Observe 2 hours of TV in during the week and 2 hours of people during the week. Almost any show is appropriate, but emphasis is placed on human behavior. Do not watch sporting events, news, or documentaries.
Take detailed notes as you observe the characters.
• How are they dressed?
• What are their bodies like?
• Their faces?
• What do they do for a living?
• Are they rich, poor, or middle class?
• What race or ethnicity are they?
• How do they refer to themselves?
• What is their age?
• Make at least 2 additional observations (identify what these are)
When you have completed your observations, look over your notes and draw comparisons between the media characters and the real people that you observed. How does media distort images of real people? Does media influence our sense of reality? In what ways?
Write at least 2 double-spaced pages.
