Readings (EXAM 1)

Question 1

What are some of the main points in the “Difference Matters” reading?

Answer 1

• we often expect individuals to play certain roles based on a relationship between context and expectations
• difference matters because times are changing, and people are demanding change with it, “liberty and justice for all”, need to understand the obstacles to difference to recognize and prevent prejudice
• key terms to remember: discourse, difference, communicating, social identity, social identity theory, privilege

Question 2

What are some of the main points in the “Media Literacy”

reading?

Answer 2

• media literacy movement has a risen as a result of many different insights into audience and the dynamic relationship with media
• “media literacy is about understanding the sources and technologies of communication, the codes that are used, the messages that are produced and the selection, interpretation and impact of those messages.

Question 3

What are the 5 main elements of media literacy? (“Media Literacy”)

Answer 3

1. awareness of impact of the media on the individual and society
2. understanding the process of communication
3. development of strategies with which to analyze and discuss media messages
4. awareness of media content as text that provides insight into our contemporary culture and ourselves
5. the cultivation of an enhanced enjoyment, understanding and appreciation of media content

Question 4

Potter’s Foundational Ideas on Media Literacy (“Media Literacy”)

Answer 4

1. media literacy is a continuum not a category
2. media literacy needs to be developed
3. media literacy is multidimensional
4. the purpose of media literacy is to give us more control over interpretations

Question 5

What are some of the main points in the “The Spectacle of the Other” reading?

Answer 5

• images have level of meanings, denotative level (literal), connotative level (thematic)
• images can have meanings that are highly ambiguous, can carry more than one meaning (sometimes diametric opposites), not finally fixed
• right question to ask is what is the preferred meaning
• key terms: intertextuality

Question 6

What are some of the main points in the “Stereotyping” reading?

Answer 6

• unfamiliar scene “buzzing confusion” must make sense of it (ex. foreign languages : gibberish, strangers of a diff. race : all look the same)
• we define and then see
• “cant fully understand acts of other people until we know what they think they know, and then appraise not only the info but the mind through which it is filtered” (can’t just reduce it to a stereotype)
• influences that create stereotypes are subtle and pervasive
  
  • we are told about world before we see it
  • imagine things before we experience them
• we can evaluate and understand stereotypes and understand how we came to think that way

Question 7

What are some of the main points of the “Amazing Race” reading?

Answer 7

• Francis Galton, headed up efforts to implement eugenics in British society in 1880s
• worked toward “systematic assessment” of British population
• lab at fair, great success, duped people into getting measured to ‘warn of remediable faults in development or learn of their powers’
• “eugenics rests on bringin no more individuals into the world than can properly be cared for, and those only of the best stock”
• key terms: eugenics

Question 8

What are some of the main points of the “The Girl on The Magazine Cover” reading?

Answer 8

• “whenever someone has something new to sell to women, we are urged to change ourselves into the new woman of the moment”
• old stereotypes: “true” domestic woman, all amer. girl pal, sexually dangerous schemer, vapid party girl, modern madonna resurfaced between 1930s and 1960s
• “feminism”, became word that evoked masculine women, or man haters
• power feminism (getting what you want) versus victim feminism (whining about the system)
• mass media exist to create meaning, have disseminated idea of what typical american womanhood is like
• key terms: power feminism

Question 9

What are some of the main points of the “From Perpetual Foreigner to National Hero” reading?

Answer 9

• Jeremy Lin, 1st Taiwanese American in NBA, star player
• elements of Hero Myth became associated with him
• ” by focusing merely on personal autonomy and individual effort the underdog narrative of Jeremy Lin produced a colorblind ideology that an Asian American’s success was used to deny the existence of institutional racism, and prove that US society is reasonably fair and open to racial minority groups moving up the social ladder”
• in America perpetuated the forigner by drawing attention to his immigrant fam, and some openly racist coverage
• in Taiwan portrayed as national hero who could do no wrong, any faults were blamed on other players

Question 10

What are some of the main points of the “Jacob as Tonto” reading?

Answer 10

• Native Americans are stereotyped as mystical, savage, sexual, or bloodthirsty killers
• Twilight Series - Jacob
  
  • trusty sidekick
  • overtly sexual
  • violent/killer image (mystical/savage ability to become
    a wolf)
• these stereotypes define Nat. Amer. self image and tell the world how “ we live, look scream and kill”

Question 11

What are some of the main points of the “Symbolic Annihilation” reading?

Answer 11

• sex roles determine how men and women are supposed to behave in society
• sex role stereotypes are set portrayals of sex appropriate appearance, interest, skills, behaviors and self-perceptions
• condemnation, trivialization, or absence
• key terms: sex roles, modeling, reflection hypothesis, symbolic annihilation

Question 12

What are some of the main points of the “Racialization of the Virginia Tech Shootings” reading?

Answer 12

• Apr. 16, 2007 Seung Hui Cho killed 32, injured 25 at Virginia Tech
• overall coverage first emphasized Cho’s “otherness” and his status as a resident alien from South Korea; later his personalized, individual characteristics were presented
• may influence audience members to assume
• Asian American stereotypes: professional, tech savvy, financially successful, physically inactive, socially isolated, lacking communicative skills, not fun to be around
• nat’l news papers used race frame more often than local papers, most likely unable to access local sources and information, addressing diff. audiences

Question 13

What are some of the main points of the “Muslim American neighbor as terrorist” reading?

Answer 13

• TV show 24, accused of representing Muslims in a way that fuels intolerance and prejudice
• historical and textual analysis have shown that Arabs tend to be portrayed in a negative light
• Instant TV Arab Kit: belly dancer costume, turban, veil, sunglasses, flowing dresses and robes, oil wells, limos and/or camels
• new stereotype: Muslim American neighbor as terrorist (sleeper cell)