Week 4: Critical Approaches

A Summary of the 7 Critical Approaches to Media Texts

1. Rhetorical/Audience Analysis

This approach analyzes the ways in which media uses language, signs and images.

What is this media text asking the audience to accept, value or believe?

How (or can) exposure to media affect our attitudes and beliefs?

How do “…audiences become members of symbolic, imagined communities” (Beach, 2007) as consumers of media texts?

2. Semiotic/Narrative Analysis

The Semiotic approach analyzes how we make meaning of signs and codes based on our social and cultural associations with those signs and codes.

We look at images and create meaning from those images based on our social and cultural associations with those images (low lighting = scary/unknown).

The Narrative analysis looks at the typical patterns of narrative or archetypal structures in a variety of genres.

3. Poststructural Analysis

This approach “…examines how language categories in media texts themselves influence characters and audiences’ perceptions” (Beach, 2007).

With this approach, one can critically examine stereotypes and one-dimensional definitions of characters.

4. Critical Discourse Analysis

This approach goes outside studying the use of language in media texts; rather, CDA analyzes the larger ways in which we view the world and identify ourselves.

Discourses reflect “…hegemonic, dominant modes of thinking that permeate a world portrayed in a media text” (Beach, 2007).

This approach includes discourses of race and discourses of class, which deal with how race and class are portrayed in the media.

5. Feminist Criticism

This approach analyzes how men and women are portrayed (and often stereotyped) in the media.

This approach can also look at the way our culture continually redefines gender.

6. Postmodern Theory

This theory, as the name suggests, goes against modernist thinking and the modernist “…assumption that these narratives will lead humans to a greater sense of happiness and fulfillment” (Beach, 2007).

In media texts, postmodernists often challenge traditional narrative structures.

7. Postcolonial Theory

This approach looks at how “…colonial or imperialist conceptions of the world are portrayed in literature and media texts” (Beach, 2007).

We can use this approach to analyze how cultures and people from different parts of the world are shown in Western media texts.

Applying one critical approach in depth:

On our Wednesday discussion my group will be focusing on the commercial and how we can apply our focuses to the commercial. My chosen focus is the Semiotic/Narrative Analysis. I chose that focus because I use this approach a lot in my classroom. I spend an entire quarter on tragedies and the tragic hero with my 12th grade classes. I teach students the narrative structure of tragedies as well as the typical qualities of the tragic hero, as well as the other players in a tragedy (nemesis, choral figure, foil, confidant). I also base my women in literature unit on archetypes and archetypal patterns in short stories, poetry, novels, Disney movies, other films and advertising.

Week 3: Film Technique

Film Assignment

I chose the film Norma Rae for this assignment. Sally Field won the Academy Award for best actress for her role in this 1979 film. I have used this film for the past six years for our Women in Literature unit in my English 12 course. As a new, first-year teacher, I was told to show this, and I was skeptical. However, I have grown to really like it and will now also show the film North Country so my students can compare the two films.

Before I go into the scene and the analysis of my scene, I must say that the English 10 curriculum at the high school where I teach includes a major unit on film. The students learn the vocabulary of film techniques. So, unless a student in my English 12 is a transfer student from another school, my students will have had a pretty good background with this terminology.

Norma Rae revolves around a textile factory with horrible working conditions in a small southern town. A single mother, Norma Rae, works there along with her mother and father. A New Yorker, Reuben, comes to town to try to organize a union for the factory workers; he convinces Norma Rae to help him with his efforts. The scene I chose begins right after the opening song and credits. In the DVD, it is the beginning of Chapter 2, which is titled “Deaf for a Little While”.

