Language+and+Media+II

MEMBERS : Arvindan Nayar s/o Prabhakaran Jaanatharaj Ahnand Pillai Darrel Ponni

Topics Covered;
 * 1) //**The Functions of Media in Society**//
 * 2) //**The Use of Language in Various Media Resources**//
 * 3) //**Analyzing Advertisement and New Stories**//
 * 4) //**Interpretation of Ambiguous Sentences/ Headlines**//
 * 5) //**How Can Media Help Language Teach in Classroom Language Teaching**//

__//**The Functions of Media in Society**//__

The media plays a very significant role in our society today. The media is all around us. From the shows we watch on TV, the music we listen to on the radio, to the books, magazines, and newspapers we read each day. Without the media, people in societies would be isolated, not only from the rest of the world, but from governments, law-makers, and neighboring towns and cities.
 * Introduction

The flow of information is important for the development of communities and the media facilitates this. Without a wide array of information, people’s opinions and views would be limited and their impressions and conclusions of the world around them stunted. Historically, the most common form of the distribution of information was word of mouth, with the news often beginning with the words, “Did you know…”. Indeed, word of mouth is still one of the most powerful tools in the sharing of information today, particularly in tourism, but technology has allowed for this exchange to take place in an instant, forging the way for bigger and better media houses with the instant access to information with the instant gratification factor.
 * The flow of information/introduction of technology

Media workers are in essence interpreters of information. All of us at some point have been to the library to do research for a paper or report, sifting through piles and piles of information to support a thesis in 1,000 words or more, or to simply explain an event, situation, or person. Journalists in the media do much the same. They don’t just provide pages of facts and statistics that the average person might not understand. Instead, they weed out the important issues and points, putting them in a context that the average reader and listener can make sense of in order to form their own opinions. How terrible would it be if we all had to sift through piles of documentation and statistics, or sit through press conferences, just to find out that the price of rice in China has risen? Journalists provide the six basic areas of information: Who, what, where, why, and how. Most of the time, that’s all we need to know. In this way, the media keeps us focussed on the issues that matter in a surveillance-type way. Some aspects of media surveillance include the latest stock report, sports scores, entertainment news, progress and results of an election, and so forth.
 * Interpreters/surveillance guys

While the media has historically been viewed as being overly aggressive and insatiable in their plight for the latest and hottest news, their watchdog-type function is essential in a democratic society where people MUST know what their governments are doing. The media has the capacity to hold governments accountable, forcing them to explain their actions and decisions, all of which affect the people they represent. In a democratic society, people should know all their options if they are to govern themselves, and the media is a vehicle for the dissemination of such information. The assumption in some societies is that the press speaks for the people, thus the Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press Acts in many other countries. The reason for Freedom of the Press is to ensure that democracy is able to function, so it is important to understand that such legislation does not only protect the functions of the press. With press freedom we then know what the differing views in society are, opening the floor to debate, and discussion, all of which are healthy functions of a democratic society. The Soviet Union and East Germany both crumbled for this same reason – the people would not be dictated to any longer.
 * Watchdogs

Finally, one of the most powerful strengths the media has in any society is the ability to effect change, both on a social and governmental level. While my focus in this presentation has been on the role of media in society, it is also important to acknowledge the responsibility of the media in society. As journalists we all have the responsibility to report the unbiased, accurate information as it is received from reliable sources. It is our obligation to obtain all sides of a story, and to report on both the good and bad stuff. However, “responsible journalism” also requires a balance of the good and bad stuff in newspapers and in broadcast reports. The lack of such balance, particularly in Caribbean news publications, is what necessitated the formation of our organization, Caribbean Media Organization for Sustainable Tourism (CMOST). Caribbean Media Organization for Sustainable Tourism (CMOST). members feel that without reporters and editors seeing the importance of balanced news reporting, and paying closer attention and more care to the placement of the bad stuff in publications, our region’s tourism product will continue to be hindered. As I said earlier, technology has allowed for that instant gratification for the sharing of information, and we cannot ignore the fact that news is still being spread with the “Did you hear…” mouth to ear system. Caribbean Media Organization for Sustainable Tourism (CMOST).encourages journalists and media houses to assist in the plight to sustain tourism in the region, by being more responsible, and seeking the good, as well as the bad stuff.
 * Conclusion

__//**The Use of Language in Various Media Resources**//__

__//**Analyzing Advertisement and New Stories**//__

**How to Analyze an Advertisement** --Finding Advertisements Hidden Messages

There's more to advertising's message than meets the casual eye. An effective ad, like other forms of communication, works best when it strikes a chord in the needs and desires of the receiving consumer -- a connection that can be both intuitive and highly calculated.

