Becoming Critical by Analyzing Media Messages

Using Information Effectively in Education (ISTC 201)
Tricia Ryan, Instructor

Team Photo

Responding to Critical Questions

Author
Who created this message? List the types of jobs of people involved in the construction of the message. The author of the article was Mary T. Robbins. In the article she interviewed many people about the topic, specifically Alan Locey, a financial consultant who works with city group and was chosen to travel to 150 schools in 15 states for 12 weeks to compete in a city group stock project.

Purpose and Audience
Who is the intended audience for this message? The targeted audience is very broad. On one hand the article is informative for teachers by giving them an idea for projects in their classroom. Furthermore, citizens of Towson and the surrounding areas get to see what the students in school are learning.

What is the purpose of this message (to inform, to persuade, to entertain, self expression, to teach, to make money)? Indicate your choice in a complete sentence and explain reasons for your choice. The purpose of the article was to inform. Robbins writes about a lot of factual information on her topic showing few of her own views and opinions. It is evident that her goal was to let the public know about the stock project that students are currently investing their time in.

Construction
How were image, language, and sound manipulated in this message? There is a picture in this article of a student being advised about his stock portfolio. This is an example of an image. Also language is used because the article is written in words. There is an exchange of dialogue between the presenter and the students. This message does not contain sound.

What techniques are used to attract and hold attention? This article uses quotes from students to hold the attention of its audience and show class participation. Also the author put an image in the article to attract the audience to the page.

Form
What type of message is this? (Personal narrative -express personal ideas; Informational-define, inform, explain; Persuasive -makes a knowledgeable judgment and supports argument with evidence). Describe. The message of this article is to formally inform students of the benefits of investments. Alan Locey uses a form of persuasion to display effective results of this experiment. He provides examples in the literature. The form of the article is effective in the way that Locey purposes the idea of stock to students and gradually uses their ideas to encourage investing.

Interpretation
How does this message connect with your life experience? This article discusses school which is something that every reader has experienced in their life.

How does this message compare with other media messages you've received? Unlike many other media messages this article reports the positive work of students and the encouragement they are receiving from the corporate world. This article is one of the few that sheds an uplifting light on our educational systems.

Representation
How are stereotypes (or fixed ideas about things, people, or events) evident in this message? A fixed idea would be that all these children are picking stock that they see successful in the media. An example of this would be that children picking Phier because they produce Viagra or Coca-Cola because they are highly advertised.

What point of view is represented in this message? (Identify and trace the development of an author’s argument, viewpoint, or perspective). The point of view is third person informative. No direct point of view is shown.

Other
What has been left out of this message? The author fails to give an opinion on whether the project is necessary for the students curriculum. She explains what the students are working on, yet fails to bring it to life by showing whether it is an efficient and effective project.

This learning activity was adapted from the curriculum, Assignment: Media Literacy, a resource to build critical-thinking and communication skills for life in a media and information society, developed by Maryland State Department of Education and Discovery Communications, Inc.