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Post–literate Generation Reflection (2 pages)

Watch the following video which contains an interview with Nicholas Carr whose text is What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brain: the Shallows. As you do so, keep in mind not only Carr’s comments on McLuhan, but also what you can recall regarding McLuhan from what you have learned previously in this unit.

Video: Nicholas Carr: Is the Internet Making Us Stupid?

Write a two-page personal reflection on Carr’s commentary. In your reflection consider some of the following questions. Think as carefully about the questions as you can. It’s not necessary to answer several questions if you wish to explore one or two in detail with references to your own experiences.

  1. Show how Carr’s thoughts are the natural outcomes of theories on technology that had been laid down decades earlier by Marshall McLuhan.
  2. How does the style of the video exemplify the distractions that Carr discusses? Refer to specific elements in the video, and suggest whether or not you (or possibly older or younger viewers) might have been taken off-message by the video’s design.
  3. Do you agree that being connected delivers the benefits that Carr claims? Can you think of other advantages that he doesn’t mention?
  4. How do you feel about the claim that we are no longer capable of “deep” thinking? Do you agree with this claim? How do we know when we are thinking “deeply”?
  5. What is important about deep thinking if we know more than we ever have, but in a general sense? Why should anyone think deeply?
  6. Do you feel that it’s important to “de-connect” from time to time? When you are not using devices, does your thinking differ, or are you so much a product of new technologies that you think only about resuming your use of the devices?
  7. Is Carr’s commentary on multi-tasking correct in your view?

The purpose of this assignment is to show you’ve thought deeply about McLuhan’s ideas, about the changes in society, and about your experience and observation of it. (How fitting that you are asked to exercise your literacy skills in response to these questions!)

Check out this mini-lesson on Reflective Writing if you need a refresher on this writing genre:

https://lms.virtualhighschool.com/content/OSSD-v2/Department/ENG/Courses/ENG4U/ver-M/media-awareness/reflective-minilesson.html

Manufacturing Consent Questions (3 pages)

Documentary: Manufacturing Consent

Below is the first segment of Manufacturing Consent, thanks to YouTube. When the first segment ends, click on part two (2 of 9) and the remaining parts, until you finish the documentary. Why are you watching? Keeping the following questions in mind while you watch will help you focus your listening. Take notes, and respond to the following questions using examples from Chomsky’s documentary Manufacturing Consent, for you will be expected to hand in your answers.

  1. After deciding what the term “manufacturing consent” means, agree or disagree that media and governments in America are usuing this technique. Use clear, concrete examples to reinforce your claims.
  2. Can a society be “democratic” in which consent is being manufactured?
  3. Are such “illusions” necessary as Chomsky claims?  Provide a clear rationale for your opinions by discussing how illusions are created in media and deciding whether the public really has to live with such misrepresentation.
  4. Provide a clear example of a conspiracy theory. Why would networks air such theories when the evidence to support such theories is often minimal or missing entirely?
  5. Comment on the extent to which you believe media manipulate public opinion. Many of Chomsky’s claims were made before the Internet became really popular. Do viewers have more or less autonomy as a result of the Internet and tools such as those available through social media?

 

DID YOU KNOW?

In his article “Corporate Hegemony – A Critical Assessment of the Globe and Mail’s News Coverage of the Near–Genocide in Occupied East Timor 1975 – 1980″ in International Communication Gazzette (August 2002), Jeffery Klaehn illustrated that Canada was also heavily complicit in the East Timor atrocity as Canadians were among the largest foreign investors in Indonesia at the time. Further, though it is against UN law to sell weapons to a government that is using them for genocide or against its own people, Canada sold weapons indirectly by selling its arms quota through a third party (301 – 321).

Part A

In your best prose, write your answers to the above questions using examples from Chomsky’s documentary Manufacturing Consent. Your responses to all five questions should not exceed two pages (approximately 500-750 words), double-spaced. You may include the questions in your text.

 

 

Part B

Write a one page, double-spaced reflection on Manufacturing Consent.Comment on your personal feelings after watching the documentary. Do you have any unanswered questions? How did the documentary change the way you view the news media around you?

 

Critical Media (6 pages)

Part One: Research

  1. FIND A CHOMSKY ARTICLE:Browse Noam Chomsky’s web site, and find an article or a video on a subject that interests you. Choose a topic with strong political implications (as most of them will be). Ensure that the subject matter is current, topical, and ongoing.
  1. EXPLORE MAJOR MEDIA COVERAGE: Go to web sites hosted by major online media outlets (such as Al Jazeera, Fox, NBS, BBC, CBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, etc.), and search your topic. Choose at least four different articles to analyze. Save the links.
  2. EXPLORE ALTERNATIVE MEDIA COVERAGE: Research your topic on other alternative and independent media sites such as Human Rights Watch (hrw.org). (Find at least one article.)
  3. EXPLORE INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE: Research international media from various sides of the issue or conflict.

Before you start writing, your teacher will give you feedback on the sources you have chosen to make sure you are on the right path.

Choosing Credible Sources:

Par

Part two:

 

Write a 6-8 page report, using 4-6 varied sources, exploring and analyzing the bias within media coverage of a politically charged issue. Keep in mind the above ideas. The following steps and elements are required:

 

Writing Checklist

In the introduction, provide a brief history of the issue you are investigating, state the purpose of your inquiry, and refer to Chomsky’s commentaries in this part of your presentation.
Write a brief summary of each of the articles, videos, or audio clips you choose. Keep each summary to no more than 150 words. Your summary should be half the length of the analysis you do on each article.
Discuss how each media outlet angles the story in its own distinctive way. Consider intended audience and purpose. How is the political bias of the media outlet revealed in its presentation?
Look at aspects such as the language reporters use, the use and nature of visuals (pictures), the choice of interviewees, the location of the item on the web site, the language contained in the title, and any other aspects of the coverage that illustrate how that network “angles” the story in a particular way.
Compare and contrast articles to show how reporters’ political orientations vary.
In the last section of your paper, discuss McLuhan’s ideas of globalization and retribalization. In light of your media inquiry, how do you (or do you not) see McLuhan’s ideas applying?

Length Guidelines: 6-8 pages, double-spaced (it may be longer if you choose to include images) Include links to the stories/clips/articles in your essay and a Works Cited page at the end of your assignment.

 

Remember: you must follow MLA formatting for this paper. The next lesson includes videos on how to format your paper, how to cite sources within your paper, and how to create a Works Cited page.

 

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