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For my audio essay my main topic will be human cognition. My narrower subjects will include (1) attention spans, (2) information processing, (3) visual perceptions because all three of these subjects are important to multimedia compositions.

I found 2 audio clips that can be useful when discussing attention spans: https://www.12news.com/article/opinion/talker/ and https://www.psytoolkit.org/attention-span/ I could specifically highlight how people's attention spans are decreasing due to the use of social media and the ability to receive information quickly through social media. 

For my second topic, information processing, I found a clip discussing how the brain processes information. I thought this could be useful during multimedia composition in order to make a piece that is easy to understand and doesn't overwhelm people. https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/executive-systems-of-the-brain/memory-lesson/v/information-processing-model-sensory-working-and-long-term-memory

For my third topic, visual perception I found a helpful video discussing how the brain processes visual information. I can use this video to discuss how people understand and process visuals. https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/nervous-system-and-sensory-infor/sensory-perception-topic/v/perceptual-

For my audio essay my main topic will be human cognition. My narrower subjects will include (1) attention spans, (2) information processing, (3) visual perceptions because all three of these subjects are important to multimedia compositions.

I found 2 audio clips that can be useful when discussing attention spans: https://www.12news.com/article/opinion/talker/ and https://www.psytoolkit.org/attention-span/ I could specifically highlight how people's attention spans are decreasing due to the use of social media and the ability to receive information quickly through social media. 

For my second topic, information processing, I found a clip discussing how the brain processes information. I thought this could be useful during multimedia composition in order to make a piece that is easy to understand and doesn't overwhelm people. https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/executive-systems-of-the-brain/memory-lesson/v/information-processing-model-sensory-working-and-long-term-memory

For my third topic, visual perception I found a helpful video discussing how the brain processes visual information. I can use this video to discuss how people understand and process visuals. https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/nervous-system-and-sensory-infor/sensory-perception-topic/v/perceptual-

My topic for the audio essay assignment is human cognition. My three subtopics are focus, attention span, and memory formation.

Focus - what happens when you are focused and how to best focus

• • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O2JK_94g3Y
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKJv4S5peJQ

Attention Span - battle against distraction and how it affects attention span

• • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNbR_nbfK9c

Memory Formation - how memories are formed

• • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSycdIx-C48

I've chosen literacy as the topic for my audio essay. My 3 focuses are American Literacy, Digital Literacy, and Global Literacy.

1. American Literacy: NPR podcast regarding the alarming rates of American adult illiteracy. Numbers have not improved in recent decades, and this focuses on groups and programs that are attempting to help solve the American literacy epidemic. https://www.npr.org/tags/137037568/literacy

2. Digital Literacy: Doug Belshaw's Ted Talk about the importance of understanding new technologies, and how the generations growing up in a tech-centered world are being affected by the steep learning curve that older generations are facing with evolving computers and devices. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yQPoTcZ78

3. Global Literacy: Ted Talk about the massive overarching effects of illiteracy throughout the world. This talk focuses mainly on the health/criminal/socioeconomic factors that result from a lack of literacy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-h-BhcV7DM

I decided to choose Cinema as my audio essay topic. My three subtopics will consist of the importance of film score/soundtracks, how "natural" sounds are made, and last the effect of silence in films.

1) Film Score/Soundtracks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCpYbSz1KqE); (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW9g8aMdmio)

• Film directors often incorporate dedicated soundtracks in their scenes to heighten the emotions delivered to the audience. Certain scenes provoke emotions that is delivered not only through the visuals, but also through film scores.
• Ex) Soundtrack for Interstellar and Inception, etc.

2) "Natural" Sounds in films (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO3N_PRIgX0)

• When filming a scene, not all of the sounds are directly from the moment when it was recorded. There are "Sound Studios" where they record the most of the sounds in the scene with the most unexpected equipment and props. These sounds allow the viewers to feel as if the sounds are near them when we watch the movie, giving the audience to immerse into the scene.

3) Impact of Silence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb543WENAQc); (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4j3zij8fXk); (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtl4WcoFp7k) (Article on Silence in Films to Tell Better Stories) (https://vimeo.com/98240271)

• With an absence of any sound or narration, the audience is curious and more intrigued by the visuals displayed and allows the audience to piece the story by themselves. With silence, the audience is able to focus on the visual aspects of the scene
• In horror films, silence is used to create a dramatic suspense.
• Ex) Saving Private Ryan Omaha Beach Scene, Up opening scene, etc.

