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I.ContemporaryAmericanSocietyandPolitics
1.MediaLiteracy:Educationrequiresactiveinquiryandcriticalthinkingaboutthe
messageswereceiveandcreate.
2.MediaLiteracy:Educationexpandstheconceptofliteracy(i.e.readingandwrit-
ing)toincludeallformsofmedia.
3.MediaLiteracy:Educationbuildsandreinforcesskillsforlearnersofallages.Like
printliteracy,thoseskillsnecessitateintegrated,interactive,andrepeatedpractice.
4.MediaLiteracy:Educationdevelopsinformed,reflectiveandengagedparticipants
essentialforademocraticsociety.
5.MediaLiteracy:Educationrecognizesthatmediaareapartofcultureandfunc-
tionasagentsofsocialization.
6.MediaLiteracy:Educationafrmsthatpeopleusetheirindividualskills,beliefs
andexperiencestoconstructtheirownmeaningsfrommediamessages.
TesereasonablecoreprinciplesinformadocumentNAMLEproducedcalled“Key
QuestionstoAskwhenAnalyzingMediaMessages,”whichIplantointegrateintoan
assignmentItraditionallyassigntomyrstyearIntroductiontoAmericanGovernment
students.Itisattachedtothispaperasanappendix.Hereistheassignmentlanguage
Ihavetraditionallyused:
Inthispaperyouwillthinkabouttheentertainmentmedia.Ofen,popularmusic,entertainment
televisionandmoviescontainpoliticalmessagesthatpromoteonesideoranotherinaconflict
ofpoliticalbeliefs.Inthersthalfofthepaperyouwillchooseapoliticalmessage,themeor
basicideafromatelevisionshow,movieorsongwithwhichyouhaveDISAGREEDandexplain
why.Youmustspecifythesong,movieorepisodeoftheprogramwithwhichyoudisagreedand
explainwhyindetail.Ten,chooseapoliticalmessagefromtelevision,moviesormusicwith
whichyouhaveAGREEDandexplainwhyindetail.Iencourageyoutothinkbroadlyaboutthe
conceptofthe“political,”butdorememberthisisapoliticalscienceclass,sothefocusofthe
papermustbepoliticsand/orgovernment.Whatispolitics?Whatisgovernment?Yourtextbook
definespoliticsasconflictoverthecharacter,membership,andpoliciesofanyorganizationto
whichpeoplebelong.Governmentisthetermgenerallyusedtodescribetheformalinstitutions
throughwhichalandanditspeopleareruled.Ifyourpaperisnotaboutathemethatfitsthese
definitions,thenitisnotapoliticalsciencepaper.
Youmaychoosefromdiferentmediaforeachhalfofthepaper.Teonlysourcesyouneedto
citearetheelementsofthemediaaboutwhichyouarewriting,butifyoudouseothersources
youmustcitethem.Ifyouplagiarize,youwillreceiveafailinggradeonthepaper.Yourgradewill
dependonhowthoughtfulandwell-writtentheessayis.Iencourageyoutospeaktomeduring
ofcehoursaboutthisassignment.
PleasebeadvisedthatIexpectyoutothinkclearlyaboutthecreators,intentionswithregardto
themediapresented.Forexample,ifamoviecontainsacharacterwhoexpressesovertlyracist
beliefs,donottaketheintellectuallylazywayoutandsayyoudisagreewithracism.Trytogure
outwhatthewriter/creator/actoristryingtosaywiththeculturalproductioninitsentirety,and
donotanalyzeade-contextualizedportionofasong,programormovie.Inotherwords,theracist
charactermightdemonstratethewriter,soppositiontoracism,notsupport.Also,youneedto
speculateaboutthepotentialofthepopcultureyouareexaminingtoinfluencepeople,ssocio-
politicalbeliefs.Woulditchangepeople,sminds,reinforceexistingviewsorsomethingelse?
Somestudentsalwayshavedifcultywiththisassignment,eventhoughImakeit
abundantlyclearthatoneofthemajorpurposesoftheassignmentistohelpthemto