Page 56 - 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 increasing- ly complex or difficult texts, are created to suit particular purposes and audiences (e.g., a web- site uses fonts, graphics,“wallpaper”, and con- tent to establish its brand identity for an audi- ence and the advertisers who wish to reach that audience; public service announcements use shocking images to grab viewers’ attention1)
Teacher prompt: “Why does an image of an accident victim in a public service announce- ment focus your attention on safety practices?”
Interpreting Messages
1.2 interpret media texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, identifying and explaining the overt and implied messages they convey (e.g., explain how the perspective and audience of a newspaper or magazine are revealed in the type of advertising it attracts; explain the overt and implied messages about violence conveyed by a children’s cartoon featur- ing conflict between animal characters)
Teacher prompts: “What societal values or beliefs are revealed in ads for cosmetic sur- gery?” “Are the implied messages in a per- fume advertisement based on facts?”
Evaluating Texts
1.3 evaluate how effectively information, ideas, themes, issues, and opinions are communicat- ed in media texts, including increasingly com- plex or difficult texts, and decide whether the texts achieve their intended purpose (e.g., determine whether the use of multiple perspec- tives in a documentary about a historical event clarifies or blurs the focus of the film; comment on the effectiveness of the use of flashbacks in
a movie to provide the background needed to understand character development and plot)
Teacher prompt: “Is a newspaper editorial effective only if you agree with it? What if it makes you look for ways to strengthen your own counter-arguments?”
Audience Responses
1.4 explain why the same media text might prompt different responses from different audiences (e.g., explain why a war veteran and a student might have different reactions to their country’s flag; explain why a parent and a teen might respond differently to a Young Adult novel depict- ing teen issues and behaviour in a realistic way)
Teacher prompts: “Why might some people be offended by certain ring tones?” “Why does this documentary on climate change prompt such conflicting responses among viewers?”
MEDIA STUDIES
1. TL Media 7-10 “Exploring the Key Concepts of Media Literacy” 2
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English
ENG3U