Assignment 2: HUM 221

(For HUM 221 students)

Write a 600+ word response in which you demonstrate your understanding of the concept of ideology as defined at Wikipedia:

Definition of Ideology

through your response/engagement/analysis of ONE of these options below (include a link to the cultural text(s) you are analyzing and provide a thesis statement):

1) Read "Matrix Philosophy: Blue Pill or Red Pill?"

and using your understanding of the concept of ideology discuss/explore the questions being raised in the essay.

If you want to watch the film The Matrix we have a copy in our library and it is available at every video store in Lexington.

2) Watch these videos of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero"



and "Imagine"



and using your understanding of the concept of ideology discuss/explore the meaning of these two songs. In both of these songs John Lennon is questioning the ideologies we are indoctrinated with from an early age--something he did throughout his career:



3) Remember most of our popular culture, much like traditional education, masks its ideological underpinnings (perspective the cultural text is communicating) and methods of indoctrination. So another tactic in an assignment like this is to take your understanding of ideology and apply it to a popular artist (band/filmmaker/painter/performer/etc...) and analyze their underlying message. Remember, while some artists mask their own ideological position, some artists are also demonized for stating honestly what they see as problematic in our society--an example is Marilyn Manson discussing the hypocritical attacks on his music in the aftermath of Columbine:



4) Analyze the ideological position/message of an advertisement (individual or collection). Remember these are complex texts. Some examples to get us thinking:

Benetton ads (I found the examples I was looking for in class):

Benetton Ad Campaigns

Adbuster Spoof Ads (click on icons on the page--how are they exposing the underlying message of the ads):

Adbusters: Spoof Ads

Gender Ads

Analyzing the Images of Gender in Ads