Imprints 12

Web Links

Media

Choose a cluster:

• Media in Production
• Media Perspectives
• Media Motives
  

Marshall McLuhan
The opening page of the media section in Imprints 12 has a quotation from McLuhan. This "official McLuhan Web site" has two biographies, several quotations, and FAQs that explain the origin of some terms McLuhan invented. Ask students to explore the site and discuss what McLuhan contributed to media studies.

Media in Production

Follows Family Stages a Reunion newspaper article by Harry Currie

• Newspaper Writing
  This Web site has news writing tips, as well as examples and links to other sites. Ask students to click on "tips from seminars" and read the tip "think like a movie director." Challenge students to rewrite the selection, or a story of their choice, using this technique.
• Noel Coward and Hay Fever
  The inspiration for Coward's play is described in "The Taylor Family" on this Web site. There is also information about Coward's life and career, as well as a study guide to Hay Fever.
  • Challenge students to read part of Hay Fever and write an essay comparing the Taylor family to TV families such as the Osbournes, Simpsons, or a current TV family.
• Theatre
  This Web site has a selection of articles on the theatre. Ask students to choose one article and compare it to "Follows Family Stages a Reunion."
• The Great Stork Derby
  In the selection, Megan Follows mentions a film she made based on a true story. This Web site recounts the strange tale of the Canadian millionaire who willed most of his fortune to the woman who could have the greatest number of babies in ten years. There is a link to suggestions for teachers on this site.
• Dorothea Lange
  A quotation from photographer Dorothea Lange appears in a box on the second page of "Follows Family Stages a Reunion." There are many links on this Web site that provide context for Lange's photos. This site also tells about the effect of Lange's most famous photo on its subjects. Ask students to discuss the ethical treatment of subjects of photojournalism.

• Screenwriting for Teens
  There is a wealth of screenwriting tips (ads too, unfortunately) on this magazine-sponsored Web site. Links to such tools as the character questionnaire, a free book on screenwriting, newsletters, and other screenwriting sites are provided. Ask students to compare the information on this Web site with the information Curtis provides.
• Shirley Temple
  A quotation from Shirley Temple appears in a box on the second page of "Four Rules and a Suggestion." This Web site gives detailed information about the child actor and her films, and about Shirley Temple Black the diplomat.
• Molly Haskell
  At the end of the selection is a quotation from the American film critic Haskell. This Web site has more quotations from her, as well as links to the sayings of other famous creative women.
• On Writing
  This Web site features pages of quotes from writers who have (mostly) written for film. However, it also includes rejection letters for the Diary of Anne Frank, Animal Farm, and A River Runs Through It . Ask students to choose their favourite anecdote or tip from all of these writers (including Curtis' tips in the selection) and share it with the class.

• Emma Thompson
  This Web site provides the personal and performing history of actor/writer Thompson. In the article she also discusses her commitment to making socially responsible films. Discuss her ideas as a class.
• Salon Interviews Ang Lee
  This Salon Web site has a full-length interview of Ang Lee with sound excerpts. He talks about film production, direction, and scriptwriting, among other things.
  • Ask students to find and compare reviews of his films Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
• Production Notes for Ben-Hur
  This New York Writers Institute Web site has production notes on the 1926 film version of Ben-Hur , a story almost as dramatic as the film itself. Students can click on "Film Notes" to reach production notes on dozens of classic Hollywood films.

• George Littlechild
  This Web site includes biographical information on Littlechild, one of his paintings, and a list of his works, including children's books he has illustrated. Students can examine the painting, and then discuss what Littlechild said about his work in the interview.
• George Littlechild Posters
  This Web site shows a collection of Littechild's works in poster form. Ask students to choose their favourite and explain why they like it in a short essay.
• George Littlechild: Plains Cree Chiefs
  This Web site includes a print depicting several of Littlechild's ancestors. Discuss the style and subject matter.
  • Challenge students to research other Aboriginal artists in their geographical area.
• Emily Carr
  A quotation from Emily Carr appears in a box on the fifth page of "Interview with Artist George Littlechild." This 1997 Web site contains a wealth of links and information about the artist. Discuss the influence of Aboriginal people and culture on Carr's work.

