Page 72 - 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 texts, are created to suit particular purposes and audiences (e.g., reality television shows use ordinary people from different walks of life to appeal to different demographic groups; an infomercial uses techniques associated with public service announcements to persuade people to buy a product“for their own good”)
Teacher prompt: “Why do advertisements fea- ture endorsements from ‘professionals’ and testimonials from ‘satisfied customers’?”
Interpreting Messages
1.2 interpret media texts, including increasingly complex texts, identifying and explaining the overt and implied messages they convey (e.g., determine which book covers or movie posters are aimed at females and which at males; deter- mine what model of happiness a popular teenage television show promotes1)
Teacher prompts: “What messages do various details on the cover of your favourite CD convey about the music or the artist?” “What does this program suggest about the use of violence to solve problems?”
Evaluating Texts
1.3 evaluate how effectively information, ideas, issues, and opinions are communicated in media texts, including increasingly complex texts, and decide whether the texts achieve their intended purpose (e.g., determine how well the name and logo of a sports team commu- nicate messages about the team and promote loyalty among its fans; explain the purposes that text messaging serves effectively and those for which it is not a useful medium)
Teacher prompt: “What types of messages do military recruitment ads communicate effec- tively? Are the ads effective in depicting the reality of life in the military? Why or why not?”
Audience Responses
1.4 explain why the same media text might prompt different responses from different audiences (e.g., explain why a public service announcement about gambling addiction might prompt different reactions from consumers and people in the casino business; explain why some audiences might respond positively and others negatively to celebrity endorsements of social justice causes2)
Teacher prompts: “Why might male and female players respond differently to gender stereotypes in video games?” “Why might an unflattering newspaper photograph of a politician prompt different responses among different groups?”
MEDIA STUDIES
71
1. TL Media 7-10 “Reading Between the Lines (Predictions)” 10
2. TL Media 7-10 “Examining Multiple Perspectives of an Advertisement” 22
English
ENG3C