Week Six Activity

This week we had to pick a media literacy lesson plan and follow it ourselves. I choose:

Exploring Change through Allegory and Poetry

The first lesson was to create a "Me-Tree" to represent a visual allegory. I involved my whole family in this project and this is what we created (it was fun!):

Mine is on left, Mazie (age 3.5), on right.

Jamez on left; Avery (age 8) on right.

I then had to complete a worksheet with a few questions about the Me-Tree:

“Me Tree” Reflection Questions 

1. What is an allegory?
   Something that has multiple meanings. On the surface it seems or looks like one thing, but they can also be read as having deeper or different meanings.
2. What type of allegory does the “Me Tree” represent?
   On the surface it is a tree, but it actually represents me - who I am, what I like, where I want to go.
   
3. In what way does the “Me Tree” fit the characteristics of an allegory?
   It was created using my hand print & its leaves were characteristics of me. However, It looks like a tree.
   
4. Why is a tree a fitting symbol to represent a person?
   There are many different kinds of trees - just like there are many different types of people. Trees can be mighty and strong, or small & weak - they can start small & weak but grow mighty & strong. They also loose their leaves every year, and get new ones in the spring. People have many different interests, but they can change from year to year.
   
5. In what ways are your traits, interests, and roles like the leaves on a tree?
   They can change from year to year. I could cut my hair next year, I could decide I really like bowling. Many different things could change, just like leaves on the trees change, fall, and grow up anew.
   
6. If you were to make a “Me Tree” next year, would it look the same as the one you just made? What would its likely differences and similarities be?
   Not in all ways - I might not include shy and outgoing on the tree. I would include mother and daughter because I am that and those designations wouldn't change.
   
7. View your classmates’ “Me Trees.” Select two student trees, and explain which aspects of each tree you feel most accurately depict the creator.
   My husband's tree reflects his personality - he's creative and different, and it SHOWS in that tree! My son's reflects his personality because he is everywhere at once and has a great imagination. 

The second step was to read a text about change. The lesson plan was geared for grades 6-8 and suggested "The Giving Tree" as a suitable text. It also linked to a list of other suggested texts, which included the book "Who Moved My Cheese?" I had heard of this book before, and knew that it typically pertained to the workplace, so I chose to read this one instead. I completed the following worksheets in relation to the book:

 

Change Reflection Questions

1. Who in this text is undergoing change?
   Sniff & Scurry, Hem & Haw
2.  How does this character respond to change?
   Sniff & Scurry are mice who just put back on their running shoes & go find bigger cheese. Hem continually resists change, complains and declares the world "unfair" and doesn't change nor seek out bigger cheese. Haw resists change at first, but then confronts his fear, learns to adapt and finds bigger cheese after several set backs.
3. Do other characters provide help or advice for the character that is undergoing change? What advice do they give?
   Haw continually leaves messages - "writings on the wall" to help remind himself about what is happening and how to adapt to change. He also leaves these with the hope that Hem will eventually face his fear and look for cheese - with these messages as a guide.
   
4. What does the character learn about change?
   That change is inevitable, and you should always be prepared for it. That fear holds you back from seeking change. That watching for signs of change and being prepared for it can help. That change can lead to bigger cheese.
   
5. In what way is this text a literary allegory?
   On the surface, this story is about two mice, two little people, some cheese and a maze.  However, it is an obvious literary allegory for how people react to change. The maze is the journey and trajectory of life. The mice are people who seek out change, who don't ever get complacent and are always ready to move and adjust with the change. The little people - Hem & Haw, are allegories for people who resist change because of fear. The cheese is something you need to live on, that can make you happy and content. The cheese is typically read as an allegory for money or a job, but could just as easily be an allegory for marriage and love.

Then we had to create diamante poems that were about change:

How this relates to the 21st Century Skills Framework:

Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes - English/Language Arts. With some slight tweaking, I can also see this relating to Financial, Economic, Entrepreneurial and Business Literacy because I could use this during a lesson I do entitled "coping with change in the workplace." It could also have a Civic Literacy slant if the students were encouraged to think about change within their communities and lives.

