Seminar Paper #6

Humanities 150
Seminar Paper #6
Due March 1

Answer ONE question from EACH set of questions (10 points each).

“Life According to TV”

What is Water’s point in describing the world according to television? Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not?

What is Waters assuming about the television’s audience when describing this “world”? Do you think these assumptions are appropriate? Why?

This piece is now more than twenty-five years old--what do you think has changed since he wrote it? Are the ideas Gerbner wrote still valid today?


“‘Reality’ Television: American Myths and Racial Ideology”

Explain the “American Dream” narrative and the “assimilation narrative” (Larson 187) as described in the article.

Explain Larson’s analysis of Omarosa as the “bad black” stereotype and Kwame as the “good black” stereotype (188). How are they different? How do they support the “dominant ideology about race” (Larson 187) as presented in The Apprentice?