MEDIA STUDIES – Interpellation as Technology and Text

Thesis: Interpellation as technology and text: An exploration of [your example].
Instructions: We buy items, adopt services, or use objects because they appeal to us.
Sometimes we seek them out. Other times they seek us out through advertising or
propaganda or because of their interactive or cybernetic nature! For this assignment,
write a 1500-word critical essay exploring how an example of your choice interpellates
you as a subject. Accomplish this by selecting four critical concepts from two of the
approaches we’ve used this semester and applying them to your chosen example.
What are the two approaches we’ve used? First, we’ve studied media as a
technology, with personal and social effects, set in a particular media age or context.
Users are shaped by media in unique ways, depending on how the medium is
constructed and used. How so? Second, we’ve studied media as a text comprising
signs that denote concepts and often connote stereotypes, ideologies and other
societal myths. While producers encode meaning into a text, audiences might accept
its meaning without question (by reproducing or sharing it), or they might negotiate and
oppose its message by creating their own media (as fans) or by poaching and remixing
media to suit their own needs.
For your essay, demonstrate how your example is both a technology and a text: it
involves the coding and decoding of signs, and it shapes you through unique effects.
Details: Please write in 12-point Times New Roman font and double-space your
assignment. Ensure your work is in Word (not PDF) format. When you mention
something from the reading, please CITE, quote, analyze and explain.

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