Trouble With Tv Ec2

Name _______________________________________ Date ___________________ “The Trouble with Television” by Robert MacNeil “The American Dream” by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Cultural Connection: Television and Society In his essay, Robert MacNeil is critical of television and of viewers who watch it excessively. While he believes that television may be fine as entertainment, he is concerned about its longterm effects on American viewers and their values. In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s essay, the author is also concerned with America’s values. Both MacNeil and King might agree that television does not reflect society as it really exists. You may or may not agree with this view. Now you have the opportunity to defend or criticize television as a mirror of the society that you live in. A. DIRECTIONS: Explain why television does or does not realistically reflect each of the following aspects of our society. Consider all types of television programming from documentaries and news reports to television movies and situation comedies. 1. teenagers ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ 2. school

3. family

B. DIRECTIONS: Imagine you are given the opportunity to develop a new weekly television show that will reflect society as it really exists. Describe the type of show you want to present. ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________

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