Bias in Popular Culture (Blog Post #3)

 Inquiry Topic:

        In this day and age, information can be easily skewed based on the writer of the text. Bias plays a major role in this variation of facts, leading those who need the truth to search for primary sources versus secondary. Primary sources - just like secondary - can, however, still provide prejudice of their own. So, how do we know when information is unbiased, true, and accurate? This is the question I want students to consider when they are doing their own research in the classroom. I want them to consider the discrepancies between each source and ponder the perspective of each writer. Do they have bias? How can you tell? How does this construe the information you have already consumed? Overall, within each text I provide below, I want my students to be able to identify important, relevant, and accurate information and be able to identify any bias that may be present. To demonstrate and build this skill of identification, I chose for my 6 texts to center around the ongoing controversy of the Kim Kardashian versus Kanye West divorce, particularly focusing on the legal aspects (custody of the children, business splitting) alongside emotional tolls.

Hypothetical Students:

        I have selected my texts with a theoretical classroom in mind, but I have also drawn inspiration from my own placement classes as well. This class of 25 students is located in an urban setting with a high minority and poverty population. 60% of the students are black, 30% are Hispanic, 5% are Asian, and 5% are white. 95% of the classroom qualifies for free or reduced lunch. These students are 7th graders and many are struggling academically and behaviorally. Some students are unable to read beyond a second grade level, so they rely on photos, videos, and others to "read" for them. Other students do not have the stamina or motivation to read a whole text on their own. The class does not have an assigned textbook, so I utilize resources that are accessible, interesting, and engaging. 

Connection of the Texts:

    This topic of inquiry relates to both ELA standards and the interests of my hypothetical students. ELA standard W.7.8 discusses gathering information from multiple, reliable sources that vary in print versus digital, as well as academic versus popular (and everything in between). The standard also describes the ability to effectively find sources and information that are useful and accurate. When thinking about the "interest" element for this inquiry, I considered what my own students would be excited to see in the classroom. I tried to think of current memes, celebrity gossip, relevant news, etc. I finally decided on the Kim Versus Kanye divorce. I chose this topic for two reasons: One, it covers the curiosity of most of my students, and two, it has a wide textual coverage. A strong majority of my students listen to Kanye's music and find interest in his social/personal life. The same can be said about Kim Kardashian - many students follow her personal life and/or watch her shows. I've also seen a lot of students sport clothing between the two celebrities' lines. The pair are major stars that have reached their influence into every corner of the modern earth. This is very prevalent in my students lives as well as the media that surrounds them. Therefore, finding (un)biased/varied information and texts about their situation will be easy. 

Print Analysis:

        Print #1: Everything to Know About the Messy Split from USA Magazine

Citation:

Hearon, Sarah. “Kim Kardashian, Kanye West: Every Allegation in Messy Divorce.” Us         Weekly, 6 Oct. 2022, https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/pictures/kim-           kardashian-kanye-west-every-allegation-in-messy-divorce/the-pete-davidson-factor/.

      

         Summary:

            This article comes from a US Weekly magazine. It is a secondary source that pulls interview clips and media quotes from both Kim Kardashian and Kanye West as they comment on the legality of their impending divorce. Kardashian's stance throughout the article is light-hearted while remaining sentimental, while West's take is more defiant and denial.

Quantitative and Qualitative Measures:

        When I initially read through the article, I thought that the reading level would be measured around 5th grade. The sentences are quite short and non-complex, which could also be said about the word choice. There were some words that are a little more distinguished, but overall nothing is too complicated. These factors made the text easy to understand while still leaving little complexity, leading me to believe that it would be an upper-elementary grade level. However, when I put the article through StoryToolz, I found that it was rated at an average of an 8.3 grade. I was very surprised by this fact! Looking through the different indexes and formulas, I found a wide range: from Gunning fog Index's 10.4 grade to LIX Formula's year 5. Those are quite different ages and abilities! Because of this wide (and high) rating, I disagreed with the level of complexity. 

