Week 4

Audience analysis of media text focuses on how media texts use language, signs, and images to position audiences to adopt certain desired responses, beliefs, or practices (Beach, p.34). Audience analysis seeks to discover the audience’s identification by attempting to associate them with a group of activities. It is important to understand that audience analysis views audiences not as passive participants, but as active consumers. The media tries to socialize these consumers to think their consumption will lead them to a route of popularity and status. Students can relate to this concept if they think about their consumption of brand name clothes. Consuming expensive brand name clothes allow students the opportunity to gain popularity among their peers in school. This popularity means that they can identify with a particular group of people and are actively participating in this activity because of their own desire. Unfortunately, the critical analysis of students’ actions may show that they may or may not be admitted agency to these desires.

Semiotic theory places focus on the social and cultural meanings of sign and codes. Semiotic theory is similar to the aspect of assigning stereotypes or preconceived consumptions to signs, codes, and possibly people. For example, the display of two painting in two different colors would have different meanings depending on the perception of the person. A solid white picture and a solid black picture can be interpreted with several meanings. The solid white picture might represent purity to one person while representing mediocrity to another. An all black picture might represent fear to one individual while representing beauty to another. People decode the meaning of objects and people in daily life by utilizing the social and cultural beliefs that have been instilled in them.

I like the use of narrative analysis to analyze the narrative structures in texts and television shows. These narratives can also be used to analyze how media texts reflect cultural values. The idea of using television shows that reflect the persistent problem of crime to discuss bigger ideas is an excellent way to discuss cultural values.

The poststructuralist analysis focuses on how language categories in media texts influence the perceptions of characters and audience. Media tends to define the meaning of binaries along definite terms while also blurring the meanings at the same time. This analysis would serve as a great tool to discuss the issues of identity that so many students cope with on a daily basis. Media texts and multicultural literature that focus on GLBT issues can be analyzed using this analysis tool.

Critical discourse analysis focuses on what lens or perspective people use to interpret the world. I think this is a great way for students to think about their cultural values and belief systems influence how they perceive the world. Students will interpret media texts and life experiences using critical discourse. Although each student will use their own critical discourse when interpreting media texts, it is important that they are open-minded in engaging with alternative perspectives.

The psychoanalytic theories include the feminist analysis, postmodern analysis, and the postcolonial analysis. The feminist analysis points to sexist portrayals of both men and women. This analysis could be used in conjunction with the poststructuralist analysis to discuss gender and language categories. Postmodern analysis questions the modernists’ beliefs about truth, progress, human improvement, art, and science that are supposed to lead happiness and fulfillment. This analysis forces the individual to think about multiple realities and what is possibly authentic and what is possibly not. Finally, the postcolonial analysis explores ways in which colonial conceptions of the world are depicted in media texts. This analysis allows for the examination of colonial conceptions of Third World places and culture to be viewed around the idea of their fears of the “other”