<p>ESSAY PROMPT: Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment:</p>
<pre><code> Technology has dramatically increased the speed with which we can communicate and share information. Some people are critical of this development, claiming that rapid communication, often made possible by some form of technology, discourages people from focusing at length on any one topic, shortens their attention spans, and prevents them from truly learning about the world and people around them. But what is wrong with how instantly and easily information is communicated thanks to the wonders of modern technology?
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<p>ASSIGNMENT:
Does the way that information is communicated today result in people learning less than ever before? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.</p>
<p>ESSAY:
The age we live in is the information age. Technology had progressed so rapidly that we have the ability to gain access to a plethora of information in the blink of an eye. However, all of this progress has also brought a curse with it; information today is heavily censored and edited before it is presented. Thus, the way that information is presented today has resulted in people learning less than ever before and leaving them with ambivalent opinions.</p>
<pre><code> The Vietnam war ear was one of the most candid eras in terms of journalism in America. The common citizen could gain information about the war readily through sources such as the radio and television. Gory scenes from the battlefront that were completely unedited were shown to the public. Newspapers assiduously stuck to the truth about the war. Thus, the information about the war, including the number of casualties, total expenses, and even how many soldiers were at the battlefront, were conveyed in a frank and direct manner. This enabled the average person to gain a wealth of information about the war, and thus allowed them to make informed opinions about it. In fact, this exemplary journalism was the catalyst for people's disapproval for the war. In short, the way information was presented back then resulted in great awareness about the war.
However, the way information is presented today sharply contrasts with the way it was displayed in the Vietnam War era. Nowadays, information is heavily filtered and processed before it is presented, resulting in an ambiguous piece of information. Today's media is primarily concerned with entertaining the public and remaining annoyingly equivocal. Newspapers no longer present clear-cut opinions on any issue, for fear of controversy. The written articles are edited a thousand times before they are published, leading to just an incomprehensible glob of text. News channels, such as Fox news, are primarily concerned with entertaining the public and showing the news in a biased manner. Such partisan "infotainment" channels are no longer concerned with veracity; rather, their main goal is to make as much money as possible. Thus, the way information and news is communicated has been severely degraded.
Even though we have the power of technology at our beck, we fail to utilize this great medium in order to convey information about the world. In fact, we were much better off when we weren't inundated with a thousand different sources of so-called "fair and legitimate" news. Maybe if we reverted back to our original principles of truthfulness, we can help people to gain more knowledge than they are right now.
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<p>THANK YOU! :D</p>
This essay actually did get an 11 on the December 2010 SAT! I just put it up here to convince myself that it wasn’t just due to luck or something lol