The entire scene is very dark; most of it takes place inside the factory. It begins with a medium shot, and we hear loud noises from the machines and we see Norma Rae at her work station. The camera then cuts to a long shot. We see big fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling, and rows and rows of workers at their machines. There seems to be steam near the top of the ceiling, which creates a hazy look and also shows us how hot it is inside the factory. Then there is a brief long shot outside the factory. We see the name of the factory, O.P. Henley Textile Mill, as well as the season and date, Summer 1978, which is written at the bottom of the screen. Then there is a cut to a medium shot inside the factory. We see people at work and then the camera moves in to focus on Norma Rae on break. She is sitting with a coworker and her mother. It is difficult to hear their conversation over the factory noises. Norma Rae speaks to her mother but her mother doesn’t respond. Norma Rae realizes she can’t hear her, so she grabs her mother and takes her to see a doctor. The doctor says it’s only temporary hearing loss and that her mother could look for another job. Norma Rae is furious and says, “What other job in this town?! This is the only job!”. These lines show the few options in this small town, and how desperately a union is needed.

In my classroom, I would like my students to focus on the development of Norma Rae’s character as well as the issue of unions. The scene I chose reveals the tough working conditions inside the factory (loud, little ventilation, hot, no windows, etc.) as well as Norma Rae’s spirit. I would have them note everything they notice about Norma Rae, as well as the other major people in her life. I would also have students note the lighting, sound and changes in shots. All of these things contribute to the environment and the fight that will take place over creating a union for the remainder of the film.

The scene that follows the factory scene is outside the home of Norma Rae’s parents. It is bright and sunny and we hear birds chirping. Norma Rae’s mother is outside gardening, while Norma Rae and her father are in the kitchen and her two children are watching television in the living room. I would have my students note the contrast in lighting and sound, and note any differences they see in the main characters as they are in different settings.

Norma Rae becomes a stronger and more self-confidant woman as the movie progresses and as she becomes a union leader with Reuben. Also, there are changes in sound and lighting through out the film as it moves forward. I would have my students note all these changes in a study guide divided by significant scenes, and while they work on that, try to figure out how all the film techniques help contribute to the overall theme and mood.



Commercial Assignment

I chose a Superbowl commercial from YouTube. The link can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/superbowl. I chose #35 Snapple Green Tea Big Game Ad.

Shot 1:

Eye Level Angle, Long Shot, Average Duration

There is a man wearing a t-shirt and shorts and carrying a backpack, walking up stairs on a mountain in Xi’an, China (the location is noted at the bottom of the screen). We hear Chinese instrumental music, which helps establish location, and the man’s heavy breathing, which shows us how he’s been on a long, difficult journey.

Shot 2:

High Angle, Medium Shot, Average Duration

We see the face of a white man with messy brown hair, he holds a bottle of Snapple, breathes heavily and looks up to the camera to speak. He tells the camera about ECGC, an ingredient in the Snapple Green Tea, and how he is on a journey to find out what that ingredient is; he then takes a drink. The Chinese instrumental music continues to play in the background. The high camera angle shows us how far he’s come up the mountain.

Shot 3:

Eye Level Camera Angle, Long Shot, Average Duration

The camera shows the man reaching some huts at the top of the mountain, to show us he has reached his destination. The Chinese instrumental music continues.

Shots 4-9:

Eye Level Camera Angle, Medium Shot (including some over the shoulder), Average Duration

The music stops, which allows us to focus on a conversation

. The white man is listening to an older, balding Chinese man tell him what ECGC is. The shots go back and forth focusing on both the Chinese man and the white man, to show what each man sees in the other during their conversation. The white man asks how he knows all that information, and the Chinese man says it is written on the label, then he shuts the door. The white man looks confused.

Shot 10:

This is a shot of the actual product, Snapple Green Tea.

There is a voice over by a female explaining more about the ECGC in Snapple Green Tea. We see two bottles, and then a close-up of the label that says ECGC; on the top of the label it says, “Natural Antioxidant” and on the bottom it says, “Boosts Metabolism”.

Shot 11:

Low Camera Angle, Long Shot, Average Duration

The white man is walking back down the mountain stairs, mocking the Chinese man, “…it’s on the back of the bottle”; the white man is irritated, but knows he made a stupid mistake by undertaking such a journey. The low camera angle shows how the man has a long walk back down.