            I stay strong in my belief that this article is rated at a 5th grade level. I used the SCASS Informational Text Rubric to help me justify this choice. The majority of the text elements from this article fall into the "Moderately Complex" level, which elevates it from an early educational level to an upper-elementary level. As I mentioned earlier, the language features of this article are very simple. In the Moderately Complex rubric, it is stated that structures are "primarily simple and compound sentences, with some complex constructions." In the "Text Structure" rubric, it is stated that the connections between ideas are implicit or subtle. This is also evident in the article as some ideas are laid out for the reader, while others require some inferential thinking. There are many more elements that qualify this text as a 5th grade reading level including: images that are supplementary (but not necessary) to the text, explicit word choice and understanding of the text, and few references to outside ideas and theories. 

 

Task and Reader:

            Students would likely have some prior knowledge on this topic due to social media postings, but may not be able to pick up on the bias that is hidden throughout it. Because of this, I think this article may be a good starting point to introduce the unit. The text is very informative but it also remains entertaining and relevant to the students. So, students will be interested to read the text, but they will still gain the insights that they need from it. This will then allow me to introduce them to the harder-to-understand concept of bias in media. 

            I was unsure if this text was completely culturally relevant at first, but I have decided that it sort of is. As I mentioned earlier, many (if not all) of my hypothetical students are connected to the Kardashian-West family in some way - through music, TV, social media, clothing, etc. However, they may not be able to relate to their familial plight just as easily. I used the Questions For Assessing Culturally Relevant Texts to help me come to this realization. The first question that made me reconsider how relevant this text is is "Are the characters in the story like your students and/or their families?" While there is a relation with some elements (they are a family of color, Kanye was born in a struggling city, they have many siblings, etc.) there are many others that might outweigh the connection. For example, even though Kanye started out in a poverty ridden home like many of my students, he is now one of the richest black men in America. And Kim Kardashian, herself, has always come from wealth! Beyond money, there is the fact that they are parents who have a supportive community. It is very unlikely - but not impossible - that any of my students would be parents. Not being a parent may make the text more difficult to comprehend in an emotional sense, because they have not experienced it for themself. The same can be said about having a supportive community. Living in an urban setting with parents who may need to work more than a 9-to-5 just to struggle to survive does not allow for much of that support. Many students rely on themselves to get in the position the are in, which again may ruin the relation to the text. While it seems that this text is not culturally relevant from my answers, I still would say that it is half-way connected because of other answers. For example, students may relate to being a child of divorce. Others might understand what it's like to use humor to cope. Some might be interested in the legality due to their own experiences.

Vocab Words:

Genuine - Dissed - Remark - Declare - Irremediably -  Amid - Responsive

       Print #2: The Sydney Morning Herald - Who Owns Yeezy? Online Article

Citation:

Poritz, Isaiah, and Chris Dolmetsch. “Who Owns Yeezy? Ye-Adidas Could Face a Messy                 Divorce.” The Sydney Morning Herald, The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 Oct. 2022,                 https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/who-owns-yeezy-ye-adidas-could-face-a-            messy-divorce-20221027-p5btiq.html.

Summary:

This source comes from a highly regarded Australian newspaper company. The article discusses the separation of Kim and Kanye from a business and financial aspect. The interviews and quotes in this text come from Adidas representatives and brand attorneys. The mentioned businesses include everything from the Yeezy brand to the SKIMS brand to the patent on their children's names. 

Multimedia Analysis:

        Multimedia #1: Kim Discusses Divorce on Keeping Up With The Kardashians

Citation:

EntertainmentTonight, director. Kim Kardashian Reveals the Moment She Knew She Wanted a       Divorce on KUWTK Finale. YouTube, ET!, 11 June 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMF53Rrs3ug&t=45s&ab_channel=EntertainmentTonight. Accessed 28 Oct. 2022.

Summary:

            This source is a primary source as it comes directly from Kim herself. She explains to her family and friends why she had been considering a divorce and what she needs from a relationship. There are a few clips throughout the video that contain commentary from ET News, as well.