For my audio essay I want to take a look into Electronic Literature 

The three narrow topics I want to observe are 

1) The ease of access to electronic literature 

I want to first cover the rise of electronic literature and how this platform of consuming literature has become so popular.

https://honestversion.com/electronic-literature-digital-literature-market-increasing-demand-with-key-players-qidian-tencent-alibaba-zongheng-baidu-apple-amazon-yahoo！-google-jinjiang-wenxue-17k/

http://slapcoffee.com/2019/02/11/global-electronic-literature-digital-literature-market-2018-technological-advancements-evolving-industry-trends-and-insights-2023/

2) The transition from many people consuming electronic literature as opposed to print literature 

I plan to discuss how the development of Electronic literature has meant a downfall of the consumption of print literature. 

https://www.thenewamerican.com/reviews/opinion/item/29682-newspapers-are-dying

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/03/21/newspapers/?utm_term=.2afbc06e4857 

3) How electronic literature has opened the door for creation of new types of literature

I want to discuss specifically memes and gif and how the introduction of memes and gifs through technology has changed the landscape of literature. 

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mbzxa3/memes-are-our-generations-protest-art 

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/how-gifs-have-led-to-the-rise-of-an-economy-around-the-format/articleshow/66897846.cms           

I’m going to focus on memes for my audio essay. The three topics I will focus on are (1) the history behind memes and how they came into existence, (2) their recent rise in popularity and (3) the science that goes into making a meme viral. I’ve found a mix of excellent sources consisting of both ted talks and written articles that will assist in my research and with the creation of the audio essay.

(1) History behind meme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV9WEqLeBuo

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/what-defines-a-meme-1904778/

(2) Rise in popularity:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0swAqcMnrO0

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2018/07/19/more-than-a-trend-meme-marketing-is-here-to-stay/#6cad37602487

(3) Science of memes:

https://www.thoughtco.com/science-of-memes-4147457

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u2f44VdzBs

For my topic, I want to focus on Literacy. 

My three subtopics are:

1) What literacy is 

https://education.alberta.ca/literacy-and-numeracy/literacy/everyone/what-is-literacy/?searchMode=3

http://www.unesco.org/education/GMR2006/full/chapt6_eng.pdf

2)The importance of literacy

https://www.stevenson.edu/online/blog-news-events/importance-of-literacy

http://projectliteracy.ca/about/the-importance-of-literacy/

3) Types of literacy 

https://www.theedadvocate.org/what-are-the-13-types-of-literacy/

https://teach.its.uiowa.edu/sites/teach.its.uiowa.edu/files/docs/docs/Types_of_Literacy_ed.pdf

https://www.skyward.com/discover/blog/skyward-blogs/skyward-executive-blog/march-2017/the-top-10-literacies-in-education-today

The main focus of my audio essay topic is going to be memes. I am going to focus mostly on the science behind why they work, what makes certain ones go viral/why memes are popular, and what memes contribute to our society. 

1.What is a meme (specifically), How do memes attract our attention, how do they communicate ideas, what makes one effective.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV9WEqLeBuo\

2. How do memes go viral, what makes one meme better than another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sANg0NyvVnk

3. How do memes help communicate ideas, shape the way we think about things, effect our society overall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u2f44VdzBs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMS-FUF9OwY

For my audio essay, I'm going to cover memes. The following is an outline of my essay.

I. History of Memes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkhcKQ07dg8, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf_MXH0sUwE, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJTSxRBbCQA)

• Where did memes come from? When and why did this become so popular? 

II. Science of memes and humor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV9WEqLeBuo, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hU4mzq0d1Q, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdZAMSyn_As)

• The humor behind memes, which parts of the brain interact and why

III. Tools for a successful meme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sANg0NyvVnk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NumfJcmKiZU, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0swAqcMnrO0)

• Composition of memes (photo choice, word choice, font, etc.)
• Relatable topics

The topic for my audio essay is going to be memes. 

My subtopics are going to be:

1. How did the concept of memes originate and what made the first popular memes so successful

- Richard Dawkins - The Selfish Gene

- https://www.wired.com/story/guide-memes/

2. Why are memes and the internet so closely connected?

- http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2011-30802013000200007

3. What makes a meme successful/viral?

- https://qz.com/98677/why-youll-share-this-story-the-new-science-of-memes/

The topic for my audio essay will be cinema

My subtopics will include

1. The social impact of cinema
2. How race has been portrayed in cinema
3. How gender had been portrayed in cinema

My topic for my audio essay will be on human cognition. 

Subtopics:

1) Cognition related to emotion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6RNTxdKxmE

2) Attention Spans

https://study.com/academy/lesson/attention-as-part-of-cognitive-development-definition-process.html3)

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2007/07/music-moves-brain-to-pay-attention-stanford-study-finds.html

3) Cognitive Abilities and Age 

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/health-and-medicine/executive-systems-of-the-brain/cognition-lesson/v/aging-and-cognitive

My audio essay will be about the connections between language and human cognition. In other words, how the way we speak affects the way we think.

My audio essay topic will be in the literacy category about personal branding. I plan to focus on why personal branding is important in today's job market, what this term implies, and the power of an online presence. I may tie it in to social media as well.

My topic is on human cognition, specifically on what constant screen time is doing to our brains.

Overview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsNNcdDWW3I

Screen time and our Happiness:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K5OO2ybueM

Attention Span and Focus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Y2fdyVb44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_ZpgP_kFDg

Addiction to the endless amounts of information:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUMa0QkPzns