Junhao Gao
Kathleen Haven
LLD2 02
Word Count: 804
Second draft
	In the article “Get a Life? No Thanks. Just Pass the Remote”, the author James Atlas writes a drama review about “Breaking Bad”. He argues that although the show is entertaining, it’s not good for us; reading is a better option for humans. Atlas points out that people are getting sucked in the show; they are obsessed with the TV serie and could not stop watching. With the invention of iPads and smartphones,  reading becomes a challenge for people. As the author puts it, “But it’s hard for even the greatest novels to compete with the visual power and mimetic energy of film and TV.” Atlas believes that people do not want to use their brain and think, watching TV is a much easier activity. The writers of these shows know how to make the viewers want more with suspense; they break off an episode to leave the audiences curious and feel excited for the next episode. I disagree with the author’s argument that reading is better than visual entertainment because watching TV can help us learn things that we do not often see in our life and it can make us smarter, therefore, I believe watching TV is a better choice for us than reading.
People think reading is better because there are little pictures in books and, readers need to imagine how the setting and characters are. In fact, watching TV teaches us activities that we do not often see in real life. In this article, Atlas talks about the useless but fascinating information from watching TV, such as selling guns, laundering money, and stocks. These are activities that we rarely see in college life. We may find them interesting, and they may trigger the thought of being a banker, or a seller. In fact, I am a big fan of dramas, watching drama is fun and it is also one of the reasons why I chose to major in engineering. “The Big Bang Theory” is one of the most famous drama series in America, the main characters are mostly scientists and engineers. When I was watching it, I found it amazing how they did experiments in the laboratory and developed new products for us. Watching TV will not only give us a good cognitive workout, but it will also make us smarter.
	“But it’s hard even for the greatest novels to compete with visual power and mimetic energy of film and TV.” Atlas states this in the article to point out how TV became the popular culture nowadays. He also mentioned how the writers break off each episode when it comes to a very moment, the break off of an episode provides time for viewers to conjecture the next scene, which enhances our cognitive faculties.  For example, in “Breaking Bad”, the episode ends when Walt gets in Tuco’s car, a sociopathic rival, and waits with a gun in the back seat. Although, Tuco has a gun, Walt is not just a victim because he can also be a killer. Viewers won’t figure out the truth before watching the next episode, but they can predict the next scene base on what they learn from the previous episodes.  In the article “Watching TV Makes You Smarter”, the author, Stenven Johnson argues that “these shows combine the complicated plot threads of soap opera with the realistic characters and important social issues of nighttime drama.” He provides several examples that convince the readers to believe watching TV is good for our brain. From his research, he mentions that for each episode, viewers are required to follow closely on intersecting narrative threads because each character has their own line. These shows are designed to make it difficult for viewers to follow due to the fact it is fast paced and they use specialized dialogue. These shows provide an hour of mental stimulation when viewers are engaged in solving puzzles, unlocking mysteries, and with the commercial breaks in between. TV did not just become the popular culture in this society for no reasons, with the visual impact and interesting plots, watching TV is an easier and better option for us.
	Reading requires patience, attention, retention, and the phrasing of narrative threads, reading can also help readers improve better imagination. However, viewers are not required to imagine the scene when watching TV. Yet, people can still learn things that they rarely see in the society. Reading is not bad for us, but the fact that with the inventions of smart phones and iPads, it becomes hard for a person to concentrate on reading a book. Watching TV is not harmful to people, parents should not complain about kids watching shows, we should learn about the positive affects from TV before putting a false review on these visual entertainments.