Media Analysis: How do you analyze the themes and ideas of a piece of media?

Whetner you are an academic or amatuer, what is a good way to analyze a piece of media? I know every piece of media has some underlying themes or ideas but how do you accurately analyze the media you are looking at?

It will inevitably be a matter of interpretation, based largely on subjective factors that affect how you experience a piece of media. So I'd say the really important bit in an analysis is to explain how and why you've reached your particular interpretation. It's good to know your own biases, such as taste and preferences, which you need to make clear for others so that they can better understand your viewpoint. It also helps to keep Death of the Author in mind, because authors aren't always knowledgeable of their own biases and such things and a given work will often have themes the author is blind to, so it's good to point out how your interpretaion doesn't necessarily have to be connected to the author's original intent.

Edited by Mara999 on Mar 1st 2021 at 9:07:43 PM

I see. What criteria do writers need in order to accurately analyze a work?

That depends a lot on who you are writing for and in what context. If you write in an academic context, there will be set rules for how you are expected to analyze a piece of work, according to whatever theory and method you decide to use as a template to reach your conclusions. Same goes for journalism, except that the criteria will differ due to the different type of audience and agenda. But in both cases you are expected to offer some manner of evidence for how and why you have reached a conclusion.

Let's say that you have to do a formal analysis of a piece of media like a video game or stage play. What kind of criteria is required to make a formal analysis of that?

A theme or something,you need something to discus and to elaborate on really

Right, you need a subject, otherwise you're looking too broadly.

Probably the first question to ask is: what is the real-world relevance for the intended audience? This need not be a simple moral lesson; it can also be informing them about things the author knows, or speculating upon possible situations.

Myths helped explain how the world is, but also gave a moral code and a sense of "who we are" to a people, and set out the roles of the gods that everyone worshipped. The popular history of each nation can be seen as modern myths.

Hard science fiction seeks to anticipate what may happen. Softer speculative fiction may ask what makes ourselves and the world around us by showing us alternatives. Historical fiction can not only show us how the past was, but also make us understand people of the time through relatable characters.

The question can be put as: what matters in the work, at a deeper level than the plot? Lord of the Rings is on the surface about getting some jewelry to a mountain, but beneath that is Tolkien's understanding of good and evil (which I think comes out clearer in The Silmarillion).

(It amuses me that I knew just who had started this thread by the title alone.)

It seems as though that there are people who have a firm grasp on what subject they are talking about. They have the education and context as to what media that they are analyzing that most people lack. Where do you find sources in order to understand the curtail context behind most media?

I’m not a caustic critic, I don’t review things, and the people in my life don’t like it when I’m too judgmental. I tend to look for failed themes and ideas, expanding on why they don’t work.

Where do you get the formal training needed to understand the media and the context given in said media?

What, like to become a reviewer? There are college classes in literary criticism. Anything short of a reviewer wouldn't need anything that would constitute formal training.

Maybe not but it seems as though that in order to get the 'true' meaning of media, you need to have some form of formal training. I am not a Literature or Humanities major but it seems like you need that in order to find the deeper meaning of media.

Having a good breadth of knowledge about media certainly helps in regards to criticism, both in terms of the techniques utilized in the creation of whatever you wish to talk about, as well as understanding the influences that went into the work (both explicitly stated by the creator and what you personally observe), but you don't necessarily need to take a college course on it. Doing so would certainly help you figure out the specifics of what you may want to study in regards to critique, but there's nothing stopping you from being self-taught.

It's not necessarily a field where you need a degree to prove your credentials: the writing and analysis you have to share will do that for you.