Media Literacy/Into the Wild Unit - LA11

Media Literacy/ Into the Wild Unit - LA11

Essential Questions:  How does media shape our perception and responses of the world and our place in it?  How can a more conscious viewing of media help to produce more critically- minded young adults?  How can a more conscious viewing of popular culture help to explain the rather unexpected choices Chris McCandless makes in the book Into the Wild?

Activities: Individuality vs. Conformity Activity (1-2 periods) Defining Pop Culture Activity (1-3 periods) Examining Marketing Tactics Activity (1/2 period) Examining Fallacies (1/2 period) Viewing parody ads (1/2-1 period) Students’ Media Profile of Self Activity (HW and discussion) Assign excerpts from chapters 3+4 from No Logo by Naomi Klein (HW?) View Merchants of Cool + discussion + warm-ups (2-3 periods) View excerpts from the documentary Instrument about the fiercely independent band Fugazi Develop + present own print ad which employs and possibly parodies marketing techniques (2 periods)

Reading Into the Wild Essential Q’s:  What is the American Dream and what is the American Nightmare and how does Chris McCandless fall into either one? Are they mutually exclusive in his case? How do students’ conceptions of success and failure in any way affect their opinion of him and the book?  From what source do students derive their values and beliefs and how do they help to create the judgments that they have of Chris?  How do students define consciousness; do they consider Chris conscious?  How do the ideas of those authors used in the allusions at the beginning of most chapters serve to explain Chris and his curious decisions?

Related readings: “To Build a Fire” by Jack London, “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane, (Eisley?) Intro to the Transcendentalists, excerpts from Walden + Civil Disobedience by H.D. Thoreau, Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard, “The Price of Experience” by William Blake and Desert Solitaire by Ed Abbey

Activities: Journal entries, vocabulary bookmarks/boxes/quizzes, reading quizzes Chapter boxes that focus S attention on content and authorial purpose Map of Chris’s journey Speech/essay that explores students conception of Chris MEDIA ACTIVITIES

Individuality vs. Conformity (from www.media-awareness.ca)

Level: Grades 9 - 12

Overview

Individuality vs. Conformity is part of a three-lesson unit designed to introduce students to the concept of popular culture and the role that it plays in their lives. In this lesson, students examine the pressures that exist to conform to popular culture and its effect on their lives.

Learning Outcomes

Students demonstrate:

 an understanding of the prevalence of popular culture in their daily lives  an awareness of the pressures within popular culture to conform to its ideals  an appreciation of the argumentative essay as a means of expressing an opinion

Procedure

In a class discussion, have the students identify fads or trends that are popular within their own school. Topics should ideally be those that are somewhat controversial within the school and may include:

o body piercing o skateboarding o tattooing o smoking o clothing (i.e. skimpy clothing for girls, bandana’s for boys that may be prohibited because of gang-related connotations.)

 Once several topics have been suggested, divide your students into small groups.  Assign each group one of the topics for discussion.  Explain to your students that they have twenty minutes to discuss answers to the following questions. Remind students that each group member is responsible for recording the group's discussion.

Students are to respond as follows:

 With respect to your assigned topic, why do (or don't) you conform or participate in this activity?

1. Are you pressured to participate in this activity? If your answer is yes, how are you pressured? Where does the pressure come from? 2. Do you feel that popular culture emphasizes individuality, or does it ask you to conform? 3. Does popular culture lead trends or follow them?

 Using their assigned topics and group discussion notes, students are to write a brief argumentative essay on individuality and conformity in popular culture.

Activities

Activity One

 Have students trace the origins of current fads or trends in popular culture.

Activity Two

 Debate a controversial fad or trend in popular culture. (Note: the chosen topic should be relevant to the lives of your students.)

Activity Three

 Have students decide which current trend is the most controversial.  Through a show of hands, see how many of your students are in favor of this activity and how many are opposed.  Divide your class in half on the basis of those who support and those who oppose this trend (if these groups are lop-sided, ask some students to play 'devil's advocate' and join the other side).  give each side ten minutes to form their debate  Remind students to select an individual to present the opening statement, and a second student to present the closing statement

Evaluation

 Group or individual student projects from selected activities.

Defining Pop Culture

Level: Grades 9 - 12

Overview

Defining Popular Culture is part of a three-lesson unit designed to introduce students to the concept of popular culture and the role that it plays in their lives. In this lesson, students learn about the media’s role in defining and perpetuating trends and influences in popular culture. They begin with a class discussion about popular culture and past and present examples of fads, trends and icons. Following this, students participate in a number of activities in which they explore popular culture in more depth. Learning Outcomes

 an understanding of the concept of popular culture and its components  an understanding of the prevalence of popular culture in their daily lives  an awareness of the cyclical nature of popular culture

Preparation and Materials

 Dictionaries  If a copy of the video Scanning Television: Seeing Ourselves is available through your school board, use this film to introduce the concept of popular culture to your students.

