Final Paper Proposal

For the final paper in this class, I thought it would be appropriate to focus on how mass media circuits and literature today affect EVERYTHING about technology in our current society. It’s a big subject and hard to fully encompass in one paper. However, since this is an English course, I’ve decided to include film, books, and the mass media. I will focus on how all of the above are so influential in our society and the way things are done. For example, as we discussed in class, the mass media’s portrayal of Iraq, Afghanistan, and 9/11 put people in an uproar of terror and brought on the war(s) we are currently fighting. Furthermore, books such as The Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov which has many current implications including nanotechnology that is currently being developed to go into the body and fix things from the inside. As far as films are concerned, I will discuss Al Gore’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth really caused a movement in the United States regarding global warming and the environment. It is almost single-handedly responsible for the current “Go Green” phenomenon that is sweeping our nation as we speak. This paper obviously could use some tweaking and is still in the early stages. But before extensive research, this is where I am at.

I. Mass media affecting the way we live our lives
a. 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq
b. Celebrities being at the center of our culture
c. The 2008 Presidential Election

II. Books affecting mass amounts of technology developed in the past and the present.
a. The Fantastic Voyage by Isaac Asimov
i. Nanotechnology currently being developed in the same manner described in the book
b. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
i. Inspired many different details of the United States space program.

III. Film affecting the way in which people view things/ causing trends over time
a. Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth
i. Inspired an entire movement encouraging a more environmentally friendly world.
ii. Caused a panic about the true implications of global warming and not taking care of
our environment.

The sources that I will use for this paper are those mentioned in the main points, as well as other sources supporting my thesis that mass media and literature affect our lives every minute of every day in modern society.