Final Exam Questions

Please note: exam is Wednesday May 20th from 11:20-1:30 pm in Hunter West room 615.

Introduction
 to 
Media
 Studies
 Prof.
 Stuart
 Ewen

MEDIA 
180
 (Sections 
001‐011,
 084, 
161) 

Dept.
 of 
Film 
&
 Media
 Studies

Spring
 Semester 
2009
 
 
 
 
 
 











Office:
 501 C
North



FINAL
 EXAM
 STUDY 
QUESTIONS



On
 Wednesday,
 May
 20th,
 at
 11:20
 AM,
 three
 (3)
 of
 the
 following
 questions
 will
 appear

on
 the
 final
 examination.
 
 You
 will
 be
 expected
 to
 write
 in
 response
 to
 two
 (2)
 of
 these.


As
 with
 the
 midterm,
 the
 exam
 will
 be
 open
 book
 and 
open 
notebook.

 While
 you
 are 
not

permitted
 to
 bring
 in
 pre‐written
 exam
 questions,
 you
 should
 feel
 free
 to
 develop
 outlines
 that
 included
 relevant
 quotes
 from
 readings,
 lectures,
 sections,
 etc.
 You
 will
 have

two
 hours
 to
 complete
 the 
exam.



1)
 In
 1816,
 Thomas
 Jefferson
 wrote
 that
 "if
 a
 nation
 expects
 to
 be
 ignorant
 and
 free...it
 expects

what
 never
 was
 and
 never
 will
 be."
 
Write
 an
 essay
 in
 which
 you
 discuss
 the
 ways
 that
 the
 rise
 of

public
 relations
 in
 the
 20th
 and
 21st
 centuries
 relates
 to
 Jefferson’s
 concern.
 
Has
 public
 relations
 contributed 
to
 public
 ignorance 
or 
public 
enlightenment?
 How 
have 
shifting
 ideas
 about 
the 
public,
 and
 changing
 ideas
 about
 how
 of
 communicate
 with
 the
 public
 heightened
 public
 awareness
 or
 ignorance?

 Ground
 your 
argument
 in 
history,
 and
 include 
lucid
 examples 
from
 at
 least 
three 
of
 the
 following
 in
 developing
 your
 essay:
 “Century
 of
 the
 Self,”
 “Visiting
 Edward
 Bernays,”
 “Selling
 Lucky
 Strike 
Cigarettes 
to
 Women,”
 online
 reserve
 selections
 from
 Walter Lippmann.



2)
 Making
 specific
 references
 to
 scenes
 and
 episodes
 from
 Sherlock,
 Jr.
 (1924),
 write
 an
 essay
 in

which
 you
 discuss
 Buster
 Keaton’s
 film
 as
 a
 “tale
 of
 before
 and
 after.”
 
 To
 what
 extent
 is
 Keaton’s

film
 similar
 to
 notions
 of
 self‐improvement
 encountered
 in
 one
 of
 the
 following
 literary
 works:

Franklin’s
 Autobiography,
 Alger’s
 Ragged
 Dick
 or
 the
 Autobiography
 of
 Malcolm
 X?
 
 To
 what
 extent
 does
 Sherlock,
 Jr.
 represent
 a
 significant
 departure
 from
 ideas
 about
 self‐improvement
 encountered
 in
 these
 other
 works?
 Give
 clear
 examples
 from
 Keaton’s
 film,
 and
 from
 the
 literary
 works
 you 
have 
chosen 
to
 discuss
 in
 developing
 your 
essay.



3)
 In
 The
 Photoplay:
 A
 Psychological
 Study
 (1916),
 Hugo
 Münsterberg
 claimed
 that
 movies
 “act
 as
 our
 imagination
 acts.
 [They
 have]
 the
 mobility
 of
 our
 ideas
 which
 are
 not
 controlled
 by
 the
 physical
 necessity
 of 
outer
 events 
but 
by
 the
 psychological
 laws
 for
 the
 association
 of
 ideas. 

In
 our
 mind
 past
 and
 future
 become
 intertwined
 with
 the
 present.
 The
 photoplay
 obeys
 the
 laws
 of
 the
 mind
 rather
 than
 those
 of 
the 
outer
world.”


