Reference no: EM133301702

Assignment:

Theorizing Mass Media and the Homo Digitalis: How do Bo Burnham: Inside and "In Persuasion Nation" by George Saunders engage with theoretical themes addressed by both Guy Debord's The Society of the Spectacle and Byung-Chul Han's In the Swarm: Digital Prospects critique of what Han terms the "flight into the image"? In contemporary mass media, the effects of social media on our relation to others the distinction between outrage and rage in public discourse, and the loss of narrative meaning and the disappearance of the real, among other themes. What do you make of the attitudes toward mass media as expressed by Burnham and Saunders? How does the structure of both texts express ideas about mass media?

"That's How the World Works": Consider Guy Debord's final claim in the chapter-"The spectacle is capital accumulated to the point that it becomes images." In what way do Inside and In Persuasion Nation engage with this idea? Are commodities (everything with monetary or generative value) now essentially a collection of images? How do both texts engage with the phenomena of branding?

Exchanges of "Value": In both In Persuasion Nation and Inside, the concept of "value" is debated repeatedly. What is the meaning of "value" in both works? What is the relationship between the "commodity" and the "valuable"?

Silly Songs: Consider Terry Eagleton's book Humour on humor's relationship to value. How does the humor in Inside and In Persuasion Nation affect the interpretation of meaning and value? Are the songs in Inside and the humorous moments in In Persuasion Nation just meaningless fun or does the humor serve a greater purpose? Eagleton employs several theorists like Freud and how do his ideas of the uncanny show themselves in the two readings?