Debating Rules

Basic Rules:

• The first minute of each speaker time is ‘protected’ so they cannot be challenged.

• The second minute is ‘unprotected’ and they may receive a ‘point of information’ from anyone on the opposing team.

• The final minute is also ‘protected’.

• During the ‘unprotected’ minute, any member of the challenging team may stand and offer a ‘point of information’ where they challenge a failure in the speaker’s argument. This must be brief. The speaker, however, may choose whether or not to accept, though they will receive marks for accepting a few.
  

• The Summary Speaker DOES NOT make new points but sums up those of their side and rebut points made by their challengers.

Intro:

• Chair person welcomes all and introduces debate.

• Invites speaker one of the proposition to begin.

• Chair explains that each speaker will have three minutes.

Speaker One of Proposition:

• It is vital that he/she defines the parameters of the debate e.g. “By censorship we mean the banning of…"

• Speaker One makes three points and tells their listeners what those points will be during their opening.

Speaker One of Opposition:

• Introduces their three points but may chose to ‘indulge in some rebuttal’ on points brought up by speaker one of proposition.

Speaker Two of Proposition:

• As above (three points + rebuttal)

Speaker Two of Opposition:

• As above (three points + rebuttal)

Summary Speaker of Proposition:

• The Summary Speaker DOES NOT make new points but sums up those of their side and rebut points made by their challengers.

Summary Speaker of Opposition:

• As above.

Chair opens the debate to the floor.

The Great Debate

For 13C & 13D students...

Latest news...
Both sides have elected captains (Mariam & Sonia, respectively) and have decided upon speakers and researchers for each of their three different debate teams (although these details are top secret!)

Also, Ms Stevens (13C) and Mr Munro (13D) have agreed to act as official trainers. You can call on them for support and advice and they will be offering some additional time in their lessons to get you ready. Bush, as you know, is maintaining strict impartiality, as is Ms Twebti - the judge - who is offering both sides a special preparation session on Tuesday 6th December at 3.25pm in E01. You are all expected to attend this meeting because you will otherwise not know about the correct procedures for formal debating nor will you know about the best strategies for winning.

The event will be captured on digital video - shot by Year 12s - so make sure you look good in every way. Russel has suggested formal attire would be appropriate. What do others think?

The three debates are as follows...

The Representation Debate

Despite some recent changes, women are still inadequately represented in the media because it is awash with negative stereotypes that serve to reinforce patriarchal ideologies.

The Issues Debate

The 'Incitement to Religious Hatred Bill' is an attack on our basic right to freedom of speech and will wrongly censor rational argument in the media about the problems with religion.

The Genre Debate

Hollywood produces repetitive, formulaic and unimaginative genre movies that pander to 'dumbed down' audiences and this means that independent, art-house films are all that is worth watching.

Homework - due on Wednesday 30th November - is to have started researching your topic on the internet and to bring this material to the lesson. You need to get on with this as there will only be two weeks to go before the debate (in front of the Year 12 audience) and you need to get the information together so that you can start practising. Don't forget - you won't know until the day itself whether you are required to debate in favour or against the motion so you have to research both sides of the argument and think about objections to your points and how you will counter them.

Tips are as follows...

The Representation Debate

To start with, use your Independent Study research material for this one - at least half the people in each class are covering this topic in one way or another. You will have lots of case studies to draw from, many concrete examples and theory etc. that you've got from the library.

Then refer to the handouts you've received so far in lessons about the subject - from 'Media Gender & Identity' (Gauntlett), from 'Introducing Media Studies' and from the articles you've been given from 'The Guardian'. These make ideal starting points from which you can go on to explore key ideas and theorists in more depth.

Do more internet research, beginning with the following sites...

David Gauntlett's 'Media, Gender & Identity' Site...really useful articles and links.
MediaKnowall...has a good overview on representation and links to stuff on gender.
The Media & Communications Studies Site...loads of links to some very academic articles.
MediaGuardian and The Guardian websites...do searches on the 'representation of women'.

The Issues Debate

Obviously, you need to find out as much as possible about this new bill - exactly what it will mean, why it is being introduced, etc. Then you need to find opinions for and against the new measure with detailed reasons for each standpoint.

Research recent texts that have been controversial like the musical, 'Jerry Springer - The Opera', (that offended Christians) and the play 'Behzti' (that was stopped by Sikh protesters). Find out about the sacked TV presenter, Robert Kilroy-Silk, and what he wrote.

