Coursework - 1st Draft

The following needs to be completed by Monday 1st February. (Tuesday 2nd for 13D1)

• Complete your first draft of your Critical Investigation.

• It must be a word processed 2000 word essay (with a precise word count included at the end).

• Also, include correctly set out references, quotes and footnotes. Footnotes should take the following form - Author Surname, Author First Name Initial (Year of Publication), Page Number(s). e.g...Lacey, N. (2009). p. 122.

• Where the next reference is from the same text and the same page use ibid. (in italics). This means 'in the same place' in Latin. If it's from the same text but a different page you include the new page reference too. e.g. ibid. p23.

• A full bibliography must be submitted. (See the Book Research Task for help with this) . The first section should be titled 'Works Cited' and will contain everything that you make direct reference to in your essay. Divide it into 'Books', 'Newspapers & Magazines', 'Internet' and 'Moving Image Texts'. The second section should be called 'Works Consulted' and will cover all the additional research you did but that didn't necessarily get directly quoted. This should have the same subheadings as the first section. Use BibMe to help you do this correctly, using the APA format for books. e.g. Lacey, N. (2009). Image and Representation (2nd ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

• Two copies are necessary. Hand in a hard copy (on paper) on the deadline day, and this needs to have one and a half spacing. Also paste it up on your blog.

If you're in any doubt about what this all should look like then please check out some of the finished grade 'A' and 'B' essays from (2009), (2008), (2007), (2006). But remember that these were for a different specification and had to be 3000 words, unlike yours (which should be 2000).

They will be helpful, though, when thinking about how to write your essay (what to include in the introduction and conclusion, how to structure the work, how to set out quotes, the correct tone, and how much research to include - they each contain between 20 and 40 footnotes - you should aim for around 30.)

But please ensure that all writing is done in your own words. Plagiarism is a very serious business and anyone found simply copying from other sources (either students or books/websites) will be in real trouble. And you will be found out if you do! We're not stupid - we know how you write, and we know very well what was in the previous studies (and there are numerous online checkers that we can feed your work into to see if it has been plagiarised).

This is the big one so no excuses and good luck!!

Back to Lessons!

For 13C1 and 13D1...

WE HAVE NORMAL LESSONS NEXT WEEK!! (From Monday 25th January onwards).

That means NO tutorials, NO lessons cancelled.

It also means YOU MUST come in (unless you have an exam that day or the next day). NO other time is allowed for revision.

Please ensure that you have completed all the additional targets you were set when you received feedback on Tasks 1-6 that you did over Xmas and that you have written at least 1000 words of your essay so you can get help on it during the lessons.

Yr13 Case Study class/homework

Following your initial mind-mapping, for your own choice of new/digital media case studies, you must now prepare a powerpoint / multi-media presentation. You need to include:

• How new/digital media has affected your chosen area (e.g. available on new platforms etc)
• Advantages for audiences- offering greater choice for audiences and issues of pluralism - audiences being able to construct and broadcast their own texts (UGC)
• Disadvantages to audiences - e.g. access issues
• Benefits to institutions - eg. engaging new or wider audiences
• Disadvantages to institutions
• Textual examples (specific media texts) to support the above points.

This is due on Tuesday 26th Jan

New Media Homework all yr13

Develop ideas for your own case study on new/ digital media. We brainstormed a number of possibles such as.... the impact of new/digital media on:

• advertising
• sport
• film industry
• TV programmes
• music
• gaming

Select a topic that is of interest to you (it doesn't have to be one of those above) and using the same brainstorming method we did in class for the impact of new/ digital media on news consider how has the technology / platforms changed for your chosen medium's distribution and reception. Then add in details of advantages/ disadvantages to audience and institutions. Be prepared to discuss and present these back next lesson.

NEW MEDIA LECTURE - University Taster Courses - IMPORTANT

David Gauntlett (much quoted already this year by me and Mr Bush no doubt with regards to representation theory and also someone who has developed a wide body of work regarding new and digital media/ web 2.0) is holding a taster lecture at the University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1 on 23rd March 2010 between 11.00am - 12.00 noon. (Nearest tube Oxford Circus on the Victoria and Central Lines)

The lecture is 'New Media and the Power of the Everyday Creativity' and examines media content, such as television and radio programmes, and published reporting and writing and its historical dominance by the big institutions. The lecture will explore the changing relationship between audiences and institutions and how, due to cheap production tools and easy to use online platforms we as an audience are all now able to make and share our own media. David Gauntlett will discuss the hype, controversy and reality surrounding this shift, and will argue that tools which help people to unlock their everyday creativity are valuable for society.

There are only 50 places available and this lecture will be a valuable tool in developing background information for your case studies to use in the exam in addition to gaining an insight into university style education. To book your place please contact Michele Raimondo via email on raimonm@westminster.ac.uk or call 0207 911 5000.

Please note that these sessions always book up very, very quickly.

MEST 4 Task - Revised essay planning

Using the exemplar critical investigation handout you were given a while back, break down and annotate into an essay plan examining the structure and flow of the argument, how and where theory is used, use of media language and wider contexts.

Now look at your own essay plan and revise using the knowledge gained from the above exercise. This must be complete to be used for discussion in Friday's lesson.