The History of Media: The Electronic Era (radio, film, television)

ESSAY 1 Guidelines       

Standard Margins Submitted to Quercus in Doc or Docx or PDF (Pages not recognized) —MLA or APA format: quotes and paraphrasing need page numbers (Smith 235) or (Smith, 2000, p. 235). —Reference your 2+ outside academic sources (blogs, wikis, pop websites are not permitted, but can be referenced in addition to these scholarly sources. They do not count toward the 2.)   --Reference the course text at least once.  FORMAT —State your thesis at the end of Paragraph 1
-- what will you claim?  —Follow the “5x5” Essay Model (even if 6+ parags).  Parag 1 Intro Parag 2 Topic – Early writing (for example) Parag 3 Topic – Invention of printing press  Parag 4 Topic – Effects of printing on mass publishing  Parag 5 Conclusion SOME WRITING TIPS Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence and address that topic.   Block quotes (more than 3 full lines) should only be used in rare cases when you cannot summarize the gist, and almost never in 5-page papers.  Introduce all quotes. As Campbell suggests,  cinema can “educate us...” (Campbell 2005, p.5) Quotes cannot stand alone. “Ads are platforms for action” (Ewen, 2005, p.5) Topic 1 The History of Media (Eras) Campbell et al. outline the major Periods in the History of Media that we examined in the first 3 weeks of class: The Spoken Era (theories of language among early people), The Written Era (Sumerian and Egyptian writing), The Rise of Print (Gutenberg), the Electronic Era (radio, film, television), and the Digital Era (MP3 downloading, our time).  Choose one period of Transition between Eras in Media (for example, how the Printing Press ended centuries of Writing by hand). Once you have chosen your period Medium, examine 3 ways the new medium (for example, printed books) changed media use in society.  Topics could include:  • How early writing in Sumer allowed for accounting and record keeping (and 2 other social changes of your choice); • How the new Printing Press in the 1450s enabled political campaigning (and 2 other social changes of your choice) • How the invention of home radios in the 1920s affected concert attendance, since people listened from home (and 2 other social changes of your choice);  • How the TV in the late 1940s frightened the movie industry (and 2 other social changes of your choice);     Topic 2.  Media, Postmodernism and Identity In our reading on “Postmodern Culture,” Strinati outlines 5 Elements of the Postmodern Era. He claims that in our Postmodern Media Culture:   1. There is no distinction between culture and society. 2. There is an emphasis on style more than substance. 3. There is no longer a distinction between high culture (art) and low/popular culture. 4. Time and space are treated as “fluid” or uncertain concepts.  5. The “metanarratives” or over-arching stories of a society (religions, myths, ethical systems) are in decline.   Do you think we live in a Postmodern Media Culture?  As examples of this culture, the textbook lists these media: “music videos, remote controls, Nike ads, shopping malls, fax machines, e-mail, video games, blogs, USA Today, YouTube, iPads, hip-hop, and reality TV.”   Select a Medium (for example, TV or Cinema) and a Media Text (for example, a Show like “Game of Thrones” or a movie like The Great Gatsby).   Outline in your paper how your example illustrates 3 of the Elements of Postmodernism listed above.  (For example, “Game of Thrones” confuses time since it appears historical due to the castles, costumes, medieval customs, etc. but is pure fantasy.  The Great Gatsby with Leonardo DiCaprio examines style and “appearances” over substance and reality.   Select a Medium and Media Text from the Postmodern Era (1950s-present).     Topic 3 Disney and Childhood Media  Campbell et al. in our textbook call Walt Disney Company “a postmodern media conglomerate.”  The company’s success is attributed to its mastery of Childhood Culture, beginning in the 1920s and cemented in 1937 with the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Since then, Disney has become the modern storyteller, and purveyor of Fairy Tales for generations.   Critics have noted many elements of Disney’s films, such as the man often saves the woman; women and girls often await a Prince; characters voiced by Black and Latino characters often do things are not supposed to, lie, or commit crimes; locations such as the Middle East in Aladdin are depicted as threatening.   View the Gender and Race sections of the Educational Film Mickey Mouse Monopoly https://www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=aTe5s9yHeNI  The commentators in MMM point out criticisms of Disney stories that you may or may not agree with.   Select a Disney movie (or show) that is NOT addressed in the film, perhaps a more recent Disney film, which can include live action productions.   Select Key Scenes you think are important, and assess how the story depicts Gender and Race, in separate paragraphs. You should argue your point, and do not have to agree entirely with what is said in Mickey Mouse Monopoly.  You may find that in post-2000 Disney movies, gender and race a better represented.    As you outline your 3 Body Paragraphs, be sure to describe the Scenes quickly: “The scene begins with Belle running from the Beast, and we see…”