Also, think carefully about the Muslim angle and how this all links with our post-911 world and increasing levels of Islamophobia in the media. You are likely to want to develop your arguments into a wider discussion about the representation of ethnic minorities in the media and a consideration of post-colonial theory.

Then go on to research censorship - a key media debate - and try to find ways to link its historical development and ideas about it to this current case.

There will be materials in the school library about censorship but a lot of this research will be done on the internet (use the search terms - 'Incitement to Religious Hatred Bill', 'censorship' and 'Islamophobia')...

MediaGuardian and The Guardian websites...are the best places to start , as ever.
In particular, you will find an excellent special report there on 'Race and the Media'.
BBCi has lots of topical info, too.
There is a Sixth Form College website that covers censorship.
The Media & Communications Studies Site has a section on ethnicity.
A media student has set up his own impressive site on censorship.

The Genre Debate

As with the Representation Debate your Independent Studies are the best starting points. You (should) know these texts really well so you can use them as case studies and include specific examples from them to back up your points.

Then you will need to research genre theory. We will be covering this later in the course so you will be able to pick up some handouts on this from school but you will also find a lot about it on the internet...

Film Education has resources on genre and how it operates in the film industry.
Introductory stuff on genre from a sixth form college website.
The Media & Communications Studies Site...lots of links to articles outlining genre theory.
Guardian Unlimited Film is a great starting place to search for topical discussions.

Finally...
Don't forget - all of this research serves a dual purpose in that it is also directly linked to your coursework and your exam modules. If you work hard here in an attempt to win the debate (and avoid looking stupid) then you will have also done invaluable preparation in your quest for excellent A Level results. Good luck!!

Annual Media Debate

For 13C & 13D students...

In yesterday's lesson, some 13C students started claiming that their class was better than 13D. (A bit sad, it's true). It was pointed out that 13D students also got excellent results for AS last year and many of the Media Awards prizes went to the other class too. Yet still they were insistent about their own superiority. (Misplaced arrogance?)

There's only one way to find out, isn't there? (And we don't mean by Charanpal and Imroz having a fight after school.)

We've decided to have a Media Debate which we hope to turn into an annual event (a bit like the Media Awards Evening). The plan is for each side to field three teams of three students each and for there to be three separate debates about three different media topics on the day. The rest of the group members will be involved in researching beforehand and asking questions during the debate.

We have a provisional date for it to take place - Wednesday 14th December, after school in the Sixth Form Block. The audience will include all Year 12 Media Studies students and various members of staff so the pressure is on! Ms Twebti is one of the main organisers and will be available to offer debating advice to the team members. We will start preparing you for the event next week. You need to think about who your team members will be - and you need to elect a captain.

Check out the Macguffin Forum to start debating now!!

Independent Study TASK SEVEN

For 13C students...

The following list of things to do comprises TASK SEVEN and is required by 22-11-05...

• Update bibliography so that it includes five more book resources (to make a total of eight). This, obviously, requires a visit to the library! For each text, make sure you make notes/copy out quotes that might be relevant for your essay or photocopy the page(s). If you choose to do the latter then you need to highlight/annotate the photocopy.

• Make a comment on every 13C blog. Your aim here is to be constructive so say something positive, followed by a suggestion or idea about what could be improved or added. A good example of this being done properly comes from Manjoth. Click on the link and see her previous comments before attempting your own. Remember to use Standard English please (that includes you Russell!) Also, if possible, attach your comment to the most recent blog posting that has been created - this way it is most likely to be noticed - but don't worry about this if you are commenting on something specific and you want to attach it to a particular post elsewhere.
  

• Make a posting on your own blog entitled: 'Comments on 13C Blogs' and provide the name and specific link to that comment. Iena has done this well in the past (click on the link).
  

NB: The other h/w this week for 13C is to read and highlight the 'Representation' handout from 'Introducing Media Studies'. A number of people missed the lesson when this was issued so make sure you pick up a copy before next Tuesday.

Independent Study TASK SIX

For 13C students...

The following list of things to do comprises TASK SIX and is required by 15-11-05...

• Ensure that all TASKS ONE-FIVE are fully complete (especially your responses to Macguffin's comments - you have to add to and improve your work, otherwise there's little point the teacher reading it).
  

