It's time to start preparing for this year's Media Debate! Each side - 13C vs 13D, that is - must field three teams of three students each. Like last year, there will 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 booked the date for it to take place - Thursday 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! We will start preparing you for the event this week. You need to think about who your team members will be - and you need to elect a captain.
Bush (13C) and Munro (13D) will be acting as official trainers. You can call on us for support and advice and we will be offering some additional time in lessons over the next two and a half weeks to get you ready. Mr Day and Mrs West will be available to offer expert debating advice to the team members and will also go on to act as impartial judges on the big day. They will also be offering both sides a special preparation session which is provisionally arranged for Tuesday 5th 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 as we hope to avoid the way it all descended into (enjoyable) farce at the end of last year's event.
The three debates are as follows...
The Women Debate
Mulvey continues to be relevant because women remain subordinate to the power of the male gaze and this demonstrates how the media is still inherently patriarchal.
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.
The Hegemony Debate
The mass media in the UK still seek to promote hegemony and are responsible for injecting passive audiences with dominant ideologies.
Homework - due on Monday 4th December (13C) or Tuesday 5th (13D) - 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 one and a half weeks to go before the debate (in front of the 50+ Year 12 audience and guests too) and you need to get the information together so that you can start practicing. 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 Women 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 and the internet.
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'.
And, obviously, check out all the del.ici.ous links that are tagged women, representation, or Med 4.
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.
Also, be sure to make full use of the other del.ici.ous links, especially the Med 4 ones.
The Hegemony Debate
You will need to research representation theory (hegemonic and pluralistic views), audience theory (effects, uses and gratifications, reception theory, etc.) and you'll need to know about media institutions/ownership(use the case studies you all did on your blogs) along with stuff about globalisation and marxism. Look at all the handouts you've received in your Module 6 lessons. You will also find a lot about it on the internet...
The Media & Communications Studies Site...lots of links to articles outlining various theory.
Also, be sure to make full use of the other del.ici.ous links, especially the Med 6 ones.
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!!
We have booked the date for it to take place - Thursday 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! We will start preparing you for the event this week. You need to think about who your team members will be - and you need to elect a captain.
Bush (13C) and Munro (13D) will be acting as official trainers. You can call on us for support and advice and we will be offering some additional time in lessons over the next two and a half weeks to get you ready. Mr Day and Mrs West will be available to offer expert debating advice to the team members and will also go on to act as impartial judges on the big day. They will also be offering both sides a special preparation session which is provisionally arranged for Tuesday 5th 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 as we hope to avoid the way it all descended into (enjoyable) farce at the end of last year's event.
The three debates are as follows...
The Women Debate
Mulvey continues to be relevant because women remain subordinate to the power of the male gaze and this demonstrates how the media is still inherently patriarchal.
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.
The Hegemony Debate
The mass media in the UK still seek to promote hegemony and are responsible for injecting passive audiences with dominant ideologies.
Homework - due on Monday 4th December (13C) or Tuesday 5th (13D) - 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 one and a half weeks to go before the debate (in front of the 50+ Year 12 audience and guests too) and you need to get the information together so that you can start practicing. 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 Women 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 and the internet.
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'.
And, obviously, check out all the del.ici.ous links that are tagged women, representation, or Med 4.
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.
Also, be sure to make full use of the other del.ici.ous links, especially the Med 4 ones.
The Hegemony Debate
You will need to research representation theory (hegemonic and pluralistic views), audience theory (effects, uses and gratifications, reception theory, etc.) and you'll need to know about media institutions/ownership(use the case studies you all did on your blogs) along with stuff about globalisation and marxism. Look at all the handouts you've received in your Module 6 lessons. You will also find a lot about it on the internet...
The Media & Communications Studies Site...lots of links to articles outlining various theory.
Also, be sure to make full use of the other del.ici.ous links, especially the Med 6 ones.
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!!