Learning and Innovation Skills: This lesson addresses creativity through the "me-trees" and the Diametric Poems. Critical thinking skills are challenged during the worksheets about the text readings and through the application of allegory to their me-trees. Communication and collaboration is addressed through group work, sharing of creative work and using on-line tools to create the diametric poems.

Information, Media and Technology Skills: These skills are addressed and used in online interactives, and through the dissection of individual texts for information.

Life and Career Skills: This lesson is fundamentally about change, and dealing with change. This is a valuable life and career skill. I plan to use "Who moved my cheese" as the change text, which is more appropriate and directly addresses the work I do.

Double Entry Journal #5

Quote:

"This opens the door for usage of sophisticated rhetorical devices to be used via new forms of visual grammar. However, such usage (or representation) can only be applied by political constituencies that have the financial means to pursue such ends. This leads to an under-representation of significant segments of our society." (Schnell, 2008)

Response:

This passage made me think about the seemingly over-representation of young, white, middle to upper class, 14-21 year old boys on YouTube. It may just be me (and the fact that I have an 8 year old boy who seems to gravitate towards those clips), but I am constantly weeding through videos of 15 year old boys taping their video games. They are also creating crazy, sometimes dangerous videos of stunts involving skateboards, ski's, bikes and all other modes of transportation. Sometimes they are creating amazing short videos that are on-par with some of the best storytelling (and, of course, sometimes not). 

My theory about the prevalence of this group is two-fold and interconnected. The first is that boys are attracted to video and media making as an art form in larger numbers due to societal pressures. Two years ago, I taught after school workshops in media-making and had a 2-1 ratio of boys to girls (while I was working for a girl's leadership program to boot). My theory was that media making was a creative outlet that was acceptable for boys in a way that other creative outlets weren't. It's not as universally acceptable for a young man to take up dance, arts & crafts or singing for instance. The second theory relates to the economics: YouTube videos require two things - a video camera, and a computer. These are luxury items that are found primarily in upper and middle class households with disposable income.

Questions

1. How does visual imagery negatively influence the truth in political campaigns and foreign relations? 

 Visual imagery works in subtle ways without words that can act as a trigger for accountability. Political campaigns can portray candidates in situations that are not necessarily accurate portrayals. For example, an image of John Kennedy playing football presented him as a strong, robust, youthful president but he actually suffered from crippling back pain.

2. Can you think of a recent foreign relations incident that may have been related to visual imagery?

 Although not wholly a visual image - I can't not address the anti-Islam film "Innocence of Muslims" that spurred protests in several Muslim countries. The trailer was posted on YouTube, and stirred anti-American uprisings that have resulted in several deaths, including the death of the American ambassador to Libya.  It is difficult to not be outraged by these protests, as an American I know that this film is not a reflection of the beliefs of most Americans. I know it was an amateur film made by someone who did not have the funds or the talent to have this film seen anywhere other than YouTube. I also know that individual creative expression is valued and protected in this country, but I do not have the cultural understanding to know how much of that is conveyed in the countries these protests have occurred.

3. What does Ben Franklin mean by the phrase "Freedom of the press only applies if you have a press." 

 The press are free to print whatever they want, the public is held somewhat captive by what the press decides to print. Those who own a press are free to print what they like.

4. Do you think that the explosion of digital media is akin to giving everyone a press?

 Yes and no. Everyone who has access and the knowledge to create digital media has a press. However, there are still a lot of folks who don't have the skill or the necessary equipment to create digital media.

5. In your opinion, is the potential for more people to create their own media a positive or negative influence on our democratic society?

I think it's a positive influence overall. Creating media is an excellent tool to tell stories that wouldn't otherwise be told. Media is also a creative art (and outlet) that wasn't possible before and that's a positive influence. I am disturbed, of course, by negative media influences on society - the recent anti-Muslim film that spurred anti-American protests in several Muslim countries (including the Libyan protest that resulted in the death of an American Ambassador) gave me pause - however, I believe that for every negative influence, one could point to hundreds of positive examples of DIY media.

