"Something there is in our intellectual
culture that doesn't like a picture."
Calvin Skaggs
"Back to basics" advocates who dismiss visual media courses as frivolous would not view kindly the idea that literacy in the visual
media of television, film, and advertising is no less important to a solid education than are reading and writing.
But even critics of curricula not grounded solely in the classic works of literature or
the fundamentals of grammar and composition must acknowledge that the visual media, so pervasive in society as to be inescapable, are an
influential force that shapes perceptions of reality, history, and society.
In the face of such influence it would seem prudent to rethink curricula in terms of an appropriately broader literacy.
Within this broader literacy, students should be made aware of the scope and power of
these media, and learn to be discriminating consumers if they are not to be manipulated or deceived [Wagschal, ED 239833;
Gnizak and Girshman, CS 007238].
Although the "basics" trend is an effort to abate verbal illiteracy, verbal and visual literacy are, to a high degree, inseparable. According to Skaggs, "One cannot increase visual literacy without enriching verbal literacy. It may also be argued that we can no longer achieve verbal literacy among our youth without attempting systematically to achieve a higher level of visual literacy."
English appears to be the discipline best equipped to impart visual literacy. Its primary concern has been transmission of general culture, of which the visual media are a major vehicle. It is also primarily responsible for teaching skills of critical analysis--elements of theme, plot, character, and style that are present in a sitcom, movie, or advertisement, as much as in a novel. This paper presents a case for visual literacy in the English curriculum, supported by materials from the ERIC system, and looks at activities and methods for developing such literacy.
TELEVISION: WASTELAND OR FRONTIER?
Foster observes that students have three choices regarding television viewing: don't watch it at all, watch all they want, or watch it moderately with critical understanding and appreciation. With compelling arguments he dismisses the first two as unrealistic and dangerous, respectively. Among the mind boggling statistics he cites are the 95 percent (74 million) of households with television sets, more than have refrigerators, stoves, or indoor plumbing. He also notes television's effect on behavior, value systems, and perceptions of reality, effects that are immediate and dramatic, or subtle and cumulative over a lifetime. That leaves choice three.
One of television's least obvious advantages, according to Levinson [CS 504288] is that the ability to discern television's strengths and weaknesses is teachable. Furthermore, this skill is self-perpetuating with every new program or commercial.
Among the discussion questions suggested by Harold Foster are
the following:
--Does television create violence in our society or does it
reflect the violence already present?
--Does television news accurately reflect the world?
--Can too much viewing harm an individual?
Foster also proposes exploring television myths such as the detective show (might makes right), the western (good and evil were more discernable in the "old days") , or the sociology of sport.
FILM--LARGER THAN LIFE
Presumably because "movies are for entertainment" (Where does that leave literature?), film studies have been a conspicuous target for curriculum critics; but like it or not, the movies are here to stay. The demise of the neighborhood theatre at the hands of cable television and the economy not withstanding, it is the personal isolation and "larger than life" quality of the big screen experience that lend films their attraction and their persuasive qualities. Gnizak and Girshman [CS 007238] describe a film curriculum designed for grades nine and ten that uses both English teachers and media specialists. The course challenges the notion that when one watches a movie one does not have to think. Students complete composition, reading comprehension, and drama/poetry exercises, as well as develop a script that they subsequently film.
Another way to use film study as a stimulus rather than an end it itself is to focus on literary works that have been made into movies, examining which of the two the students find better (students may be surprised to discover that very often the book is better than the film), how the two differed, and how having first seen the movie influenced the way they read the story and vice versa. Foster also suggests that awareness of the structural elements of film--editing, movement, composition, camera angle, color, lighting, and sound as they are used to manipulate emotional response--is a significant factor in visual literacy.
ADVERTISING: THE HARDEST SELL
To serve as an example of the overwhelming influence that advertising exerts on social patterns, Ewen [ED 137804] cites advertising as the tool with which manufacturing and industry have altered the character of daily living from productive to consumptive. Pressure from consumer advertising during the 1950s and 1960s created the "feminine ideal" of the housewife who remained at home, preparing prepackaged meals in a kitchen filled with state-of-the-art appliances and using all the newest health and beauty products to maintain youth and beauty for her husband. Such advertising has also been indicted as a catalyst for the national obsession with being thin.
Studies by Moore and others [ED 219753; ED 165182] on the effects of advertising and media consumer behavior on adolescents indicate that susceptibility to the persuasion of advertising is positively related to the amount of mass media use and the amount of communication with family and friends about matters of consumption (the higher the media use and the more discussion, the lower the susceptibility), and negatively correlated to age and socioeconomic status (the younger the consumer and the lower the socioeconomic status, the higher the susceptibility). The researchers also found that retention of advertising information was positively related to age, amount of communication with family and friends about consumerism, and socioeconomic status.
Bennet [ED 159728] brings attention to two forms of advertising other than product advertising that warrant study: corporate-sponsored image and ideology advertising (the propogation [sic] of ideas and controversial social issues in a manner that supports the interests of the sponsor while downgrading the sponsor's opponents, such as power company interests in nuclear power.)
To counter the effects of various kinds of advertising, teachers have developed a variety of effective classroom practices.
Braden and Walker [ED 212294] refer to advertising as a most effective symbiotic Use of words and visuals. "Trademarks and corporate logos have become part of our visual vocabulary. The pages of almost any slick magazine will reveal visual-verbal combinations that turn the verbal metaphor into a visualized attention getter."
