English Synthesis Assignment Essay

As a major medium since the 1960s, television has had a major impact on the nature of the American presidential elections, how the candidates relate to the voters, and how the voters perceive the candidates. There is much more to say about televised debates, which came into prominence during presidential campaigns in the US, providing image over substance in most cases. The medium of television, as Roderick P. Hart and Mary Triece pointed out in their overview of the relationship between television and presidential politics, has spawned a culture whereby persons in public life are measured by their appearance and not by what they stand for: English Synthesis Assignment Essay.

This trend was conveniently vivid during the Kennedy-Nixon debates that, according to Louis Menand, shifted the marker of political success from the content of the message to the face value. Moreover, a cross-sectional survey using data from Nielsen media research indicates that presidential debate viewership ratings have continued to establish the medium’s capability only to provoke voters’ otherwise passive interest but mostly in superficial entertainment rather than intellectual discourses. Finally, television has democratised the presidential elections while simultaneously standardising and reducing it to a matter of candidates’ appearances.

The Transformative Role of TV Debates

Televised presidential debates are one of the most significant unique features of political campaigns in the United States. Starting with the very first Kennedy-Nixon debates in 1960, these events changed how candidates went out in front of the public forever. This was established where the debates were centred on the persona and look rather than the policies in their agenda.

According to Louis Menand, the debates created an expectation that candidates must engage in a “necessary submission to mass scrutiny” (Menand). The political playing field has been significantly transformed with this change of gear from issues to looks.

Another political analyst, Theodore H. White, pointed out Kennedy’s point about the importance of physical appearance on television, stating that the voters could vote for Kennedy because they could see what he was like on TV. He also recalls that while those who tuned in to the radio felt that the debates were tied, the television audience felt that Kennedy had sent Nixon packing (Menand). These contrasts mean that television changed the electorate’s perception in a way that preferred personality over policy in a candidate.

Television refocused the nature of the debates and introduced a whole new politics to the respective campaigns. As is the case today, people are mostly evaluated in terms of their camera prowess, a feature that has turned political arenas into mere mirages of what ideologies are all about. While viewership of these debates grew, they fit perfectly into the electoral process, thus confirming the idea that political success depends on the extent to which a person presents an appealing image to the size, with an understanding of issues being of secondary importance (Hart and Triece).

The Celebrity System and its Consequences

Television crossed its earlier function in the presidential elections debate by helping bring celebrity culture into elections. Roderick P. Hart and Mary Triece argue that the combination of entertainment and politics has changed the yardsticks of measure for the candidates. Some people now elect presidents based on factors common with pop stars and movie actors rather than the policy maturity of the individual (Hart and Triece).

This is a dangerous development for the political process since it fosters a culture of great control over the candidate’s image. At the same time, they neglect the content of the communication.

The influence of this media is attributed to the factor that television is an intimate medium that beams candidates close to the people. The above-presented perceived intimacy causes voters to feel familiar with their presidents on an individual level and thus reduce dependence on regular political cues and party systems (Hart and Triece). However, this interaction can be deceiving; the public interacts with a polished image rather than the gritty business of policy. This elimination of a clear difference between the social and the political has created a phenomenon whereby form-frontal precludes substantive.

The attitude of focusing on celebrities undermines people’s trust in politics and politicians. As Menand claimed, exposure to political figures in a celebrity context gives the electorate disillusionment more entertainment than ever when they are voting for a country representative (Menand). This shift leads to an uninformed, apathetic, passive electorate far more enticed by the political theatre than the actual issues of consequence that envelop their existence. The result is the production of political theatre, which substitutes substance with appearance while contributing to the decline of substantive policy deliberation and the democratic process.

Audience Engagement and Media Consumption Trends

The audience trend of the presidential debates of different decades further supports the transition of television as the primary source of political communication news. These debates were highly rated, and this negative rating was displayed in the Nielsen ratings, showing that televised events are crucial in the process through which candidates are related to the electorate. For example, the Presidential Kennedy-Nixon Day in a year debate in 1960 recorded an audience reach of 59.5 million homes, Nielsen found. Any such numbers give credence to the fact that these debates became a very important avenue of political participation for individuals who would otherwise not bother to learn more about the candidates.

The circulation of debates on the initial viewership level in consecutive elections reveals trends in fluctuations as a result of a shift in viewership behaviour. For instance, the public debates between Carter and Ford in 1976 had drawn a rating of 52.4 million people, while in 1996, debates such as the Clinton-Dole debate had only 31.6 million people (Nielsen). This situation can be linked to the development of several news networks and the change of the media platforms, which split the viewers and changed the ways of consuming political material.

There is little doubt that the way citizens interact with the media is changing, which has great implications for politics. As audiences get more and more access to news and information, the fascination with the spectacle that presidential debates offer may seem less alluring than entertainment. This shift continues to influence the polity so that the politics of the out-briefed still revolves around personalities rather than the questions at hand.

This allows the candidates to focus on personality and cultural suitability of fame, thus continuing the common trend of using images instead of substance. Therefore, even though televised debates became part of the presidential elections, there are doubts that they remain useful and informative sources of political information.

The Changing Nature of Political Engagement

In recent years, as television has remained a dominant medium in American political culture, the activity of politics has been transformed. The special closeness that television brings makes people tend to develop confidence that they know these personalities on an individual level. However, this familiarity is done alongside an ideal image instead of embracing the real figure of a candidate with his or her policies or other qualifications. Hart and Triece noted that this has a depoliticising effect, reducing the extent to which people rely on formal political institutions to engage in democratic issues (Hart and Triece).