6. Is our increasingly visual cultural a good thing or bad thing?

Alone, its a bad thing; paired with education and awareness of the subtle power of visual imagery, it could be a good thing. It could mean a new level of awareness and cultural evolution.

7. What can save us from the tyranny of a visual culture?
Curiosity and questioning. Education, which helps us realize we need to be curious and ask questions. All this leads to knowledge, which can prevent tyranny.

Additional Resource:

http://www.neatorama.com/2007/01/02/13-photographs-that-changed-the-world/

A list of 13 famous photographs "that changed the world." This also gives some background information on each photograph, telling a larger story that is different than what you think by looking at the photograph alone.

Sources:

Schnell, J. (2008). Suggestions for Addressing the Increased Emphasis on Visual Imagery over Aural Messages.  Media Psychology Review. Vol. 1(1). Retrieved from http://mprcenter.org/mpr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36&Itemid=123

Week 5 - Activity One

1. What is the product or service being sold? Tide instant stain remover

2. What is the general mood or feeling of the commercial? This ad is meant to show how not looking right, such as having a large stain on your shirt, can be distracting and leave a bad impression of you. 

3. How does the soundtrack play a role in your interpretation of the commercial? There is no music in this commercial, but there is a lot of talking, although the audience can't hardly understand a word that is being said... which is the point. A man is in a job interview and is answering a basic "tell me about yourself" question, but while he is speaking, the stain on his shirt is talking loudly and in gibberish. The stain's speak mimes the rhythm of the interviewee, but completely distracts the interviewer from what the man is saying.

4. How do the actors playing the characters affect your interpretation of the commercial? Both the interviewer and the interviewee are "everyday" men... they look very normal. It makes me relate more with the characters because they look like people I know, and they are in a situation that most people in the audience could relate too - especially with the current economic climate of high unemployment.

5. How does the commercial try to get your attention? It doesn't use anything flashy... even the office the interview is taking place looks kind of drab. But, the commercial uses a lot of auditory cues to get your attention... namely that the stain is talking loudly. This commercial makes you strain your ears to pick up what either the stain or the interviewee is saying, but it's rare a recognizable word is heard. It also has a catchphrase: "silence the stain" which works with this commercial's reliance on sound.

6. Who is this commercial aimed towards? The middle and working class, white, aged in their mid 20's to early 40s.  Possibly looking for work, or wanting to move to a better job. 


How I could use this in my classroom:
I teach Adult Basic Education and Career Readiness Classes. One unit we work on is "Dressing for Success" and I could see this as a fun way to illustrate how to dress for an interview. It could illustrate how distracting it is when someone isn't dressed properly. We could also use it to talk about how he could have looked better - for instance, if he had a suit jacket, he could have hidden that stain pretty nicely. 

When talking about who the commercial is aimed towards, we could talk about the economic climate, the rate of unemployment and the large numbers of people in the job market. This could help underline the importance of making a good impression - the resume, your experience, the job interview - it is ALL critical because there are so many people competing for that position.  A LOT of people are in the job market right now .... so much so that they are making commercials about it!

Double Entry Journal #4

Quote:
 Adolescent girls describe the ideal teenage girl as 5'7", 100 pounds, size 5, having blonde hair and blue eyes; however, a girl with these proportions is in the anorexic and amenorrheic range (Thompson & Heinberg, 1999). In fact, messages found in magazines "support, and even encourage, the perception that female happiness and success is tied to physical appearance, with ultra-thinness being the hallmark of beauty" (Thomsen et al., 2001, p. 134). Additionally, articles about nutrition in teen magazines actually place an emphasis on physical attractiveness rather than health. (Sauer & Robles-Piña, 2003)

Reaction:
Whoa - I can't believe that most girls describe the ideal teenager this way. It seems as if the message they are receiving through media are so out of whack with reality that girls can't properly gauge what is a reasonable weight for someone this height. I also doubt a girl 5'7 and 100 lbs would be anywhere near a size 5. Which is interesting to me because it makes me think that most teenage girls are aware that a size 0, for instance, is too small and abnormal, but they aren't making the same connection when it comes to weight. 

