Difference between revisions of "TCF 311 Exam 3"

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==Review questions==
 
−
[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mjsVYGvm5ntujL_ER6ox41Pk_-iUel2xiGxGAluSvyw/edit Click here to submit a review question.]
 
−
 
 
==[[Television Studies: An Overview (Discussion)]]==
 
==[[Television Studies: An Overview (Discussion)]]==
−
 
 
===Mass-comm methods vs. television-studies methods===
 
===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.  
 
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 37: Line 33:
 
'''Group 4'''
 
'''Group 4'''
 
#Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by '''reasonableness''' for a critical interpretation.
 
#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)]]==
 
==[[Genre Study (Discussion)]]==
−
 
−
 
 
===''Television'' on genre===
 
===''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.
+
#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.
−
 
+
#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 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.
+
#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?
−
 
+
#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?
−
'''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===
 
===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)
 
: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 2''': Mittell links the documentary and the semi-documentary crime film with ''Dragnet''. What key connections does he see there? What elements assert ''Dragnet's'' "authenticity"? Can you see these in "The Big Shoplift" episode?
  
−
'''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 3''': According to the Mittell chapter, what stylistic conventions can be found in ''Dragnet''? Or, in other words, how does it 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 4''': What narrative pattern does Mittell see in ''Dragnet''? How does it compare/contrast with the Kaminsky and Mahan model? Can you see this in "The Big Shoplift" episode?
  
−
'''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?
+
'''Group 1''': How does Mittell apply the idea of oppositions? What is his point about "mediating figures"? Does "The Big Shoplift" episode support his argument? How does this fit with Hurd's notion of binary oppositions?
  
 
===All groups===
 
===All groups===
Line 68: Line 56:
  
 
=== Bibliography ===
 
=== 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).
 
#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)]]==
 
==[[Semiotics (Discussion)]]==
−
 
 
'''Group 3 '''
 
'''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?
+
*What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "indexical sign" (aka, index) that are not mentioned in the textbooks?
  
 
'''Group 4'''
 
'''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?
+
*What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "iconic sign" (aka, icon) that are not mentioned in the textbooks?
  
 
'''Group 1'''
 
'''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?
+
*What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "symbolic sign" that are not mentioned in the textbooks?
  
 
'''Group 2'''
 
'''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?
+
*What would be one example of syntagmatic structure that is not mentioned in the textbooks?
  
 
'''All groups'''
 
'''All groups'''
Line 92: Line 78:
 
#*What are the denotations and connotations of the ''Wonder Years''' opening montage?
 
#*What are the denotations and connotations of the ''Wonder Years''' opening montage?
 
#*#Denotations: List/identify as many of the images as you can.
 
#*#Denotations: List/identify as many of the images as you can.
−
#*##Robert Kennedy
+
#*#*John & Yoko in bed
−
#*##Martin Luther King, J.
+
#*#*Hippie bus (Wavy Gravy--Merry Pranksters)
−
#*##John Lennon & Yoko Ono
+
#*#*1968 Olympics black power salute
−
#*##Nixon & Agnew
+
#*#*RFK
−
#*##Man on the moon
+
#*#*MLK
−
#*##Mexico Olympics, 1968
+
#*#*Moon landing
−
#*##Munich Olympics, 1972
+
#*#*"miracle Mets"
−
#*##Class photo
+
#*#*Vietnam War combat images
−
#*##Hippie van (Wavy Gravy)--''Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test''
+
#*#*Vietnam War protest images: Kent State
−
#*##Kent State Vietnam War protest (2)
+
#*#*1973 Munich Olympics: Terrorists
−
#*##Baseball -- "Miracle" Mets
+
#*#*Nixon and Agnew
−
#*##Boy at blackboard
+
#*#*School kids
−
#*##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."
 
#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.  
 
#*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 115: Line 96:
  
 
=== Bibliography ===
 
=== 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).
 
#Ellen Seiter, "Semiotics, Structuralism and Television," in Robert C. Allen, ''Channels of Discourse, Reassembled'', second edition (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).
  
Line 122: Line 102:
 
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T311/SemioticsBuffy.htm ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (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/Classes/Jbutler/T311/Fangface/index.htm ''Fangface'' (1980) illustrations]
−
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/tvcritgallery/index.php/chapter13 Chapter 13 illustrations]
+
*[http://www.routledge.com/cw/butler-9780415883283/s1/gallery-12/ Chapter 12 illustrations]
  
 
==[[Ideological Criticism, Cultural Studies & Production Studies (Discussion)]]==
 
==[[Ideological Criticism, Cultural Studies & Production Studies (Discussion)]]==
  
−
===Basic principles===
+
'''Decoding (or reading) a text'''
−
#'''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 '''
 
'''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)?
 
#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'''
 
'''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)?
 
#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'''
 
'''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)?
 
#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'''
 
'''Group 3'''
Line 157: Line 127:
 
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:
 
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 4:''' Deep texts
 
*'''Group 1:''' Emic interpretations
 
*'''Group 1:''' Emic interpretations
Line 164: Line 133:
  
 
=== Bibliography ===
 
=== 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).
 
