Lesson 7 Putting It All Together o Instructions

Lesson 7: Putting It All Together o Instructions: Rework this paragraph to integrate the quotations more elegantly. You can also change the way the quote is introduced, embed it into the main sentence, use a better signal word, remove some of the quote - whatever works, and keeps the focus. Also, fix any problems you see with how the quote is punctuated. 1. Sociologists argue a lot about whether or not violent television creates more violence in society. But maybe this strict cause-and-effect misses the point. “If violence-drenched entertainment can desensitize me, it can desensitize anyone, It can desensitize a whole society. It can drag us down to the point where nothing is revolting. Where nothing makes us blush. And what happens to an unblushing society? Why, everything. Central Park joggers get raped and beaten into comas. Sixth-graders sleep around. Los Angeles rioters burn down their neighborhoods and murder dozens of their neighbors. And the Menendez boys blow off their parents’ heads. ” Jeff Jacoby wrote this in the Boston Globe. The point is that by overcoming our inhibitions, we lose an important protection against some of the terrible things that people are capable of.

Lesson 7: Putting It All Together Example Answer 1. Sociologists frequently argue about whether or not media violence creates more actual violence in society. Violence has long been a form of entertainment in societies around the world, but is there truly a danger in enjoying violence for entertainment sake? Jeff Jacoby, a columnist at the Boston Globe, discussed this very idea during the trial of the Menendez brothers. The Menendez brothers were convicted of murdering their parents in 1994. The brothers claimed it was self-defense, having suffered years of abuse from their parents. The prosecutor claimed it was for the millions of dollars sitting in their parents’ bank account. The trial became national news, with many people following the trial and the gruesome details of the murder the way others follow a favorite television show. Discussing of the position that violence for entertainment leads to real violence, Jacoby stated: If violence-drenched entertainment can desensitize me, it can desensitize anyone, It can desensitize a whole society. It can drag us down to the point where nothing is revolting. Where nothing makes us blush. And what happens to an unblushing society? Why, everything. Central Park joggers get raped and beaten into comas. Sixth-graders sleep around. Los Angeles rioters burn down their neighborhoods and murder dozens of their neighbors. And the Menendez boys blow off their parents’ heads. Jacoby’s point is that by allowing violence to become entertainment, we overcome our inhibitions and lose a valuable protection against some of the terrible things that people are capable of doing. Humans will always be fascinated by violence, but when we view brutal violence as a form of entertainment, we run the risk of not being able to tell the difference between entertainment and real life horror.