Friday, December 11, 2015

Ideology: further reading and tasks

Our final key concept of this introductory unit to A Level Media is Ideology.

This is one of the trickiest concepts to get our head around as it encompasses politics and cultural studies as well as media theory. We've obviously applied our work on binary opposition to an episode of BBC Question Time but it's important to be able to apply ideology and media theory to a cross-section of media texts.

Media Magazine issue 52 has two good articles on Ideology. Today you need to read those articles and complete a few tasks linked to them. Follow the instructions below...

MM52

Page 34: The World Of Mockingjay: Ideology, Dystopia And Propaganda

1) Read the article

2) What view of capitalist ideology is presented in the Hunger Games films?

3) What do the Hunger Games films suggest about the power of the media to shape and influence ideological beliefs?


Page 48: They Live - Understanding Ideology

1) Read the article

2) What are the four accepted ideological beliefs in western societies highlighted by the article?

3) What does Gramsci's theory of hegemony suggest about power and ideology in society?

4) What does French theorist Louis Althusser suggest about ideology and consumerism?

5) Do YOU agree with the idea behind They Live - that we are unthinkingly controlled by the media which is run in the interests of the economic elite? These are the big questions of A Level Media!

You'll need to finish this for homework - due Monday.




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