Page 106 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 11 and 12: English, 2007 (Revised)

MEDIA STUDIES
OVERALL EXPECTATIONS
By the end of this course, students will:
1. Understanding Media Texts: demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts;
2. Understanding Media Forms, Conventions, and Techniques: identify some media forms and
explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning;
3. Creating Media Texts: create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques;
4. Reflecting on Skills and Strategies: reflect on and identify their strengths as media interpreters and creators, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in understanding and creating media texts.
SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS
1. Understanding Media Texts
By the end of this course, students will:
Purpose and Audience
1.1 explain how media texts, including complex and challenging texts, are created to suit par- ticular purposes and audiences (e.g., aspects
of advertising campaigns are often modified to reflect the priorities of different regional, cultural, or socio-economic groups; the differing story line-ups of a major news network and a commu- nity television news channel reflect their differing priorities and target audiences1)
Teacher prompt: “Why are different versions of popular board games created for sale in different countries? What are some of the differences?”
Interpreting Messages
1.2 interpret media texts, including complex or challenging texts, identifying and explaining with increasing insight the overt and implied messages they convey (e.g., explain the satiric message in a newspaper cartoon about a social or political issue; explain the messages about Canadian culture in a television program about a Canadian topic; identify some underlying social and/or political messages in an animated TV sit- com and suggest possible reasons why the mes- sages are implied rather than openly expressed)
Teacher prompts: “How can you detect the particular bias of a blog if it is not overtly expressed?” “Why is it important to verify information found on websites?” “Why do you think the few women are featured so prominently in this photograph of a group of politicians?”
Evaluating Texts
1.3 evaluate how effectively information, ideas, themes, issues, and opinions are communicat- ed in media texts, including complex and chal- lenging texts, and decide whether the texts achieve their intended purpose (e.g., determine the credibility of the claims made in a documen- tary film, based on an evaluation of the reliabil- ity and relevance of the evidence presented in it; determine whether and how rhetorical devices such as hyperbole and metaphor in newspaper headlines help clarify the accompanying stories for the reader)
Teacher prompts: “How effectively do the photographs in this feature article enhance the reader’s understanding of the themes and issues addressed in the article? Could more effective photographs have been chosen?” “What makes this public service announcement so effective in reaching a youth audience?”
MEDIA STUDIES
1. TL Media 7-10 “Exploring the Key Concepts in Media Literacy” 2
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English
ENG4U