Does television reflect or distort reality? Does it shape our feelings and reactions about minority groups, or is it just entertainment?
This essay will require you to examine one example of this popular media, and address the questions listed under Prepare and Submit.
INSTRUCTIONS
In order to prepare you must complete the following readings:
- Identify and review the relevant sections of Chapter 3 that discuss Stereotyping, The Influence of Television, The Influence of Advertising and Music.
- Identify and incorporate at least two outside sources to support your discussion.
- Identify a popular TV program, either current or an older show. Since you will need to review the program carefully, I recommend that you either record the program, or view one that is available on tape or DVD
- As you view the program you will be identifying and documenting any examples of stereotyping related to race or ethnicity that are depicted in the program.
PREPARE AND SUBMIT
Write a well organized essay, a minimum of 700 words (but not limited to), including supporting details from the textbook and other sources you have identified (at least 2), in which you analyze and discuss the material that you have read and the program that you have viewed. When writing your essay you must address the following:
- Write a summary in which you identify the program and characters, and plot.
- Discuss the instances that you have identified as being examples of stereotypes and explain why they meet the criteria discussed in the chapter.
- Include any examples of ethnophaulisms and ethnic humor if applicable.
- Discuss if the program portrays other topics that are addressed in the chapter, such as prejudice, discrimination, ethnoviolence, scapegoating, or racial profiling.
- Evaluate if the program reflects or distorts social reality, supporting your positon with facts from your analysis.
REMINDERS
- Paragraphs in an essay are not numbered. Any questions that are associated with an assigned reading are there to serve as a guide for your discussion.
- Your discussion should incorporate all of the information from the documents and or textbook, and outside sources as one essay.
- Students are required to research and incorporate into their discussions additional sources that relate to the content. Chapters contain documents in sections titled Comparative Essays, Comparative Illustrations, and Opposing Viewpoints, and maps and tables also provide information that can be used to support discussion of your essay topic. Recommendations can be found at the end of textbook chapter in Suggested Reading, in Primary Source documents posted in many of the chapter folders, in the Enrichment Activites folder. Many chapters also have videos relating to the content of that chapter, and can be used as reference material. Wikipedia is not an acceptable reference.
- All statements must be supported, and all sources including your textbook and assigned readings must be cited in the essay, and included in your reference list. Failure to do so constitutes Plagiarism, and the college has strict policies and penalties for failure to comply. Under the StudentWriting Resources tab you will find links to sites that review how to format a paper or essay. I recommend that students use APA to format their essay. Since you are not writng a Research paper, you do not have to include an Abstract. Students should ask their instructor which format style they prefer you to use.
- Proofread your work.Make sure that you have looked for all of the spelling and grammatical errors and corrected them, and that you have organized your work into coherent paragraphs.
- Prepare the assignment as a Word Document, double-spaced and using a standard font of 12 points.
- Submit it in the Dropbox as an ATTACHMENT. Any work that is submitted directly into the box will be graded as a 0.
Point Value: 100
Grading Criteria:
- Analysis and discussion. (60%)
- Support of discussion (30%)
- Organization. (10%)
