Turn in all assignments as PDFs only  you should not be submitting anything under 350 words in three solid paragraphs. 

Week 1 Assignment–Media and Culture TheoryInstructions

After studying the assigned reading, The Handbook of Communication Science, Second Edition: Chapter 15: Mass Media Effects, considering one of the five categories of media effect theories mentioned in the article (learning, socialization, selective exposure, selective presentation, and perceived effects—remember, these are the categories, not the names of the theories themselves) ,identify only one of the theories listed in the article and answer the following questions or prompts.

A) Does media directly influence individuals? Explain your answer.

B) Which of the mass communication theories do you feel most accurately portrays your media experiences? Why? Be sure to provide an example that supports your opinion.

C) How involved should the government be in protecting us from media effects? Where do you draw the line between free speech and indecency? Is censorship ever warranted? 

Support your responses with research from the Learning Resources. Use APA in-text citations where necessary and cite any outside sources.

Create a required APA style References list at the end of the document.

Submit the responses in the file submission area for this assignment. For example, if you choose to “add a file” by attaching a PDF document, please also copy and paste your response into the comments area.

 Development and ContentExceeds Standards
40 pointsMeets Standards
35.6 pointsNeeds Improvement
27.6 pointsDoes Not Meet Standards
23.6 pointsCategory is worth 40% of overall grade

Develops answers with effective supportive examples; provides a balanced presentation of relevant information and shows a thoughtful, in-depth analysis; reader gains insights; specifically meets criteria of defining key points, events, or contributions

Develops answers with adequate supportive examples; information displays evidence of a basic analysis; reader gains some insights

Does not fully develop answers and may lack detailed supportive examples; analysis is basic or general; reader gains insights

Answers are undeveloped or has no supportive examples; analysis is vague or not evident; reader is confused or may be misinformed

PurposeExceeds Standards
30 pointsMeets Standards
26.7 pointsNeeds Improvement
20.7 pointsDoes Not Meet Standards
17.7 pointsCategory is worth 30% of overall grade

Introduces and answers all questions effectively and clearly; central purpose is readily apparent to the reader; makes connections

Introduces and answers all questions adequately; purpose is consistently clear throughout the paper

Introduces and answers all questions somewhat effectively; writing has a clear purpose but may sometimes digress from it

Introduces and answer questions poorly; purpose is generally unclear

Documentation and SupportExceeds Standards
20 pointsMeets Standards
17.8 pointsNeeds Improvement
13.8 pointsDoes Not Meet Standards
11.8 pointsCategory is worth or 20% of overall grade

Answers are supported effectively with legitimate sources from the learning resources and/or outside resources that are clearly attributed consistently throughout paper; uses APA format accurately and consistently

Answers are supported effectively with legitimate sources from the learning resources and/or outside resources that are clearly attributed but not consistent, yet “generally” supported; uses proper formatting with minor violations

Although attribution is present and many sources seem to be legitimate, some statements are unsubstantiated or generalized and the source of some ideas is unclear or some claims are made without support from the learning resources and/or outside resources

Attribution is missing, or sources given are poorly chosen; claims are consistently made without support from the learning resources and/or outside resources; reflect incomplete knowledge of formatting.

Organization and Writing MechanicsExceeds Standards
10 pointsMeets Standards
8.9 pointsNeeds Improvement
6.9 pointsDoes Not Meet Standards
5.9 pointsCategory is worth 10% of overall grade

Arranges ideas clearly and logically to support the purpose; ideas flow smoothly and are effectively linked; reader can follow the line of reasoning; Writing demonstrates a sophisticated clarity, conciseness, and correctness with no grammatical/sentence structure errors

Arranges ideas adequately to support the purpose; links between ideas are generally clear; reader can follow the line of reasoning for the most part; Writing is accomplished in terms of clarity and conciseness and contains only a few grammatical/sentence

Arranges ideas adequately, in general, although ideas sometimes fail to make sense together; reader remains fairly clear about what writer intends; Writing sometimes lacks clarity or conciseness and contains various grammatical/sentence structure errors

Arranges ideas illogically; ideas frequently fail to make sense together; reader cannot identify a line of reasoning and becomes frustrated or loses interest; Writing is unfocused, rambling, or contains serious grammatical/sentence structure errors