White Noise

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. In a world of easy access to information, why are people unable to agree on basic facts?

Teaching Suggestion: This question will engage the students with one of the main ideas in the novel—the inability to pin down reality using facts, language, and observations. Time and time again, characters disagree on how to assess the reality they perceive—or think they are perceiving—creating a helplessness that is bewildering and freeing at the same time. In White Noise, reality seems to change depending on the media that characters interact with and the language they use to discuss it. This discussion connects to the theme of The Ubiquity of Mass Media.

• This article from The Conversation explains how people determine what is “true” in a world overwhelmed with facts.
• This 6-minute video from Newsthink explains how quantum physics has proved that observing a particle can indeed change the reality of that particle, causing a profound rethinking of the limits of human understanding.

2. Pretend you are a young American in the year 1985. Though you’ve never heard of the Internet or a smartphone, you are always up to date with the latest trends, news, and gossip. Where do you get your information? Brainstorm a list of different media you interact with, including publications or broadcasts.

Teaching Suggestion: Broadcast television networks such as CBS, NBC, and ABC were extremely influential in 1985, and students should be familiar with them as well as with local news, which also features frequently in the novel. This time was also the advent of cable television—you may wish to encourage students to brainstorm or research particular channels that had influence in the mid-1980s, including CNN, ESPN, MTV, and HBO. Students may mention print newspapers, such as USA Today, first published in 1982. Before streaming services existed, Americans listened to broadcast radio via a limited number of FM and AM radio channels. Talk radio gained prominence during the 1980s.

• This article explores the history of American journalism in the 1980s.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

How does marketing and advertising target you specifically? Are you easily persuaded by the ads you experience? Is it possible to know?

Teaching Suggestion: Consider putting students in small groups to discuss the targeted ads they may see, such as those on social media. The resources below can provide jumping-off points for discussion.

• “How the Mere Exposure Effect Works in Marketing and Advertising” explains how constant exposure to corporate messaging through The Ubiquity of Technology and Mass Media affects human behavior.
• The American Heart Association shows the effect of ubiquitous advertising in this document, in which it clearly states the effects of food advertising aimed at children and offers suggestions for policy changes. This source also connects to Spiritual Fulfillment Through Modern Consumerism.