• Carry out a close textual analysis of a chosen scene from your main text and post it up on your blog. The scene should be able to exemplify some of the key points you wish to make in your Independent Study and link with some of the key issues and debates that your text raises.

Think of the task as like a Module 6 analysis but with one text instead of two - so you need to cover MIGRAIN and SHEP and you are advised to watch the scene several times and to make detailed notes before embarking on the write-up. Use the Key Concepts Glossary from Year 12 to help you think about terminology to use (in the post below).

• Post up at least three books you have started researching in a posting entitled: 'Bibliography: Books'. Make sure you include all the required information in the correct way...

Author Surname, Author First Name (year of publication): Title. Place of Publication: Publisher.
eg...Craig, Steve (1992) : Men, Masculinity and the Media. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

If you can add more now then please do - you will have to in the future.

• Read through the three photocopied pieces of research you collected from the library. Highlight key points and annotate - bring to the next lesson.

• Post up a new improved essay title. This should be preceeded by a relevant quote from your chosen text.

Key Terminology

For 13C & 13D students...

A useful reminder of some of the keywords covered last year that should be included in your Independent Studies...

Glossary: Key Concepts/Key Terminology

Media Language (M)
what techniques are being used to make meaning in the text?
semiotics: non-verbal codes, denotation/connotation, signs, signification, anchoring
cinematography, camerawork: composition, framing, BCU, CU, MS, LS, pan, tilt, tracking shot, zoom
mise-en-scéne: clothing, props, gestures, facial expressions, sets, setting
lighting: key light, back light, filler light; underlighting, top lighting, back lighting; low-key/high-key lighting
sound: diegetic/non-diegetic; on/off screen, sound bridge; parallel/contrapuntal sound, voiceover narration
editing: continuity editing, jump cut, dissolve, wipe, fade in/out, cross-cutting, paralleling, cutaways,
montage, suturing (shot/reverse shot)

Institution (I)
who produces, distributes, regulates the text?
production: Hollywood/non-Hollywood
promotion: reach, trailers, posters, publicity, marketing
distribution: mainstream, multiplex cinema/independent, alternative, art-house cinema
scheduling: prime-time; the ‘watershed’
broadcasting: public broadcasting (BBC, public service)/commercial television (advertising, profit)
ethics: (non) intervention, manipulation, ‘set-ups’, reconstruction, simulation, exploitation, ‘dumbing down’

Genre (G)
what type of text is it?
hybrid genre, sub-genre
generic conventions/repertoire of elements: iconography, style, setting, narrative, characters, themes
repetition/variation
appropriation: parody, pastiche, formulaic, homage
film genres: film noir, horror, gangster, melodrama, teen movie
documentary elements: ‘fly on the wall’, observational documentary, actuality, ‘vox pops’, formats
documentary genres: institutional, ‘reality TV’, social issue, reportage/investigative, docudrama, docusoap
development of doc: Vertov, Riefenstahl, propaganda, city symphony, cinema vérité, Direct Cinema
broadcast fiction genres: one-off drama, series, serial/mini-series, soap opera, sitcom
broadcast fiction elements: title sequence, theme tune, melodrama, tragedy, comic relief

Representation (R)
who or what is being represented in the text? how?
gender, ethnicity
positive/negative: fair, accurate, reflects society
stereotypes: challenge/reinforce
mediation: constructed, constructedness, mis-representation, selection, compression
realist aesthetic, naturalism

Audience (A)
who consumes the text?
primary/secondary audiences
target audience: age, gender, ethnicity, social background, interests
(genre) expectations: fulfilled/cheated, subverted
narrative pleasures: suspense/dramatic irony, identification/alienation, stars, escapism, entertainment
aesthetic/visual pleasure
sexual/psychological pleasures: sadism, voyeurism
reception: how? when? where? possible audience readings
appeal, popularity

Ideology & Values (I)
what are the belief systems/messages/values underpinning the text?
liberal values: progressive values, anti-racism, multi-culturalism
dominant ideology: traditional values, maintain the status quo
positive values: to educate, to inform, to create sympathy, to encourage social or political change
patriarchy: misogyny, feminism

Narrative (N)
how is the narrative in the text organized and structured?
closed narrative/open narrative
exposition: recapitulation, foreshadowing
closure: denouement, resolution/cliffhanger, resisting closure
linear narrative: chronological
non-linear narrative: flashback
narrative structure: equilibrium-disequilibrium-new equilibrium (Todorov)
narrative roles: protagonist, hero/rescuer, villain, princess/rescued (Propp)
narrative themes: binary oppositions (Levi-Strauss)
enigma codes: question, disruption (Barthes)
strands, multi-stranded narrative

Independent Study - CHECKLIST

For 13C students...

