Grade 9 - Comprehend and Respond (Critical Analysis)

This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will draw reasoned conclusions from information found in various written, spoken, or visual communications and defend their conclusions rationally.

It is expected that students will:

identify and investigate how different cultures and socio-economic groups are portrayed in the media
describe and provide examples of the power of satire to influence beliefs
locate and assess the effectiveness of a variety of persuasive techniques in relation to purpose, audience, and medium
evaluate information for its suitability for an identified audience
explain how mass media can influence social attitudes, self-perceptions, and lifestyles

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Comprehend and Respond (Critical Analysis) in other grades click on an icon below.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

To approach communications critically, students need to understand and recognize how bias and the use of various techniques (e.g., satire and parody) affect the way messages are conveyed.

Provide students with examples from newspapers, cartoons, posters, videos, and advertising that portray women, people with disabilities, ethnic groups, or environmental concerns in various ways. Discuss any bias in each example and ask students to comment on the implied message. Have students collect examples of print and TV commercials that give a specific message (e.g., the portrayal of women) and ask them to draw conclusions. Have students present their conclusions on a Venn diagram showing the differences and similarities between reality and mass media images.
To help students understand satire as a prevalent and popular form of communication, ask them to examine current or past TV programs to identify examples of satire and devices such as puns, irony, and parody and how they are used. Have students work in groups and use their new awareness to produce their own fifteen-minute videos or radio plays satirizing society and its institutions. Give each student in a group the responsibility for developing one scene of the group's script.
Ask students to examine editorial cartoons to note how they each depict only one aspect of an issue. Have pairs of students each select a cartoon and examine it, discuss other aspects of the issue depicted, and then develop a new cartoon from a different viewpoint. Include cartoons from Aboriginal newspapers to depict another frame of reference.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Students need to work with a variety of popular media to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes involved in critical analysis. Assessment can involve students in working with a variety of visual and print media.

When students work with examples of satire, look for evidence that they are able and willing to:
- go beyond a surface interpretation to consider the perspective and purpose of the individual or group who created each work
- connect specific examples to broader issues
- analyse their own responses to satire and related techniques
- consider a work from several different perspectives (e.g., its impact on different groups)
- identify and analyse examples of specific devices and techniques
Suggest that students keep media journals for recording and commenting on specific examples related to a particular technique, genre, issue, or theme that they are studying. Develop clear expectations of what these journals should include and how they will be assessed. For example, students might be asked to track how a particular issue, theme, or group is portrayed in a variety of media over a period of time. They could record and analyse at least three entries each week and then use the material to develop a written, oral, or visual presentation that demonstrates their understanding. Assessment criteria might include:
- entries are relevant and complete
- comments go beyond surface interpretation to consider purpose and perspective
- summary focusses on key insights, supported by specific, relevant examples
- presentation is clear and convincing