Reading Online - New Literacies: Exploring Realism and Authenticity in Media Messages

Activity 1: Truths about Truth

Responses to “truth quotes” from participants in a 1997 National Media Education conference workshop
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To Kennedy’s “Art establishes the basic human truths...”:

Sometimes the best way to get close to truth is through fiction -- artists and writers and poets can sometimes speak more truly using invention and creativity rather than literal truths.

To Chesterfield’s “Ridicule is the best test...”:

Ridicule is so often used today -- we see it in The Simpsons, the late night talk shows, everywhere -- it’s important for kids to see how ridicule can be a way to challenge ideas and make them fall apart. Maybe that’s why students like parody and satire so much.

To “Truth exists...”:

I remember learning about a theory that language is the form of communication that has really enabled humans to lie. Language makes it possible to invent new realities...and that can be used for good or evil.

To “There are truths which can kill...”:

This reminds me of the suppression of information and the nationalistic myth-making that are part of the lies we teach about American history. I wonder if such “stories” are really necessary to hold nationhood together or not.

To Byron’s “’Tis strange but true...”:

I like the Lord Byron’s famous line because so many times when I do discover something that is true, it’s so strange and unexpected that I’m not ready for it.

To Proverbs’ “The eye is not satisfied...”:

This quote makes me think that even when humans find truth, they still keep seeking. We are never satisfied with what we have -- we always seek more.

To Keats’ “Nothing ever becomes real...”:

This makes me think of all the people, places, and things that I think of as “real” that I have not actually experienced, but have seen through the media, through books, movies, and TV. It’s true that, at some level, only my direct experience is real -- everything else is a story.

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