Television Addiction
by Marie Winn
On a separate sheet of paper, in full sentences, answer the following:
1. After reading the essay, explain how television addiction is like drug or alcohol addiction.
2. Copy out what you consider to be Winn’s thesis statement. (The thesis statement is the
sentence which makes the basic point -- or premise -- of the whole essay.)
3. What does the writer mean when she says that television cannot provide the “true
nourishment that satiation requires” (paragraph 8)?
4. Assess Winn’s opening paragraph. How effective is she in establishing her topic and drawing
her reader’s attention? Explain, using specifics.
5. Why does the writer use quotations from other people in her essay? Which quotation do you
find the most effective for her argument? And why?
6. Explain why it is more effective to use both definition and comparison and contrast as patterns
of development rather than using definition by itself.
7. Do you personally believe Marie Winn’s argument? Why or why not?