Independent Study Tutorials

For 13C students...

Please sign up to one of the slots below by posting a comment at the end of this message. You must sign up before Christmas and then I'll put up a list on here of the finalised timetable. First come-first served. Remember - you must have completed all blog tasks (1-12) to be eligible for a tutorial so these need to be done by the day we return after Christmas (Thursday 05-01-06). Also, when you attend the tutorial you must bring your fully organised research folder with you so get those in order now if you haven't done already.

Finally, the deadline for the completed first draft of the Independent Study is...

• Tuesday 7th February

This means that if you have a tutorial towards the end of study leave you will only have two weeks to get all 3000 words done (with footnotes and a full bibliography for it to be accepted). As during some of this time you will be at Disney my advice would be to get in early for a tutorial.

Available times...

• Monday 09-01: periods 1 (Russell), 2 (Manjoth), 3, 4 (Mariam),5 or 6
  

• Tuesday 10-01: periods 1 (CANCELLED...choose another) or 3
  

• Wednesday 11-01: periods 2 (Charanpal), 3 (Anita), 5, 7 (Shabazz)or 8 (Sofia)
  

• Friday 13-01: periods 2 (CANCELLED...choose another) or 3 (Danny)
  

• Monday 16-01: periods 2 (Aanchal), 3, 4, 5, 6 or 8 (Russell)
  

• Tuesday 17-01: periods 1 or 3

• Wednesday 18-01: periods 1 (CANCELLED...choose another), 2 (Pardeep), 3 (Abisheik), 5 (Bilan) or 8 (Kristina)
  

• Friday 20-01: periods 2 (Harbinder), 3 (Iena) or 4 (Roohdip)
  

Independent Study - TASK 12

For 13C students...

The following comprises TASK TWELVE. It also needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the day you return on Thursday 5th January, 2006. Failure to do so will mean that you will not receive a one-to-one tutorial about your work in progress...

• Type out the full title of your independent study, highlighting what you consider to be the keywords in a different colour.
  

• Then write out the first paragraph and post it on your blog. This is usually the hardest in any essay (along with the last one!) Obviously, it must be a clear introduction that makes reference to the keywords in the title and outlines the various areas that you will be exploring in the course of the essay. It may introduce a hypothesis (something that you will seek to test/prove during the next 3000 words). For example, you may be arguing that 'Kill Bill' demonstrates a change in the representation of women. It's a bit like the debate in this sense - you are putting forward a proposition and making points that will back it up (although you will also be given credit here for considering both sides of the argument too).

Independent Study - TASK 11

For 13C students...

The following comprises TASK ELEVEN. It also needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the day you return on Thursday 5th January, 2006. Failure to do so will mean that you will not receive a one-to-one tutorial about your work in progress...

• Produce a detailed essay plan for your independent study, covering everything that you hope to include in your submission. Break your ideas and research down into sections and paragraphs with headings, summaries and a list of references that you hope to include at each step.

• Make sure that you label each point you hope to include by linking it to Key Concepts (MIGRAIN) and Wider Contexts (SHEP). (You could just include the initial letter in brackets). This way you can see whether you have covered everything that you need to in an even way. Also, ensure that you think about where you will include theories/theorists and media keywords. (Keep the 'Essential Word Dictionary' handy).

• This will make writing your essay so much easier. However, it is a big task as it requires you to read through all your research very carefully (including reviewing all the work that you've posted up in your blogs and checking through the comments/suggestions you've received).

• You may want to produce this plan as a straightforward series of bullet points or as a more complex mindmap. If it's the latter you may have to do it by hand and then scan it in before posting it up on your blog. Or you may want to try out a free trial of some mind-mapping software. (You can see an example - but not for an independent study - of how this software can be used below...)
  
  

Independent Study - TASK TEN

For 13C students...

The following comprises TASK TEN. It needs to be completed over Christmas and MUST be done for the day you return on Thursday 5th January, 2006. Failure to do so will mean that you will not receive a one-to-one tutorial about your work in progress...

• Research a historical text that you can use to compare with your contemporary one (that is the main focus of your study). By 'historical' it is meant anything pre-1990 but the 40s, 50s, 60s or even 70s might be more fruitful because they pre-date many of the important changes that have occurred recently (such as the gains for women as a result of feminism). The purpose here is to be able to demonstrate how society has changed over the years and how these changes are reflected in different media texts.

• Ideally, you will watch at least one film/tv programme from the past, make notes on it and research it in Media/Film Studies textbooks and on the internet. (A highly recommended text here is 'The Cinema Book', edited by Pam Cook and Mieke Bernink and available in the school library. If you follow the link here you can read the contents page and index online and this will be useful). Through this you will become aware of developments in the genre you are researching - look for a range of titles (at least five) that you can refer to in your essay - and you should be able to link them to the wider contexts that were present at the time.