The persuasive language used such advertising can be an excellent tool for teaching rhetoric, according to Stone [ED 166701]. Since advertising demonstrates creative and admirable as well as corrupted uses of the English language, it can serve as the core of a composition unit, to teach students variety in diction, connotations, sentence structure, openings, use of detail, economy of expression, the sound of language, awareness of the reinforcement that words and pictures give each other, and persuasion through indirection. (Why is "No brand cleans better than Brand X" not the same as "Brand X cleans better than any other brand"?)
Vertin [ED 190424] describes an individualized unit for study in advertising, developed for the junior high level. The teacher's guide and student booklet are designed to teach students to identify the different sources and types of advertisements, to recognize the main purposes of advertisements, and to analyze the purchasing powers behind the basic advertisement.
A section of Webb's paper on consumer education activities [ED 214847] examines common advertising gimmicks, and provides related activities for secondary students, including finding examples of advertising ploys such as "weasel words," the "scientific claim," or "superstar endorsement."
Finally, a junior and senior high school media literacy curriculum guide [Bhakuni, et al., ED 2119731], written by participants in a summer workshop on media literacy, focuses primarily on manipulation in advertising. The four advertising lessons cover (1) advertising as manipulation, (2) the power of television commercials, (3) propoganda techniques used in media advertising, and (4) how advertisements persuade through words. The guide also lists goals for media literacy, includes a television viewing questionnaire, and outlines several media projects.
A VISUAL CURRICULUM
Clearly, the need for media literacy exists, as do the materials for incorporating such instruction into the English curriculum without sacrificing more "fundamental" components. Burbank and Pett survey eight successful visual literacy programs from the United States, Canada, England, and Australia. The experience of one such program indicated that visual literacy is within the financial capabilities of school systems and, if properly carried out, will be supported locally. In many instances, small pilot efforts in one classroom or one school have grown into major projects involving teachers throughout the school system. The ERIC system contains other curriculum materials dealing with television, advertising, and film study, which can be found by using the thesaurus descriptors VISUAL LITERACY, ADVERTISING, FILM STUDY, and TELEVISION.
If the "basics" are those minimal skills necessary to function as an adult in society, then it follows that the ability to interpret information intelligently in a society that is becoming increasing visual is not only basic, but also essential.
Abstracts of materials selected for dissemination by ERIC are
published monthly in Resources in Education (RIE). The materials are identified
by ED numbers and are available in either microfiche or paper form from libraries or the ERIC Document Reproduction
Service, (EDRS), P.O. Box 190, Arlington, Virginia 22210. Documents recently acquired
by ERIC/RCS are identified by CS numbers; they will be announced in forthcoming issues of RIE.
Bennett, James R. "How to Defend ourselves Against Corporate Image and Ideology Advertising." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, Denver, Colorado, March-April, 1978. 11pp. [ED 159728]
Bhakuni, Rosa and others. "Media Literacy Curriculum Guide, Grades 7-12." Paper written by participants in a summer workshop at the University of Akron, Ohio, 1981. 49pp. ED 211973]
Braden, Roberts A., and Alice D. Walker. "Reigning Catachreses and Dogmas Related to Visual Literacy." Paper presented at the Annual Conference on Visual Literacy, College Park, Maryland, November, 1980. 19pp. [ED 212294]
Burbank, Lucille, and Dennis W. Pett. "Eight Dimensions of Visual Literacy." Instructional Innovator 28 (January 1983): 25-27. [EJ 274773]
Ewen, Stuart. Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the
Social Roots of the Consumer Culture. New York: McGraw-Hill,1976. 251pp.
[ED 137804]
Foster, Harold M. "Teaching Television Literacy." English Journal 70 (December 1981): 70-72. [EJ 256238]
Gnizak, Eleanor, and Rita Girshman. "Integration of the Image and the Word." Blacksburg, Virg." [sic] Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Seeing Ourselves: Visualization in a Social Context, pp. 291-96. 1983. [CS 007238]
Levinson, Paul. "The Benefits of Watching Television." Paper presented at the Wednesday Seminars, Speech Communication Department, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University, October, 1980. 12pp. [CS 504288]
Moore, Roy L. and George P. Moschis. "A Longitudinal Analysis of Television Advertising Effects on Adolescents." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism, Madison, Wisconsin, August, 1977. 23pp. [ED 165182]
Skaggs, Calvin. "Warning: Visual Illiteracy May Be Hazardous to Your Health." ADE Bulletin 70 (Winter 1981): 17-21. [EJ 257727]
Stone, William B. "Advertising and Student Rhetoric." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, Denver, Colorado, March-April, 1978. 13pp. [ED 166701]
Vertin, Cindy. "Advertisements: There's a Lot More than Meets the Eye. Teacher's Guide and Student Material." Topeka, Kans: Kansas State Department of Education, 1978. 38pp. [ED 190424]
Wagschal, Harry. "Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century." Paper presented at the Meeting of the World Future Society Conference, Washington, D.C., July, 1982. 13pp. [ED 219833]
Webb, Farren. "Teaching Consumer Skills and How to Survive in
America." Colorado: Denver University Center for Teaching International Relations.
1980. 160pp. [ED 214847]
ERIC/RCS is a federally funded Clearinghouse on Reading and
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