“DRE” exercise assignment.

Watch the first segment of the video below which is about the film “They Live” (timecode: 01:00-07:52). It is not necessary to view the remainder of the film for this class, though many students find this entire video to be quite insightful.

The main point I wish for you to draw from this video clip is the implication that ideology is so completely integrated into culture that it seems “natural” to most people. Instead of ideology acting like a distorting lens that is gradually placed over our perceptions and which must be removed, Zizek claims that ideology is inherent in our observation of the world and one must “distort” their own observations in order to observe ideology. He uses the film “They Live” to demonstrate this concept.

In your writing, you will perform a “DRE” exercise.

D = Describe

R = Respond

E = Evaluate

The criteria for your submissions are:

1. Section 1: Describe the concept and/or imagery you will be writing about (D) – only the first section of the video, please (timecode: 01:00-07:52).

2. Section 2: Write your personal response to the concept/imagery (R)

3. Section 3: Evaluate the concept/imagery for its effectiveness, relative benefit or harm, its usefulness on a personal or social scale. Be creative and assign a value of some kind to the concept/imagery. (E)

4. Submit your writing assignment here

5. Submissions must be a minimum of 200 words

Answer preview:

word limit:275