• If you can't get hold of the text it's not the end of the world - you are stuck with doing just secondary research instead of this and primary research. Just make sure you do plenty of it.

• List your media texts and research links/bibliography in a blog post entitled 'Historical Texts'.

Debate Evaluation

Well done to both teams...you were fantastic - a real credit to the school with your excellent research and detailed preparation, your extremely well argued points and your courage in standing up in front of so many people and appearing so confident and knowledgeable.

A draw really was the only fair result - take a look at the Macguffin Forum and you'll see that most of the Year 12s agree that it really was too close to call. Sometimes, in a battle between two heavyweights, there can be no overall winner because they are so evenly matched. If one team had either won all three debates (or won two and also had a higher overall points score than their rivals) then we could have declared a victor but it didn't happen.

Look at it this way - you both won!!

And if you can't bear that thought and you feel the need for a different resolution then perhaps we need a rematch to settle the matter?? But maybe this time something different other than a debate. What do people think? Any suggestions?

Anyway, you all need to post up your evaluations of the event on your blogs (call it 'Debate Evaluation'). Please answer the following questions as soon as possible so that the experience hasn't faded from your minds too much when you do it...before Monday 19th December at the latest!!

• What are the main things that you've learnt about Media Studies through taking part? (Try to list at least three new ideas, theories, etc.)

• What other skills have you developed? (e.g. debating skills, team-working, researching, public speaking, etc.)Has it been an effective way to motivate you and to help you learn? Why? Why not?

• Rate your personal performance for...a. research/preparation; b. performance on the day, and explain why.

• What could you personally have done better?

• pecial mention for their contributions?

• How could your team have done better? (Don't blame individuals but think about general points).

• Rate your opposing team's overall performance. What was particularly good about it? In your opinion, who deserves a special mention for their contributions?

• Was it a fair result? Why? Why not?

• Was the whole event like you expected it to be? How was it different?

• Do you feel that you had the right level of support from your teachers in preparing you? What else could we have done for you?

• How could the whole organisation of the debate have been improved? (Over the last few weeks and on the actual day).

• What do you suggest we could do next to test the relative abilities of Year 13 Media Studies students?

• Are you pleased that we had a Media Studies debate? Was it interesting and enjoyable? Why? Why not?

• Would you recommend that we have a debate for Year 12 students next year? Why? Why not?

McGuffey
McGovern
Magicking
McGuffey's
McGowan
Edit...
Ignore all
Add to dictionary

egg
ego
erg
GE
Ge
Edit...
Ignore all
Add to dictionary

wheat
what
wholewheat
why'd
whereat
Edit...
Ignore all
Add to dictionary

Independent Study TASK NINE

For 13C students...

What follows is TASK NINE and the deadline is 13-12-05...

• In your own words, write a summary on your blog of the arguments that Laura Mulvey puts forward in her Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975). As you know, this is one of the key texts in Media Studies when considering the representation of women. You can consult the two handouts that you've been given so far on her ideas or do some additional research on the internet (and don't forget to check the Essential Word Dictionary). Try to include as many of the keywords that we discussed in Friday's lesson...

Freud, psychoanalysis, the unconscious, resistance, repression, scopophilia, voyeurism, castration, sadism/masochism, fetishization/fetish object, objectification, patriarchy, misogyny, identification, narcissism, idealization, anxiety, audience positioning/spectatorship, MALE GAZE, narrative cinema, phallic objects, womb/penis envy.

• Then write about how the theory could be useful for you in your Independent Study. How can you apply it to your text and the representations within it? For most of you this will definitely be the case and even where it is not immediately obvious that you might be able to refer to it, try to be creative because it is a theory that we will revisit several times and you will feel very confident about discussing it eventually (believe me!). Therefore, it makes sense if you can fit it in.

Independent Study TASK EIGHT

For 13C students...

The following comprises TASK EIGHT and is required by 06-12-05...

• Take time to skim read through the AS/A-Level Media Studies Essential Word Dictionary by David Probert (2005) Debbingdon: Philip Allan Updates. Then choose TEN key terms that are especially relevant for your Independent Study. For each one, post up a brief definition on your blog - in your own words, if possible - and then give details about how it can be linked to the work that you are doing.

• Add another FIVE texts to your (book) bibliography on your blog (or create another posting) that you will consult and quote from in your Independent Study, taking you up to a total of THIRTEEN. This will require another visit to the school library where you should ensure that you photocopy some of the relevant pages and highlight the essential details you expect to include. Alternatively, you could be sneaky if you are working on the representation of women and simply refer to David Gauntlett's (2002) Media, Gender and Identity (London: Routledge). Choose the relevant texts/researchers/theorists from the handouts that you've been given and then use the bibliography from his book (that you've also been given) to find the publisher details etc.
  

Make sure you include all the correct information (author, date, place, publisher) in the conventional way as this will be necessary in your essay. (See TASK SIX for how to do this.)