 Making
 specific
 reference
 to
 plot,
 scenes
 and
 filmmaking
 techniques
 in
 “The
 Kleptomaniac”
 (1905),
 “A
 Corner
 in
 Wheat”
 (1909)
 and
 “Sherlock,
 Jr.”
 (1924),
 write
 an
 essay
 in
 which
 you
 discuss
 the
 evolution
 of
 storytelling
 in
 American
 movies
 from
 a
 method
 based
 on
 the
 factual
 presentation
 of
 “outer
 events”
 to
 one
 that
 increasingly
 “obeys
 the
 laws
 of
 the
 mind.”
 
 From
 lectures
 and
 from
 your
 reading
 of
 “City
 Lights,”
 what
 social
 developments
 may
 have
 influenced
 the
 change
 towards
 an
 increasingly
 psychological
 approach 
to
 storytelling?



For
 the 
next
 part 
of
 your
 essay, 
select
 either
 advertising
 or public
 relations
 as your 
subject. 

Discuss
 two
 significant
 ways
 that
 changes
 in
 the
 industry
 you’ve
 chosen
 mirrors
 the
 changes
 (indicated
 above)
 that
 affected
 American
 movies
 over
 the
 first
 three
 decades
 of
 the
 twentieth
 century.
 Be
 specific,
using
 clear
 examples
 from 
lectures,
 readings
 and
 video/film
 presentations.


4)
 In
 Chapters
 8,
 9
 and
 10
 of
 All
 Consuming
 Images,
 Ewen
 argues
 that
 social
 ideas
 about
 value,

power
 and
 disposability
 are
 communicated,
 often
 silently,
 through
 a
 language
 of
 images.
 Selecting
 one
 of
 these
 three
 areas
 (value,
 power,
 disposability),
 clearly
 and
 concisely
 summarize
 the
 argument
 that
 Ewen
 is
 making.
 
 Do
 you
 agree
 with
 this
 interpretation?
 
 Now,
 using
 a
 “typical”
 print
 image
 (advertising
 or
 editorial)
 that
 you
 have
 selected
 from
 a
 current
 magazine,
 offer
 a
 clear
 and
 detailed
 explanation
 as
 to
 how
 your
 image
 supports
 and/or
 counters
 Ewen’s
 explanation
 of
 the
 ways
 that 
images 
transmit
 social
 ideals.

 Attach
 a
c copy
 of
 your 
image
 to 
your 
essay.


5) In 
lectures
 as
 well
 as 
in
 Bernays '
"Selling
 Lucky
 Strike 
Cigarettes
 to
 Women" 
we see 
how 
advertising,
 from
 the
 1920s
 onwards,
 begins
 to
 speak
 less
 about
 the
 products
 being
 sold
 and
 more
 and
 more
 about
 the
 lives,
 aspirations,
 and
 anxieties
 of
 prospective
 consumers.
 Write
 an
 essay
 in
 which
 you
 discuss
 the
 extent
 to
 which
 three
 social
 realities
 of
 an
 emerging
 consumer
 society
 helped
 propel
 this
 change.
 What
 assumptions
 about
 "the
 consumer"
 may
 have
 contributed
 to
 the
 emergence
 of
 modern
 advertising
 strategies?
 Select
 a 
recent 
magazine
 advertisement
 or 
television
 commercial
 that
 has
 appeared
 this
 semester
 (between
 January
 and
 May
 2009)
 and
 discuss
 how
 the
 lived
 experience
 of
 consumers
 continues
 to
 be
 a
 subject
 matter
 in
 product
 advertising.
 (Be
 sure
 to
 include
 a
 copy
 or
 detailed
 description
 of
 the
 advertisement
 you 
are
 analyzing
 along
 with
 your
 answer.)



6)
 In
 1859
 Oliver
 Wendell
 Holmes,
 Sr.
 wrote
 that,
 with
 the
 birth
 of
 photography,
 "Form
 is
 henceforth 
divorced 
from
 matter...
Men 
will
 hunt
 all
 beautiful
 and
 grand
 objects
 as
 they
 hunt
 the
 cattle 
in
 South America,
 for
 their
 skins,
 and
 leave
 the
 carcasses
 as
 of 
little
 worth.”