In addition, as Menand underscores, television has become so prevalent in politics that people are already too sceptical of the goings-on. So much of it is saturated with sound bites and image-based narratives. These views can lead citizens to cynicism and a show-like attitude to the political process (Menand). It also leads to political alienation, which comes about because citizens feel estranged from politics because of the political process and, therefore, are less likely to vote or participate in any policy-making process.

In current politics, those presenting smooth, vibrant images tend to stand a better chance of being elected, while strong knowledge of policies is of little use if a candidate does not have charisma. Thus, if the current trend continues, politics will focus more on political personalities than anything else, and image politics will flourish. This shift presents considerable problems for democracy because well-informed citizens are crucial to a functioning political process. Overall, television has changed the entertainment–politics interface in a way that has lessened voter interaction with leaders, and this needs to be addressed to revitalise voter political talk.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this synthesis paper has revealed how television has transformed presidential elections in America. While it has exposed candidates to the public and engaged voters through avenues, such as television debates, it has not striven substance over style. The turn to a celebrity Political culture means that voters assess their leaders by their looks and ability to attract attention, not necessarily by the issues they present.

Apart from these viewership trends, as evidenced by the decline of political participatory cultures, television has produced a culture of political apathy and aloofness. The problem in the future will be readapting themselves to a political style or culture that prioritises policy rather than pomp. Thus, the candidates and the voters must embrace and appreciate the political knowledge and wisdom needed for the civil processes to prove democracy. Only through the rehabilitation of idealism and polity can the political system reawaken civil participation and address the problems confronting society.

Works Cited

Hart, Roderick P., and Mary Triece. “U.S. Presidency and Television.”

Menand, Louis. “Masters of the Matrix: Kennedy, Nixon, and the Culture of the Image.” The New Yorker, January 5, 2004.

Nielsen. Tunes into Politics: Tracking the Presidential Election Years (1960-1992). New York: Nielsen Media Research, 1994.

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English 1021: English Composition I

Synthesis Assignment

Assignment

Television has been influential in the United States presidential elections since the 1960’s. But just what is thisinfluence, and how has it affected who is elected? Has it made elections fairer and more accessible, or has it movedcandidates from pursuing issues to pursuing image?

Read the following sources (including any introductory information) carefully Then, in an essay that synthesizes at least three of the sources for support, take a position that defends, challenges, or qualifies the claim that television has had a positive impact on presidential elections.

Refer to sources as Source A, Source B, etc.; titles are included for your convenience.

Steps for building your synthesis essay:

1. Read your three sources carefully and ideally at least twice. While reading, look for a general summary of the articles and each of their main arguments. Then, ask yourself, “What makes these pieces similar? Where are they different?”
2. Consider using a chart to keep your notes on your three sources organized. This chart will help you organize the summary and key points (and your reactions) on each of the sources before you begin writing your essay. You can use this chart to compare your own argument with the arguments made in your sources.

You may find that one of your sources promotes a similar perspective as your argument and can be helpful to you as you provide evidence for your claims; however, do not toss out the opportunities that can be found in sources that proclaim the opposite position to your essay. These can be helpful to cite in the counterargument section of your basic argument.

3. Think about your thesis. Remember, you can agree with all three of your authors and still have a fourth way of looking at the issue. Your argument needs to be very clear to the reader, especially when incorporating outside sources; you don’t want your voice to get lost in the paper.

4. Create a draft. Do not spend copious amounts of time summarizing the essays you are using for this paper.
A 1–2 sentence summary of your sources as you use them might be helpful to your readers.

5. Once you’ve selected your sources and incorporated them, use basic MLA formatting to include your citations after the quoted or paraphrased material (still needs a citation) and include a Works Cited page at the end of your argument. Details on creating these can are in your online handbook and with websites like OWL Purdue and Bibliography building websites. Please review these materials available to you carefully, and feel free to ask me any questions you might have as you complete this assignment.

6. Use the peer review board to your advantage by thoroughly considering any revisions to your essay before the final submission date. I will be looking for how well you incorporated the suggestions I made on your basic argument essay.

English Synthesis Assignment Essay

Grading Criteria: I will be looking for these skills to be demonstrated in this assignment:

• Student incorporates the required sources carefully and following writing conventions.
• Student has incorporated the sources into the essay in a way that makes sense to the argument. The student indicates a thorough understanding of the source material’s argument and conveys this summarized information clearly to the reader.
• The student writer uses transitions to the sources in a way that makes sense to the reader.
• The writer uses proper author tags (According to Smith, “. . ..” or The author contends/argues/suggests/etc.) to show the reader where the source material begins and identify the material’s speaker for the reader.
• The student writer creates an introduction and conclusion that demonstrates the purpose of the synthesis (to prove the student’s overall claim about a topic related to their three sources).
• The student writer uses MLA in-text and end-text citations (Works Cited page) correctly. Proper citation and source incorporation is a skill covered more completely in ENG 122, but it is a skill that I like to go over at least briefly with my students in ENG 121. Please do not quote lines longer than five lines, per MLA rules governing length of in-text citations.
  Using block quoting for longer quotes is permissible in MLA, but it is not appropriate for an assignment of this short length. Remember that you can make choices in how to quote larger portions of text by using certain writing conventions like ellipses.
• The essay is submitted in MLA formatting including header information, margins, and double-spacing.
• This essay meets the page requirements, has a focused thesis, and makes a clear claim.
• This essay should be 5–7 complete pages long.