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Answers to all the assigned questions for two given texts...

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“World and Screen" by Nicholas Carr 1. Nicholas Carr argues that satellite navigation systems “are not designed to deepen out involvement with our surroundings.” What does he mean by that? Summarize his argument. Is it persuasive? Why or why not? 1.a. By using this specific phrase when talking about GPS systems, the author implements how the modern navigation systems have changed, and the purpose of them changed too. The author communicates that navigation became much more easier nowadays, and with that - people became more simplistic. There is no no need to look at the surroundings, but to only follow the GPS - so why would people bother to take a look around. 1.b. His main argument comes from his research on the topic. He says that many years ago, navigation systems such as maps, were not only used to get from one place to another, but to warn the traveler on what to expect on the road. Nowadays, they turn humans into robots following orders from a system, and make them unaware of their surroundings. They lose their geographic knowledge without even realizing it. 1.c. I believe that the arguments presented by Nicholas Carr is persuasive. When using GPS, people do not pay attention to the things around them. They focus on their destination, which they probably would not even notice if not the voice saying “You have arrived at Your destination.” They follow the orders of navigations systems blindly, and completely rely on technology to get places. Because of the modern technology, humans lost some of their perception of the world. 2. Although it is still a matter of speculation, how might the long-term use of a GPS device contribute to development of dementia in later life, according to Carr? What does he say happens in the brain? Evaluate the evidence that Carr presents for what he says. Does it seem reliable? Explain. 2.a. According to Carr, using GPS for a longer period of time can cause an irreparable damage to brain and cause dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease. Because people follow instructions of GPS rather in a robotic way, they do not think of their actions, they do not try to memorize the paths they

are going through. As their memory is not trained while they are young, it is possible for it to only get worse as they age. 2.b. The brain has its own navigational sense, which needs to be developed in order to work as people grow older. As the roads are being memorized and people learn to get around without GPS, gray matter starts appearing in the hippocampus in the brain. If the advices coming from GPS are followed blindly, hippocampus is not stimulated and people may be exposed to memory loss later in life. 2.c. To support this view on possible effects of overusing GPS, Nicholas Carr definitely uses sources that add him a lot of credibility. It is obvious he has made a lot of research and has great knowledge on the topic. He used many books on neurosciences written by highly respected people in the field. That makes his speculation seem very real and his point is reliable. 3. Carr borrows two terms from the work of anthropologist Tim Ingold: wayfaring and transport. How does he define each of these terms? What is the key distinction between them, and how is that distinction important to Carr’s argument? 3.a. Wayfaring is the process of being in the world and getting through it. On the other hand, transport has specific destinations and takes people from one place to the next, and so on. While wayfaring is an ongoing process, transport is more defined. 3.b. The key distinction between them is the defined, or undefined, length of those. This refers to Carr’s argument, as his idea of following GPS systems, is similar to transport. People go from one place to another, without realizing all the surroundings they were in during the journey. 4. How do you get around in the world? When navigating a new place, do you use a map? a GPS device? landmarks, street signs, or something else? Reflect on your preference. How do they contribute (or not) to your feeling comfortable in your surrounding and grounded in the world? 4.a. I am a person of the modern world, and I get around using the Map application on my phone. I have my phone with me wherever I am, and if I feel even slight lost, I open my application. I can

not only type in a specific destination, but find the fastest, shortest or cheapest route whether I am going by a car or a bus. 4.b. When navigating a new place, I actually am a fan of studying the maps. Whenever I move somewhere, or go for holidays - I love to spend the first night with a map. Even though some hotels provide local paper maps, I mostly use my phone application for this. I feel kind of bad for using the modern technology. However, the way of modern lives simply does not let me carry a map with me wherever I go, at the same time requiring me to change from place to place most of the day. 4.c. When I go out in a new place after studying the map, I definitely feel safer. It gives me a feeling as if I was home, and I can recognize the main intersections from my memory of the map. Also, it is obviously easier to get around. To help myself, I usually only need to look at the street signs. Yet, my phone with its map is sometimes a necessity.

