HOW LUTHER WENT VIRAL

“Five centuries before Facebook and the Arab spring, social media helped bring about the Reformation” The Economist, December 17^th, 2011; http://www.economist.com

Level of difficulty:****

BEFORE YOU READ

·         What are the positive effects of social media on an individual?

·         What infamous 20^th century event was instigated partly via the media?

·         In what 21^st century events did the social media play a crucial role?

·         Do you believe that this role of the social media is a relatively new phenomenon or not?

·         Read the title and subtitle of the text. How do you imagine the social media could have been responsible for the spread of Luther’s words in the 16^th century?

QUESTIONS

1.       Read the first two paragraphs of the text and state clearly what feature the Arab spring and the Reformation share?

2.       What does the phrase “this long running debate” at the beginning of paragraph 4 refer to? Use your own words and be very precise.

3.       What qualities of a marketing campaign did Tetzel’s behavior exhibit? How did Luther describe his actions?

4.       What consequence of the writing of the “95 Theses” surprised Luther? Why did this consequence come about?

5.       What qualities did the media campaign in Luther’s day share with its modern day counterpart?

6.       What conclusion can be drawn from the information in paragraph 9?

7.       What measure of popularity do items printed in Luther’s day and current items in social networks share? Use your own words.

8.       Who did Luther seem to have more respect for; Tezel or Mazzolini? Why?

9.       What completely novel social consequence did this rapid flow of pamphlets from rival camps have?

10.   What was one of the main purposes of the news ballads?

11.   What was the second way in which Luther sought to reach the illiterate? How did he defend this medium?

12.   What tactical error did the defenders of the Pope make?

13.   Why did censorship of Luther’s material fail?

14.   Read the section “From Wittenberg to Facebook”. Now state clearly what advantage the use of the social media provided both during the Arab spring and during the Reformation?

15.   Which sentence in the last paragraph best expresses the conclusion that can be drawn from the whole text? There are two synonymous sentences that serve this purpose; find them both.

WRITING TASK

Write an essay either discussing the effects of social media in bringing about change or turn to the writing files and write the essay discussing the effects of Facebook.

HOW LUTHER WENT VIRAL / TEACHER’S NOTES AND KEY

This beautifully organized and written text is worth examining closely not only for the content but more importantly, for the brilliant planning and essay writing technique. There is a tidy four paragraph introduction including the main thesis and transition to the development where this thesis is analyzed. The essay is rounded off with a brilliant conclusion which the development seems flow into if you will. The last paragraph includes the concluding statement which in turn ties back to the introduction. This superb planning needs to be analyzed with the students either while working on the text or when the task is complete. The topic is one hitherto unexplored so there is novelty value and a wow factor. This, it is hoped, will help the students tackle the questions – which have turned out to be quite challenging comprehension questions. The whole activity needs to be rounded off with a writing task either about the effects of social media in implementing social change or the writing activity concerning Facebook on this blog, in the writing files.

KEY

1.       The protestors’ message spread through social networks making it impossible to suppress and highlighting the extent of public support for revolution. The word “viral” needs to be left out if both movements are to be covered. Or the combination of improved……

2.       Whether printing or preaching and other forms of oral transmission was more important in the Reformation.

3.       He was selling indulgences to raise money to fund a pet project by the Pope; Hand over your money…. , As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, so the soul from purgatory springs/ Luther felt this was an example of “the pious defrauding of the faithful”

4.       The rapid spread; To ensure that his words were intelligible from Rhineland to Saxony.

5.       It was a decentralized system whose participants took care of distribution deciding collectively which messages to amplify through sharing and…

6.       A popular pamphlet would thus spread quickly without its author’s involvement.

7.       How much they are shared. Although this idea is clearly expressed, no phrase in the paragraph will cover both times.

8.       Tetzel because he quoted scripture.

9.       It gave people a thrilling and unprecedented sense of participation in a vast distributed debate.

10.   To spread the words even among the illiterate (through the practice of communal singing)

11.   Woodcuts; without images we can neither think nor understand anything.

12.   They wrote in impenetrable Latin

13.   Material printed elsewhere still flowed into the city.

14.   They were a collective signaling mechanism; people became aware of how others felt or a similar answer.

15.   Social media are not unprecedented; rather they are the continuation of a long tradition. Or today’s social media systems do not just connect us to each other; they also link us to the past.