ETHOS

Media Literacy Notes

9th Grade Honors

Key Words DefinedA medium is a means of communication

A mass medium is a means of mass communication

Culture: Socially influenced ways of living, transmitted from one generation to another.

What is Media Literacy About?Learning how to use media wisely and effectivelyEngaging in critical thinking when evaluating media messagesBeing able to evaluate the credibility of information from different sourcesRecognizing medias influence on beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviorsAchieving greater understanding and appreciating multiple perspectivesLearning to produce communication and express oneself using different forms of media

Key Concepts1. All media messages are constructed.

2. Each medium has different characteristics, strengths, and a unique language of construction.

3. Media messages are produced for particular purposes.

Key Concepts, contd4. All media messages contain embedded values and points of view.

5. People use their individual skills, beliefs, and experiences to construct their own meanings from media messages.

6. Media and media messages can influence beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors.

ETHOS

ETHOS: ethical appeal, authority, means convincing by the character of the author. We tend to believe people whom we respect. One of the central problems of argumentation is to project an impression to the reader that you are someone worth listening to, in other words making yourself as author into an authority on the subject of the paper, as well as someone who is likable and worthy of respect.

LOGOS

LOGOS: logic: means persuading by the use of reasoning. We'll look at deductive and inductive reasoning, and discuss what makes an effective, persuasive reason to back up your claims. Giving reasons is the heart of argumentation, and cannot be emphasized enough.

LOGOS

PATHOS

PATHOS: (Emotional) means persuading by appealing to the reader's emotions. We can look at texts ranging from classic essays to contemporary advertisements to see how pathos, emotional appeals, are used to persuade. Language choice affects the audience's emotional response, and emotional appeal can effectively be used to enhance an argument.

DIGRESSION

DIGRESSION: In a persuasive text, a brief story that seems slightly off topic, but establishes why the author is an authority.

REFUTATION

REFUTATION: In a persuasive text, this paragraph acknowledges the other side of the argument and proves why it is wrong

CALL TO ACTION

CALL TO ACTION: demands the audience do something about the topic. Gives the audience a specific task to complete (vote, write letters, speak to figures of authority).

P R O P O G A N D A

PROPOGANDA : ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect

BIG BROTHER

BANDWAGON: Ad populum is the original Latin term, meaning to the people, suggesting that a person yields his opinion to the will of the public majority rather than to logic. Bandwagon appeals are arguments that urge people to follow the same paths that others do. In old-time political campaigns, politicians used to travel literally on horse-drawn bandwagons, urging citizens to jump on the bandwagon or join the crowd to vote for them.

EMOTIONAL TRANSFER: This advertising appeal is implemented in two ways. One, a product is made to associate with an emotion. Or the advertisers state an analogy between a product and a disliked figure in society.

LOGICAL FALLACY: a process of reasoning which in its method is false; performative contradiction. For example, an ad hominem argument attacks the opposing person, not the argument itself. There are hundreds of logical fallacies.

STRAWMAN: a logical fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by replacing it with a superficially similar yet inequivalent proposition (the "straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position.

STRAWMAN example 1: Bill and Jill are arguing about cleaning out their closets:Jill: "We should clean out the closets. They are getting a bit messy."Bill: "Why, we just went through those closets last year. Do we have to clean them out everyday?"Jill: "I never said anything about cleaning them out every day. You just want too keep all your junk forever, which is just ridiculous."

STRAWMAN example 2: "Senator Jones says that we should not fund the attack submarine program. I disagree entirely. I can't understand why he wants to leave us defenseless like that."

SLIPPERY SLOPE: states that a relatively small first step leads to a chain of related events culminating in some significant effect, much like an object given a small push over the edge of a slope sliding all the way to the bottom. The strength of such an argument depends on the warrant (whether or not one can demonstrate a process which leads to the significant effect).

FALSE DICHOTOMY: involves a situation in which only two alternatives are considered, when in fact there are additional options (sometimes shades of grey between the extremes). For example, "It wasn't medicine that cured Ms. X, so it must have been a miracle."

No more writing

Your Research Paper

TYPES OF RESEARCHPRIMARY RESEARCHSECONDARY RESEARCH

RESEARCHERS GATHER THEIR OWN DATA (POLLS, EXPERIMENTS)RESEARCH CARRIED OUT BY OTHER PEOPLE

WHAT IS A RESEARCH PAPER?A research paper is a summary of what others have already said or written on a given subject.

WHICH MEANS IT IS BASED ON WHAT TYPE OF RESEARCH? PRIMARY OR SECONDARY?

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF PRIMARY RESEARCH? SECONDARY RESEARCH?

THERE ARE 8 STEPS

STEP 1:

PICK A TOPIC

STEP 2:

COME UP WITH QUESTIONS

RESEARCH!STEP 3:

STEP 4: READ AND TAKE NOTES

STEP 5: GATHER & OUTLINE

STEP 6: ROUGH DRAFT

STEP 7: REVISE & EDIT

STEP 8: FINALIZE & ORGANIZE