Task #5

Directions: At the end of the book, you will find “A Conversation with M. T. Anderson” (an interview).  Read the last interview question and the author’s response, and then reflect briefly upon the following three questions.

Create a new section in your Google document entitled “Task #5” for your responses.

a) Contemporary mainstream media is all about marketing individuality . . . to everyone:  nearly all products today are “customizable”; brand new jeans are made to look like you’ve backpacked across Europe in them; and “edgy” music is in (read:  mass produced on major record labels).

Anderson suggests one way for youth to resist this media manipulation:  cultivate real individuality.  Identify something about yourself (a hobby, an interest, a sport, a heritage, an aspect of your character) that truly sets you apart from everyone else and is not something that you purchased. 

b) Are you strong enough to explore these “peculiar corners” that will allow you to resist being “mainstreamed” by the media in this way? Why is it important to cultivate them? What are your plans for doing so?

In your answer, be sure to explain why does it requires courage and strength to pursue these things.

c) Finally, what can you and your now media savvy classmates do to share your understanding and knowledge of media manipulation of youth and youth culture with your friends (without losing them as friends, that is!)?

When you are finished, click here.