• Canadian Community Newspapers
  This Web site contains links to community newspapers across Canada. Click on "Community Papers" to reach these sites. Ask students to choose two or three of these papers to view, compare, and contrast considering content and layout. Discuss students' opinions of these community papers.
• Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association
  This Web site contains information about this community news association's "Write an Opinion" contest. This contest invites senior students to write a 100—300 word letter to the editor, expressing their views on any issue that directly affects their community. Students can discuss what topic they would write about.
  • Encourage students to research other local newspaper associations to find similar writing contests in their area.
• To Print or Not to Print?
  Canada's Community News Association Web site lists member newspapers and information about community newspaper publishing. This article on the site describes an ethical dilemma that can arise in reporting. Ask students to read the article, and then debate the issue it presents.
• Share
  This Web site calls Share "Canada's largest ethnic newspaper." View the site and discuss what this label means. Encourage students to search the Internet or their community for other "ethnic" newspapers. Discuss how these newspapers serve their audiences in ways a generic community or daily newspaper can't.
• Smalltown Press
  This Web site provides an upbeat resource for writers and editors on community newspapers. It includes short, breezy articles on getting started in journalism, as well as reporting and writing tips.

• Mark Kingwell
  This Web site has a brief biography of Kingwell. Students can search the Internet using his name or any of the book titles listed on this site to learn Kingwell's views on a wide range of topics. Examples are happiness, citizenship, and the high speed of modern life.
• Kofi Annan
  This Web site contains a biography of Annan (quoted on the last page of "The Accidental Citizen") and links to the United Nations site.
• Globalization
  This Web site has a speech on globalization by Kofi Annan. Encourage students to compare his viewpoint on the opportunities and dangers of globalization to Kingwell's.
  • Challenge students to search the Internet for other views on globalization so they can debate the issue.

• Jane Goodall Institute
  The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada has a rich Web site containing Goodall's biography and information about chimpanzees, careers, the Roots and Shoots organization referred to in the selection, and many other related topics.
• Goodall
  This National Geographic article highlights Goodall's importance beyond chimpanzees to environmental issues.
• ChimpanZoo Project
  As mentioned in the selection, the ChimpanZoo Project researches and aids chimpanzees in captivity. Its exhaustive Web site covers the subject from lemurs to lorises, visuals to vocalizations—including chimp calls to listen to.
• Worldwatch Institute Report
  In discussing her environmental concerns, Goodall talks about her belief that every individual can make a difference. This Guardian article on the U.S. Worldwatch Institute report mentions that there is enough development in renewable resource technology to supply world needs, but says there is a lack of political will to use the technology. Ask students to discuss whether Goodall's belief can be applied to this issue, and how each person might do this.
• Granny D
  Activist Doris Haddock (or Granny D, quoted on the third page of "Media Diet: Jane Goodall") walked across the United States at the age of 90. This Web site contains a biography, speeches, and links to sites promoting the democratic reforms she advocates.

• Susan Sontag
  This Web site provides a page of biography and bibliographical information on Sontag.
  • Ask students to role-play a dialogue about film between Emma Thompson ("So much can be accomplished when ordinary people are moved by a story") and Sontag ("…the idea of film as, first of all, a poetic object") based on the foregoing statements from their selections.
• Eloquent Essayist
  This article from The Guardian provides a satisfying portrait of Sontag as a writer and person. Students can read the article then comment on its bias or viewpoint, audience, and purpose.
• Sontag in the New Yorker
  This Web site has the September 24 issue of The New Yorker that featured well-known authors writing about September 11, 2001. Sontag made headlines with her article because of her criticism of the United States. Ask students to read this article and discuss her viewpoint and her public declaration of that viewpoint.
• Salon Interviews Susan Sontag
  The Salon Web site features an excerpt of an interview with Sontag on being attacked because of her New Yorker essay. Ask students to write a response to this interview and the original article, exploring their point of view.
• World Cinema Directors
  Most of the directors mentioned by Sontag are on this personal Web site (supported by annoying pop-up ads). The articles are detailed, but the links within the articles to actors and movie titles no longer function.
• ABC's of Media Literacy
  The last page of the Sontag selection includes a film study glossary. Ask students to search the Internet for media glossaries. As a class, visit this site and discuss some of the terms listed. Discuss terms students think should be added. Encourage students to add to this list as the unit progresses.
• Media Literacy Glossary
  Provide students with a print out of this page—key concepts and definitions of terms. Discuss as a class.

• Geoff Pevere Movie Reviews
  Students can visit this Web site to read one or two of the over 200 movie reviews by Pevere. Students can then search for reviews by other authors of the same movies, comparing and contrasting these reviews in small groups.
  • Discuss how reviews are affected by where they appear; for example, one never reads a negative review of a movie in the give-away magazines produced by theatres.
• Mondo Canuck: A Canadian Pop Culture Odyssey
  This Web site contains a review of Mondo Canuck , a book about Canadian pop culture co-authored by Pevere. Ask students to read the review and discuss Pevere. What does the book review reveal about his character that is also hinted at in "The Movie I'd Like to See"?
  • Ask students to add to the list of Canadian pop culture icons started in this review. They might organize the list into categories, as well as creating a hierarchy of most to least significant.
• W.H. Auden
  On the second page of "The Movie I'd Like to See" is a quote by W.H. Auden. This rich, Academy of American Poets Web site has links to readings by Auden, writings on Auden, and examples of his work. Discuss what the site reveals about Auden and how it affects their understanding of his quotation "What the mass media offer is not popular art,…"
  • Encourage students to follow the link to one of the poets who influenced Auden.