Quantitative and Qualitative:

                This text was the only one that didn't have a wide range within its reading level score. The lowest that it was rated was grade 6 and the highest was 9th. I completely agree with this scoring for once. The sentences are not too complex, but there are some word choices that may elevate it above elementary school level. The qualitative portion of this agrees with the quantitative, as well. This text scored around Moderate-Complex on the SCASS Rubric, which is in line with the StoryToolz grading. The SCASS Rubric states that a Complex text will have "some abstract, ironic, and/or figurative language" and "primarily simple and compound sentences, with some complex constructions. This is completely true of the text. There are some instances of personification and hyperbolic structures throughout the text that I didn't recognize at first. Many of these examples flew past my head, as I was so used to hearing them in normal conversation with peers that I didn't stop to think about how they may appear to students. For example, Kim talked about the light shying away from her and her family to more of the darker aspects of her highly publicized life. I understood the notion immediately, but this might not go so easily in a student's mind. They may need to take a moment to comprehend what the text is saying before being able to apply it to the situation. The same can be said about the complex sentence structure. The video contains a lot of casual conversation that is filled with stuttering, take-backs, lists, and more. Hearing it means one thing, but asking our students to listen to it and analyze it means another. The way the sentences are laid out and spoken aloud makes them much more complicated than they would have been on paper. These two elements - and many more - lead me to believe that this text is at the correct level of about 7-9th grade.

Task and Reader:

            I don't have much to say about the cultural relevancy of this text because it is quite similar to the last one in this sense. The same problem is being addressed by the same family, just from a different source. I have the same worry that students would be able to relate in some ways and not in others. I do think in this text, however, there may be more of a connection in interest terms. This is because half of the clips throughout the video are from Kardashian's show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Many students in my hypothetical class watch this show or are very cognizant of it. They will be able to draw their cultural knowledge from it to analyze the text further than they thought they would ever be able to. I think having this relevancy, interest, and prior knowledge will make students more confident in their ability to analyze and read for bias as they have already been thinking about so many aspects of it in their personal lives. They encounter this topic so often that understanding what is going on won't be an issue, so they will be able to focus on the biases and perspectives, rather than the plot and plight. 

            I would use this text to begin the explanation of primary versus secondary sources and were bias can start to come into play. The first source we looked at was a secondary source that only drew on rumors, analysis of body language, gossip, etc. They are not the people who are involved in the situation - they are just reporting on it. Because of that, some of the information may be incorrect or just speculative. This text, however, is a primary source. We are hearing Kim's perspective as the situation is unfolding. We know how she is feeling, how she is responding, why it is happening. We are getting all of the information. What we are also getting, though, is bias. Our previous text had slight bias as it pitied Kim and valued marketability, but now we see true bias from Kim. This is her side of the story and she is going to try to convince she is right. The commentators of the video are on Kim's side, showing us even more bias. This is exactly what I want my own students to be able to recognize when looking at media and resources on their own - where there is bias and how effective/true primary versus secondary is.  

Vocab Words:

Achieve - Extravagant - Oblivious - Bliss - Publicized - Headspace 

        Multimedia #2:  Kim and Kanye Custody Battle Video

Citation:

Enews, director. Kanye West Requests Joint Custody in Response to Kim's Divorce Filing | E!         News. YouTube, YouTube, 12 Apr. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?                               v=5h1gVuzv5Ng&ab_channel=E%21News. Accessed 28 Oct. 2022.

Summary:

            This source is a YouTube video from E! News, making it a secondary source. Throughout the video there are quotes from Kim and Kanye confirming that the separation is true and that her best interest is in the children. Kanye and his perspective does not have an appearance in this video.

Culturally Relevant Analysis:

        Culturally Relevant #1: XXXTENTACION & Ye - True Love Music Video

Citation:

West, Kanye, director. True Love Music Video. YouTube, YouTube, 18 June 2022,                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOryTzCEpuM&ab_channel=BadVibesForever.                 Accessed 28 Oct. 2022.

Summary:

        This song is found on YouTube and is sung by Kanye West and the late rapper XXXTENTACION. It was written by Kanye about the struggles of the divorce and the effect it has on his relationship with his children. The interpretive dancing is directed by Maky Margaridis, but inspired and influenced by Kanye West.

