TCF 311 Exam 3 - Revision history

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compilation of all Screenpedia articles covered on Exam #2

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==[[Television Studies: An Overview (Discussion)]]==

===Mass-comm methods vs. television-studies methods===
To understand the difference between empirical and critical methods, we need to look at their basic principles and presumptions. The class will be divided into mass-comm researchers and television-studies theorists for this first exercise.

<table border="0">
<tr>
<td>'''Mass Comm Research'''</td>
<td>'''Television Studies'''</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>'''Group 4''' 
Explain presumptions 1-3 of the MC method. Provide examples to illustrate your points.
'''Group 2''' 
Explain presumptions 4-6 of the MC method. Provide examples to illustrate your points.</td>
<td>'''Group 1''' 
Explain point-by-point how the TS method differs from presumptions 1-3 of the MC method. Provide examples to illustrate your points.
'''Group 3''' 
Explain point-by-point how the TS method differs from presumptions 4-6 of the MC method. Provide examples to illustrate your points.</td>
</tr>
</table>

Design a research project of ''South Park''.

===Criteria for evaluating critical work===
All groups will discuss Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck's criteria for evaluating critical work--looking at one specific criterion. Apply your criterion to Kristen Warner, [http://flowtv.org/2011/08/who-gon-check-me-boo/ "'Who Gon Check Me Boo': Reality TV as a Haven For Black Women’s Affect,"] ''Flow'' (August 18, 2011). How well does this essay fit your criterion?

'''Group 1'''
#Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by '''internal consistency'''.
'''Group 2'''
#Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by '''evidence'''.
'''Group 3'''
#Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by '''cultural, critical, theoretical and practical significance'''.
'''Group 4'''
#Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by '''reasonableness''' for a critical interpretation.

=== Bibliography ===
#Butler, Jeremy G. ''Television: Critical Methods and Applications''. NY: Routledge, 2011.

==[[Genre Study (Discussion)]]==

===''Television'' on genre===
'''Group 2''': What dilemma do genre scholars face when trying to define a genre? Explain the ''theoretical'' way of escaping that dilemma and the ''historical'' way of escaping it. Within your group, conduct a survey to determine what its "cultural consensus" is for the definition of the sitcom. You may wish to refer to sitcoms we've seen in class.

'''Group 3''': Genres may be defined based on their ''stylistic schema''. Explain that phrase and how it might be used to define a genre. Provide an example.

'''Group 4''': Genres may be defined by their subject matter--specifically, their ''narrative structure''. Explain how Kaminsky and Mahan articulate the police show's narrative structure. Does the episode of ''Dragnet'' we watched support their argument?

'''Group 1''': Genres may be defined by their subject matter--specifically, their ''themes''. Explain the "binary oppositions" (thematic structure) that Hurd finds in the police show. Does the episode of ''Dragnet'' we watched support their argument?

===Jason Mittell on ''Dragnet'' and genre===
:Mittell writes that he wants to explore "how '''the generic categories of police show, documentary, film noir, and radio crime drama'' were all activated within and around the program. ''Dragnet'' not only drew upon these categories in its textual conventions, formal properties, and encoded meanings, but also in its larger cultural circulation in the 1950s and 1960s, activating discourses of generic definition, interpretation, and evaluation." (124)

'''Group 2''': Mittell links the semi-documentary genre with ''Dragnet''. What key connections does he see there?

'''Group 3''': According to the Mittell chapter, how might ''Dragnet'' fit into a stylistic schema? (Hint: his term, "formal," refers to stylistic aspects of television.) For example, how does Mittell interpret the acting style of ''Dragnet'' and its "line editing"?

'''Group 4''': What narrative pattern does Mittell see in ''Dragnet''? How does it compare/contrast with the Kaminsky and Mahan model?

'''Group 1''': How does Mittell apply the idea of oppositions? What is his point about "mediating figures"? Does this ''Dragnet'' episode support his argument? How does this fit with Hurd's notion of binary oppositions?

===All groups===
#List two strength(s) of genre analysis. List two weaknesses of this approach.

=== Bibliography ===
#Jeremy G. Butler, ''Television: Critical Methods and Applications'' (NY: Routledge, 2011).
#Jason Mittell, ''Genre and Television: From Cop Show to Cartoons in American Culture'' (NY: Routledge, 2004).

===External links===
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/tvcritgallery/main.php/v/chapter13/ Chapter 13 illustrations]

==[[Semiotics (Discussion)]]==

'''Group 3 '''
*Explain C. S. Pierce's "indexical sign" (aka, index) in terms of the relationship of "signifier" and "signified." What examples of it are provided in ''Television'' and ''Channels of Discourse''? What would be two examples of it that are not mentioned in the textbooks?

