Deconstruction is a critical literary theory which focuses on the unintentional meanings of a text and aims to achieve an unprejudiced, value-free vision of the social and political power structures in society that combine to produce the text. The development of such critical skills in advertising students will deepen their ability to judge the…

This book is a guide for encouraging critical television viewing skills in children, allowing them to make up their own minds about the power and influence of television. The introduction addresses the importance of television in North America and compares viewing patterns with those in other countries. The text throughout is accompanied by…

This student workbook provides information about mass media and invites students to consider and respond to that information. Students are encouraged to use reading, writing, researching, critical thinking, interpreting, and debating skills in their responses. The book is organized into 8 chapters: (1) "The World of Media"; (2) "Television: Is…

Four different principles of visual manipulation constitute a minimal list of what a visually "literate" viewer should know about, but certain problems exist which are inherent in measuring viewers' awareness of each of them. The four principles are: (1) paraproxemics, or camera work which derives its effectiveness from an analogy to the…

Focuses on ways in which a group of high school students responded to fine art and other forms of visual culture, such as advertising images, cartoons, and propaganda posters. Discusses three emergent themes in student responses: (1) purposes of imagery; (2) interpretation of images; and (3) relationships among images. (DSK)

Within the scholarly debate about the value of visual literacy is the belief that visual literacy bestows the skill of critical viewing, or conscious appreciation of artistry along with the ability to see through manipulative uses and ideological implications of visual images. Critical thinking is commonly viewed as argument skills, cognitive…

The state of the motion picture industry is reviewed, focusing on needed change in the practice of product placement. The study of the placements of advertising in films should be of interest to the student of visual literacy. Product placers are using films to advertise their products to entertainment seekers. The viewer, often a child, may not…

This book argues that people live simultaneously in two different cultures. Values of the first culture are imparted to children through curriculum in the nation's public school classrooms. The second culture is the world of mass communication that promotes consumption, instant gratification, and impulse. The clash between these cultures confronts…