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Assignment: Media Technologies and the Cycle

Prompt

In his book, The Master Switch, Tim Wu argues that media technologies go through a “Cycle,” where new inventions begin with revolutionary promise but ultimately end up being centralized by a monopoly or oligopoly.

Selecting one of the media technologies described by Tim Wu in his book, evalaute his argument that telephone, radio, movies, or television exemplifies the rise-and-fall pattern of the technology according to the “Cycle?” You are welcome to use sources from the Crowley and Heyer textbook and outside sources, as long as they’re properly vetted and appropriately cited.

There are two parts to this assignment.

Outline and Draft of Opening Paragraph

Write a draft of the opening paragraph of your paper. This paragraph should be concise and compact to include the following three essential components:

  1. introduce the topic of your paper
  2. outline the methodology you will use to evaluate Wu’s argument
  3. argue your own findings using a one-sentence thesis statement

In addition, compose an outline listing the top-level topic sentences for the rest of your paper. You should also list the outside sources you intend to use and cite them properly.

Guidelines

Final Paper

Your final paper will evaluate Tim Wu’s argument that the media technology you selected exemplifies the “Cycle.”

Guidelines