Quantitative and Qualitative:

            When I ran this song through StoryToolz, I once again found that there was a wide range in the grade level it was rated for. Some indexes stated that this text was rated at a 5.3 grade level, while others rated it at a 14.6! I found this very interesting, because there was nothing peculiar about the date found in the website's analysis of word usage and sentence information. There were not too many uses of complex sentences, difficult words, or high level questions. However, that's only what the quantitative side was showing - the qualitative side is much different. Unlike the other analyses I have done, though, I can see where some of this level-blurring may be happening between quantitative and qualitative. When I used the SCASS rubric, I found that this song would be rated around Moderately-Complex Text. This would push the level to be about 7/8th grade. From the Knowledge Demands section of the rubric, I found that the song lined up with the Moderate Column. There are some complex ideas and processes happening in the song that may make it harder for those without prior knowledge to pick up on. For example, there are some similes and metaphors that students would need to be able to pick up on and analyze to understand the text. In one line, Kanye sings "Wait, when I pick [the kids] up, they feel borrowed" (0:23). This would be harder for kids to understand without having the prior knowledge of similes and metaphors, which is commonly taught in 6/7th grade or younger. There are also a lot of references to popular culture and themes that students may not be able to recognize, lending even more to prior knowledge. Beyond knowledge, there is also the element of purpose in the text. The purpose of the song is not a concrete idea, but rather abstract and in need of inferencing to understand what is going on. Students may not be able to comprehend the point or meaning of the song without analyzing and making inferences about it. They may need to read/listen through it multiple times, going step-by-step until they completely 'get it.' It is a complex task. Because of these factors, I think the song would be more suitable for a 7th grade level.

Task and Reader:

            Once again, I feel that there is not much for me to say that I haven't already said about cultural relevancy. I will say, though, that this perspective may be harder for students to pick up on, just because it has more mature emotions and topics. For example, many students may be children of divorce and have to move back-and-forth between homes, but they might not understand what this experience is like from a parent's perspective. This is no fault of their own - they just simply aren't adults nor do they (likely) have children of their own. There is also the element of "true love" that might be a little difficult for them. At 12-13 years old, I would guess that many of the students have not found a true form of love in a romantic sense (I hope they have found it in a familial or supportive sense, but this is not always the case). Love is a very abstract concept that varies between each individual, so true love would take this to a new level. I think with lots of modeling and prompting, though, they would be able to get the key ideas.
            I would use this text closer to the end of the unit, but still closely after showing Kim's perspective (such as the video I analyzed above). We have seen that in Kim's videos, she isn't completely blaming anyone and she feels a mix of emotions. She wants so much in life that she just isn't finding in Kanye anymore. She recognized that there was a need for change. The same cannot be said from Kanye's perspective, though. After having the students look strictly from Kim and the media's perspectives, I would want them to start forming an idea of what is going on, how everyone is feeling, what the mood of everyone involved is, etc. Then, I would want them to look at this text and reconsider what they originally said. Were they accurate? Were they completely wrong? Did they take Kim's bias as the truth because they hadn't seen anything from Kanye's perspective? I hope that by using this text after strictly looking at Kim's perspective, there will be some lightbulbs going off as students start to see the stark contrast in what each individual is saying and putting out into the world. I want this to be the final "Oh, I get it" moment before leading into a "You Do" portion of "I do, we do, you do."

Vocab Words:

"True love" - Yeezys - El Chapo - Complicated - Borrowed

        Culturally Relevant #2: Kanye's Divorce Tweets on Page Six

Citation:

Tacopino, Joe, and Brett Bachman. “Kanye West Says He's Trying to Divorce Kim Kardashian             in Latest Twitter Rant.” Page Six, Page Six, 23 July 2020,                                                             https://pagesix.com/2020/07/22/kanye-west-tweets-hes-trying-to-divorce-kim-                            kardashian/.

Summary:

This source takes Tweets directly from Kanye West's Twitter page and makes commentary on it. The Tweets consist of Kanye ranting about his desire to divorce Kim - which provides a strong contrast to previous articles I have provided. The commentary questions Kanye West's sanity and mentions sources that prove he recently provided a different perspective on the divorce.

Other Notes:

The texts that I chose are mostly informal resources - they are very celebrity-gossip-media based. When I first selected these texts, I was worried that this would negate the experience of analyzing texts for bias as it is missing an academic aspect. However, as I thought more about it, I realized that many of the students (being in 7th grade) are not ready to read such academic texts. The strong majority of their day is comprised of reading short excerpts from online media, so why not bridge that skill to a classroom expectation. We need to start kids out with what they are used to and capable of, then transition them into harder applications. With these texts, I supplied many sources that are at their level, with a few that start to bridge into a higher level thinking.