MIDTERM REFLECTION: Looking back on Media and Society

1. I've learned a lot about all aspects of the media--television, internet, movies, newspapers, etc--both old and new. Not only have I learned fun facts that will help me win trivia (ex. Disney owns 80% of ESPN!) But I've also learned the roles certain media platforms play in our society and other societies and how the media is changing which will help me in the future secure a job because I understand how the media works and affects audiences everywhere.

2.


As a reader I learned to search for important key points more efficiently.


As a writer, I learned that you must keep your audience in mind (such as with personal blogs) because sometimes you just need to have fun instead of being completely formal and professional


As a thinker, I've learned to take prior knowledge into account and use that to fuel an argument rather than just use what I'm given/told.

3. One thing I would have done differently in the first semester: I would have studied the power tools more carefully in the first couple weeks because some of my few first note card quiz grades were pitiful.

4. One thing I would have liked to be done differently is less emphasis on midnight deadlines. I work best late at night and sometimes find it challenging to get things posted before 12am. So I would move the due dates to "posted before class starts."

5. Powertools have been very informative and useful so far. I actually used the 29 persuasive techniques as examples in my rhetoric class to explain how certain opinionated authors were trying to sell the reader on their point of view.

The Course Blog is an easy, eco-friendly way to submit homework, since students don't have to use paper it hurts less tress and eliminates the problem of forgetting work in the dorm.

The Personal Blog is one of my favorite parts of class because i like creative writing. It feels relevant because I am allowed to choose my own media platform to blog about, keeping me interested and able to use the powertools, keeping them fresh in my mind.

The In-class Quizzes are useful because the repetitive use of powertools on random displays of media keep me alert to media aspects and able to point out how the powertools were used effectively

The Films we've watched in class certainly keep me engaged and interested. Reel bad Arabs reflected media's effect on us as a society, particularly how it can contribute to strengthen stereotypes about a culture.

The Book Media & Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication is a useful tool since it goes in depth about different media platforms from the beginning up until current day, incorporating ideas like technological shift and convergence.