Assignment
Length: 1000-1500 words (4-6 pages)
INSTRUCTIONS
This assignment requires you to prepare an essay of approximately 1000-1500 words (4-6 pages) on the topic outlined below. The essay must be double spaced, typed in 12-point font, and with margins of no more than 1 inch. This essay must conform to the MLA style and follow the footnoting and documentation format described online at the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
ESSAY TOPIC
Choose a media representation and identify how it constructs its audience. Use Graeme Turner's analysis of Sarah Jackson's "Hamid Karzai portrayal" as an exemplar.
Your essay should address the following three areas:
• What do you believe the "preferred reading" will likely be, i.e., what kinds of roles/subject positions are viewers/listeners/readers expected to assume? what conclusions does the preferred reading encourage us to form about the topic represented?
• Can you think of one or more alternative interpretations that could be based on the same representation? Provide examples.
• Discuss some of the characteristics of both representations (texts) and audiences (readers) that make plural interpretations not only possible, but also probable.