Talk:Marshall McLuhan/Refactoring discussion

Proposed work

Several folks have noted that this article needs serious work. I propose the following tasks:

1. Build a new 'basic' outline and 'ideal' outline
2. Fill out the basic outline
3. Move the basic outline into the main article
4. Add to the article to bring in the content from the 'ideal' outline

--Chris vLS 20:22, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Comments

Whaddya think? --Chris vLS 20:22, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Task 1A: 'Basic' outline

One model we can look to is the outline for Noam Chomsky. --Chris vLS 20:22, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Outline proposal:

1. Biography
 1a. As a student (i.e. young life, early theoretical work)
 1b. As a professor/theorist (i.e. academic career)
 1c. As a public personality (i.e. popular culture, cyberculture presences)
2. Theoretical Framework
 2a. "The Medium is the Message" (on the importance of a study of media itself)
 2b. Media as Extension (Understanding Media)
 2c. Media and Sense Ratios (Gutenberg Galaxy)
 2d. Characteristics of Media (Hot/Cold, Overheated Medium, etc: Understanding Media)
3. Important works
 3a. Mechanical Bride
 3b. Understanding Media
 3c. Gutenberg Galaxy
 3d. Medium is the Massage (critically overlooked in this essay, in my opinion)
4. Related categories, theorists, links

I would also consider inserting a section on McLuhan's writing style, discussing the use of "probes" and the "mosaic approach," between sections one and two. The idea behind this framework is that it would be a worthy summary, and an appropriate guide for students interested in further study of McLuhan... the list and description of important works is a guide for further reading, and the explanation of McLuhan's framework would benefit students trying to understand those books. Symbot 17:05, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Task 2: Fill out the basic outline

This section should remain blank until we agree on the basic outline above. -- Chris vLS 20:22, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Task 3: Move the basic outline into the main article

This section is for discussing whether the section above is ready to go live. -- Chris vLS 20:22, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Task 4: Add to the article to bring in the content from the ideal outline.

Probably don't need this section, really. It will just be normal operations here. --Chris vLS 20:22, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)