Stereotypes
Short Essays on Stereotypes & Critical Thinking
Introduction:
This assignment requires a small amount of online research and review of readings assigned earlier in text and on Blackboard. Even more so than your first paper, clarity and conciseness are important, so proofread and stick to word number limits, which add up to 1,000. If you stick to those limits, double space, and use 12-point Calibri typeface, for example, a maximum of 1,000 words comes out to 3 1?2 pages. I am willing to accept 4 pages at most, double-spaced. I hope this helps you plan, think, revise and edit carefully ? valuable skills for PR practitioners.
Directions
Review the ?Stereotype? section of your text* (pp. 78-84) and do some additional research on stereotyping. A useful way is to check out organizations that deal with the effects on society of stereotyping and bias, such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Psychological Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, etc. Take some notes and then respond to the questions. The best answers use examples from readings as well as your own experiences and views. They are also the products of original thought, rather than what you may think is the ?right? answer. PR and professional communication in general involve gray areas, no clear black/white, right/wrong ? the key is explaining purpose and choice persuasively.
Questions
45 points: 500 words total
1. Stereotypes are based on images in mass media as well as values passed on by parents, peers and others. Public relations, marketing and advertising play a big role, as they may use stereotypes to quickly communicate messages to target audiences. Based on your reading of ?You?re Not the Indian I Had in Mind? (from ?The Truth About Stories?), ?American Indians: Stereotype vs. Reality? in your text (pp. 79- 81), and the two assigned accounts relating to the Washington Redskins? controversy (on Blackboard), please answer the following:
a. What did ?the American Indian? symbolize during the ?American Romantic Period? that Thomas King describes? How has that symbol been continued and applied to promote ideas as well as products (not to mention U.S. currency, such as the famed Indian Head Penny and Buffalo Nickel)? Do you think the ?noble Indian? image persists today? How/how not?
b. In general, do you think the people of yesteryear were bigoted? Briefly explain your answer. Are people today more able to evaluate and understand those who are different from themselves? Briefly explain your answer.
c. You?re a PR counselor for Dan Snyder, owner of the NFL?s Washington Redskins. What are you advising him to do about the name of his team? Briefly explain your advice.
30 points: 200 words total
2. Name-calling and misstatements of fact are effective propaganda tools applied daily in the U.S., particularly in the political realm.
a. How were these tools used in the ?Ground Zero Mosque? case in your text (pp. 134-135), and why were they so effective? (Beware of blaming everything on the media. They cover conflict because
it has news value, and so can be vulnerable to manipulation; they are the ?messengers,? not the
message itself. Try to keep to the topic of the assignment.)
b. Though your text lists the lessons learned, briefly reflect on what you see as the most important
action public relations professionals could have taken in this situation.
25 points: 150 words total
3. You?ve read about your own generation (Y, or ?millennial?) in your text (p. 59), in the assigned articles under Course Docs, and in your MADD research. So:
a. Do you agree/disagree with Jeff Fromm’s predictions about the impact millennials will have on brands and companies? And what about his view that, because Congress has been so ineffective lately, millennials believe brands and companies are now the ones to "solve the world’s ills"? Explain your response.
b. "What Millennials Want (And Why Employers Should Take Notice)" reports findings from a survey. Do those findings sound ?right? to you personally? Do you have any concerns about future employers? assumptions about you? Explain your answers.
Extra credit (10 points): 150 words total
4. Consider what constitutes your own ?identity,? what makes you YOU.
a. What, if anything, has helped shape your perspective on those different from you?
b. What did you learn from these readings, if anything? Did anything go against what you had
thought or present information in a new light? Please give an example.
c. What relationship do you see between the ability to think critically (critical thinking) and
stereotyping?
* Text: Smith, R.D. (4th
ed., 2013). Strategic planning for public relations. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-
0415506762.
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