Media Studies 200: An Introduction to Media Studies
Intended for 72 undergraduate students
Spring 2024 at the University of Victoria
lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ territories
M and Th, 10 - 11:20am
Taught by Jentery Sayers (he / him)
Office hours: Th, 11:30am - 12:30pm, in CLE D331
jentery@uvic.ca
This worksheet covers material from Weeks 10, 11, and 12 of MDIA 200. Your response is due via Brightspace by Thursday, April 4th at 10am. (Note that there’s a grace period. See details under “When to Submit It.”)
The worksheet is open-book, meaning you are allowed to use assigned primary sources, handouts, the course website, my slides, your notes, the library, and the internet to address the prompts.
Please cite your source material.
Please download the worksheet (DOCX format) to complete it in a word processor such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, or Pages for Mac.
This open-book worksheet contains four prompts. Each response is worth 25 points for a total of 100 points. You are welcome to attach media (audio, image, or video files) to your response when prompted.
1. Many of today’s platforms are built to invite memeable moments. Mechanics are not merely functional in these architectures; they are expressive. People use them to construct identities, tell emerging stories, and spread participatory media. Let’s test the notion of an “expressive mechanic” by imagining a new one.
Describe a new expressive mechanic for a game format of your choice. Formats include video, board, tabletop, card, party, and live action roleplay games. Your mechanic should perform a “narrative verb.” I recommend playtesting it by writing an “event score” for it and enacting that score at least twice. When you’re done, use no more than 350 words (including terminology from the “Narrative” and “Play” handouts) to explain: A) your expressive mechanic, B) your motivations for it, C) why it interests you, D) why it would interest other people, and E) how it prompts storytelling in the game format you selected. Optional: include an event score for your mechanic and/or video documentation of your playtests.
2. Rhetoric is historically associated with verbal communication but applies to all media practices. It may also be used strategically to spark social, cultural, or structural change. Let’s test this possibility by crafting media that appeal for specific changes at your university.
Identify a specific aspect of your (intended) UVic program you’d like to change. Now, combine text with video, audio, or images to appeal for that change in a media format of your choice. Then use no more than 350 words (including terminology from the “Rhetoric” handout) to describe: A) the audience to whom you’re appealing, B) the type(s) of appeal(s) you’re making through media, C) the problem motivating the change you wish to see, D) the community of practice invested in that change and potentially affected by it, and E) at least one assumption that community makes about how knowledge should be produced. Don’t forget to attach a media file containing your appeal for change in a format of your choice.
3. One of the most compelling ways to demonstrate what you know and what you’re learning is to improve educational content in your field of study. Let’s test this idea by improving a prompt from this course.
Review Worksheets 1, 2, and 3 in this course and identify your least favourite prompt. Then improve it by either A) editing it in ways that would enhance your learning and engagement or B) replacing it with a prompt of your own design. Then use no more than 150 words to explain your reasons for the improvements. Don’t forget to include the revised or new prompt in your response.
4. Preserving born-digital content requires active and ongoing interventions (Witmer 2023), especially in an economic climate where software and hardware are made to obsolesce. Let’s take some steps toward preservation by preparing a file for the future.
Identify one image, audio, or video file you created for a prompt in Worksheet 1, 2, or 3. Now, imagine you want to access this file in 2034 to relive fond memories of Media Studies 200 at UVic. Help keep that file found by using no more than 350 words (including terminology and information from the “Preservation” handout) to A) name the file using an effective file naming convention, B) identify three different locations where you could store the file, C) identify three different file formats in which you could store the file, D) provide title, creator, subject, and description metadata for the file, E) identify another medium in which you could store aspects of your file’s content, and F) reflect on the degree to which you rely on major cloud infrastructures (Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Alibaba, and IBM) to store and access your files.
I will use the following rubric, based on UVic’s official grading system, to assess your responses.
1 point will be deducted for every 25 words over the prescribed word count.
10 points will be deducted from the overall mark if no references are included at the end of the worksheet (see details below).
The total of these points (0-100) will constitute 15% of your final mark in this course.
You do not need to meet the word count in each response to earn a high mark.
Please do not forget to cite any material from which you draw ideas or examples. This includes material from the course. Here are some sample references to get you started.
Please submit a DOCX, ODT, PAGES, or PDF file containing your answers and references along with any media you were prompted to attach or embed. You are welcome to use your preferred citation style (MLA, Chicago, or APA, e.g.). The examples above (“Citing Your Sources”) are in MLA format.
A response to Worksheet 4 is due by 10am on Thursday, April 4th.
I will deduct five points for every business day (excluding holidays and weekends) that I receive Worksheet 4 after Friday, April 5th at 10am. I will close the submission portal at 10am on Thursday, April 18th and cannot accept any submissions after the portal is closed. Thank you for understanding.