WJ11 "A Plague of Tics"

In this essay, Sedaris did a very good job of using his voice. You could tell it wasn't just a story told by some narrator of something, but it had some type of valuable meaning to the writer. He made the story funny, and it was easy to read and also interesting. I think that what we could learn from him so that we can use our own voices in our projects and not try to make our papers seem as though they are coming from our own minds and not try to make them sound.

#WJ9

The question I propose to answer in my paper is “what effect does technology have on society, and is it more good or bad?” I will also answer the question “should we limit our intake of technology and should we limit our children’s technical devices. My personal thesis statement is: although technology has come at an abrupt pace and some say it has caused some problems, at the end of the day, all or at least most of our technological advances are benefiting us more than they are causing us harm. What I currently know about the topic is that there are many tests that have been done involving this topic. I also know that the debate has equal sides of defense. I have also learned that technology’s affect on someone depends on the individual. Also technology has been making a huge impact since it first began making its presence known even back to the late 19th century. Another thing that I have come across in my research so far is the theory that it is not the things that are produced by the technology, rather the actual technology themselves! I have learned that technology is to blame for things like obesity, murder, and at this point even the economy! Things I still need to find out about the issue are, more about some of the test that have been done. I also need to search more about the different types of technology besides just the internet, phone, and television. I want to research more about what different age groups think about the issue and hope to conduct an interview or a poll to find out what everyday people think about the situation. Another thing I want to know is how the technology is affecting our brain development if at all.

Arguments that oppose my thesis include but are not limited to:
- Technology causes people to be inactive causing them to be overweight
- Technology encourages children to be violent
- Technology has made us socially dumb and unable to communicate properly with each other
- Technology is doing all the work for us and we are getting more uneducated

Sources I have looked at include but are not limited to:
- Marshall McLuhan books on technology and media
- Articles about the effects of media and technology including one we used in class
- Research documents done by scientist.
- Documentaries
- Audio documents.