Final Paper Outline Reviewed

Brett Stinson

Professor Werry

RWS 100

11/20/14

Essay 4 Outline

Intro:

Discusses the debate of whether the internet has more benefits or disadvantages and introduces my own viewpoint on how the internet is a hinderance to humankind. I also give a brief introduction of myself to establish credibility for my anecdote later on.

Body Paragraph 1:

This first body paragraph establishes the claim that the internet has negative side effects on the brain by providing a text from Nicholas Carr and supporting it with a text by Sarah Harris.I organize my text by providing my own side first, then go into the counteragrument so that I leave no error in my argument.

Claim 1:

“As the media theorist Marshall McLuhan pointed out in the 1960s, media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought. And what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles”(Carr 2)

Subclaim 1:

Nicholas Carr addresses how even in the 1960s before the internet was in existence, media had the same effect as it does today in spite of the major evolution of media. He states that it deteriorates your concentration and contemplation which is one of the worst side effects of prolonged Internet use.

Sources:

Harris, Sarah. "Too Much Internet Use 'Can Damage Teenagers' Brains'" Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2015196/Too-internet-use-damage-teenagers-brains.html

Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 01 July 2008. Web. 02 Dec. 2014.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/

How Sources Support:

Using these sources would help support my argument by providing several cases to support the argument that the Internet is deteriorating the brain and its cognitive functions. The article from Daily Mail, which is a United Kingdom online newspaper, provides a medical study showing that patients that use the internet for long periods of time begin to grow more grey matter in the brain. This matter is shown to cause damage to many cognitive functions. Along with the use of Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” where he argues various aspects of how the Internet has many negative effects on the brain.

Body Paragraph 2:

This paragraph will serve as my address to the counterargument and I will provide a claim made by Clive Thompson on the possible benefits, then I will respond with a text by Howard Rheingold in which he responds to the claim with a counter argument and  falsify the claim made by Thompson.

Claim 2:

“Early evidence came in 1978, when two psychologists tested people to see how well they remembered words that they’d written down compared to words they’d merely read. Writing won out. The people who wrote words remembered them better than those who’d only read them- probably because generating text yourself “requires more cognitive effort than does reading and effort increases memorability.”(Thompson 57)

Subclaim:

Clive Thompson uses this study to support his statement that the internet has allowed people to write on the internet where people are subject to what is known as the “Audience Effect”. This brings appeal to all who have access to the internet and aspire to get their ideas out where they could potentially viewed by millions.

Sources:

Thompson, Clive. "Public Thinking." Smarter than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Minds for the Better. N.p.: Penguin Group, 2013. 45-69. Print.

Rheingold, Howard. "Attention, and Other 21st-Century Social Media Literacies (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUCAUSE.edu." Attention, and Other 21st-Century Social Media Literacies. Educause Review Online, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2014.
http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/attention-and-other-21st-century-social-media-literacies&gt

How Sources Support:

The source of Clive Thomson provides the main claim that the internet improves cognitive functions as you write more than you would if you had not had access to an audience such as the one the Internet provides. The article written by Rheingold will be able to complicate the main claim that Thompson produces. He does this by stating how the Internet is full of positives but we must be able to resist the strong force of distraction, and if we overcome this then we can harness all of the positives of the Internet while escaping the reach of the negatives.

Body Paragraph 3:

This is where I will place my anecdote after I have discussed both sides with the argument being skewed in favor of the internet being a harmful source.

Conclusion:

Here I will revisit the main argument that I was attempting to validate and I will summarize the main points I made and show that the Internet has become a harmful resource to the human mind.