Update from Wednesday

Today we reviewed for tomorrow's mini-assessment. Hopefully you've reviewed the terms, but as I've said in class, your success is more dependent on your ability to use and apply them in the right situations.

Here is a run down of terms and their meanings:

Key Terms:

 Interpretation: the act of finding or explaining the meaning of something.

Text: We often use the word "text" to mean "written words" Here, it means something a little different. The text of a piece of media is what you actually see and/or hear. It can include written or spoken words, pictures, graphics, moving images, sounds, and the arrangement or sequence of all these elements.

Subtext: The underlying meaning or hidden message that we create from the text (what we see and hear). Subtext cannot be heard or seen.

Disempower: make a person (or group of people) less powerful or confident; to make someone feel inferior, less in control of their lives.

Stereotype- a widely held, but inaccurate belief about particular people or things. 

DECONSTRUCTING “bad” ADS:

1.     Determine the purpose of the ad

2.     Determine the target audience and the text evidence that suggests it

3.     Determine what the ad values. In other words, what message does the ad want its target audience to believe?

4.     Determine how the ad disempowers: consider stereotypes (consider groups that are negatively affected) and misleading information (is the ads message realistic or true?)

PERSUASIVE TECHNIQUES:

-You will not have to memorize the techniques. You may use your language of persuasion handouts for this section.

GENERAL VERSUS SPECIFIC

-General: subtext (messages, values, persuasive techniques)

-Specific: text (using clear evidence from the ad to back up the general stuff J )

-We begin most paragraphs with a general statement that introduces the topic.