Author Archives: Rebecca Miller

Reading Summary We all have different personalities dependent on the people we are around. We also adjust how we act or how we describe things and activities based on the people or environment we are around. We each perform different roles in different socialarenas, depending on the nature of the situation, our particular role inContinue reading “No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior.”

Reading Summary In Chapter 6 of What Media Classes Really Want to Discuss, Smith discusses the ideas surrounding “Us” and “Them” and introduces the “Other”. The idea of Us and Them starts at a very young age. Either with high school clique or with political groups. The words, ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘you’, have a lotContinue reading “Role models and stereotypes: An introduction to the ‘Other’”

Reading Summary This podcast is about a group of transexual men who were born female and raised as girls but made the transition to male. Many of which are either in relationships, married, or are dating. One friend talked about learning how to socialize as a man as they were never taught how to approachContinue reading “View from the other half”

Reading Summary The signification systems that result from assigning names and logos and products is what permits advertisers to create effective as and commercial texts. Text is translated into a visual and verbal connotation of different types of signification systems. The textuality generated by ads and commercials is an intrinsic feature of the advertising method.Continue reading “Persuasive Signs”

Reading Summary A sign is anything that stand for something other than itself. When analyzing a sign, you must ask three questions. What does it mean? How does it present this meaning? Why is it indicative of this meaning? There are two types of referents, the thing to which a sign refers. One being aContinue reading “Messages, Signs, and Meaning”

Reading Summary Quantitative research tends to be “systematic, precise and accurate” as it tries to determine validity, reliability, objectivity and truth of certain variables. It attempts to isolate and analyze the relationship between different variables using numbers and numerical correlations. Quantitative is sometimes favored over Qualitative as numbers tend to be more reliable. Qualitative traitsContinue reading “Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research”

Reading Summary Is being spontaneous actually being real? Many filmmakers can construct a film in order to make it seem that way, when in reality, the basis of something looking realistic focuses more on framing and camera angles. Certain techniques encourage us to believe that the media is being truthful, which is not exactly theContinue reading ““What is Realism, really?””