After reading Thompson and Mittell’s “Owner’s Manual” and MaureenRyan’s “Plot Is the Candy Coating,” briefly describe the ways in which you watch television – not on which devices – but, instead, the analytical perspective you bring to what you view. In other words, discuss briefly the ways in which your personal point of view informs how you engage the programming you watch. How does Maureen Ryan’s insight about the superficiality of plot broaden the ways in which television can be understood as a cultural product?
Thompson, Ethan and Jason Mittell. 2013. “Introduction: An Owner’s Manual for Television.” Pp. 1-9 in How to Watch Television, edited by Ethan Thompson and Jason Mittell. New York: New York University Press.
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