Reading Bank: Media & Technology

Beato, Greg. "Internet Addiction"  Beato discusses issues with adding “Internet Addiction Disorder” as a valid psychological disorder. (First-, Second-, and Third-Person Perspective; Expository; Persuasive)

Boyd, Sophia Alvarez. "Media Literacy: Five Ways Teachers Are Fighting Fake News"  Boyd discusses how teachers from elementary school to college are adjusting their instruction to help students determine what is real in the age of fake news. (Third-Person Perspective; Expository)

Carroll, Lauren. "Congress Let Internet Providers 'Spy On' Your Underwear Purchases, Advocacy Group Says"  Carroll discusses issues of internet privacy as well as current legislation (or attempts at legislation) regulating service providers and consumer consent. (Third-Person Perspective; Expository)

Davis, J. Francis. "Power of Images: Creating the Myths of Our Time"  Davis analyzes the power of the image and communication by image for creating "myths" that guide popular culture and opinion. (Second- and Third-Person Perspective; Expository; Persuasive)

Fallon, Kevin. "Why We Binge-Watch Television"  Fallon explores why millions of people participate in marathon-like viewing sessions for certain television series while living in a world where attention seems to be decreasing, not increasing. (First- and Third-Person Perspective; Expository)

Gleick, James. "What Defines a Meme?"  Gleick surveys the characteristics of the meme as a genre through the lens of information theory. (First- and Third-Person Perspective; Exploratory)

Harris, Tristan. "How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds — From a Magician and Google’s Design Ethicist"  Harris uses the metaphor of the magic trick to discuss how corporations use technology to "hijack" (i.e. manipulate) the consumer’s mind. He describes 10 "hijacks" ranging from menus that give an illusion of choice to design features that foster dependency. He discusses how people might push back against these manipulative practices to ensure that technology supports our personal values rather than corporate interests. (First-, Second-, and Third-Person Perspective; Expository; Persuasive)

Harrison, Chelsea. "College Students & Social Media"  Harrison, a student, presents her original academic research in graphic narrative form. (First- and Third-Person Perspective; Graphic narrative; Exploratory)

Jackson, Gita. "The ‘AT&T Girl’ Knows You’re Obsessed With Her"  Jackson discusses how Milana Vayntrub (aka “Lily, the AT&T Girl”) is constantly bombarded with comments about her breasts on social media. Jackson explains how comments intended to be harmless jokes become a form of harassment by the sheer number of the comments. (Third-Person Perspective; Narrative; Analysis)

Kleeman, Sophie. "The Profiles You'll Never Read in a Magazine Are Happening on Instagram"  Kleeman discusses the role Instagram is playing in providing the type of diverse personal profiles that never made their way into traditional media outlets. (Third-Person Perspective; Profile; Expository)

Lenz, Lyz. "The Mystery of Tucker Carlson"  In this profile piece, Lenz focuses on Carlson’s movement from award-nominated writer to cable news anchor to reflect on journalism and the current state of the country in 2018. (Second- and Third-Person Perspective; Exploratory; Profile)

Marchiafava, Jeff. "The Sinking City: Macabre Tales and Mediocre Gameplay"  Marchiafava provides a review of the video game The Sinking City for Game Informer in 2019. (Second- and Third-Person Perspective; Review)

McGonigal, Jane. "Be a Gamer, Save the World"  McGonical argues that video games are for more than just play and the need to escape reality. If looked at more critically, these games can create more opportunities for change that can better our future. (First- and Third-Person Perspective; Persuasive)

Molanphy, Chris. "How ‘Old Town Road’ Became the Longest Running No. 1 in Hot 100 History"  Molanphy analyzes the factors that went into making Lil Nas X’s song “Old Town Road” a cultural phenomenon. He discusses the song’s event-worthiness, streamability, remixability, genre-transcendence, memeability. (Third-Person Perspective; Cultural Analysis, Expository)

Olejnik, Izabella. "From a Diary to an iPhone: The Extension of Journaling to Digital Forms"  Oleynik analyzes the effects of social media and technology on personal reflection activities both in a personal and academic context. (First- and Third-Person Perspective; Narrative; Exploratory; Academic journal article)

"Race Becomes More Central to TV Advertising"  This article discusses the pros and cons of diversifying television advertising. Using a historical look at African Americans in ads, statistics of the buying power and growth of minorities, as well as examples of more current commercials, this piece questions whether or not advertising should move beyond focusing on race or ethnicity. (Second- and Third-Person Perspective; Expository; Persuasive)

Ripley, Amanda. "Complicating the Narratives: What if Journalists Covered Controversial Issues Differently-Based on How Humans Actually Behave When They are Polarized and Suspicious?"   Ripley analyzes the language journalists use to cover polarizing political issues. (First- and Third-Person Perspective; Exploratory; Expository; Persuasive)

Rosen, Christine. "Our Cell Phones, Ourselves"  Rosen explores how human behavior and the rules that guide our interactions has changed with the widespread use of cell phones in our lives. (Third-Person Perspective; Exploratory; Persuasive)

Salm, Lauren. "70% of Employers Are Snooping Candidates’ Social Media Profiles"  In this short blog post from careerbuilder.com, Salm offers statistical data about "questionable" social media posts seen by potential employers and offers job-seekers advice about their online presence and how to use social media to their advantage. (Second-Person and Third-Person Perspective; Persuasive)

Sontag, Susan. "A Century of Cinema"  Sontag meditates on what cinema and cinephilia means for people and for the movies produced, and what would happen were cinephilia gone. (Third-Person Perspective; Expository; Persuasive)

Wizendburg, Stephen. "In the Facebook Era, Students Tell You Everything"  Wizendburg uses his own experience in the classroom as an instructor to raise questions about social media, privacy, and and the differing perspectives of teachers and students on the possible lack of boundaries created by social media use. (First-, Second-, and Third-Person Perspective; Narrative; Expository)