The topic I chose was video games. I attached the rubric to this question.

SCOM 2050, Professor Brenda Naimah Sudan

Mass Media Changing Beliefs – Take Home Assignment (end of semester Research Paper)

PURPOSE: One of my goals in this course in to introduce students to develop media literacy. We define media literacy as the ability to understand mass media, to explain how they construct meanings, and to analyze, interpret and evaluate those meanings. Become familiar with the issues and controversies surrounding contemporary media. The purpose of this assignment is to identify a mass media topic of your choice as a result of what you learned in this course. You should be able to compare and analyze how your thinking/ beliefs are different now than before.

TASK: Your task is to: (1) Select a mass media topic you have learned about this semester that has changed the way you viewed it in the past. You are encouraged to review your notes, class discussion, PowerPoint slides and in the Changing Beliefs Activity on the topic at the beginning of the module. (2) Once you have an idea, describe in a paragraph or two how you used to think about the topic. (Refer back to your responses to the Changing Beliefs Activity from the beginning of the term.) (3) Then, discuss the topic itself (i.e., what you learned about it). Please use your textbook and the library to find 5 outside sources- for peer reviewed mass media research articles – to help you write a more thorough description of the selected topic. (4) Finally, explain how your view has changed going forward. Please be specific as possible and please apply this to your own life and way of looking at the media. (last paragraph)

Your completed assignment should be 2 pages (typed, double-spaced). Include your name and a title header. Include a third typed page with your annotated bibliography of your 5 cited sources, using APA style formatting rules. (a total of 3 pages turned in)

CRITERIA: Your assignment will be graded based on the following criteria: (a) Did you select a topic discussed in this course? (b) Can I clearly understand your prior way of thinking about the media topic? (c) Do you provide a clear description of the media topic that demonstrates that you can summarize the important aspects of it? Is the information from the outside sources nicely integrated throughout the paper? Can I clearly understand your current way of thinking about your media topic? Did you contrast this to your prior view? (e) Finally, following instructions and quality of writing will be evaluated as well (e.g., proper grammar, spelling, etc.).