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Part One: the package. What form will your project take? Once you decide on the subject (content) how will you present that to the world?
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A blog
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A man-on-the-street interview (video or audio)
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A short documentary film
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A short fiction film
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A news broadcast – either satire or genuine
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A radio diary (podcast)
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A web-based collection of data and information: Pinterest, GooglePlus, Facebook, Tumblr, …
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A short music video
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An original piece of music
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An Op/Ed (opinions and editorial) submission to a newspaper
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A letter writing campaign
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A photography project
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A written product: fiction, memoir, poetry, speech, …
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A survey with the results evaluated
Other?
Genre: the commercialization of childhood
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Watch an infant DVD (for example, Baby Einstein or Brainy Baby), and write out your reactions as you watch.
Describe what you see, and give your reactions to it. What are your thoughts about the content of the DVD? Is it what you expected? Do you see why people might think it’s educational? Do you see why studies have shown that it isn’t?
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Visit your local grocery store, department store, or Babies ‘R’ Us. Explore the infant and toddler sections, where you’ll find diapers, bottles, clothes, bedding, etc., and make note of what you see. Analyze your findings. And as you do, for guidance, consider the following series of questions: How much of the baby paraphernalia you came

across was branded with media characters or logos? Were there products that were free of media characters or noticeable brands?
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Visit a toy store (like Target, Toys R Us). Search through the toys offered and make a list of those you would not give to your child. Make a second list of those you find to be appropriate. Document the process. Explain the difference between the two lists.
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Extension to the project above: interview parents you know about the toys they give their children. What are parents saying about the toy industry? Interview parents shopping at these toy stores or department stores.
Conduct a human-on-the-street kind of interview.
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Conduct research on the toys of the 80s and 90s versus the toys of today. What, if any, difference do you see, outside of the development of technology? That is, how has the content of the toys changed? Do you view these changes as positive, negative, or neutral?
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Conduct research from the American Academy of Pediatrics and report on the findings of experts in child development on toys, games, TV, and other entertainment products. See what kinds of advice they are giving and why they came to their conclusions.
Clothing for children: conduct research on the clothing available for parents to purchase. Does socio-economic class factor in? How are children’s clothes commercialized based on brand and store? Can you find logo-free clothing at Target or Fred Meyer or Wal-Mart? What about Macy’s? Does price factor in?
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Disney films: what value system do Disney films propose? Aside from the merchandising, how do the actual stories of Disney contribute to the existing culture capitalism and consumerism in the US?
Genre: gender stereotyping and gender bias
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Expressions shape gender stereotypes: Research and list all the pejorative gender phrases in your culture. Think of expressions like: “He throws the ball like a girl” (which suggests that only men or boys know how to throw a ball correctly), or “Who wears the pants in the relationship?” (which suggests that the one with power in a relationship should be a guy – or at least dress like one.)
Visit a toy store and document the gender stereotyping you see (or don’t see). What toys are associated with each gender? What are the suggested roles for boys and girls? What colors are used? What images are used?
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Barbie and GI Joe. Then versus now. Conduct research on the evolution of the GI Joe and/or Barbie doll. What changes do you see? How are these tied to cultural norms of the different eras?
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Barbie and GI Joe: dimensions and real life. What if you made a life-sized Barbie doll or GI Joe? What kind of human would she/he look like? Document the proportional sizes of a Barbie and/or GI Joe doll and an average woman or man. Compare and contrast and provide visuals.
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Research a video game from the mid 1990s, mid 2000s and today. What’s changed? What’s consistent. Aside from the advances in technology what do you notice about gender, race, ethnicity, culture?
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Research the sales numbers of companies (Carl’s Junior, Abecrombie and Fitch, American Apparel, etc) which have been scrutinized for their sexist ads, to see whether their approach has led to increased sales numbers. Be prepared to present your findings and explain to whom these sorts of marketing approaches appeal and why.
Disney films: watch several films made by Disney (both animated and live action). What are the gender roles and behaviors being presented?
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Masculinity and the New Man Code: a new generation of men is re-writing the “man code.” What is this new code? How does it differ from the old code? Contribute to the authorship of this code (whether you are male or female) and promote a value system and conduct of behavior. Whom do you see exemplifying this new code?
Whom do you see as antithetical?
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Princessifying Historical Women: View the illustrations created by David Trumble. Create your own. Survey and document people’s reactions. Create a ‘princified’ version with men from history.
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Men are in prison. Women are in college. Statistically men outnumber women in prison. Women outnumber men in college. What do you make of these numbers? Are men more violent? Are women smarter? How does our culture contribute to this paradigm?
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Gender and jobs. Why are there so few male nurses or male elementary school teachers? Why are there so few women going into the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)? Research how gender affects not only what jobs we see as available to us, but also the behavior (the roles) that these jobs embody. For example, what behavior is required of a lawyer versus a doctor versus a nurse versus an engineer?

