"The video camera provides such an accurate and convincing record of contemporary life that it has become a more important form of documentation than written records

Essay topics:

"The video camera provides such an accurate and convincing record of contemporary life that it has become a more important form of documentation than written records

According to the speaker, the video recording is a more important means of document hag contemporary life than a written record because video recordings are more accurate and convincing. Although I agree that a video provides a more objective and accurate record of an event's spatial aspects, there is far more to document ha life than what we see and hear. Thus the speaker overstates the comparative significance of video as a documentary tool.

For the purpose of documenting temporal, spatial events and experiences, I agree that a video record is usually more accurate and more convincing than a written record. It is impossible for anyone, no matter how keen an observer and skilled a journalist, to recount ha complete and objective detail such events as the winning touchdown at the Super Bowl, a Ballanchine ballet, the Tournament of Roses Parade, or the scene at the intersection of Florence and Normandy streets during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Yet these are important events in contemporary life the sort of events we might put ha a time capsule for the purpose of capturing our life and times at the turn of this millennium.

The growing documentary role of video is not limited to seminal events like those described above. Video surveillance cameras are objective witnesses with perfect memories. Thus they can play a vital evidentiary role in legal proceedings--such as those involving robbery, drug trafficking, police misconduct, motor vehicle violations, and even malpractice in a hospital operating room. Indeed, whenever moving images are central to an event the video camera is superior to the written word. A written description of a hurricane, tornado, or volcanic eruption cannot convey its immediate power and awesome nature like a video record. A diary entry cannot "replay" that wedding reception, dance recital, or surprise birthday party as accurately or objectively as a video record. And a real estate brochure cannot inform about the lighting, spaciousness, or general ambiance of a featured property nearly as effectively as a video.

Nonetheless, for certain other purposes written records are advantageous to and more appropriate than video records. For example, certain legal matters are best left to written documentation: video is of no practical use ha documenting the terms of a complex contractual agreement, an incorporation, or the establishment of a trust. And video is of little use when it comes to documenting a person's subjective state of mind, impressions, or reflections of an event or experience. Indeed, to the extent that personal interpretation adds dimension and richness to the record, written documentation is actually more important than video. Finally, a video record is of no use in documenting statistical or other quantitative information. Returning to the riot example mentioned earlier, imagine relying on a video to document the financial loss to store owners, the number of police and firefighters involved, and so forth. Complete and accurate video documentation of such information would require video cameras at every street corner and in every aisle of every store. In sum, the speaker's claim overstates the importance of video records, at least to some extent.

When it comes to capturing, storing, and recalling temporal, spatial events, video records are inherently more objective, accurate, and complete. However, what we view through a camera lens provides only one dimension of our life and times; written documentation will always be needed to quantify, demystify, and provide meaning to the world around us.

Votes
Average: 7.5 (1 vote)
Essay Categories

Comments

Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 1, column 268, Rule ID: A_PLURAL[1]
Message: Don't use indefinite articles with plural words. Did you mean 'an event' or simply 'events'?
Suggestion: an event; events
...a more objective and accurate record of an events spatial aspects, there is far more to d...
^^^^^^^^^
Line 1, column 360, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Thus,
...ment ha life than what we see and hear. Thus the speaker overstates the comparative ...
^^^^
Line 3, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...nce of video as a documentary tool. For the purpose of documenting temporal,...
^^
Line 3, column 564, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...re important events in contemporary life the sort of events we might put ha a tim...
^^
Line 5, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...mes at the turn of this millennium. The growing documentary role of video is...
^^
Line 5, column 176, Rule ID: SENT_START_CONJUNCTIVE_LINKING_ADVERB_COMMA[1]
Message: Did you forget a comma after a conjunctive/linking adverb?
Suggestion: Thus,
...ective witnesses with perfect memories. Thus they can play a vital evidentiary role ...
^^^^
Line 7, column 1, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...y nearly as effectively as a video. Nonetheless, for certain other purposes ...
^^
Line 7, column 392, Rule ID: A_PLURAL[1]
Message: Don't use indefinite articles with plural words. Did you mean 'a person' or simply 'persons'?
Suggestion: a person; persons
...little use when it comes to documenting a persons subjective state of mind, impressions, ...
^^^^^^^^^
Line 7, column 638, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
... is actually more important than video. Finally, a video record is of no use in ...
^^
Line 7, column 1073, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...rner and in every aisle of every store. In sum, the speakers claim overstates th...
^^

Transition Words or Phrases used:
actually, finally, however, if, nonetheless, so, thus, at least, for example, sort of, such as

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments

Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 18.0 19.5258426966 92% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 7.0 12.4196629213 56% => OK
Conjunction : 33.0 14.8657303371 222% => Less conjunction wanted
Relative clauses : 6.0 11.3162921348 53% => OK
Pronoun: 21.0 33.0505617978 64% => OK
Preposition: 62.0 58.6224719101 106% => OK
Nominalization: 24.0 12.9106741573 186% => OK

Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 3045.0 2235.4752809 136% => OK
No of words: 568.0 442.535393258 128% => OK
Chars per words: 5.36091549296 5.05705443957 106% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.88187981987 4.55969084622 107% => OK
Word Length SD: 3.13640450241 2.79657885939 112% => OK
Unique words: 294.0 215.323595506 137% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.517605633803 0.4932671777 105% => OK
syllable_count: 1001.7 704.065955056 142% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.8 1.59117977528 113% => OK

A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 3.0 6.24550561798 48% => OK
Interrogative: 2.0 0.740449438202 270% => OK
Article: 10.0 4.99550561798 200% => Less articles wanted as sentence beginning.
Subordination: 3.0 3.10617977528 97% => OK
Conjunction: 14.0 1.77640449438 788% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 5.0 4.38483146067 114% => OK

Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 23.0 20.2370786517 114% => OK
Sentence length: 24.0 23.0359550562 104% => OK
Sentence length SD: 56.1640521699 60.3974514979 93% => OK
Chars per sentence: 132.391304348 118.986275619 111% => OK
Words per sentence: 24.6956521739 23.4991977007 105% => OK
Discourse Markers: 4.08695652174 5.21951772744 78% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 4.97078651685 101% => OK
Language errors: 10.0 7.80617977528 128% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 18.0 10.2758426966 175% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 2.0 5.13820224719 39% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 3.0 4.83258426966 62% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?

Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.493696549035 0.243740707755 203% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.147147379171 0.0831039109588 177% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.122310026222 0.0758088955206 161% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.290665103455 0.150359130593 193% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.108050223422 0.0667264976115 162% => OK

Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 16.2 14.1392134831 115% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 30.2 48.8420337079 62% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.92365168539 111% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 15.0 12.1743820225 123% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 14.1 12.1639044944 116% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 9.58 8.38706741573 114% => OK
difficult_words: 171.0 100.480337079 170% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 14.5 11.8971910112 122% => OK
gunning_fog: 11.6 11.2143820225 103% => OK
text_standard: 15.0 11.7820224719 127% => OK
What are above readability scores?

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Rates: 75.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 4.5 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.