Media Literacy Through Critical

Thinking

What is media?

1. The term media means more than just the traditional mass communication of the press, the broadcasting industries, and film.

Media includes:•Internet•Telephone•Product Packaging•Advertising•Fashion•Cosmetics•Graffiti

2. A medium (the singular form of “media”) is a way of communicating meaning within a culture.

Reasons to Study the Media

1. LITERATURE - because the media are our major sources of stories and entertainment and require us to learn and use CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

2. LANGUAGE - because the media help define HOW WE COMMUNICATE with each other.

Reasons to Study the Media

3. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - because the media always adopt the LEADING EDGE of modern technological innovation.

4. ENVIRONMENTAL - because the media are as big a part of OUR EVERYDAY ENVIRONMENT as are trees, mountains, rivers, cities and oceans.

5. SCIENCE - because the media explain to us HOW THINGS WORK.

Reasons to Study the Media

6. INDUSTRIAL ARTS - because the media are CAREFULLY PLANNED, DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED PRODUCTS.

7. HISTORY - because the media INTERPRET THE PAST to us to show us what has gone into making us the way we are.

8. GEOGRAPHY - because the media DEFINE FOR US OUR OWN PLACE in the world.

Reasons to Study the Media

9. POLITICS - because the media bring us political and ideological MESSAGES all the time - yes - all the time.

10. DRAMA - because the media help us UNDERSTAND LIFE by presenting it as larger-than- life, and compel us to think in terms of the audience.

11. BECAUSE THE MEDIA GOES TO GREAT LENGTHS TO STUDY US.

TerminologyMass

3. The term mass when applied to media describes one set of media that are different from the rest.

4. A mass medium is one that can be presented in exactly the same way to multiple audiences in different locations.

5. A movie is a mass medium, but live theater is not a mass medium because it can be different each time it is performed.

Audience

6. ALL groups or individuals who receive a media message or perceive a media text are referred to as the audience.

Media LiteracyTaking a Second Look

7. Taking a second look means probing more deeply into a text in search of new meanings or interpretations.

8. Very little of what we see or hear in the media ever gets a second look. We are constantly moving on.

9. Sometimes, when we do take a longer look at our media, we find things there that had escaped our attention the first time.

Ad AnalysisWatch the advertisement and take

a second look…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0&safe=active

10. Answer this question: Why is it important to take a second look at media? Think about what you noticed in the commercial the second time you viewed it.

These surprises are sometimes:

11. Amusing:

Perhaps we hear a line of dialogue we had missed before, or see a detail in the background of a film we hadn’t noticed.

These surprises are sometimes:

11. Disappointing:

We might see a flaw in the special effects of a video that interrupts the realism.

These surprises are sometimes:

11. Annoying:

We might hear a line in a song we had missed before and find that it bothers us.

These surprises are sometimes:

11. Enlightening:

We might understand something in a newspaper article more clearly the second time around.

Responsibility of Media

“We have no obligation to make history.

We have no obligation to make art.

We have no obligation to make a

statement.

To make money is our only objective.”

— Michael Eisner, CEO, The Walt Disney Co

Analyze by answering these five critical response questions:

1.  What do you notice?  (Describe without judgment: "I notice...")

2.  What does it remind you of?  (What memory, experience, story, music, other work does this trigger?  There are no wrong answers or associations.)

3.  What emotions do you feel as you respond to this work? (Again, no wrong answers.)

4.  What questions does it raise for you? ("I wonder...") 

5.  What meaning or understanding is intended or conveyed in this work?  What values or assumptions are conveyed?

6.  Who is speaking the message?  Who is excluded or ignored in the message?

Ad Analysis

(The Force)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0&safe=active

Watch the advertisement and answer the critical thinking questions based

on the ad.

Ad Analysis (COVERGIRL-Taylor

Swift)http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=ovB0cDqApy0&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1

Watch the advertisement and answer the critical thinking questions based on the ad.

Ad Analysis (Nike)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_9TFB5CE0o&feature=em-

share_video_user

Watch the advertisement and answer the critical thinking questions based

on the ad.

Ad Analysis (Nike)

https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=R5i3Cb0R86U&feature=share_emai

l

Watch the advertisement and answer the critical thinking questions based on the ad.