This summer I taught a media class at a summer camp for girls, and we talked about the images of women we saw in the media. One of the girls was a singer, but she said she was discouraged to pursue singing as a career because she doesn't look like the other singers she sees. It was disheartening to hear young women give up on a dreams because they don't "look the part." It made me wonder how many uber-talented girls this world is missing out on because of this.

We also discussed the changing image of female idealness between the present day and the 1800's - when bigger women were seen as the ideal. My understanding is that this had to do with money - the bigger a person was, the more they could spend on food and leisure, so it was a sign of wealth. What is interesting to me is that in a lot of ways, today's world is not all that different. I can imagine myself being able to afford a gym membership, weights and other exercise equipment if I had more disposable income. I could eat organic, fresh fruits and vegetables, and lean meats every meal (no more Wal-Mart 70/30 ground beef for me!). I could buy the nutritional supplements, diet pills and protein shakes, if I thought that might help.

Additional Resource:
 In the media class, we also watched the extended trailer for a movie called "Miss Representation."  When I read this week's article, it made me immediately think about this movie, which is all about how women are portrayed in the media.



(Newson, 2011)

Sources:

Newson, J. S. (Director) (2011). Miss representation [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5pM1fW6hNs

Sauer, H., & Robles-Piña, R. (2003). Magazines: What adolescent girls are reading and the way they shape body image. Retrieved from http://www.advancingwomen.com/awl/winter2003/SAUERR~1.html


 

Activity #4 - Person of the Year

 

Disclaimer: I am not actually the Person of the Year!

Activity #2 - Arnold Deconstructed

1. What do you think about this person based on the cover of the magazine? How does he look? How does he make your feel?
This person looks powerful, in a "don't mess with me" kind of way. He looks strong, and there is a large emphasis placed on his arm muscles - both the picture and the text ("20 inch arms"). It is unclear what he is holding, and although he is pictured with something yellow, his hand placement could just as easily be holding a football as it could be a gun... or maybe that's a car hood?
 

2. What is the main purpose of this magazine?

This magazine's main purpose is to teach men how to get more muscular and athletic.

 

3. Describe who you believe is the magazine's intended readership.

Men in their 20s & 30s who weightlift or interested in building their strenght through weightlifting.

 

4. What lifestyles, values, points of view are represented or omitted?

This magazine represents active lifestyles who value strength and power through traditional stereotypical masculine images. This magazine omits lifestyles of men that value strenght building through endurance excercises such as running and/or bicycling - which typically build leaner muscles, rather than bulging ones.

 

1. What do you think about this person based on the cover of the magazine? How does he look? How does he make your feel?

I think that he is supposed to represent the "little boy devilish" - like he just got away with something, and no one who knows him can believe that it worked. I get this impression based on his expression paired with his hand gesture (which is out of focus, so it looks less menacing) and the text accompanying it "The next governor of California. Really." Also, the use of his first name as a familiar. The suit he is pictured in just leads credence to me as the powerful white male who got away with something - especially with the reference to a political office.

 

2. What is the main purpose of this magazine?

To entertain and inform men about current news and interests.

 

3. Describe who you believe is the magazine's intended readership.

Men, 28-45 who are slightly a-political, have steady professional jobs and interested in current pop-cultural news.

 

4. What lifestyles, values, points of view are represented or omitted? A more hedonistic lifestyle is presented, with values of self-interest and female objectification. What is missing is images of men that care about community and historical context. The tagline "Man at his best" just reinforces the message of self-interest and promotes social Darwinism.