'''Group 4'''
*Explain C. S. Pierce's "iconic sign" (aka, icon) in terms of the relationship of "signifier" and "signified." What examples of it are provided in ''Television'' and ''Channels of Discourse''? What would be two examples of it that are not mentioned in the textbooks?

'''Group 1'''
*Explain C. S. Pierce's "symbolic sign" (aka, symbol) in terms of the relationship of "signifier" and "signified." What examples of it are provided in ''Television'' and ''Channels of Discourse''? What would be two examples of it that are not mentioned in the textbooks?

'''Group 2'''
*Explain the semiotic principle of syntagmatic structure. What examples of it are provided in ''Television'' and ''Channels of Discourse''? What would be one example of it that is not mentioned in the textbooks?

'''All groups'''
#Define "denotation" and "connotation." What does semiotician Roland Barthes mean by the term, "myth"?
#*What are the denotations and connotations of the ''Wonder Years''' opening montage?
#*#Denotations: List/identify as many of the images as you can.
#*##Robert Kennedy
#*##Martin Luther King, J.
#*##John Lennon & Yoko Ono
#*##Nixon & Agnew
#*##Man on the moon
#*##Mexico Olympics, 1968
#*##Munich Olympics, 1972
#*##Class photo
#*##Hippie van (Wavy Gravy)--''Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test''
#*##Kent State Vietnam War protest (2)
#*##Baseball -- "Miracle" Mets
#*##Boy at blackboard
#*##Girl on carousel
#*##Girl in grass
#*##Anti-war signs
#*##Vietnam war combat footage

#Ellen Seiter, in ''Channels of Discourse'', writes, "The picture [of Fangface] itself is a syntagm. ... In the paradigmatic dimension the options are a pair of categories nature/culture (or animal/human...), which is the source of the image's meaning." She continues, "...Hodge and Trip have introduced the binary opposition (nature/culture) and proceeded to organize the elements of the television image into paradigmatic sets."
#*List three or four "paradigmatic sets" in the "Prophecy Girl" episode of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. Refer to your list of the episode's scenes to provide specific examples.
#*Are there any "paradigmatic sets" to be found in the ''Wonder Years'' montage?
#List two strength(s) of semiotic/structuralist analysis. List two weaknesses of this approach (no, a difficult vocabulary does not count).

=== Bibliography ===
#Jeremy G. Butler, ''Television: Critical Methods and Applications'' (NY: Routledge, 2011).
#Ellen Seiter, "Semiotics, Structuralism and Television," in Robert C. Allen, ''Channels of Discourse, Reassembled'', second edition (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).

===External links===
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/WonderYears.htm ''The Wonder Years'' (1991) illustrations]
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T311/SemioticsBuffy.htm ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1991) illustrations]
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T311/Fangface/index.htm ''Fangface'' (1980) illustrations]
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/tvcritgallery/index.php/chapter13 Chapter 13 illustrations]

==[[Ideological Criticism, Cultural Studies & Production Studies (Discussion)]]==

===Basic principles===
#'''Group 4:''' Explain the original concept of '''ideology''' and how Marx connected it to social classes.
#'''Group 1:''' Explain Antonio Gramsci's (pronounced "GRAM-chee") concept of '''hegemony'''. Provide an example of hegemony in action.
#'''Group 2:''' Explain what the '''television apparatus''' is and Stuart Hall's theory of media '''encoding'''.
#'''Group 3:''' Explain Stuart Hall's theory of media '''decoding'''.
#'''All Groups:''' Explain John Fiske's idea of '''discourse'''. Using ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' episode we viewed for specifics: How would you describe the "hillbilly" discourse and how it conflicts with the "Beverly Hills" discourse?

===Decoding (or reading) a text===

'''Group 4 '''

#Perform a ''dominant-hegemonic'' decoding of ''My So-Called Life''. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
#How could your reading be restated using Morley's notion of discourses encountering one another?

'''Group 2'''

#Perform a ''oppositional'' decoding of ''My So-Called Life''. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
#How could your reading be restated using Morley's notion of discourses encountering one another?

'''Group 1'''

#Perform a ''negotiated'' decoding of ''My So-Called Life''. What would be the result of your reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)?
#How could your reading be restated using Morley's notion of discourses encountering one another?

'''Group 3'''

#What do you feel is the ''preferred reading'' of this episode? What is the preferred reading in terms of representations of gender and sexuality, ethnicity, and youth (vs. middle age)? ("Hall and others often presume that the preferred reading encoded on the text by the television apparatus will be from the dominant position," but in this case it probably is not.)