Before you begin analyzing an ad, it’s a good idea to reflect a bit on the purpose of the analysis. Is the goal to discover strengths and weaknesses in the ad in order to help the organization develop a more persuasive campaign? Or, is the purpose to deconstruct the ad, to critique it as a “text”? Or, do you plan to analyze the ad as an exemplar of a specific social condition? While these purposes are not necessarily mutually exclusive, each entails a specific point of departure that conditions what we can possibly see in the message. For example, while we, as academics, are often critical of the sheer amount of ads in society, this critical stance sometimes prevents us from appreciating the creativity at play in a specific ad or ad campaign. The principles outlined below are relevant in each case, although the order of principles applied may vary according to your purpose. Please note: Although answers to all the questions below are essential in order to make a complete analysis, you may not have access all the relevant information.

**The Sender**


 * 1) Is the sender a business firm trying to sell you and product or a service, a public organization seeking to inform you about its policies, a politician trying to win your allegiance, or an interest group hoping to change your opinion? Other? What difference does it make?


 * 2) What’s the ethos (the general standing or credibility) of the sender?


 * 3) Is the sender speaking directly to you? Or indirectly – through an “endorser”? And who has created the text? Is there, in other words, a difference between the sender, the author and the person (if any) who addresses us? What purpose does such difference serve in this ad?


 * 4) What is the ad trying to accomplish? What is, in other words, the sender’s “problem”? Although it may not appear to us as a problem, there’s always some kind of communication problem behind an ad or campaign. For example, the sender may seek more awareness, more differentiation, or more legitimacy.


 * 5) Are you aware of any specific communication problems (or conditions) within the sender’s specific industry, or market, or area of activity?


 * 6) Is the product, service or message from the sender new or old? Where in the so-called “life-cycle” of the product, service or message are we, in other words?

**The Message**

What does a straight-forward reading of the ad say? What is, in other words, its denotative meaning?

Which connotations has the sender intended for us to observe?

What additional connotations come to your mind when reading the ad?

What ideologies does the ad evoke? In other words, what images, discourses, concepts, myths, etc. of the general culture does the ad trade on, or rework, when making its appeal?

What types of intertextuality (reference to other “texts”) and intratextuality (reference to other parts of the same “text”), if any, can you detect in the ad?

What types of signs does the ad employ?...:


 * Iconic: A sign that has certain qualities in common with the object it stands for: for example similarity. A picture of a person, for example, has iconic qualities because it is a sign that refers to that particular person through some degree of resemblance.


 * Indexical: A sign that refers to its object because it is being affected by that object in some real way. Footprints on the beach, for example, are affected by the feet of somebody walking there just as smoke is often caused by fire. The relation between an index and its object is, in other words, based on causality or physical connection.


 * Symbolic: A sign with only conventional associations to the object it stands for: for example, a rose is for love.

What type(s) of language does the ad employ? Imperative? Suggestive? Figurative?

What type(s) of message appeal is employed (for example, fear, humor, sex, pulse, comparisons, repetitions, etc.)?

What types of rhetorical figures (alliteration, antithesis, pun, etc.) can you find in the ad? What do these rhetorical figures do to the message?

What types of rhetorical tropes (metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, ambiguity, paradox, ellipsis, etc.) can you spot? Again, what purposes do these rhetorical tropes serve in this particular ad?

Having answered the questions above you should be able to characterize the ad as either:


 * Simple: A product and simple product information (often ‘hard’ facts) on a neutral background.


 * Compound: Realistic pictures of use situations with fairly straight-forward associations: for example, the demonstrations of a (new) product in use.


 * Complex: The background takes over and the ad is replete with connotations indicating, for example, status, luxury, sex, or power.


 * Sophisticated: Extension of complex ads, employing subtle associations, advanced symbolism, or sophisticated inter- or intratextuality.

**What creative strategy does the ad use?** Distinguish between the following types:
 * Generic: A message that is general for a whole product category (like, for example, “Drink milk, it’s good for you!”)


 * Pre-emptive: A message that suggests – in words or pictures, or both – the sender is better that its competitors (Carlsberg: “Probably the best beer in the world”)


 * Unique selling proposition: A message emphasizing unique product features that sets it apart from its competitors (“This detergent washes your clothes white at a lower temperature”)


 * Brand image: An independent image strategy, where the image is foregrounded (for example, the campaigns from Camel or Marlboro cigarettes)


 * Positioning: A dependent image strategy, where the sender “leans” on the image(s) of another organisation (Subaru: “Volvo has built a reputation for surviving accidents. Subaru has developed a reputation for avoiding them.”)