#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)]]==
 
==[[Discourse & Identity I & II (Discussion)]]==
−
 
 
''Television'' emphasizes four components of feminism:  
 
''Television'' emphasizes four components of feminism:  
 
#"Image of women" feminist criticism
 
#"Image of women" feminist criticism
Line 175: Line 142:
 
#third-wave feminism
 
#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 1:''' If you were an analyst using the "image-of-women" approach to analyzing TV, 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 2:''' If your group were using the "gendered viewing" 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 3:''' If you were an analyst using the "gender identity" approach to analyzing TV, specifically Judith Butler's idea of gender identity as "performative", 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.  
 +
*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?
 +
{{Gallery
 +
|title=''Justify My Love''
 +
|width=100
 +
|lines=1
 +
|align=center
 +
|File:Fig13-14 justifymylove 000013.jpg|alt1=Frame grab ''Justify My Love''.|Figure 13.6 .
 +
}}
  
−
'''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?
+
'''Group 4:''' If you were third-wave feminist, what would you have to say about the episodes of ''Designing Women'' and ''The Real World'' and the ''Justify My Love'' music video?
  
 
===Casts===
 
===Casts===
Line 193: Line 168:
 
*Eric
 
*Eric
  
−
====''Designing Women''====
+
===''Designing Women''===
 
*Anthony Bouvier (Meshach Taylor)
 
*Anthony Bouvier (Meshach Taylor)
 
*Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts)
 
*Mary Jo Shively (Annie Potts)
Line 199: Line 174:
 
*Carlene Frazier Dobber (Jan Hooks)
 
*Carlene Frazier Dobber (Jan Hooks)
 
*Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter)
 
*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===
 
===External links===
 
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/MadonnaMusicVideos.php Madonna music videos (password protected)]
 
*[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.routledge.com/cw/butler-9780415883283/s1/gallery-13/ ''Television'' illustrations, chapter 13]
 
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/jbutler/Research/RedesigningDiscourse.pdf "Redesigning Discourse"]
 
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/jbutler/Research/RedesigningDiscourse.pdf "Redesigning Discourse"]
  
 
==[[Discourse & Identity III (Discussion)]]==
 
==[[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''===
 
===''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):
 
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):
Line 241: Line 199:
  
 
=== Bibliography ===
 
=== Bibliography ===
−
#Jeremy G. Butler, ''Television: Critical Methods and Applications'' (NY: Routledge, 2011).
+
#Jeremy G. Butler, ''Television: Critical Methods and Applications'' (NY: Routledge, 2012).
 
#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.
 
#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.
  

Latest revision as of 21:31, 14 August 2019

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.

Mass Comm Research Television Studies

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.

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.

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, "'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

  1. Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by internal consistency.

Group 2

  1. Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by evidence.

Group 3

  1. Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by cultural, critical, theoretical and practical significance.

Group 4

  1. Explain what Vande Berg, Wenner and Gronbeck mean by reasonableness for a critical interpretation.

Genre Study (Discussion)

Television on genre

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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?
  4. 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 documentary and the semi-documentary crime film with Dragnet. What key connections does he see there? What elements assert Dragnet's "authenticity"? Can you see these in "The Big Shoplift" episode?

Group 3: According to the Mittell chapter, what stylistic conventions can be found in Dragnet? Or, in other words, how does it 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? Can you see this in "The Big Shoplift" episode?

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

All groups

  1. List two strength(s) of genre analysis. List two weaknesses of this approach.

Bibliography

  1. Jason Mittell, Genre and Television: From Cop Show to Cartoons in American Culture (NY: Routledge, 2004).

External links

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?

Group 4

  • What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "iconic sign" (aka, icon) that are not mentioned in the textbooks?

Group 1

  • What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "symbolic sign" that are not mentioned in the textbooks?

Group 2

  • What would be one example of syntagmatic structure that is not mentioned in the textbooks?

All groups

  1. 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?
      1. Denotations: List/identify as many of the images as you can.
        • John & Yoko in bed
        • Hippie bus (Wavy Gravy--Merry Pranksters)
        • 1968 Olympics black power salute
        • RFK
        • MLK
        • Moon landing
        • "miracle Mets"
        • Vietnam War combat images
        • Vietnam War protest images: Kent State
        • 1973 Munich Olympics: Terrorists
        • Nixon and Agnew
        • School kids
  2. 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?
  3. List two strength(s) of semiotic/structuralist analysis. List two weaknesses of this approach (no, a difficult vocabulary does not count).

Bibliography

  1. 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

Ideological Criticism, Cultural Studies & Production Studies (Discussion)

Decoding (or reading) a text

Group 4

  1. 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)?

Group 2

  1. 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)?

Group 1

  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)?

Group 3

  1. 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:

  • Group 4: Deep texts
  • Group 1: Emic interpretations
  • Group 2: Critical industrial geographies
  • Group 3: Liminal industrial rituals

Bibliography

  1. 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:

  1. "Image of women" feminist criticism
  2. gendered viewing
  3. gender identity
  4. third-wave feminism

Group 1: If you were an analyst using the "image-of-women" approach to analyzing TV, 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: If your group were using the "gendered viewing" 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: If you were an analyst using the "gender identity" approach to analyzing TV, specifically Judith Butler's idea of gender identity as "performative", 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.

  • 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?

Template:Gallery

Group 4: If you were third-wave feminist, 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)

External links

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):

  • 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

  1. Jeremy G. Butler, Television: Critical Methods and Applications (NY: Routledge, 2012).
  2. 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

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