Media Analysis #1

DUE January 25 (11:59pm, EST)
10% | 100 Points  

Directions

This assignment is designed to help you develop your skills in evaluating mass media content by analyzing a different types of media messages. Choose one of the below topics, and respond to it with as much depth of thought as possible.  Be sure to cite (quotes and/or phrases) the work that you are analyzing.  Be sure to provide complete source information. The format of your response may be any one of the following:

  1. a 1000-1500 word essay
  2. a 3-5 minute video (in which you talk and/or show items, such as images, quotes, charts, graphs, etc.)
  3. a 30-50 slide print presentation (made with Google Slides, MS PowerPoint, or something similar, that combines printed words with images, quotes, charts, graphs, etc.)

Choose ONE of these topics:

  1. Consider Hans Rosling’s “200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes” video. Consider, too, Mary Louise Pratt’s Arts of the Contact Zone. In what ways is this video  autoethnocentric? In what ways is it not? Might it be centric in other ways?  Is this video intended for high culture or popular culture—why do you think so?  Required: in addition to making use of Hans Rosling’s “200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes” video and Mary Louise Pratt’s “Arts of the Contact Zone”, you must also consider any lessons covered thus far that are applicable to this analysis, citing at least four works provided in any of these lessons; that’s a total of six works.
  2. Consider the “Wellerman Song” TikTok phenomenon (Unit One—Media in Transition | Lesson 1—Media Literacy). Also take a look at Mary Louise Pratt’s Arts of the Contact Zone.  In what ways is this TikTok phenomenon a contact zone?   Between which communities is this a contact zone, and why do you think so? Is this TikTok phenomenon (not the video of it) intended for high culture or popular culture—why do you think so?  Required: in addition to making use of the “Wellerman Song” video and Mary Louise Pratt’s “Arts of the Contact Zone”, you must also consider any lessons covered thus far that are applicable to this analysis, citing at least four works provided in any of these lessons; that’s a total of six works.
  3. Consider the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Carefully read The New York Times article, ‘A Day of Love’: How Trump Inverted the Violent History of Jan. 6, which has been reprinted for you as a case study for this course. What type of journalism is this: muckraking, yellow journalism, something else? Why? Carefully examine the images, including how they are arranged on the page. What words are they illustrating? What’s the emphasis? How else are these images tied to the written words; how do the images empower the words? How do the words empower the images? Required: in addition to making use of the “‘A Day of Love'” article, you must also consider any lessons covered thus far that are applicable to this analysis, citing at least five works provided in any of these lessons; that’s a total of six works.
  4. What is the difference between yellow journalism and propaganda?  Should newspapers, magazines, news stations, and other news media provide stories that they think people will want to read or stories that they think people need to read? How do we live up to the promise of journalism that the United States’ founding fathers emphasized to be so important that they wrote a special provision for freedom of the press into the U.S. Constitution? In making your brief argument, consider the First Amendment in terms of freedom of expression. Required: in addition to making use of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, you must also consider any lessons covered thus far that are applicable to this analysis, citing at least five works provided in any of these lessons; that’s a total of six works.

How to Submit Your Work to Me

You have several options:

  1. a 1000-1500 word essay
    1. Via KSU Google Document (see “How to Use KSU Google”).
    2. As a well composed email (sent to clrobins@kent.edu).
    3. As a document (PDF or a word processor document) attached to an email sent to me (clrobins@kent.edu)
  2. a 3-5 minute video (in which you talk and/or show items, such as images, quotes, charts, graphs, etc.)
    1. Via KSU Google Drive: upload it to your Drive account and then share it with me (clrobins@kent.edu)
    2. Via YouTube as an unlisted video
    3. Microsoft One Drive
    4. Dropbox
  3. a 30-50 slide print presentation (made with Google Slides, MS PowerPoint, or something similar, that combines printed words with images, quotes, charts, graphs, etc.)
    1. Via KSU Google Drive
    2. Microsoft One Drive
    3. Dropbox
    4. Convert the slides to a PDF and attach that to an email to me

Once I have received an email–either with the assignment attached or with notification that you have shared it with me–I will send you confirmation of receipt for that assignment, usually within 48 hours of receipt.

How Your Work Will Be Evaluated

Your assignment will be evaluated for clarity of thought expressed, and it must be thorough—fully responding to the topic. It must demonstrate critical thinking skills, particularly as they are tailored to the communication parameters of the medium/media under analysis (media literacy skills).

RUBRIC

An A level assignment follows the assignment directions fully.  It responds to the chosen topic fully, with demonstrated depth of thought and logic. The communication is coherent (clear images, complete sentences,…).  The communication has a professional tone.  The assignment demonstrates having gone through the lesson(s), as well as having thought deeply about the content of what is being taught.

A B level assignment follows the assignment directions fully.  It responds to the chosen topic fully, with some demonstrated depth of thought and/or some logic. The communication is mostly coherent (clear images, complete sentences,…).  The communication has a professional tone.   The assignment demonstrates having gone through the lesson(s), as well as having thought considerably about the content of what is being taught.

A C level assignment mostly follows the assignment directions, but not completely. It responds to the chosen topic, there is not much demonstrated depth of thought and/or  logic (the depth of thought is weak or vague). The communication is mostly coherent (clear images, complete sentences,…).  The communication has a mostly professional tone.   The assignment demonstrates having gone through the lesson(s), but not much more (not much thought put into it).

A D level assignment  barely follows the assignment directions.  It responds to the chosen topic, but the depth of thought is weak or vague, and it might wander off topic. The communication is sometimes incoherent, difficult to follow.  The communication may or may not have a professional tone.  The assignment does not demonstrate a lot of thought or having gone through the lesson(s).

An F level essay doesn’t really follow the assignment directions.  It fails to respond to the chosen topic in any sort of coherent and meaningful way.  Communication is mostly gobbledygook.