• Disability Film Festival
  This is the Web site of a festival of films by and about people with disabilities. Ask students to suggest themes they would use for films at such a festival. They can then click on "Entries" and read some of the previous years' entries to get an idea of the themes that were explored. Compare their suggestions with the actual choices of the festival.
• Hollywood Films and Disabilities
  This Web site lists every Hollywood film that portrays people with disabilities, including the films referred to in the selection. Discuss any of these films that students have viewed.
  • Students can click on Gattaca (1996), where the hero has a less-than-perfect gene profile, and read the review. Discuss the question: What if you woke up one day to a world in which being near-sighted meant you were "disabled"?
  • Challenge students to research the debate on genetic engineering by using search words like genes , cloning or reproductive technologies .
• Keeping Current
  This Web site lists international magazines on disabilities, including Mainstream , mentioned in the selection.

• Witness and Response
  This Library of Congress Web site documents responses to 9-11 in photos, prints, paintings, poster, and political cartoons. Ask students to look at some of the works displayed on the site. Small groups can discuss which works have the most impact on them and why.
• Artists for Peace, Justice, and Civil Liberties on 9-11
  This Web site contains a tribute gallery. Each work displayed opens with a brief essay. Clicking on the home page leads to links to various current issues.
• September 11 Quilts
  This Web site displays 77 quilts honoring those who died in the tragedy. As a class, discuss whether the quilts serve as a fitting memorial.

• Canadian Youth Join Anti-war Protests
  The youth peace activism that emerged with the threat of war against Iraq reversed the trend described in the selection. The Canadian Press story on this Web site is typical of the coverage of the widespread youth protests that began in February 2003.
  • Discuss why there was such a dramatic change in attitudes among youth.
• Lloyd Axworthy
  This Web site has a short biography of Lloyd Axworthy (who is mentioned in the article) and a link to the Liu Institute for Global Issues (also mentioned). The Liu Institute site has links to its many areas of concern: peace, global health, the environment, justice, and so on.
  • Ask students to search the site using the key words Star Wars to reach an article by Axworthy. After they read the article, they can search the Internet using the same words to come up with an opposing viewpoint on Star Wars.
• International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)
  The Web site of this organization gives its history, current peace activities, and lists its many publications. Discuss this organization and its purpose.
• Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS)
  This is the Web site for the organization mentioned in the selection, which organizes media campaigns for non-profit organizations.
  • Ask students to find any evidence on the site that this is a not-for-profit organization. When they find the list of supporters and the federally registered charitable organization number, challenge them to research to confirm the validity of the number and the supporting organizations.
• Web Activism
  This short article on the history and methodology of Web activism is not very reader-friendly in a visual sense, but it provides a well-organized look at an Internet campaign. Based on this information, ask students to jot down ideas for an Internet peace campaign.

• Phat! Magazine
  This Africa Online Web page features an article from Phat! Ask students to find evidence on this Web site that proves or disproves Cooper's stance on the lack of exposure for Kenya's pop music.
• Music and Dance
  This page briefly mentions some of the music and artists mentioned in the selection and provides more on the history of pop music in Kenya.
• Mau Mau
  This Web page reviews a book about the Mau Mau uprising, highlighting the controversy within Kenya over the independence struggle. Challenge students to research the Mau Mau, searching for material that provides opposing views. Point out the term used to describe the Mau Mau on this Web page ( freedom fighters ). Ask students to note words (such as insurgents ) used to describe freedom fighters in other material they find and use those words as clues to the bias of the material.
• African Hip Hop
  This Web site has interviews with African rappers, including two mentioned in the article, Kalamashaka and Poxi Presha.
  • Encourage students to read one of the interviews with these rappers, and then research to find an interview for a North American hip-hop artist. Students can compare and contrast the two artists.
• Gidi Gidi Maji Maji
  This Africa news Web site rounds out the picture of the duo from the selection, Gidi Gidi Maji Maji, highlighting its political aspect.
  • One of the songs by the duo was banned for its political lyrics by the national government during the 2002 elections. Encourage students to research the election and political situation in Kenya.