CURBING THE ONE-EYED MONSTER
-Fiona C. Jenkins (1947- )
1.LITERAL COMPREHENSION :
This is an essay with strong arguments against the corporate media in general and TV in particular in the USA. the corporate media are owned and controlled by a few wealthy conservative Americans .so the major newspapers and TV companies serve the interest of their owners, not the general public. In other words ,they simply communicate the ideology of their masters.
According to Jenkins the primary purpose of TV is not to provide any truthful information to people ,to educate us, to Evoke our sense of beauty or justice , to appeal to our better, Kinder and more rational side nor to serve our interests but its bottom line purpose is to deliver us for as long as possible. There is a lot of commercialism ,violence and pornography on TV which won't let people be masters of their brains. According to her the best solution to protect ourselves is to curb the TV set i.e. to place It down by curb side. The writer herself did it 20 years ago and had made her home TV-free.
Jenkins agrees that there are some advantages of watching TV. some programs are really entertaining ,valuable and worth knowing such as the spectacular historical event of 1969 moon landing Which curb siders have to miss. TV is also a big help to forget our troubles. moreover we can be in touch with the mainstream culture but she believes that a TV addicted looses many opportunities like doing something profitable or beneficial as reading books , talking to people, watching sunsets, traveling and developing music and baskets weaving talents .Such an addicted lives a vicarious life watching others kissing and pretending to lock their kids rather than living a real life by doing anything himself. she opines that TV exposes us to junk culture , not the artistic excellence that is found in art ,music and literature. TV does not provide objective information what fragmented, filtered and vague picture of reality due to which our view of the socio-political world is deficient. TV commercials give us misinformation. They teach us to assume that money is king , happiness is earning and spending, look out for number one ,we are not good enough the way nature made us so we must dye our hair ,nails, eyelashes and so on. At present we tend to live and artificial life. it puts us in worse mood. Jenkins shares Albert Einstein's view that those who poses economic and political power can use media to manipulate public opinions to serve their class interest which is dangerous in democracy.
2.INTERPRETATION :
Though some programs in the television are entertaining, valuable ,interesting and useful, there are many more disadvantages of its. Television is a one eyed monster which kills the creativeness and imaginative power of human beings. children are badly affected by the TV. The rich businessman are using television as money earning tool. there TV commercials never give truth and objective information. if you complain about the programs, they will never listen to you . therefore the better way to escape from this one eyed monster is to unplug the TV and throw it away.
3.CRITICAL THINKING :
The story clearly talks about how the rich businessmen are using TV in their favour . some of the ideas are questionable in the story. Are there only disadvantages of television .There are also some advantages of TV. it helps children to develop their minds from learning the societal activities, we can know the current affairs of a country. The writer can't project the actual disadvantages of t.v. and I think he overrated only its bad side.
4.ASSIMILATION :
After reading this essay I realized that t.v. is impure and not good as I thought. So, I am not going to throw it from my house as it is so costly and I am not alone in my house too. But, I will stop to watch it and will spend my all t.v. time on reading some good books. Similarly, I will also share the knowledge given in this essay with my family, neighbor, and relatives.
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SOME QUESTION ANSWERS :
Q.1.What basic arguments does Jenkins present in 'Curbing The One Eyed Monster ' ?
ANSWER : 'Curbing The One Eyed Monster ' is an essay with strong arguments against the corporate media in general and TV in particular in America. Jenkins, the writer of this essay argues that the corporate media are owned and controlled by a few wealthy Americans . The major newspapers and TV companies serve the interest of their owners, not the general public.
Q.2.What is the best solution for curbing the one eyed monster according to Fiona C. Jenkins?
ANSWER : the best solution for curbing the one eyed monster is to curb the TV set i.e. to place it down by curb side. we should made our home TV free.
Q.3.Do you think that television is a 'one eyed monster'? Give reasons for your answer.
ANSWER : I think that television is not a 'one eyed monster' because it has not only negative aspects but also positive aspects . we can also get benefit by watching television . By watching TV we can solve various tasks as a helper. we can get or know information or the events which are happening within the world.
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