13A HT HW: Research/MEST 4 CW Ideas

For Mon 01.11.10 (MEST 4 lesson)...

A-Z RESEARCH

Read the Media A-Z (as much as possible). At the very least, read/highlight the following (but don't highlight too much!)...

Issues/Debates

• Representation and stereotyping
• Media effects
• Reality TV
• News Values
• Moral Panics
• Post 9/11 and the media
• Ownership and control
• Regulation and censorship
• Media technology and the digital revolution – changing technologies in the 21st century
• The effect of globalisation on the media

Theories

• Semiotics
• Structuralism and post-structuralism
• Postmodernism and its critiques
• Gender and ethnicity
• Marxism and hegemony
• Liberal Pluralism
• Colonialism and Post-colonialism
• Audience theories
• Genre theories

...and also any additional terms that are flagged up under each of these headings (they appear in a different font to denote that there are entries for them elsewhere in the dictionary).

MEST4 COURSEWORK IDEAS

On your MEST4 blog...

Write THREE critical Investigation titles/Linked Production ideas in full. Make sure you're clear about your main text and that there's enough detail included.

Select the best one (of the above) and make notes on the following...

• MIGRAIN
• SHEP
• Theories
• Issues/Debates
• "This fits into the contemporary media landscape because..."

Also, include...

FIVE internet links to relevant research on your text/topic. Make sure they're from different sources, hopefully as academic as possible.

13C HT HW: Alternative Representations in Hip Hop

Due Tue 02.11.10 (MEST3 lesson)...

Do alternative representations exist of male and/ or female roles in the hip hop genre? Find an example and explore how the representation differs from those typically found. (Have a look at the Sarah Jones video, above, for an excellent feminist critique of the misogyny in hip hop).

Write up an analysis (1,000 words) using still images/screen grabs to illuminate your points.

Also, please ensure you're up-to-date with ALL the following...

Gender & Advertising HW

Feminism/Post-Feminism HW

13A - Half Term HW - Due Monday 1 November

On your blog, answer the following questions regarding your representation case study.

1. What group of people or place you will be studying the representation of, and on which platform(s):
2. Why have you chosen this topic and why do you think it will be a rich area of study?
3. Identify at least 3 media texts that you will use as your primary sources (e.g. a specific newspaper, TV programme, film, magazine, website...)
4. List the theorists who are relevant for your study (choose from: Gaye Tuchman; David Gauntlett; Laura Mulvey; Judith Butler; Stuart Hall; Antonio Gramsci; Anthony Giddens; Manuel Alvarado; Nick Lacey; Richard Dyer; Marshall MsLuhan; Theodor Adorno.)
5. What have your chosen theorists written about your topic area? Include quotations and comment on their connection to your topic area.
   

13C Media - work for 20/10/10 - Period 2 and HW for half-term

For homework you should have written a first draft of the introduction to your critical investigation question. Please email this to lwigley by 20/10/10.

If you have not already done so, apply MIGRAIN and SHEP to the two media texts which will form the main focus of your critical investigation. Post this to your blog by 20/10/10.

By 23/10/10 add to your blog a list of the first 5 texts you have read as research for your critical investigation. Quote all sections of the texts which are relevant to your question and comment on their relevance. Remember to update your bibliography with all the books and websites you have used in your research so far.

Over half term - continue with your research. Use the internet (remember to use the Media Magazine website!!) and text books to find at least 5 more texts (10 in total so far) which are relevant to your question. Post relevant quotations to your blog and comment on their connection to your question. Update your bibliography. Be ready to present all you research on 3/11/10.

Remember to take notes on all the Media Theorists at the media magazine conference on Thursday - much of this may be relevant to your area of study.

13C HW: Feminism/Post-Feminism

1. Comment Notification
Set up: 'Comment Notification Email' on both your blogs. Go to 'Settings'-'Comments'-'Comment Notification Email' (at the bottom of the page) and enter the email address you check most regularly. This way you will receive an email (with the comments) every time someone comments on your blog - important when teachers/students provide you with feedback.


2. Read/Highlight Exemplar Essay
Read: Bianca's essay... What are the different representations of women in adverts and how are they signified? and paste onto your blog, along with the embedded videos.
Highlight: (in a different colour, on your blog) the media keywords she uses in her essay.


