Or maybe you’re not involved in that kind of relationship—which would be perfectly fine, of course! Either way, you’ll have plenty to write about in this paper.
Before you begin the paper, we’ll do a unit in class on the various functions of the media for individuals and society as a whole. Your assignment, then, will be to apply this framework and the relevant concepts to your own life and use of the media. The main question is this: What functions do the media serve in your life?
As part of your preparation for the paper, keep a log of all of your media uses for several days. It might not be possible to write down every single instance of your media use, but do your best. Here are a few examples of the kind of thing we’re looking for:
Tuesday, 7:30 a.m.
Before getting out of my warm bed to take my daily five-mile run across the frozen tundra of Indiana, I used my iPad to check my email, review my Twitter feed, check out my ex-girlfriend’s Facebook posts and read a couple chapters from the Bible.
Tuesday, 8:45 a.m.
Caught up on news headlines in the shower; got my iPhone a little wet, but no serious damage appeared to be done.
Tuesday, 9:55 a.m.
Posted a tweet right before my 10:00 class about how boring this class is.
Tuesday, 11:10 a.m.
I should have been paying attention in chapel, but I was listening to my favorite Dixie Chicks tunes instead.
Well, you get the idea. And once you’ve recorded some data about how you use the media, you should have a better idea of what functions the media serve in your life. In your paper, go ahead and connect your documented media uses to the overarching media-functions framework. You don’t have to talk about all the ways you use media—just pick three or four, and write a 500-word summary and analysis. It will be very important for you to use the concepts and terminology of our functions unit, so make sure you review the handout that I’ll provide before I ask you to start on this assignment.
*** NO references needed
** i use twitter before bed time every night and in the bathroom in morning before showering.
*** i use my laptop to check the news 3 times a day
*** i see instgram once a day