Activity #3 - Arnold vs. Arnold

 

 

1. What are the differences between the two covers? What techniques are used to attract your attention? Pay attention to body language, clothing, camera angle, lighting, color, eye contact ect. How do the difference influence what you think and feel about the person.
There are vast differences between the look of these covers. The Muscles & Fitness cover has Arnold in clothes that show off his muscles, bright, strong colors - reds & yellows. He has no eye contact - his eyes are hidden behind sunglasses. His expression is not friendly. The text "20 inch arms" draws the eyes to his overly sized arm muscles. The Esquire cover's background is a serene blue, Arnold is in a business suit. He is pointing at the camera, although his finger is out of focus.  His expression is a sly smile, and draws the attention of the viewer.

 

2. What do you find appealing or not appealing about the cover of the magazine? Both Colors.

 

 

3. What elements in the design make it appealing or not appealing? I find the colors appealing in the M&F cover - the reds & yellows make me feel like I'm in a powerful, strong presence. I don't like the expression on Arnold's face - it makes me think he is a meanie. I also find the colors of the Esquire cover pretty appealing.... they seem serene to me, I also find the black & white image, paired with the blue to be appealing. I'm amused by the "Arnold" tagline - "Really."

 

4. What elements are included on the cover to sell this magazine? Consider title, imagery, sensationalized headlines, exclusive articles, secrets, gossip, free gifts, and celebrity news. M&F: The text and title help sell the magazine.... word's such as "recharge," statements such as "in less time,"  The yellow text seems to be action words - the How behind the headlines.... maybe their readers need more information in order to feel like its worth their time?

Esquire: The half naked woman on the front is something that probably helps sell this magazine. Interesting, maybe, Arnold is enough to sell the M&F mag, but Esquire's readership needs/expects something a bit more scandalous.

 

5. Describe the type of content in one issue.

M&F: Excercises and workouts.

Esquire: Interview with Phil Spector; Article about Arnold becoming governor of California; Music review; "salute to our british allies" - which I'm not sure exactly what the content of that is - beautiful british women, maybe?; a story by Arthur Miller (who's known for being an intellectual writer); an article about the "dubious achievements of science" - which sounds like irony, based on what I've learned doing this deconstruction. 

 

6. What products or services are advertised in the issue?

M&F: A workout routine that will give you better results;

Esquire: Knowledge of popular, current viewpoints and goings on today.

 

7. What lifestyle, values and messages are being promoted by the contents in the issue?

M&F: This magazine represents active lifestyles who value strength and power through traditional stereotypical masculine images. This magazine omits lifestyles of men that value strenght building through endurance excercises such as running and/or bicycling - which typically build leaner muscles, rather than bulging ones.
Esquire:A more hedonistic lifestyle is presented, with values of self-interest and female objectification. Also, professional men, who consider themselves intellectual is also represented - based on the story by Arthur Miller? What is missing is images of men that care about community and historical context. The tagline "Man at his best" just reinforces the message of self-interest and promotes social Darwinism.

 

8.Describe the demographics for what you think may be the magazine’s intended target readership. Consider age, sex, interests and socioeconomic status

Esquire: Men, 28-45 who have steady professional jobs and interested in current news and literature.

M&F:Men in their 20s & 30s who weightlift or interested in building their strength through weightlifting.

9. What features of the magazine indicate to you that this is the intended readership?
The types of articles. 

10. What personalities or celebrities are used to promote this magazine?

Arnold Swarznegger is the overwhelming personality used to promote both these magazines (obviously)... Interesting, maybe, that the Esquire mag also has a half-naked woman on the cover, perhaps Esquire's readership needs/expects something a bit more scandalous to buy it.

 

11. Are these personalities or celebrities promoting or challenging stereotypical messages? How?

What an interesting question. I think Arnold has always challenged stereotypes. He found early success as an actor depicting the stereotypical "Meat-head Muscled Man," but challenged that stereotype by having a thick, strange accent. I don't think that most people would think of an Austrian as a bodybuilder to begin with (except, maybe now, because of him). As the governor of California, a republican politician, he again defied the stereotype... simply because of his appearance, chosen career and origins.