Description
Accepting Marshall McLuhan’s assertion that ‘the medium is the message’, you must write a short analytical piece comparing and contrasting the different `messages’ communicated by 1) a handwritten
letter received through the postal system, and 2) a message posted on somebody’s Facebook site. Remember, the emphasis here is on form rather than content, so that content (i.e. what is written in
the letter and the Facebook post) is only discussed in terms of the way it is shaped or determined by the form. Think about the different experiences people have in writing and receiving these
forms of communication media. What do the different media tell us about the cultures that created them? What values are embedded in these different technologies? In what different ways might they
shape how we experience and think about ourselves and each other and the wider world? Assessment Criteria: 1) Demonstrated understanding of McLuhan’s proposition. 2) Accurate depiction of nominated
communications media. 3) Effective use of compare and contrast analytical techniques. 4) Appropriate use of formal language and the construction of proper sentences (i.e. the analysis should not be
in dot points). 5) Clear, logical structuring of ideas.