Choose Media activity 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, or 1.4 at the end of chapter 1 (pages 47-54). For your post attend to the following:
Word count: minimum 400 words (although you'll likely go over! But remember to be concise and "keep" your readers' attention).
Title: create an attention-grabbing title for your post
Description: describe both 1) the research method and 2) media texts that you analyzed (use the textbook for help with the first part of this section). Do not re-invent the wheel here. The book already gives you the research method in the description of the activity. For instance, the book might ask you to count how many times a woman is represented doing domestic chores in your favorite episode of a TV show. Therefore, your research method would be: "I looked at my favorite television episode 'Thanksgiving' from Bewitched and counted how many times woman were shown completing domestic chores like cooking, doing laundry, or cleaning."
Findings: explain what your research means including larger implications. In other words, answer the "so what?" question. Don't worry about using direct terms and concepts from the text (even though ideally the text is informing your thought process), instead use the blog to let your own voice/opinion be heard. This is not an assignment where you answer all the questions from the text. The media activities function as entry points and kick-started methods for your wider analysis.
Remember, blog posts should be written for a wider audience. Would your post be interesting and make sense to a friend who is not enrolled in Media Literacy? Perhaps you should use photos or links to enhance your post. Don't overthink this! Make it fun and interesting for both yourself and the reader.
Media Activity 1.1 - Detecting Character Stereotypes in Entertainment Media
Instructions-
Select three entertainment television programs or films that you have recently seen, or three current popular songs, and answer the following questions:
1. Are there any Asian Americans portrayed in the films, TV programs, or songs?
2. If so, how many Asian Americans are speaking characters? List the names of these characters.
3. For each Asian American character identified, determine the following:
a. Is the character simple or complex?
b. Is there a range of simple and complex characters?
c. Is there a range of different types of characters?
4. Do you detect any patterns in the presence or absence of Asian American characters in your media sample?
5. If there are no Asian Americans in your sample, what does this absence suggest about Asian Americans in the United States in terms of their presence, their importance, or what you and others might know about them?
Media Activity 1.2- Comparing Character Portrayals in Entertainment Media
Instructions
This time, watch one night of prime-time television from 8 P.M. I0 11 P.M. eastern standard time (EST). Limit the programs you observe to narrative and fictional situation comedies and/or dramas. Do not include news, infotainment, reality shows, game shows, or anything else that is nonfiction. Complete the chart below. Examine the major characters in each program (those who are essential to the plot) and indicate their race. Total the number of characters of each race in the sample you viewed and then figure the percentage of each race compared to the total number of characters.
If you'd like to explore this point further, you could use the same chart and observe an evening of prime-time reality programs to determine if them is any difference in how race is &- pitted in the percentage of major characters in the sample and in the way they are portrayed.
Analysts of Race of Major Characters in Prime-Tune Television
Summarize Your Findings
As you draw some preliminary conclusions from your media sample, it's important to remember that this is a small sample and may not be representative of percentages of race in a larger and more representative sample. Still, this exercise will help you determine what viewers would be exposed to and how it might affect them if they were regular viewers of these programs.
Use the most current U.S. census to determine how the most recent population count in the United States is divided according to race. You can find this information at https://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000. How do the census percentages compare to the percentages in your sample? In your sample, who is portrayed the most and who is portrayed the least?
By percentages alone, which groups are portrayed as the most im¬portant and the most prevalent? How does this compare to the census percentages? What other observations do you have from this simple study?
Media Activity 1.3 - Content Analysis of Women in Prime-Time Television
Instructions
Choose a minimum of three prime-time television programs that offer a fictional narrative. They can be dramas or comedies but cannot be news, movies, infotainment, reality shows, award shows, or any other nonfiction programs. For the purpose of this activity, major characters are defined as those who are essential to the plot and without whom the plot would not make sense.
As you determine the attractiveness of the character, rely on U.S. norms and conventional standards of beauty rather than your personal preferences. Thinking about what is considered to be beautiful in fashion magazines and advertising, as well as in magazines that feature movie stars, will help you determine these criteria. Answer questions #1 through #8 for each of the major female characters.
If you would like to repeat this activity with a sample of reality programs, you could select three of those programs. Ask the same questions and compare the two different sets of results.
And for even more extensive research, you could view the same programs and deter-mine the attractiveness of the major male characters. An interesting research question to ask in this comparison is how attractive female prime time characters (and by extension actresses) are required to be as compared to male prime-time characters (and by extension actors)? If one gender is required to be more attractive than the other in order to appear in prime-time television, what does this imply about comparative job opportunities in TV acting for men and women?
Media Activity 1.4- Analysis of Social Group Themes in Feature Film
Instructions
Themes arc subjects, issues, or topics that are present in each film. This particular activity is designed to observe and analyze the presence of themes that suggest human diversity in these films. A theme may be minor or incidental if it appears in one scene of the film or if it is present throughout but not framed as important to the plot or the development of the film. Significant themes are present in more than one scene and are framed in such a way that they make a difference in the plot and development of the film. Finally, a theme is central to the film if a majority of the plot and character interactions revolve around this subject, issue, or topic.
Select a minimum of three feature films that you have recently seen in the theater, on TV, on DVD, or on video. Answer the questions below separately for each film you viewed, using the codes below.
0 = the topic was not present
1= the topic was present but minor or incidental to the story
2 = the topic was significant to the story
3 = the topic is the outstanding issue or is central to the story
1. Race
2. Ethnicity/nationality
3. Sexual orientation
4. Gender
5. Socioeconomic class
6. Physical or mental disability
7. Religion
8. International cultures
9. Other (please describe)