===John Caldwell and production studies===
To understand how the society and culture of the television industry, Caldwell looks both at "texts" associated with the industry and at the interaction of actual television-producing humans. Explain what he means by each of the following "critical industrial practices" and provide at least two examples of such practices and the meanings associated with them:

*'''All groups:''' Define '''production culture'''. How is what Caldwell is advocating different from earlier television ethnographers like the CCCS group?
*'''Group 4:''' Deep texts
*'''Group 1:''' Emic interpretations
*'''Group 2:''' Critical industrial geographies
*'''Group 3:''' Liminal industrial rituals

=== Bibliography ===
#Butler, Jeremy G. ''Television: Critical Methods and Applications''. Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007.
#John Caldwell, “Cultural Studies of Media Production: Critical Industrial Practices,” in ''Questions of Method in Cultural Studies'', eds. Mimi White and James Schwoch (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006).

==[[Discourse & Identity I & II (Discussion)]]==

''Television'' emphasizes four components of feminism:
#"Image of women" feminist criticism
#gendered viewing
#gender identity
#third-wave feminism

'''Group 1:''' Explain the basic principles of the "image-of-women" approach to analyzing TV. If you were an analyst using that approach, what would you have to say about the episodes of ''Designing Women'' and ''The Real World'' and the ''Justify My Love'' music video?

'''Group 2:''' Explain the basic principles of the "gendered viewing" approach to analyzing TV. If your group were using that approach, what would you have to say about the episodes of ''Designing Women'' and ''The Real World'' and the ''Justify My Love'' music video? How would you analyze the actual viewing of these television texts last week? Use your group itself as a test case.

'''Group 3:''' Explain the basic principles of the "gender identity" approach to analyzing TV, specifically Judith Butler's idea of gender identity as "performative." If you were an analyst using that approach, what examples of this would you draw from the episodes of ''Designing Women'' and ''The Real World'' and the ''Justify My Love'' music video? That is, cite an example of women ''performing'' gender roles in each of these three television texts.

'''Group 4:''' How was the Thomas-Hill controversy a key to the rise of "third wave feminism"? Explain its basic principles and how it differs from the second-wave feminism. How might third-wave feminism apply to TV analysis? If you were an analyst using that approach, what would you have to say about the episodes of ''Designing Women'' and ''The Real World'' and the ''Justify My Love'' music video?

===Casts===
====''Real World''====
*Julie
*Heather
*Becky
*Andre
*Norman
*Kevin
*Eric

====''Designing Women''====
*Anthony Bouvier (Meshach Taylor)
*Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts)
*Allison Sugarbaker (Julia Duffy)
*Carlene Frazier Dobber (Jan Hooks)
*Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter)

===All groups===
#Ann Kaplan writes, the video for “Justify My Love” “forces the spectator to question the boundaries of gender constructs and the cultural constraints on sexual themes and sexual fantasies" (''Television'', p. 417). Explain. Do you agree or disagree?

http://www.tcf.ua.edu/tvcritgallery/var/resizes/chapter13/Fig13-14_justifymylove_000013.jpg

=== Bibliography ===
#Jeremy G. Butler, ''Television: Critical Methods and Applications'' (NY: Routledge, 2011).

===External links===
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/MadonnaMusicVideos.php Madonna music videos (password protected)]
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/tvcritgallery/main.php/v/chapter13/ ''Television'' illustrations, chapter 13]
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/jbutler/Research/RedesigningDiscourse.pdf "Redesigning Discourse"]

==[[Discourse & Identity III (Discussion)]]==

To study race and ethnicity, certain key terms/concepts must be understood. Be prepared to define the following:

*'''Group 2:''' essentialism, racial formation
*'''Group 3:''' assimilationist discourse
*'''Group 4:''' pluralist discourse
*'''Group 1:''' multiculturalist discourse

===''Girlfriends''===
Beretta Smith-Shomade (pronounced "show-ma-day") examines "four intertwined elements in television comedy that define and give meaning to Black women's representation there: work roles, characterization, class, and identity" (48). Each group should discuss the key aspects of these elements and apply Smith-Shomade's analysis of 1990s sitcoms to ''Girlfriends'' (2000-2008):

*'''Group 3:''' work and class
*'''Group 4:''' identity: language
*'''Group 1:''' identity: skin shade
*'''Group 2:''' identity: hair
*'''All groups:''' characterization (i.e., conventional roles and stereotypes)
*'''All groups:''' Place Smith-Shomade's analysis within the context of the study of race and ethnicity. How would you characterize her approach to the sitcom?