To
 what
 extent
 was
 Holmes
 describing
 the
 changing
 physics
 of
 perception,
 a
 shift
 in
 the
 relation‐
ship
 between
 human
 perception
 and
 the
 material
 world?
 In
 a
 clearly
 written
 essay
 offer
 a
 detailed
 discussion
 using
 examples
 of
 the
 changing
 physics
 of
 perception
 as
 it
 relates
 to
 one
 of
 the
 following:
 1)
 the
 rise
 and
 development
 of
 mass
 produced
 style
 or
 2)
 changes
 in
 the
 meaning
 of
 visual
 truth
 from
 photography
 onward.
 Relevant
 class
 materials
 include:
 "The
 Stereoscope
 and
 the
 Stereograph,"
 All
 Consuming
 Images,
 "City
 Lights,"
 “The
 Photoplay:
 A
 Psychological
 Study”,
 the
 Zoom
 book,
 and 
the
 silent
 films
 that 
we’ve 
seen
 in
 class.


7)
 It
 has
 been
 argued
 this
 semester
 that
 visual
 images,
 though
 often
 silent,
 are
 powerful
 tools
 for

transmitting
 social
 values
 and
 ideas.
 
 Write
 an
 essay
 in
 which
 you
 discuss
 three
 ways
 that
 commercial
 images
 transmit
 specific
 social
 ideas
 regarding
 one
 or
 more
 of 
the 
following:




 a.
Structures
 of
 social
 power;


 b.
Patterns 
of
 consumption 
and
 waste;


 c.
Ideas
 about
 economic
 value.



In
 developing
 your
 essay
 use
 specific
 examples,
 drawn
 from
 the
 media
 and
 from
 All
 Consuming
 Images,
 which
 help
 to
 support
 your
 argument.
 
 To
 what
 extent
 do
 the
 images
 and
 ideas
 you
 are
 writing 
about 
conceal
 other
 possible
 ways 
of
 understanding
 the
 world?




8)
 In
 the
 second
 half
 of
 the
 course,
 we
 have
 explored
 the
 ways
 that
 the
 idea
 of
 self‐improvement,

or
 the
 construction
 of
 self,
 has
 evolved
 from
 Benjamin
 Franklin
 in
 the
 late
 18th
 century
 through
 the
 case
 of 
Heidi
 Cee
 in 
2007.

 Write
 an
 essay
 in
 which
 you
 compare 
and 
contrast
 the
 tale
 of
 before 
and
 after 
in 
relation
 to
 three
 of 
the 
following.



a. Benjamin
 Franklin’s
 Autobiography;

b. Horatio
 Alger’s 
Ragged
 Dick;

c. Buster
 Keaton,
“Sherlock 
Junior”;

d. Malcolm 
X,
 The 
Autobiography
 of
 Malcolm
 X;

e. The 
rise
 of
 modern
 advertising, 
and
 its 
emerging
 concept 
of 
self;

f. “Vera”
(film
 on 
reserve);

g. The
 Hunter 
College/IACC
 course
 and 
the 
invention
 of 
Heidi
 Cee.



Drawing
 on
 readings,
 films,
 lecture
 content
 and
 material,
 and
 discussions,
 discuss
 your
 particular
 examples
 in
 relation
 to
 the
 historical,
 cultural
 contexts
 out
 of
 which
 they
 came.
 How
 did
 social
 circumstances
 influence
 or
 shape
 the
 examples
 you
 are
 writing
 about?
 Think
 about
 the
 distinction
 between
 “character”
 and
 “personality”
 in
 writing
 your
 essay,
 between
 living
 in
 “good
 faith”
 and
 “bad
 faith.”
 Where
 relevant,
 discuss
 the
 impact
 of
 religious
 ideas,
 media
 technologies
 and
 media
 forms,
 changes
 in
 the
 economic
 context,
 and
 the
 particular
 definition
 of
 audience
 as
 it
 relates
 to
 each 
of your 
examples.