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I will put together a video with clips from various TV offerings, including sitcoms, cartoons, commercials, documentaries, music videos, and news programs. This unit should be taught after the units on TV advertising, print advertising, and propaganda. As a result, the students will already have some background and practice with rhetoric. We will watch the video in class, stopping after each clip to discuss what it says about America - American culture, the role of different genders and ethnic groups in America, etc. We will discuss whether the students think "America" is really like the way it is portrayed on TV. We can discuss whether there is an overriding "American" culture, and what its characteristics might be. For example, we might discuss the founding principles of our country and the rights we all expect, or perhaps aspects of media and technology. For homework, students will choose a TV show, commercial, or news program and write an essay on what kind of "American image" it portrays, including a discussion of values, social hierarchies, etc. They will also discuss whether they think it is an accurate image and what kind of effect they think it might have on its audience. |
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