“2b or Not 2b?” by David Crystal 1. David Crystal’s analysis includes the results of a study of students that found a positive correlation between the use of texting abbreviations and scores on reading and vocabulary tests. Think about your own experience texting. Does it match the results of that study? How might you explain any differences? 1.a. I believe there is some true to Crystal’s argument that children that use abbreviations do better on language tests. At first, when I was still young I used abbreviations in my native language Polish. It actually helped me learn the language, since I had to know how each words sound and are spelled. Especially since Polish is a very hard language to speak and write, is takes some time for people to be able to abbreviate and shorten the complex words and sentences. When I started learning English, it took me some time to be able to shorten what i wanted to say. 1.b. The difference is that English is my second language. I did not learn it as children do by playing with English words. I started by memorising all the vocabulary at school. The more words I could remember, the more I understood and the better I got. Now, when I am fully able to

understand the shorthands used by the others, and use some on my own, I feel like I can speak English fluently. I know how words and sentences should sound and be spelled so I can figure out the meanings of abbreviations. Being able to use “text language” is not as easy as one might seem. I think it definitely helps to improve the vocabulary and spelling. 2. Crystal says it’s pointless to send a message “if it breaks so many rules that it ceases to be intelligible” (7). Can you decipher all the text messages that you receive? Do you use any texting shorthand with close friends that other might not understand? Are you always careful to text intelligibly? Why or why not? 2.a. I would say that I understand majority of the text messages which I receive. However, I definitely did not understand everything right away. A lot of abbreviations and symbols appear in texting society almost everyday, and it is hard to catch up. It takes time and to be honest, I feel like it is similar to learning a new language. Understanding SMS does not come by itself, and it takes time to fully learn, and yet, it is a process that lasts for a lifetime. 2.b. I think it is quite popular for young people to come up for abbreviations that others would not understand. When people are close with others, they share the same interests, experiences and friends. Also, teenagers like to come up with short, easy codes that have meaning only to their closest friends. I, myself, also have various shorthands which I use only with certain friends, but not with others. An example would be “//“ which I use with my best friend when we want to indicate that we are not alone and someone might see our text messages - it is better to not discuss certain topics. Anyone else who would see that in our messages would think it is a meaningless typo. 2.c. Whether I pay attention to the messages that I send and care about the words used depends on the person I am texting with. I definitely am not always careful to text intelligibly. When I text with my close friends, or people who I know are aware of the shortcuts I use, I like to shorten my messages instead of typing long, full sentences. Texting with people who are not close to me is way different and I try my best to text intelligibly.

2.d. It depends on the people I am texting with. If texting my friends, I am not careful to text intelligibly. The reason for that is that I know they will understand all the abbreviations and even if I make few typos, there would be no shame. However, if I text with older peopler or teachers, I am very careful to express myself clearly and restrain from using abbreviations. This is because I have greater social respect towards them and I feel like using shortcuts would make me look uneducated. 3. Crystal could be fairly certain that he and his credentials were known to the Guardian’s audience. If you were to write a similar article for your hometown newspaper, what could you include to establish an authoritative tone? 3.a. If I was to rewrite a similar article for my hometown newspaper, I would change a couple of things. First of all, I would add sources from my country and give examples that my audience could relate to. Crystal mentions Oxford Dictionary, The UK’s first “Txt laureate” or University of Leicester, all related to England. He gives numbers of messages sent worldwide, and in UK only. I would probably use sources and examples from my country, so my audience would get more insight of the topic. I would use Polish examples, statistics and text culture to make it more relatable. Some of the institutions and authorities mentioned by David Crystal do not add much credibility if people outside of the UK are to read his article. 4. Crystal’s evidence that texting conventions are no cause for alarm falls into two main categories: historical (that the abbreviation strategies used in texts have been around for a long time, with no ill effect) and cognitive (that the more such strategies use, the better they do on reading and vocabulary tests). Which do you find more convincing, and why? 4.a. I personally find the cognitive evidence more convincing. The historical one makes perfect sense, as it proves that shortening ideas is not a characteristic of modern media society who gives no respect towards the language. However, the cognitive one is more relatable for me. I feel personally engaged in the topic and this argument made me reflect a bit more on the topic. I definitely agree that texting can improve one’s understanding of vocabulary and using shortcuts is a characteristic of an individual with a great knowledge of a language....