PORTFOLIO SAMPLE

Media Literacy for High-School Seniors

Challenge

As the English teacher of high school seniors who would be able to vote in the 2008 presidential election, I wanted to both cultivate their media literacy and make the themes of George Orwell’s 1984 more relevant. Analyzing political rhetoric was the perfect way to unite current events, transferable skills, and literature.

Solution

After the class had finished reading 1984, I asked them to research current political ads. Each student had to choose an ad from a Democrat and an ad from a Republican, research the ads’ claims on factcheck.org, and analyze how the ads made emotional appeals through images and music. The students had to summarize their findings in well-structured paragraphs and deliver presentations to the rest of the class.

For a model, I chose ads from presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. Obama’s ad, for example, mentioned that he did not take money from oil companies but left out the context that no politicians are allowed to take money directly from corporations. In fact, he had accepted over $200,000 in donations from individuals working in the gas and oil sector and their spouses. McCain’s ad, meanwhile, relied heavily on vague promises, inspiring music, and flattering cinematography of McCain. By modeling an analysis of candidates from both political parties, I hoped to set an example of objectivity for the class.

In pedagogical terms, this assignment encouraged students to process 1984’s theme of political rhetoric at the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Instead of merely recalling the theme or explaining how it appeared in the novel, they had to analyze current political messages through its lens and evaluate the techniques used.