Procedure

Guided discussion

Write the following on the blackboard:

Popular Culture is the arts, artifacts, entertainment, fad’s, beliefs and values that are shared by large segments of society.

 With a student at the blackboard writing down suggestions, have your class brainstorm a list of objects, individuals and attitudes that are considered "Popular Culture." (Students will probably need prompting to include items from various sources such as clothing, TV, music, art, slang, activities, etc., and don’t be afraid to include items from your own past and lifestyle.)  Once a list has been compiled, place the following words on the blackboard beside the list. Each student should consult a dictionary or other online resource for a definition, which should be placed in their workbooks. Discuss definitions as a class.

Fads Trends Icons

 To conclude this activity, have students classify appropriate items from the brainstorming list under each of these headings in their workbooks. As a class, discuss which category each item should fall under. When discussing fads and trends, ask students if they can think of current fads that they believe will become trends. (You might want to post these fads on a bulletin board and mark their progress over time.)

Ask students:

 What does it take for a fad become a trend?  What is the difference between a celebrity and an icon

Activities

Activity One: Journal Topics  Ask students to list their encounters with popular culture over the next twenty-four hours and reflect on their findings in a journal entry.  Assign the question "Is there a difference between American and Canadian popular culture?" Have students write their answers to this question (with examples) in their journals.

Activity Two: Group Research

 In groups, have students research the fads, trends and icons of popular culture from specific decades during the twentieth century and present their findings to class.

Activity Three: Computer Extension

If your school has access to a scanner or programs such as Powerpoint or Hyperstudio, students might consider creating an online presentation exploring Canadian popular culture.

Note to Canadian Teachers: Schoolnet's GrassRoots Program sponsors the development of classroom-produced internet projects such as these. The book Mondo Canuck: A Canadian Pop Culture Odyssey, by Geoff Pevere and Greig Dymond, is another excellent resource for this activity.

Activity Four: Art Extension

The term Pop Art, from the early 1960s, was used to classify works of art that used the common, everyday environment as their subject matter. Subjects like coke bottles, beer and soup cans, comic strip characters and even hamburgers were depicted in various mediums to make witty, satirical comments on the popular culture of the time. After introducing students to the works of artists like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg and Duane Hanson, have them create their own Pop Art piece that reflects today's popular culture.

Evaluation

Marketing to Teens: Marketing Tactics

Level(s): Grades 8 - 12 This lesson and all Length: 40 minutes associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) is Overview: This activity helps teenagers develop an available in an easy- awareness of marketing tactics aimed at teens through print, pdf kit version. the creation of their own mock advertising campaigns.

To open the lesson kit Learning Outcomes: for printing, click here.

Students demonstrate: To print only this page, use the "printable  an awareness of the influential nature of ads version" link at the top of the page.  the ability to identify specific advertising tactics geared to teenagers  an understanding about how they, as consumers, are influenced by these commercial messages  an appreciation of their position as a desirable demographic for advertisers

 3 boxes (shoe boxes would be perfect) labeled "products," "girls' magazine choices" and "guys' magazine choices"  3 small pieces of scrap paper for each student  poster-sized paper for students to make their ads on and markers, magazines, scissors and glue sticks if they want to use collage, or other art supplies  a photocopy of the Scenario activity page, with each scenario cut out separately so that one can be given to each group  Advertising Strategies handout

The Lesson

Ask students to consider the following statement (you may want to write this on the board or a flip chart prior to class):

"Often advertising is not about keeping up with the Joneses, but about separating you from them. That's especially true of advertising directed at a particular group, such as adolescents or young-adults – it's called 'dog-whistle' adversiting because it goes out at frequencies only dogs can hear."

Dr. James Twitchell Smithsonian, April 2000

 What does the author mean by this statement? (Some advertisements specifically target young people. They use language, images and messages that strike a cord with teens, but which might not have the same appeal to their parents.)  Can students think of examples of ads that appeal to them, but not to their parents? (Answers might include ads for video-games, snack food or music – products that are a part of teen culture.)  What is it that separates these ads from those that appeal to their parents? Are there 'set' strategies or themes in advertisements geared to their age group?  Within the teen demographic, is there a difference between ads geared to teenage girls, and ads geared to teenage boys?

Activity

Tell students that today they get to be advertising executives.