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What do you make of Eminem’s stand that he will not use the “n-word,” while he liberally uses the “b-word” and the “h-word?” Go to lyric websites and print out lyrics by Eminem, Ludacris, Nelly, 50 cent, and others.
Research the most popular hip-hop artists, review their lyrics and videos, and demonstrate what value system is being presented.
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Think about the first time you heard the term ‘feminism.’ Was it presented to you in a positive or negative way?
What were the ideas presented to you about feminism from whomever exposed you to the term? What do most people think of when presented with the word? Conduct research into the disconnect between the definition and the cultural connotations of feminism.
Genre: It’s a mean, mean world
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Research the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) 2000 report Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children: A
Review of Self-Regulation and Industry Practices in the Motion Picture, Music Recording & Electronic Game
Industries (http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2001/12/violence.shtm). Does the US have restrictions on marketing violence to children? What does the American Pediatrics Association say about this?
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Many argue that violence has always been part of a child’s experience with media (Grimm fairytales, Greek and
Roman creation stories, Shakespeare). What is your position? What do you see today that is positive or negative? What was your experience as a child exposed to violent media? Do you remember the first time you were scared watching, reading, or listening to something?
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Watch Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling For Columbine. Examine his premise that we are the most violent nation on the planet.
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Take a look at one night of primetime television on the 24-hour news channels – CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, HLN and others. Track down the transcripts of these programs on Lexis Nexis to create a list of all the specific stories that aired in one night. Break your list into three columns – stories that you think have a positive effect on viewers, stories that you think have a neutral effect, and stories that you think add to general anxiety and fear.
Document what you find.
 Research incarcerations rates in the United States. How have they changed since the 1920s? How do incarceration rates in the US compare to other countries? We know that crime rates are falling – can the same be said for incarceration rates? Why do you think this is? Can some of this be attributed to
 the mean world syndrome? How so? Make sure to discuss any differences in rates among different races or classes that you come across in your research.
Go to the website http://livingroomcandidate.org and watch the following election commercials: o 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson “Peace Little Girl (Daisy)” ad o o o
( http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1964 )
Willie Horton ad from the Bush-Dukakis campaign in 1988
( http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1988 ).
2004 George W. Bush campaign “wolves” ad
( http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/2004 ).
Why do you think ads like these are memorable? How do you think they play into the mean world syndrome? Watch other commercials on the site. Do you see any patterns that emerge, a thread connecting these election commercials?

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o Skill set #10: community participation o Mastery of this skill set will meet the following criteria:
 Your page is personalized and designed to reflect your interest and focus
 All of the projects and assignments you did semester one are uploaded to your site
 Your site is easy to navigate and is evidence of your learning this first semester
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o Skill set#7: investigate an aspect of culture and demonstrate media’s impact
 Mastery of this skill will demonstrate:
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Thorough research on the chosen subject with all data and statistics accurately sourced
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A sophisticated understanding of media’s impact on this aspect of culture
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The project is clearly connected to one aspect or theme examined in the documentaries watched in class
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A personal response to the issue/subject/theme
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A media-based project to communicate your investigation
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Project is fully uploaded to your personal website and available for public consumption o Skill set # 1 – apply the five core concepts and five key questions of media literacy
 Mastery of this skill will demonstrate
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Your project considers the 5 core concepts and 5 key questions
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You offer the viewer/audience consideration for how they connect with or contribute to the subject or issue.
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Offer the audience a solution or suggestion for how to change the subject or issue brought forward in the project