MEDIA LITERACY: (Prescriptive Persuasion)

Prescription is the act of establishing official rules, laws, or directions. Medical prescriptions, for example, include simple orders for medications and detailed instructions for the care of patients. Linguistic prescriptions establish the normal rules of language usage, and legal prescriptions establish rights according to longstanding customs. Persuasion is the act of influencing beliefs and behaviors. The goal of persuasion is to bring about a change in attitudes or actions. Politicians, for example, use persuasion when seeking election or support for policies. Advertisers use persuasion to sell products and services. Prescription and persuasion are naturally complementary. We first tell people what they should do, and then we motivate them to do it.

For your research paper, you must prescribe a method of media literacy and then persuade your readers to follow this method. Specifically, you must define media literacy and then provide examples of “deep” messages found in news photographs and “shallow” messages found in fashion photographs. You must limit your discussion to material from your first two essays and from your documented research.

You will need to rework your introductions from Essay 1 and Essay 2 into a new introduction for the documented paper. Develop a hook that effectively grabs your readers’ attention. The introduction should start broad and then narrow to the main point of the paper. For example, consider discussing the influence of media in general before narrowing to a discussion of news media and advertising media in particular. Provide an effective definition of media literacy and then identify the five specific images.Finish your introduction by establishing your controlling idea. Your thesis should be a proposal (i.e. in prescriptive/persuasive form). For example, you could say that we should be media literate in order to enjoy the beneficial effects of healthy media messages and to avoid the harmful effects of unhealthy media messages.

Divide the body of your paper into two main sections: news photography and fashion photography. Each section should have a topic sentence. Here you are basically splicing your Essay 1 and Essay 2 together. You will have to work on making smooth transitions between sections, though, and you will have to work in some outside research.
In your conclusion, you should return to your thesis. Then summarize your key points and lead out of your discussion. It may be a good idea to come full circle by tying in the end of your paper with the hook you established at the beginning. As with the introduction, the conclusion should establish the context of the paper by connecting the material to the readers.

Your paper must be between 5 and 8 pages long and must follow proper MLA format. Be sure to save your file as a Word or PDF document and to name your file as follows: SmithJohnDP(using your own name, of course). Submit the final draft of your documented paper to the appropriate Blackboard assignmentby the due date listed on your Course Schedule.

Research Requirements

You must use 7 to 9 sources for your paper. Five of these sources must be the specific news and fashion photographs. One source must be a definition of media literacy. The other one to three sources must address relevant material, including (but not limited to) the following topics: news media, photojournalism, art, advertising media, fashion photography, gender stereotypes, and media literacy education.

Your paper must include at least one cited paraphrase, one cited quotation, and one cited block quote. You must also include a complete and properly formatted Works Cited page at the end of the paper.
Recommended Outline for the Documented Paper

I.Introduction (one or two paragraphs)

A. Provide an effective lead (hook and bridge).
B. Discuss the influence of media in our lives.
C. Define “media literacy.”
D. Distinguish between news and advertising media.
E. Identify the five specific images.
F. Establish the organizationalpattern of your paper.
G. Clearly state your thesis. (Why should we be media literate?)

II. News Photographs (three paragraphs)—Essay 1

A.Narrate the most recent events leading up to the exact moment
that is captured in the photograph.
B.Describe the news photograph in as much detail aspossible.
C.Establish and elaborate on your topic sentence about news
photography. (Why are “deep” imagesbeneficial?)

III. Fashion Photography (three to five paragraphs)—Essay 2

A. Establish and elaborate on your topic sentence about fashion
photography. (Why are “shallow” images detrimental?)
B. Describe and contrast the women’s and men’s covers.
C. Describe and contrast the women’s and men’s advertisements.

IV.Conclusion(one paragraph)

Restate your thesis and summarize your key points.
Prescribe a method of media literacy.
Establish the significance of your paper (So What?).
Provide an effective finish that ties in with the introduction.
Works Cited
“Gigi Hadid Covers Vogue Paris March 2016.” Vogue Paris. N.p., 9 Feb. 2016. Web. 13 May 2016. <http://en.vogue.fr/fashion/fashion-news/diaporama/gigi-hadid-covers-vogue-paris-march-2016/25410>.
Mascarelli, Amanda Leigh. N.p., 19 Sept. 2014. Web. 7 May 2016. <https://student.societyforscience.org/article/media%E2%80%99s-dangerous-influence-body-image>.
“Mathias Lauridsen for Emporio Armani Diamonds For Men Fragrance.” N.p., 1 Nov. 2010. Web. 13 May 2016. <http://www.designscene.net/2010/11/mathias-lauridsen-emporio-armani-diamonds-men-fragrance.html>.
Media Literacy Fundamentals. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2016. <http://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/media-literacy-fundamentals>.
National Eating Disorders. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 May 2016. <http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/media-body-image-and-eating-disorders>.
N.p., 19 Sept. 201. Web. <https://student.societyforscience.org/article/media%E2%80%99s-dangerous-influence-body-image>.
Sebra, Matt. “Behind The Cover: GQ’s July Issue with Kate Upton.” N.p., 20 June 2012. Web. 13 May 2016. <http://www.gq.com/story/behind-the-cover-gqs-july-issue-with-kate-upton>.
Stanley Forman Photos. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2016.<http://stanleyformanphotos.com/gallerysoilingoldglory.html>.
US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Healthh. N.p., May-June 2003. Web. 7 May 2016. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/>.