Friday, November 22, 2013

Online Assignment #3

Here is Online Assignment #3, to be completed over Thanksgiving break. Your initial post is due Wednesday, November 27 at 5:00pm. Two comments on peers' posts are due Tuesday, December 3 at 5:00pm.

This assignment is preparation for Essay 3. In it, you will be viewing a documentary, then assessing the viewpoints expressed in the documentary in light of the 5 perspectives on media effects we have discussed in the last week of class.

The documentary is Mickey Mouse Monopoly. You can view it my going to Learn@UW and selecting Journalism 201. Find the content. The one piece of content is Mickey Mouse Monopoly. Once you click that, the video should stream in your browser.

Throughout the film, you will see that different commentators express different ideas about the role media--and especially Disney's media--play in our society. They draw on different kinds of concepts, assumptions, and metaphors to make sense of what media does to us. Your task is to consider the ideas expressed in the film and relate them to the five perspectives we have seen in class.

Your assignment will be in the form of a post to your section's blog. In it, use 500 words to describe how you see our course perspectives occurring in Mickey Mouse Monopoly. Draw on concrete examples of things people said. Use their names. (The film is streaming, so you can go back to it as many times as you like.) Try to identify the use of at least 2 perspectives, and at least 2 instances of each.

In addition to your own post, post at least 2 comments on the posts of other students in your class. Create 2 substantive comments that respond to, complement, and/or critique (constructively) their comments. The purpose here is to enhance everyone's observations, and understanding of the perspectives, in preparation for Essay 3.

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