The Research Question:
In “Electronic Media: Teaching Television Literacy,” Harold M. Foster seeks to give English teachers information about teaching television literacy. He focuses both on knowledge they already possess and information they can learn about television’s structural elements, stating how they can use both to teach television literacy.

Research Methodology:
Foster mentions no particular methodology for conducting his research.

Summary:
Foster states that television literacy can prevent viewers from a distorted perception of reality and make them a conscious audience, not an ignorant one. Like other literacies, one ascertains television literacy through an education that focuses on television. He points out that teachers already know how to analyze media on cultural and social levels and that they should apply that to television. Foster points out “television as a mythic force in society,” relaying the idea that a society’s myths reflect its socialization (70). He points out sports, western, and detective shows, not to mention commercials for how they might influence society.

Foster also discusses film and television’s structural elements, which include “editing, movement, composition, color, lighting, and sound” and states how people use these elements to stir audiences’ emotions (71). Editing can make poor basketball players appear to be just as good as masters of the sport. Quick motions create excitement, while slow movements signify strength. Composition, or arrangement, can create feelings of isolation or importance. Vivid colors instill a sense of fun and pleasure, while black-and-white has little effect on viewers. Light gives Johnny Carson “an aura of glamour and excitement” on his late-night talk show (71). Music cues can instill terror, while “thwacks” indicate physical violence. Foster points English teachers to several activities, such as Film in the Classroom, Television Program Reviews, and Television Show Production, which they can use to teach television literacy. He concludes that television might “become an increasingly positive force in society” if teachers instruct their students in television literacy (72).

How the Article Fits into My Research:
This article describes the process of developing television literacy, the type of literacy relevant to my research on this essay. Foster cites television’s effect on cultural and social levels and its mythic power, in an effort to show that media can affect our thinking. Bearing the most importance to my own research, though, is Foster’s highlighting of television’s unique structural elements. My essay explores how television sitcoms can affect society and change opinions about bigotries like feminism, (hetero)sexism/homophobia, and racism. While the essay will focus on television’s sociological effects, which Foster touches on in this article, I will also make use of the structural elements he mentions, in order to make my points in the most effective way possible. As my essay will focus on sitcoms, it will point out the series’ use of audience laughter to tie back to progressive ideals that work against the status quo. (These sitcoms were produced and aired before fabricated laugh tracks came onto the scene.) The essay will explore television’s other structural elements to further prove my thesis.

Works Cited

Foster, Harold M. “Electronic Media: Teaching Television Literacy.” The English Journal 70.8 (1981): 70-72. Web. 8 Oct. 2013.