Week 2: Justifying film, television and media study in the classroom

There are approximately 25,000 students in the Madison Metropolitan School District in Madison, WI. There are four high schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District. Parents in the district have been fighting to keep TAG and advanced classes in the English curriculum at two area high schools, as the administration is trying to increase diversity in classrooms by eliminating tracked or leveled classes in English at those schools (and it is rumored that the same thing will occur at the other two schools, including the one where I teach). Since each high school has a different English curriculum, I will be focusing on the school where I teach.

I teach at James Madison Memorial High School in Madison, WI. It is a National School of Excellence that prides itself of it’s large amount of AP course offerings as well as the high number of National Merit Scholars and Semifinalists each year. There are approximately 2300 students at Memorial. The English department focuses on basic and advanced skills in reading and writing. Most courses are quite rigorous with a college prep curriculum. There are few electives in the English department; students are expected to take a year-long English class each year of high school. The year-long courses Memorial offers include English 9, Directed English 10, English 10, English 10 TAG, Directed English 11, English 11, English 11 AP (language), English 12 and English 12 AP (literature). There is the expectation that new teachers will teach what the veteran teachers teach. Although some material and activities vary from teacher to teacher, we are expected to use the same books and have similar focuses.

RATIONALE:

The Madison Metropolitan School District serves approximately 25,000 students in Madison, WI, a city known for it’s progressive nature. Madison needs to maintain it’s progressive reputation by continuing to be innovative with our English curriculum at Memorial High School. We need to keep our curriculum up-to-date and relevant to our students’ lives. While we are generally quite successful with the reading and writing skills we teach, we need to add media studies to our curriculum. There are a number of reasons why media studies needs to be an integral part of the English program at Memorial. The majority of our students are daily (if not hourly) consumers of the media. Students have cell phones, lap tops, ipods, personal computers and televisions. Students need skills to be literate as well as critical thinkers as they deal with the variety of media they use.

At the beginning of each year, I give my English 12 students an overview of what we will be doing over the course of the year. I include telling students some of the books we will be reading together as a class. By the time I get to Hamlet, students often roll their eyes, sigh or groan. However, when I tell students we will read Hamlet along with a CD, as well as view a film version and later a version from The Simpsons, I can see the relief it brings. By incorporating popular culture texts and film analyses in the English curriculum, we can build interest and enhance the overall experience for our students.By building on the activities and experiences students have outside of the classroom, students have reason to be more engaged in course material.

Some parents, and even teachers and administrators, may fear that the inclusion of media studies in our curriculum will somehow decrease the traditional focus of reading, writing and critical thinking in our courses. Including media studies in our classes will not reduce the quality of education students will receive. As a matter of fact, “When students are actively engaged in media literacy activities that include uses of reading and writing for definite purposes, those students can also improve in basic skills” (Beach. 2007). Also, by incorporating media studies in the English curriculum we can “…foster active, critical response to media as opposed to passive participation” (Beach, 2007). Our schools and community need to continue to encourage our youth to be active and critical thinkers; I believe these traits will inspire independent thought across all subject areas.

Lastly, one of the issues our district has been working on over the past few years is the achievement gap. All staff members have had many inservices in which we have been encouraged to have “Courageous Conversations” regarding race. We have struggled with how to approach these difficult and sensitive topics in our classrooms. I believe a way we can bring our students into this conversation is by discussing how the media contributes to our reality and also how the media perpetuates stereotypes. I believe it is our responsibility to teach students how our sense of reality and normalcy is established through the media. We need to show students how media forms reality, and help them see that “…media representations of gender, class and race… are social and cultural constructions that are shaped and influenced by media texts” (Beach, 2007). Perhaps by discussing how we see the media represent gender, class and race, we will be able to discuss how we deal with these representations, and the conflicts these representations bring, in our own lives.