3. Peer Assess Essay
Read: Someone else's advertising essay (apart from Parminder's, Ahmed's or Yusra's as these were the other best ones).
Comment: on their answer, providing www/ebi feedback. Consider: spelling/punctuation/paragraphing, use/highlighting of media terminology, quality/development of argument, etc.


4. Understanding Post-Feminism
Read: FAQ: What is “Post-feminism”?
Rank: the FOUR 'Clarifying Concepts' - paste them onto your blog in your order with an explanation.

5. Post-Feminism Reading/Reserach

Read: POST-FEMINISM AND POPULAR CULTURE and post the link to the paper on your blog.

Identify: FIVE media texts referenced (by name or genre) in the paper. For each one find a relevant clip or online print version and post up on your blog including TWO or THREE key quotes from the paper that outline its significance in the debate.

6. Mulvey Reading/Essay

Read: the Laura Mulvey article highlighting and annotating key points.

Find: a clip/ sequence from a recent film or TV programme which you feel demonstrates Laura Mulvey’s Theory. Write: a detailed analysis (750 words min.) using media language and relevant key concepts of how the ‘male gaze’ has been constructed in the text. Include in the analysis stills from the clip to highlight your points.

HW for 13A - Due 14/10/10

Please see HW for 13C posted on 3 October - your HW is the same (a 1000 word analysis of 2 TV ads - on which represents women positively and one that represents women negatively)

Gender & Advertising HW

For 13C to be completed by Tue 12.10...

Reading/Questions

After reading 'Gender in Advertising' (Gauntlett, from 'Media, Gender & Identity'...the link provides most of the book - read it!) and 'Sexism With an Alibi' (from 'The Guardian'), answer the following questions (on your blogs)...

1. What sort of images of women and men dominated advertising pre-1970s? Why was this the case?
2. How did the advertising of the 1970’s continue to perpetuate the stereotype of women, despite depicting women in a greater range of roles?
3. Can Gaye Tuchman’s quote regarding under-representation and the ‘symbolic annihilation of women’ still be applied in 21st Century advertising? If so, how?
4. Do you agree that adverts, such as those for the 1990’s Boots No. 7, ‘It’s not make-up. It’s ammunition.’ campaign, are post-feminist (thereby representing women as better than men?). Explain your answer.
5. Is the representation of women by the media accountable for the results of a survey in which ‘women were up to ten times more likely than men to be unhappy with their body image’?
6. Is the contemporary representation of men in advertising perhaps also a negative one where they too are treated as sex objects?

Research

Using YouTube, find the following and embed on your blogs...

1. THREE historical adverts (1950s-1970s) featuring women - one positive representation, one negative, and a third you find interesting (could be either)
2. THREE adverts featuring men - one historical, two contemporary (one of which treats men as sex objects)
3. A post-feminist advert (research this idea if you're unsure what it means)

For each one, provide a paragraph of textual analysis, explaining how it is positive or negative and why you think this is so.

Remember to include the gender keywords (below) where possible and try to make reference to the theorists and researchers in Gauntlett's article too...

Misogyny, Patriarchy, Self Objectification, Feminism, Post-Feminism, Voyeurism, Androgyny, Male Gaze (Mulvey), ISA/RSA (Althusser), Dominant/Subordinate, Content/Textual Analysis, Naturalisation, Myth (Barthes), 'Fourth Estate', Phallic Symbols, Fetishization, Hegemony, Abnormal/Deviant, Femme Fatale, Stereotype, 'Symbolic Annihilation' (Tuchmann), Sex/Gender

TV Ad Analysis HW (Gender)

For 13C to be completed by Tue 05.10...

Select TWO contemporary TV advertisements (ONE that you think offers a negative representation of women and ONE that you consider to offer a positive representation of women).

Write a detailed analysis (paying close attention to media language, narrative structure and genre codes) of how women are represented in them both and WHY this might be, using relevant media terminology and theory.

Embed the YouTube clips on your blog and include stills to support your argument.

Some Keywords to consider...

Misogyny, Patriarchy, Self Objectification, Feminism, Post-Feminism, Voyeurism, Androgyny, Male Gaze (Mulvey), ISA/RSA (Althusser), Dominant/Subordinate, Content/Textual Analysis, Naturalisation, Myth (Barthes), 'Fourth Estate', Phallic Symbols, Fetishization, Hegemony, Abnormal/Deviant, Femme Fatale, Stereotype, 'Symbolic Annihilation' (Tuchmann), Sex/Gender

1,000 words approx.