 Give each student 3 pieces of paper.  On the first one, ask them to write the name of a product that would be difficult to get teenagers to buy, or something that is unlikely to be trendy among teenagers. They need to indicate whether it will be marketed to boys or to girls, or to both genders.  Give them a few examples. Three examples from a class we worked with are lawnmowers, shoehorns, and medicated itch powder. These pieces of paper will be put into a box labeled "products."  On the other two pieces of paper, students will write down the names of two magazines they read regularly (except pornography – we don't want to hear about that in this setting). Guys will put these in the box marked "guys' magazine choices" and girls will put them in the box marked "girls' magazine choices." Divide students into groups of 4 or 5.  Give each group one advertising scenario from the Scenario activity page.  Each group will then pick 2 pieces of paper out of the "product" box and choose one of the two as the product they will be marketing.  Depending on whether the products are to be marketed to guys or girls, the group will pick names of magazines from the appropriate magazine boxes.  They can fill in the blanks on their scenarios with the product and magazine names.  Tell them what their time limitations are (15 to 20 minutes) and that they need to be prepared to discuss their work when they are done.

After they have created their ad, have each group briefly explain their campaign, then ask the following discussion questions:

1. Which groups used a "traditional" strategy (methods that we see all the time in ads) to market their product? 2. List strategies that were used on the board. For example: "made the product sexy," "made it seem like people using the product are popular," "associated the product with rebellion," etc. (At this point, you can distribute and review the strategies from the Advertising Strategies handout with students.) 3. Did anyone use an approach we haven't seen before? Is there much originality in advertising? 4. Which campaign was most respectful of teenagers? Of girls? Of guys? Were there any that reinforced traditional gender roles (i.e., girls need to be pretty and sweet, guys need to be macho)? 5. Which of these campaigns do you think would be most effective in the real world? Why? 6. Are any of the ads trying to associate their product with a cool lifestyle? What do they imply your life will be like if you buy the product? 7. Did any groups create ads that didn't actually show the product in their advertisement? How do you feel about those sorts of ads? 8. If you could turn your idea into a TV commercial, what kind of music and effects could you use to hype the product?

Ask students whether they agree or disagree with the following statements:  Advertising sets us up to feel dissatisfied – even if we think we have everything we need, ads will still try to convince us that there is something else we need.  Advertisers try to show us how much more satisfied, popular, happy, hip, attractive, sexy, fun and in control we would be if we had their product.  Fashion and trends are always changing so that we must continually spend money to be current.

 Advertising stresses competition and status versus feeling good about being who you are and accepting others for who they are.

Marketing to Teens: Parody Ads

Level(s): Grades 8 - 12

Length: 50 minutes

Overview:

In this lesson students explore what's hidden behind advertising messages by analysing and creating parody advertisements.

Learning Outcomes:

 an understanding that advertisements don't necessarily tell the whole truth about a product  an awareness that advertisements are designed to deliver very specific messages to consumers

Sample parody ads are available from Adbusters, on their Web site at www.adbusters.org. You can print a few of these prior to class or, if your school library or the public library have copies of Adbusters magazine, you can flag the pages these ads appear on, and pass them around the class.

You will need:

 assorted magazines  parody ads  art supplies (optional)  paper for brainstorming answers in groups  markers. The Lesson

Guided Discussion

Parody ads are a fun way to analyse popular advertisements. When you spoof an ad, you take the elements of the ad that give it power, and make them absurd. You turn the message around to show that it is ridiculous or even untrue.

Activity

 Have students work in small groups.  Give each group a parody ad to look at (and, if possible, a sample of the original ad that it parodies.)  Have students answer the following questions. (Write these questions on the board or have them ready on flip chart paper.)

o What was the first thing you noticed about the ad? o What is being made fun of in the ad? o What is different or the same compared to the real ad? o How did it make you feel? o Did the parody ad change how you look at the original advertisers?  Tell students they have 5 minutes to answer these questions as a group and to write down their answers in point form. Students will be asked to share their responses with the rest of the class.  Give students some real ads, or have them choose real ads to spoof out of the magazines that have been brought to class.  In their groups they will create a spoof ad. They may want to make collages by cutting out of magazines, draw or paint their ads, use computer generated images, or you may think of another medium students would like to use.  Make sure to leave enough time to have students explain their work to the rest of the class.

Question for discussion: "Why is humor an effective way to make a point?"

Evaluation

 Group parody ad assignment

Media Profile of Oneself

 Create a chart that includes the following media: television, video, movies, radio, CDs, newspapers, magazines, comics, books, computers, and video games. Consider: Which media do you use in one day? Approximately how many minutes do you spend with each medium during the course of an average day? Estimate how many hours per week you spend with each medium and record your estimates. With which medium do you spend the most time? Why? Which is your favorite medium? Why? What attracts you to it? Which medium do you use for information? For entertainment?  Also consider the following: Do you use the media for information or for entertainment? Which medium is your chief source of information? What information do you obtain from the media? How reliable is this information? Can the mass media be considered a reliable source of accurate information? What have you learned about events happening in their community, province, country, and world? Why these events? Did some stories get more attention than others? Why? Were some stories more positive than others? Why? How were your emotions affected by certain stories?