===Cast===
*William Dent (Reggie Hayes)
*Toni Childs (Jill Marie Jones)
*Maya Wilkes (Golden Brooks)
*Joan Clayton (Tracee Ellis Ross)
*Lynn Searcy (Persia White)

=== Bibliography ===
#Jeremy G. Butler, ''Television: Critical Methods and Applications'' (NY: Routledge, 2011).
#Beretta E. Smith-Shomade, “Laughing Out Loud: Negras Negotiating Situation Comedy,” ''Shaded Lives: African-American Women and Television'' (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2002), 24-68.

===External links===
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jeremy_Butler/Books/Discourse_and_Identity:_Race Wikipedia book: ''Girlfriends'' allusions]
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T311/Girlfriends/ ''Girlfriends'' illustrations]
*[http://www.persiawhite.com/press/ "Infanity: Girlfriends,"] tour of the ''Girlfriends'' set by Persia White, [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/White_Persia_Girlfriends.php local copy]

[[Category:TCF311]]
[[Category:TCF311 Discussion]]

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−	~~[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mjsVYGvm5ntujL_ER6ox41Pk_-iUel2xiGxGAluSvyw/edit Click here to submit a review question.]~~
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	==[[Television Studies: An Overview (Discussion)]]==		==[[Television Studies: An Overview (Discussion)]]==

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	==[[Television Studies: An Overview (Discussion)]]==		==[[Television Studies: An Overview (Discussion)]]==

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 #Jason Mittell, ''Genre and Television: From Cop Show to Cartoons in American Culture'' (NY: Routledge, 2004).
-==External links==
+===External links===
-*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/tvcritgallery/main.php/v/chapter13/ Chapter 13 illustrations]
+*[http://www.routledge.com/cw/butler-9780415883283/s1/gallery-13/ ''Television'' illustrations, chapter 13]
 ==[[Semiotics (Discussion)]]==

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ==[[Television Studies: An Overview (Discussion)]]==
 ===Mass-comm methods vs. television-studies methods===
 To understand the difference between empirical and critical methods, we need to look at their basic principles and presumptions. The class will be divided into mass-comm researchers and television-studies theorists for this first exercise.
@@ Line 36: / Line 35: @@
 ==[[Genre Study (Discussion)]]==
 ===''Television'' on genre===
 #What dilemma do genre scholars face when trying to define a genre? Explain the ''theoretical'' way of escaping that dilemma and the ''historical'' way of escaping it. Within your group, conduct a survey to determine what its "cultural consensus" is for the definition of the sitcom. You may wish to refer to sitcoms we've seen in class.
@@ Line 64: / Line 62: @@
 ==[[Semiotics (Discussion)]]==
 '''Group 3 '''
 *What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "indexical sign" (aka, index) that are not mentioned in the textbooks?
@@ Line 93: / Line 90: @@
 #*#*Nixon and Agnew
 #*#*School kids
 #Ellen Seiter, in ''Channels of Discourse'', writes, "The picture [of Fangface] itself is a syntagm. ... In the paradigmatic dimension the options are a pair of categories nature/culture (or animal/human...), which is the source of the image's meaning." She continues, "...Hodge and Trip have introduced the binary opposition (nature/culture) and proceeded to organize the elements of the television image into paradigmatic sets."
 #*List three or four "paradigmatic sets" in the "Prophecy Girl" episode of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. Refer to your list of the episode's scenes to provide specific examples.
@@ Line 107: / Line 103: @@
 *[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T311/Fangface/index.htm ''Fangface'' (1980) illustrations]
 *[http://www.routledge.com/cw/butler-9780415883283/s1/gallery-12/ Chapter 12 illustrations]
 ==[[Ideological Criticism, Cultural Studies & Production Studies (Discussion)]]==
@@ Line 137: / Line 132: @@
 *'''Group 3:''' Liminal industrial rituals
-== Bibliography ==
+=== Bibliography ===
 #John Caldwell, “Cultural Studies of  Media Production: Critical Industrial Practices,” in ''Questions of Method in Cultural Studies'', eds. Mimi White and James Schwoch (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2006).
 ==[[Discourse & Identity I & II (Discussion)]]==
 ''Television'' emphasizes four components of feminism:
 #"Image of women" feminist criticism
@@ Line 188: / Line 181: @@
 ==[[Discourse & Identity III (Discussion)]]==
 ===''Girlfriends''===
 Beretta Smith-Shomade (pronounced "show-ma-day") examines "four intertwined elements in television comedy that define and give meaning to Black women's representation there: work roles, characterization, class, and identity" (48). Each group should discuss the key aspects of these elements and apply Smith-Shomade's analysis of 1990s sitcoms to ''Girlfriends'' (2000-2008):

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