{"id":1914,"date":"2026-07-01T17:11:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T21:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parlormultimedia.com\/writingspaces\/?page_id=1914"},"modified":"2026-07-01T17:11:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T21:11:20","slug":"acting-bias-staging-media-analysis-in-first-year-writing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/parlormultimedia.com\/writingspaces\/acting-bias-staging-media-analysis-in-first-year-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Acting Bias: Staging Media Analysis in First-Year Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Freddie (Fiona) Harris Ramsby<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Assignments &amp; Activities Archive<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-top is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container\">\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/parlormultimedia.com\/writingspaces\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Harris-Ramsby-AAA-contribution.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of Harris-Ramsby-AAA-contribution.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-70d8b71c-023b-4f32-8d09-ee5f3d6bd69e\" href=\"https:\/\/parlormultimedia.com\/writingspaces\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Harris-Ramsby-AAA-contribution.pdf\">Harris-Ramsby-AAA-contribution<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/parlormultimedia.com\/writingspaces\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Harris-Ramsby-AAA-contribution.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-70d8b71c-023b-4f32-8d09-ee5f3d6bd69e\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Assignment Description<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">In first-year writing classrooms, embodied teaching methods, such as Kathryn Dawson and Bridget Kiger Lee&#8217;s drama-based pedagogy (DBP), &#8220;[provide] an innovative means to stimulate students&#8217; creativity\u2026to foster learning that sticks, cultivating brains that retain information&#8221; (Harris Ramsby 1). Combining Newman P. Birk and Genevieve B. Birk&#8217;s analytical framework for identifying frames and slanting in language, as well as Brazilian theater director and activist Augusto Boal&#8217;s Image Theater (<em>Theatre of the Oppressed<\/em>, 112), this assignment uses DBP to assist students\u2019 analysis of political bias in news media, helping them assess how left-leaning and right-leaning sources construct divergent versions of the same reality. The assignment\u2019s ultimate goal is to help students build foundational media literacy skills they can then apply to evaluating other news sources. With their instructor in a facilitator role\u2014guiding movement and prompting observations\u2014students craft physical tableaux to render <em>visibly tangible<\/em> how news sources frame the same event differently. By positioning their bodies to represent what sources include, exclude, elevate, or marginalize, students might understand this analytical heuristic kinesthetically rather than abstractly. This dramatic approach is especially vital for developing college writers\u2019 critical literacy, where over-reliance on AI might threaten cognitive development if not appropriately mediated. Instructors can adapt this activity for any first-year or advanced writing course focused on critical reading and media literacy, rhetorical analysis, and\/or research source evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Freddie (Fiona) Harris Ramsby Assignments &amp; Activities Archive Assignment Description In first-year writing classrooms, embodied teaching methods, such as Kathryn Dawson and Bridget Kiger Lee&#8217;s drama-based pedagogy (DBP), &#8220;[provide] an innovative means to stimulate students&#8217; creativity\u2026to foster learning that sticks, cultivating brains that retain information&#8221; (Harris Ramsby 1). Combining Newman P. Birk and Genevieve B. 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