Denotation — literal meaning of a word/image. Connotation — emotional/cultural associations. Framing — the larger interpretive shape: which facts are foregrounded, which excluded, what causal story is implied. Example: "Police Clash with Protesters" (frames event as bilateral) vs "Police Beat Demonstrators" (frames as unilateral state violence). Same event, different frame.
B. Camera below subject → viewer looks up → subject elevated.
A. Caulfield's SIFT method.
(a) Bandwagon: appeal to popularity ("4 out of 5 dentists recommend …"). (b) Testimonial: endorsement from authority/celebrity ("As a doctor, I recommend …"). (c) Glittering generality: vague, emotionally loaded language without specifics ("Vote for change!" "True freedom").
B. Coined by Eli Pariser; describes how personalised content can narrow exposure to differing views.
(1) Media texts are constructions. (2) Media texts construct versions of reality. (3) Audiences negotiate meaning (different audiences read the same text differently). (4) Media texts have commercial implications. (5) Media texts have social and political implications. (Sometimes a 6th: each medium has its own aesthetic form.)
(a) Aspirational adults with disposable income — likely men 25–45 in professional/executive roles. (b) Testimonial / association (athlete = success); pathos (sunrise = aspiration); glittering generality ("the only currency that matters"). (c) Cinematic conventions: golden-hour cinematography, slow motion, deep voiceover for authority, close-ups on product. Marks: 1 audience, 2 techniques, 1 convention, 1 communication.
Stop — pause before sharing; notice emotional pull. Investigate the source — open new tab, search the organisation's name + "Wikipedia," "criticism," "funding." Find better coverage — search the underlying claim ("X causes Y") on Google News + scholarly databases; check whether reputable outlets have reported the same study. Trace claims — find the original study (peer-reviewed?), examine its methodology, sample size, and how this post represents (or distorts) it. Marks: 1 each step + 1 for specificity.
Form: TV news (formal anchor, fixed length, scripted, broadcast license, defined editorial process) vs TikTok (60-second-or-less, creator-as-narrator, vertical video, algorithm-distributed). Framing: TV news is constrained by professional norms (objectivity claim, named editor); TikTok blends commentary, performance, and reporting and is highly algorithm-mediated. One can be more accountable; the other can be more agile and intimate. Marks: 2 form differences, 1 framing, 1 specificity, 1 communication.
Strong reviews are specific (name the source, say what it does well or poorly), measured (no global claims of "fake news" or "perfect"), and grounded in concrete evidence (a specific story, a specific framing pattern). Marks: 1 audience, 1 framing, 1 evidence quality, 1 strength/limitation, 1 conventions.
Sample: SHOT 1 — Close-up on a phone screen showing a suspicious DM, ambient classroom sound; SHOT 2 — Eye-level mid-shot on student at locker, hesitating thumb hovering, soft suspenseful music; SHOT 3 — Cut to text overlay "Pause. Verify. Tell someone you trust." with calm voiceover. Marks: 1 each shot for specifying angle, action, dialogue, sound; 1 for cohesion.
Look for: a specific convention (close-up, voiceover, juxtaposition, colour palette), articulated reason for using it, identification of intended audience response, awareness of what could go wrong. Marks: 1 convention, 2 intended response + reasoning, 1 awareness of risk, 1 conventions.
Strong responses identify concrete risks (deepfake video of a candidate; coordinated inauthentic behaviour; "October surprise" disinformation; AI-generated lookalike news sites) and offer a concrete citizen practice (lateral reading; cross-checking with Elections Canada; pausing before sharing; following election-period fact-checkers like Agence France-Presse Fact Check). Marks: 2 risks, 1 strategy, 1 specificity, 1 communication.
Look for: specificity (named group, specific misrepresentation pattern, specific creative choice). Possible patterns: tokenism (single representative speaking for whole group), narrative subordination (group appears only in supporting roles), source asymmetry (the group is reported about, not interviewed). Improvements: hiring from the community as creators not just subjects, multiple speakers within the group to disrupt monolith assumptions, naming sources with full context. Marks: 2 pattern, 2 creative choice, 1 communication.
Strong responses note that close-reading skills transfer directly: tone, diction, irony, framing, the construction of voice, the management of audience — all are at work in literature AND in media texts. Specific example: just as Munro's first-person narrator constructs a particular adult retrospective stance, a TikTok creator constructs a "first-person" voice through camera framing, music choice, and direct address. Both ask the same critical questions: who is speaking, to whom, with what implied authority, and at the expense of which other voices? Marks: 2 connection articulated, 2 examples (1 each side), 1 synthesis quality.