CMNS 110; Fall,
2007
Midterm Study
Questions
On the morning of the exam we’ll remove one of the
questions from this list, and you will write 4 out of the
remaining five. You will have the full two hours, giving
you approximately half an hour per question. Each question
is worth 5%. Two examination booklets will be provided,
that being about as much as it will take. More booklets
will be available in request.
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1. Compare and contrast Dewey’s and Lippmann’s
views on the nature, practical possibility of, and role of
mass media in, the democracy of the first half of the
20th
Century. Where
appropriate, employ Innis’ concepts ”monopolies
of knowledge” and “bias of communication”
in your discussion.
2. If sent to a gathering of strangers to conduct an
analysis of the goings on using Goffman’s paradigm
– say, to a class or family reunion, or a day-long
strategic planning retreat – what sorts of concepts
and vocabulary (methodological toolkit) would you be taking
with you; what would you be watching for? What would this
analysis ultimately show you? Where, at that gathering,
would you be certain to find the “generalized
Other;” who would s/he be?
3. State and explain McLuhan’s “Laws of
Media.” Demonstrate the laws by application to one of
the following:
a.
Internet enabled computer gaming
b. A university education (degree/s)
c. Fashion
d. iPod
& beyond:
mega-storage personal mobile music, video and image devices
e. Global warming
4. Bernays called it “engineering consent;” for
Chomsky it’s more like “manufacturing
consent.” Using these two ideas about
“consent,” compare and contrast what Bernays
and Chomsky say about the role for propaganda and PR in a
democratic society. Which of the two positions is more
consistent with the pre-conditions for actualizing an
authentic public sphere?
5. Mass society theorists had a very specific view of the
nature of mass audiences. Within a generation, and mainly
due to the work of the American empirical tradition, this
view had to be changed. How did empiricism alter the way
mass society, and especially the Media’s role in it,
had be modified?
6. Define explain, and/or compare and contrast, FOUR of the
following:
a.
Figure/ground
b. Sleeper effect and exposure effect
c. The “I,” “me,” and the
“self”
d. Scapegoating and Spiral of Silence
c. Indoctrination and education
e. Communication and medium
PDF
CMNS 110 F 07
MT