(This article response will be my most critical thus far…)

These two McLuham excerpts were so fast-paced and ADD that they reminded me of the internet and television itself. My mind spun as the author made radical transitions from one paragraph to the next, referencing such varied sources as William Blake, Alexander Pope, Gutenberg, T.S. Eliot, Shakespeare, Poe, De Toqueville, Pasteur, Pope Pius XII…essentially everything but the kitchen sink. I found that so many outside references decreased the clarity of McLuham’s message. His own voice became lost as he repeatedly deferred to outside sources. It created, (in my humble opinion) a disjointed, patchwork effect.

Being in college, it isn’t as if I’ve never read a name-dropping, lofty-sounding essay. It isn’t as if I’ve never written them. But I guess that the other articles we read in

The New Media Reader

set a precedent for this class, for this subject- I was expecting McLuhan’s ideas to be made more accessible. The other authors so far have made a deliberate effort to put their theories in layman’s terms. They know it is important for Joe Schmoe to grasp these concepts. Well, Joe Schmoe can’t follow these constnt literary/historical references! He is automatically excluded.

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