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1. After reading the following selection, write an argumentative passage drawing one of these conclusions: (1) TV is largely responsible for the functional illiteracy of our society. (2) The functional illiteracy of our society is caused by influences other than TV. (3) The government should limit the operation of all television stations to a 3-hour time slot--say, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. (4) The cultural wealth of our society is seriously threatened by the influence of TV. TV: Primary Carrier of Cultural Sickness by Ralph Georgy There is a disturbing trend in popular American culture; a trend that is taking us on a rapid decline toward mediocrity. The symptoms of this decline are everywhere: We have random and gratuitous violence on television and in our streets, functional illiteracy, academic deterioration, moral decay, sex, gangs, drugs, nihilistic music and a host of other ailments that define our cultural sickness. Television is perhaps the epitome of this decline. In the late 20th century, television has become the omniscient and omnipotent God-like technology that tells us everything from what toothpaste to buy to how to vote. The ubiquitous nature of television gives it the unique power of both reflecting as well as influencing culture. We are constantly bombarded with gratuitous images of sex and violence. Images that in times past would have been considered disturbing, are today accepted as a natural part of modern entertainment. There have been recent debates over the causal relationship between television and urban violence. But establishing a causal link would not answer the much broader question of how such images affect our cultural life. How many of us read daily newspapers? Are we more inclined to watch movies filled with violence or a documentary on Beethoven's "9th Symphony"? The influence of television is not limited to fleeting images of violence. There is a great deal of talk, too. In the past few years, there has been an explosion of talk shows. These programs offer us cheap talk about issues that have little or no relevance to our daily lives. Talk shows are obsessed with the bizarre and the dysfunctional. The level of discourse is rather moronic and much too trivial. What is most disturbing about talk shows, alas, is that millions of people are watching them every day. Hour after hour, day after day, we are bombarded with topics that border on the absurd. Television seems to have replaced intellectual stimulation with visual stimulation. The art of reading is slowly becoming antiquated. Functional illiteracy is rising at an alarming rate. Study after study shows that a disproportionate number of Americans are unable to read and write above the sixth grade (e.g., a recent study by Harvard University show that 52 percent of Americans are functionally illiterate.) It should not come as a surprise to anyone that the only access to the world for millions of people is television. The parameters of political discourse are limited to 30-second sound bites and "expert" analysis by pundits and spin doctors. As far as the economy, one merely needs to look at the ever-widening gap between the rich and poor, between the skilled (highly paid) labor force and the unskilled (low-wage) workers. Our ability to compete on an international level is in jeopardy. Functional illiteracy is, of course, a product of our educational system. Our current education system — kindergarten through 12th grade — is at best mediocre. Academic standards are on a constant decline. High school students nationwide are performing, on average, two grade levels below their counterparts of 20 years ago, according to a study done by the Los Angeles Unified School District. Teachers are resorting to the use of television and other visual devices to entice students into learning. Educators argue that new teaching methods are needed to cater to the ever-diminishing attention span of students. Colleges and universities are producing students with limited cultural understanding. A recent study by the California State University system showed that 50 percent of all Cal State students this past year failed a writing exam necessary for graduation. What is striking about this figure, however, is the fact that Cal State students constitute the top one-third of all high school students in California. There are too many experts and too few intellectuals. How many of these so-called experts, if placed in a round-table discussion, would be in a position to discuss Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Hobbes, Descartes, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Chekov, Sartre, Camus, Elliot, Joyce, Nietzsche, Melville . . . ? One might reply by saying that these writers belong to specific areas of philosophy and literature. The only problem with this reply is that Plato cannot be boxed up into narrow categories. These writers are immortal; they transcend, or ought to, academic confinement. The aforementioned writers used to be part of the common knowledge of educated men and women. Today, they are narrow specialties, understood by a few "experts." There is a profound irony when talking about cultural mediocrity; an irony that is both difficult to reconcile and accept. The 20th century is responsible for spectacular achievements unparalleled in history. American culture prides itself on scientific and technological sophistication. But culture, of course, is more than science and technology. Culture is also the set of ideas that define us — the expression of our collective consciousness. This expression can be found in our music, art, literature and poetry. But what do all these different aspects of culture have in common? They are all reflections — reflections of an age. Alas, our age prefers instant analysis over reflection. We live in an age where experts and specialists have become the prophets of our time; actors and sports players are mythological heroes; and mediocrity is our virtue. In the process of becoming technologically sophisticated, we have become culturally illiterate. |