Friday, April 12, 2013

Using Sources

I have chosen to research the topic of media having negative effects on the society's idea of self concept pertaining to body image. I found many great articles online relevant to the subject and one that stood out while I was reading was Combating the Negative Impact of Mass Media by Michael Levine. 

On first examination of the article, I looked for clues as to see if it was scholarly. There were no advertisements located on the page and the language used throughout the article seemed somewhat specialized. The author, Michael Levine, is a respected psychology professor who teaches courses in abnormal psychology, the psychology of personality, as well as eating disorders at Kenyon University. The audience he seems to be writing to are other scholars and researchers. Even though the article was found in a database, it was necessary to make sure the article was scholarly due to the fact that some databases index many types of publications. 

The article mainly focused on explaining ways in which people might combat the negative effects of mass media. It also contained explanations of how media might influence life in general and contained an argument of how mass media is a leading cause of eating disorders. At the end of the article, Levine says that media literacy is needed to fight these negative effects. The obsession of "fat" and "skinny" has gained a foothold in our culture and Levine does a great job of elaborating on this point.

Through the use of logos, Levine appeals to his readers' reason. He presents various claims that are backed by sufficient evidence and facts. With these argumentative claims, he is also able to draw his readers onto his side of the argument. 





 


1 comment:

  1. That sounds like it will be an interesting topic. Body image is something that lots of people struggle with and the media seems to be a likely source.

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