Argues that television programs must be polysemic to achieve popularity because of the wide variety of subcultures represented in the television audience. Analyzes two scenes from "Hart to Hart" to demonstrate the textual devices that bear the dominant ideology and those that resist it. (JD)

Suggests an alternative approach for a popular culture course--an exploration of the culture of the students' parents, or "unpopular" culture. Possible activities for a unit include: interviews (on entertainment preferences, for example), observations (dress codes for social gatherings, parental food and drink habits, etc.), or an attic…

Building on the author's groundbreaking work in "Building Superheroes," this book traces the influence of a wide-ranging set of "textual toys" from children's lives--church and hip-hop songs, rap music, movies, TV, traditional jump-rope rhymes, the words of professional sports announcers and radio deejays--upon school learning…

Marking "Writer's Digest"'s upcoming 75th anniversary, this book presents a collection of the best writing instruction, advice, and inspiration written by famous and not-so-famous writers and published in the magazine from the 1920s to the 1990s. The 49 selections in the book are arranged chronologically and address: (1) selecting an…

North Americans have been fixated on the personalities of their leaders; they often ignore the need for collective responsibility. Teachers should remember that the assumption made in popular culture about ordinary citizens is that they are passively willing to give up their responsibilities and condone violence and vigilantism. (IS)

During the 1930s, a worldwide depression created a fear of communism and a "law-and-order" mentality. The 1990s, by contrast, are marked by a social void in which guilt is ascribed to no one. As recent TV commercials show, dispensing reasonable consequences in response to negative actions is viewed as socially backward. Too often,…

Argues that cultural studies imported to the United States often lose much of their critical edge. Contends that their misleading affirmation of the power and independence of media audiences is derived from several factors, including (1) overestimating the freedom of audiences in reception; and (2) confusing active reception with political…

Points out the need for research concerning the effects of media and popular culture on behavior, the current approaches to media education, and the identification of media literacy skills. Lists concerns of teachers about copyrights, suitable resources, staff training, evaluation practices, and curriculum design when teaching media literacy. (KO)

Media literacy encourages critical thinking about the news media, advertising, and popular culture. Media education of American Indian students challenges mass media's stereotyped aboriginal representations and the mainstream values of egotism and consumerism. Integrated across the curriculum at all grades, media education is empowering and…

It is argued that the O. J. Simpson murder trial reflects impoverished discourse in America about social identity and power, particularly relating to race, gender, and class. The debate over the relevance and centrality of identity divides American society deeply because it is at the heart of the discrepancy between what America wants to be and…

Historicized images of First Nations women ("princesses" and "squaws") and related narratives are deeply entrenched in North American popular culture. These appropriated, commodified representations circulate in the politics of difference and influence the identities of Native women. But their mothers' and grandmothers'…

The intersections of dance and sexuality and sexual identity are part of the critical discourse important to teaching dance appreciation and dance history. This essay presents aspects of my teaching practice, informed by current writings in queer studies, dance studies, education, and sociology. Awareness of potential classroom diversity helps…

In composition journals, graduate classrooms, and informal discussions among writing teachers, there is a lot of talk about liberation, empowerment, student voice, dialogue, critical thinking, and democratic teaching--the familiar tropology of critical pedagogy. This nomenclature seems to have permeated the field of composition, across theoretical…

What is pleasing about hypertext is what has always been pleasing about genre fiction: the creative process of reading. Genre novels are written to a formula--and often called formula fiction. Critics say they are written to make money and to make money only. According to C. S. Lewis, they "rot the mind." If looked at from the standpoint…

College faculty who teach writing courses might find an examination of early religious literature helpful when trying to explain "writing for an audience" or "audience awareness" to their students. The Jesuit priest who preached to and wrote for the Indians in Brazil during the early colonial period, Jose de Anchieta, is a…