 * Resonance: A message that appeals to central themes in the life of the receiver (like, for example, “Don’t you know the feeling when none of your kitchen appliances are working…Then it’s good that we have X (a kitchen appliance rental firm)).

How does the ad connect concrete product features (so-called “message elements”) with more abstract values (the so-called “driving force”)? Is the message part of a standardized, global campaign or is it specifically adapted to a local market?

**The Receiver**

What model or implied receiver can you spot in the ad? The model receiver is the image of the receiver as envisioned by the sender when crafting the ad—in other words, not the actual receiver. You can distinguish between the following types:


 * The rational model receiver: When the receiver is appealed to through the use of rational information, (pseudo)scientific argument, or by highlighting functional characteristics.


 * The conditioned model receiver: When the receiver is communicated to using simple hierarchy-of-effects principles, or appealed to by simply reiterating the same message.


 * The integrated model receiver: When the receiver is appealed to by focusing on the opinion of significant others (like, for example, “Buy this before your neighbor does!”)


 * The emotional model receiver: When the receiver is communicated to through the use of a-rational or non-rational appeals (like, for example, “Why wait till tomorrow; get it now!” or the use of subtle imagery and complex symbolism).


 * The active model receiver: When the receiver is appealed to as person who’s actively constructing his or her own life out of available means (or fragments)—a postmodern consumer, for example, who picks and chooses freely across categories.


 * Who do you imagine is actually seeing the ad? Reading it? Involved in it? And affected by it? Explain.


 * Distinguish between external and internal receivers. What group of external receivers to you imagine is mostly affected by the ad? Why? And internally—who among the organizations’ own employees, is most involved in this ad?

** How to Analyze a Story ** While analyzing poetry, you have only a small amount of primary material with which to work. While analyzing a story, you have expanded the original source. A story is a short narrative that encapsulates generally a few major themes. It is not a novel, which is a long narrative, full of characters, ideas, themes, and plots. A story (or "short story") is a narrative that essentially focuses on one plot and a few characters. Because of the narrow focus on the original writing, your analysis will be much more focused, as well. When you begin to analyze a story, follow these steps in order to avoid confusion. One quick read — or even one thorough read — is never sufficient to analyzing a story. Because stories are rather short, you will be able to find time to read the story several times. Analyzing a story you only 'sort of know' will do you no good. Your analysis will be shoddy and it will come across through your writing (or presentation). Once you have read the story sufficiently to understand it as best you can, it is helpful to discuss the story with another person. If this story was assigned in school, you will probably be discussing it in class, where you will have the guidance of a teacher and opinions of several other students. More brains are always better than one; consequently, open your mouth and ask your questions. Bring your analysis into the forefront of a conversation so that you can discuss ideas. You may discover that you have found a brilliant new way to view a story. Or, you may discover that your analysis is so far off track that you will need to re-read the story to understand what is truly occurring within. Stories, like novels, essays, and poems, can carry several themes. You must select one to focus on in your analysis. The beauty of analyzing a story is that it will not be overwrought with too much symbolism or too much plot. It should be fairly easy to select a specific idea to follow. Once you have selected the theme you want to analyze in the story, go on to the next step. Once you have selected the theme of the story for your analysis, then you must begin the analysis. Go through the story several times and find at least three examples of your theme. Think about them and how they apply to the characters, plot, and real life. If you cannot bring three examples of a theme together into an overall analysis (message), then perhaps you should start from the beginning and select a new theme. It is important to remember that you must stay with the same theme throughout your analysis. If you jump around topics, then your analysis will be weak in several areas. Like any analysis, essay, or research paper, an outline is vital. It is the skeleton of your analysis, the scaffolding that holds your ideas together. It is your organizational crutch. Your outline for the story analysis should begin with an introduction (including a thesis statement), followed by three examples of the theme in your story, and a conclusion bringing all the examples of the themes together. This conclusion will be significant in an analysis, for you will be putting together what you have just explained into a greater context. The conclusion is the ultimate analysis of the story and should leave the audience/readership understanding the story in a new light. Now that you have all your themes and ideas written down in a nice outline, you are ready to write your analysis. While it initially seemed like a daunting task, because you have done all the work already, you can now simply place all the work together into a nice organized and complete analysis. If your story analysis is meant to be an oral presentation, follow the same steps. You will still need an outline, as presentations are no different than written papers in content. The only difference is presentation. Your outline will serve as your notes. It will be your guide as you speak to your teacher and class.
 * 1) ** Read over the story several times **
 * 1) ** Discuss the story with a teacher or peer **
 * 1) ** Select a specific theme **
 * 1) ** Research that theme **
 * 1) ** Write an outline **
 * 1) **Write the paper**