Marketing and Popular Media
Uploaded by srheric on Apr 25, 2007
Marketing and Popular Media
The article, “Analyzing popular media texts in the classroom,” can be best categorized as a qualitative study because of the fact that it consists of human theory and it is objective in nature. It also can be identified as a textual analysis because it describes and interprets the characteristics of a message. Like the title suggests this report was done in many classrooms within the years of kindergarten through twelfth grade and it was conducted by teachers who practice media literacy. The main point they are trying to convey is that by relating daily assignments in the classroom with the use of popular films, magazines, television programs, and music lyrics, teachers are able to spawn deep conversations and remarkable writing from their students.
This report is Renee Hobb’s study of using media text in their classroom. She used the television show “The Simpsons” and compared it with some of the works of Mark Twain. She realized that many of her students had a great interest and extensive background knowledge about “The Simpsons,” and that most of them were able to describe the characters, plot lines and other controversies within the show. Taking advantage of this, she used specific areas to relate the two sources. An example of one area she used was social criticism. In many episodes of “The Simpsons” the same targets of humor are used, which she helped her students to understand and analyze them in each instance. Some of these were corporate greed and power, human stupidity and laziness, and hypocritical behavior of government officials. Next, they looked at Mark Twain’s work and how he used targets also to relay his message. Some of his were women’s rights, the jury system, and lobbying and bribery in Washington. Moreover, the students learned that just as “The Simpsons” might be a questionable text in the classrooms of today; some of Mark Twain’s works were regarded as unsuitable material in the schools of his day. By further comparisons of the two materials, the students were able to relate them and gain an understanding of the literature of Mark Twain, which was the teacher’s goal. Overall, Hobb’s was very successful in building the connection between a popular culture source and an important piece of American literature. From reading this article I have...