Chapter 4. Chapter 4

Media Literacy Activity:
Music Genres and American Society and Culture

Media Literacy Activity, 11th Edition:
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You must read each slide, and complete any questions on the slide, in sequence.

Media Literacy Activity:
Music Genres and American Society and Culture

Activity Objective: In this activity, you will apply the critical process to explore the role of one music genre in American society and culture.

Let’s get started! Click the forward and backward arrows to navigate through the slides. You may also click the above outline button to skip to certain slides.

Media Literacy Activity:
Music Genres and American Society and Culture

Developing a media-literate critical perspective involves mastering five overlapping stages that build on one another. Let’s review the critical process you’ll be using below:

Description: paying close attention, taking notes, and researching the subject under study

Analysis: discovering and focusing on significant patterns that emerge from the description stage

Interpretation: asking and answering “What does that mean?” and “So what?” questions about one’s findings

Evaluation: arriving at a judgment about whether something is good, bad, or mediocre, which involves subordinating one’s personal taste to the critical “bigger picture” resulting from the first three stages

Engagement: taking some action that connects our critical perspective with our role as citizens to question our media institutions, adding our own voice to the process of shaping the cultural environment

Media Literacy Activity:
Music Genres and American Society and Culture

Choose one music genre. Here’s a list modified from Grammy Award categories: Alternative Bluegrass; Blues; Classical; Contemporary Christian; Country; Dance/Electronic; Folk; Gospel; Jazz; Latin; Musical Theater; New Age; Pop; Rap and Hip-Hop; Reggae; Rock; R&B and Soul; Urban Contemporary; World Music.

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

1. What comes to mind when you think about that genre? What songs, albums, artists, lyrics, images, etc.?

2. List at least 10 ways (or as many as you can) that the music genre of your choice has had an influence on American society and culture.

_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

Media Literacy Activity:
Music Genres and American Society and Culture

Next, use the information you gathered about the genre of your choice to find patterns in the music genre of your choice.

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

1. Has the genre had an influence on particular areas of society or culture?

_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

2. Has the influence of the genre changed over time? If yes, how?

_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

Media Literacy Activity:
Music Genres and American Society and Culture

Through the following questions, interpret the role of the music genre of your choice in our society and culture.

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

1. How might you view some of the influences as positive, negative, or mixed? Can negative influences be reinterpreted as positive, or vice versa, depending on one’s cultural or political perspective? How would another generation interpret these influences?

_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

2. Are any of the positive and negatives related to the same themes or issues?

_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

Media Literacy Activity:
Music Genres and American Society and Culture

Now, let’s explore what your view is.

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

1. Do you think the genre has had more of a negative or positive influence on American society and culture?

_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

2. What would American society (e.g. media institutions) and American culture (e.g. values) be like without the genre?

3. How do you think the next generation will interpret the genre?

_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.

Media Literacy Activity:
Music Genres and American Society and Culture

Let’s take action! At the end of your exploration of one music genre, reflect on what you’ve learned.

Use the space below to answer the following question.

Provide three samples of music from the genre you chose, which you think had a positive or negative effect on American society and culture. Explain your reasoning.

_feedback: Your response has been accepted and will be graded by your instructor.