Unit 5 Lesson 5: Culture Transmission Flashcards
culture
the expressed and shared values, attitudes, beliefs, and practices of the members of a group
mass media
forms of media used to reach large numbers of people
We have some control over media’s potentially enormous influence when we critically analyze the information it transmits. We can take multiple approaches to that analysis:
- We can begin by assessing the authority of the media’s source to determine whether we respect that authority enough to consume their messages.
- We can study their techniques for engaging the audience to determine whether it is those techniques or the media’s content that’s affecting us.
- We should analyze whose perspective the media is representing and whose they might be omitting.
- Ideally, before, during, and after our consumption of media, we should ask ourselves what specific messages we are exposing ourselves to.
Inclusive language
When media include the audience in their assertions, making us feel valued and accepted
Example: The advertisement’s banner reads, “Let’s show them how it’s done!”
Attack language
When media attack any opposition, including competitors, to rile up our anger or disgust
Example: The advertisement for skis includes a small box of text that reads, “The other brand’s skis are, dangerously, nearly twice the length of ours.”
Manipulated evidence
When media’s evidence does not support the intent but is used as if it does
Example: In an advertisement for skis, the tagline reads, “3 out of 5 downhill skiers agree that shorter skis help you go faster.” The evidence—what 3 out of 5 agree on—does not prove anything about the skis.
Descriptive language and imagery
When media convey a message with words and phrases that appeal to our emotions as well as our senses
Example :The advertisement uses a metaphor to compare the skis to wings; it describes how the wind feels against your face as you speed down the mountain.
What purpose do these techniques serve? How do they manipulate the audience?
The techniques aim to motivate consumers to buy or do something not through proof or factual information but through persuasion. They manipulate by associating a particular item or idea with feelings that will compel the viewer or audience to action.
What persuasive strategy is being used in a commercial for toilet paper that features frolicking forest animals surrounded by singing birds, and how might the advertisement make use of technology in an effective way? What is the commercial trying to do?
The commercial is using descriptive imagery meant to make the audience associate toilet paper with the beauty of the natural world. It also effectively applies technology through the use of digital or animated animals and birds that attract the attention of viewers and appeal to people’s love of cute animals.
What text or imagery might the toilet paper commercial include to represent another persuasive approach?
I think they could manipulate some evidence with a claim like, 80 percent of respondents said they like soft toilet paper, which would prove nothing about their toilet paper but might persuade an inattentive media consumer.
