Media Literacy Activity: Books in Our Lives. Slide 1 of 7

Chapter 10. Chapter 10

Media Literacy Activity:
Books in Our Lives

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

Media Literacy Activity:
Books in Our Lives

Activity Objective: In this activity, you will apply the critical process to examine how people discover books and their relationship to books.

Pre-Activity Instructions: Identify ten friends and/or classmates that you want to interview about their relationship to books.

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:
Books in Our Lives

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:
Books in Our Lives

Interview ten of your friends and/or classmates about their relationship to books. Ask them the following questions:

  1. Do you read books at all? Why or why not?
  2. How do you choose the books you read? Would you read more books if they were recommended to you?
  3. How have books made a difference in your life? What kinds of books are they (e.g., novels, non-fiction books, religious books, children’s books)? How did you get these books? Were they recommended by family, friends, and/or teachers? Did you buy them? Get them from the library? Received as a gift?

Use the space below to answer the following question.

List ten findings about your friend’s relationship to books based on their answers to the questions above.

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

Media Literacy Activity:
Books in Our Lives

With the interview responses in mind, let’s explore what patterns emerge regarding your friends’ and classmates’ relationship with books.

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

1. How many of your participants said they choose their books by “word of mouth”?

2. How many actively seek out books on the Internet by reading recommended listings (perhaps on Amazon)?

3. How many never or rarely read books at all?

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

Media Literacy Activity:
Books in Our Lives

Now, let’s explore the meaning of the patterns you found.

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

1. Are books still important in your friends’ lives? Why? Why not?

2. What does your information tell you about the state of the book publishing industry? If your friends were representative of the public, would book publishing be thriving or in trouble?

3. Does your information indicate any changes over time in the value our culture places on books? What is the place of books amid all the other media (TV, film, radio, sound recording, magazines, etc.) in our culture?

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

Media Literacy Activity:
Books in Our Lives

Next, we’ll examine your view as you assess the trends and forecast of the publishing industry.

Use the space below to answer the following questions.

1. In your opinion, is the current trend good or bad for book publishing?

2. In your opinion, do you think the publishing industry is doing a good job educating people about books?

3. What is the role of books in an age of digital media?

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

Media Literacy Activity:
Books in Our Lives

Let’s take action! Moving forward, engage with books and the publishing industry in a new way. Here are some suggestions:

  • One of the best places to read about past and current book titles is the Barnes & Noble Review (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review). Here you can access titles and reviews by subject, store recommendations, award winners, great new writers (and its archive), various best-seller lists, and so on. You can also read the New York Times Book Review (http://www.nytimes.com/section/books) or the London Review of Books (http://www.lrb.co.uk). Choose some titles. Read!
  • Start a book club with some friends.
  • Carefully choose a book to give to a friend as a present.

Use the space below to answer the following question.

Provide three reasons why the publishing industry is still relevant.

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