Here are the tasks that should have been done by now:

TASK ONE
(18-10-05)
Set up blog, title, overview, image, five links

TASK TWO
(18-10-05)
Changes, five comments, MIGRAIN posts, links to comments

TASK THREE
(21-10-05)
Wider contexts posts,theory/theorists x3

TASK FOUR
(01-11-05)
Key concepts questions, improvements (respond to comments), ten comments, links to comments

TASK FIVE
(08-11-05)
Self evaluation, course evaluation

'Love + Hate' Questions

For 13C & 13D students...

The following (except the 'Activities' section) need to be completed - on paper - by your first lesson next week (either Tuesday 08-11 or Wednesday 09-11).

Before watching the film –

• Consider films you are familiar with which deal with the representation of young people in Britain who come from the ethnic minorities. What is the historical, social and cultural context to these films? How relevant are they in contributing to our understanding of contemporary British society?

• Think about and list the many adaptations of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Think about the recurring themes and the many ways that this classic story has been adapted.

When watching the film –

• Think about the effectiveness of the use of location and settings in establishing scene. Why is the setting for this film left as an ambiguous town in Northern Britain?

• How are stereotypes used and broken in this film?

• The film-makers wanted to capture the culture of each community but also the segregation of the town as a whole. Consider the ways in which this is represented throughout the film.

• Music performs a symbolic purpose in the text. Identify some scenes to discuss their significance to the film’s overall meanings.

• The film highlights many hypocrisies in all areas of the communities it shows. Provide examples from specific scenes.

After watching the film –

• Love + Hate looks at the representation of women (through its portrayal of one young woman) in the Muslim community in Britain. Consider how the filmmakers convey Naseema’s role through her dress code. What is the significance of dress codes, both to Naseema’s experiences and to the film as a whole? Consider as well the dress codes of both Naseema’s sister and best friend. How does this inform the audience about their characters?

• The Iraq War and Bush’s ‘War on Terror’ is central to the narrative development. Discuss its overall impact on the tensions displayed throughout the film.

• How far does the film explore the tension between the younger and older generation of Muslims, in the light of the wider political and international developments?

• This film was made before the London bombings of 7/7. Discuss how the films characters and themes have either gained or lost relevance since this event.

• Look at the review of the film. Do you agree or disagree with the authors feelings towards the film.

Activities

• Map the narrative development in the film. Does it provide the audience with a satisfactory ending? What ‘resolution’ is there for Naseema? For other characters?

• Find out about the narrative theories of Claude Levi-Strauss. How far is it possible to relate his ideas of ‘binary opposites’ to the issues of representation in the film?

• There have been many films in British cinema over the last two decades which deal with young people and especially women living in their own culture and also in British culture. Research some of these and write a review highlighting the representation of either generational conflict, or the role of women (see Useful films for comparison, below)

• Earlier this month Trevor Phillips, the head of the Commission for Racial Equality claimed that Britain is ‘sleepwalking to segregation’. How does Love + Hate either confirm or disparage this statement.

• Write an article for your school or college bulletin/ magazine. Make the central theme a debate whereby you highlight how the film Love + Hate can assist in counteracting some of the ‘hysteria’ and ‘paranoia’ against the Muslim community. Discuss aspects of race and racism and how the film draws the audience’s attention to these within the contemporary Iraq War/ War on terror context.

Useful films for comparison

My Beautiful Launderette (Dir Stephen Frears/UK 1985)
Bhaji on the Beach (Dir Gurinder Chadha/ UK 1993)
My Son the Fanatic (Dir Udayan Prasad/ UK-France 1997)
East is East (Dir Damien O’Donnell/UK 1999)
Anita and Me (Dir Metin Huseyin/ UK 2002)
Bend it Like Beckham (Dir Gurinder Chadha/ UK-Germany 2002)
Ae Fond Kiss (Dir Ken Loach UK-Belgium 2004)
Bride and Prejudice (Dir Gurinder Chadha/ UK/US 2004)
Romeo and Juliet (Dir Baz Luhrmann/ USA/ 1996)