Your Revision Starts Here!

Good luck to all Year 13s revising for your A2 MEST3 exam, that is on...

Thursday 16th June at 1.30pm

Remember the following:

• If you want to get a good A/B grade you MUST revise - just as much as you would for any other subject. Media is NOT an easy option - just think back to the grade you got in the mock after Easter where you almost certainly didn't revise enough. Will you be happy with that grade?

• There are, admittedly, a lot of exams taking place over the next few weeks but don't leave revision to the last minute. It's far better to revise for the subject DAILY, even if it's only a little bit at a time. All the neuroscience tells us that short term memory is the least effective form we have - it's much better to put the information to your medium/long-term memory by repeatedly going over the content for a longer period of time.

• Do as many timed essays as you can and bring them into school after half term. They will get marked and you'll receive vital face-to-face feedback. There is no substitute for practising under test conditions.

• Use the Revision Checklist to work your way through all the resources posted up here that you should be using. We've tried to make it as simple as we can, but now it all comes down to YOU. Are you going to put in the effort required and get on with your work independently?

The 6 Part Active Revision Cycle

This is the most productive approach to revising...

STEP 1 Read your notes/text book/online resources carefully

STEP 2 Reduce/summarise the information (e.g. draw a mind map, write key words on A5 card, write a table, draw a diagram)

STEP 3 Learn/memorise the reduced information - using rhymes, acronyms, etc.

STEP 4 Do an exam question under timed conditions

STEP 5 Review what you have done

STEP 6 Traffic light topics (red - don't know it; amber - know it a bit; green - know it well)

Revision Classes

Finally, don't forget to attend at the following times, remembering to bring all your notes (that should have been organised carefully in your media revision folders!) and any timed essays you've done...

Monday 13th June p3, p4, p5, p6 (10.50am-3.30pm)

Thursday 16th June p1, p2, p3, p4 (8.50am-12.30pm)

Remember, you've produced outstanding coursework and your grades last year were brilliant. This is the final hurdle (a big one as it's worth 25% of the last two years) so make sure you do your very best!!

Revision Checklist

Use this checklist to organise your Media revision: there is more than enough here to help you get a top grade...

Mainly for Section A

• Revision Express Textbook

• AQA A2 Textbook

• Media A-Z Glossary

• Theory Quotes

• Theories, Issues & Debates Summaries

Mainly for Section B

• Case Study Booklets/Questions

• Case Studies: New Articles

• New & Digital Media Lessons

• New Media Revision Links

• Wonders of Web 2.0

• Representation of Gender Lessons

• Best Critical Investigations 2011

...you may not have time to cover absolutely everything here in detail but make sure you look at every link provided!

Case Studies: New Articles

Keep checking back here every few days as there will be links added to new relevant articles, usually from MediaGuardian, that you can use for your case studies.

Remember, the examiner wants to see fresh information that demonstrates someone who's actively taking an interest in the media so read/make notes on at least one new article/day...

New/Digital Media

Will the iPad tablet really be the cure for newspapers' ills?: Murdoch backed the Daily on iPad with $30m, but no one knows how this page-turner will end.

How Facebook affects you and your relationships: Frequent Facebook users are hurting their self-esteem.

Google: a tiger we mustn't feed: As Google's claws bite ever deeper, its dominance of the web should be challenged.

It's fight or flight for Twitter: Thousands have flocked to the social networking site recently but can it capitalise on its growing popularity?

Representation

How chavs have replaced working class people on Britain's TV: The Only Way is Essex is must-see television, but this mixture of reality show and scripted situations gives a one-sided view of Britain's chavland.

Cadbury apologises to Naomi Campbell over 'racist' ad: Supermodel said she was 'shocked' by campaign comparing her to a Dairy Milk Bliss bar.

Music videos face crackdown over sexualised content: Government report into sexualisation of childhood set to propose tougher regulations on retail, advertising and video industry.

Rihanna and the rise of raunch pop: The R&B star's S&M video offers an extreme portrayal of a particular vision of female sexuality that permeates pop.

Wonders of Web 2.0

Entertaining video produced by Jason for his Extended Project.

Use it to revise some of the key debates about New/Digital Media...

Theory Quotes

You'll remember that earlier this year you all contributed to a shared document online where you submitted media theory quotes you'd found when starting your case study research.

Here is a list of some of the best of them...

Theory Quotes

They will help to clarify some key Media Studies concepts...

hegemony, Marxism, cultural imperialism, globalisation, liberal pluralism, web 2.0

...and you should try to memorise a few, thinking about how you could include at least one of them in each of the Section B essay questions (although they are just as useful for Section A too).

Case Study Booklets/Questions

A big part of your revision will be going back over your Case Studies for New/Digital Media and Representation (as well as revising those we covered in class: about The Impact of New/Digital Media on the News; and Representations of Gender).

If you lost your booklets, you can get them here...

New/Digital Media Case Study Booklet

Representations of Gender Case Study Booklet

Make sure you refine your research - adding to it over the final few weeks with up-to-the-minute info from sources like MediaGuardian, and the new articles that will be posted up here.

Also, use the following advice/suggestions so you know precisely what kind of information you need to have researched (you should try to combine several of the topics listed to make sure you've covered a wide enough range)...

Impact of New Media Case Study Prompts

You should be able to answer all the typical questions for Section B in the exam...

New/Digital Media

• “Digital media have, in many ways, changed how we consume media products.” Who do you think benefits most – audiences or producers?

• “Media institutions are right to feel threatened by new/digital media.” Consider this statement and show how media institutions are reacting to technological developments.

• The development of new/digital media means the audience is more powerful in terms of consumption and production. Discuss the arguments for and against this view.

• “The new generation of UK media power players are going stratight to their audience via the web” www.mediaguardian.co.uk Monday July 14 2008. How have media institutions responded to the opportunities offered by new/digital media?

• Developments in new/digital media mean that audiences can now have access to a greater variety of views and values. To what extent are audiences empowered by these developments?

• Why and with what success are traditional media institutions adapting to the challenge posed by new/digital media?

Representation

• Critics have accused the mainstream media of tokenism and stereotyping by creating extreme and exaggerated representations. To what extent is this true for the group or place you have studied?

• Media representations rarely challenge the dominant values of society nor do they give a voice to those with little power. To what extent is this true for the group or place you have studied? Why?

• It has been said that media representations often reflect the social and political concerns of the age in which they are created. Discuss.

• Media representations favour those with power at the expense of those without. To what extent do you think this statement is true?

• 1Xtra, MTV Base and Zee TV are all hugely popular. But whenever I watch these channels, all I see is a ghetto… Nobody wants to be in the ghetto, OK? We all want to live in the mainstream.” (Lenny Henry in a speech to the Royal Television Society, Guardian News and Media Ltd, 2008)

• Why would the group or place you have studied want to be represented in the mainstream media?

• A dominant representation is one which is repeated across the media over time and so are the values that it carries. Discuss.

You should have detailed plans for each of these essays and have practised as many as possible under timed conditions (ONE HOUR for each).

Best Critical Investigations 2011

Here are the very best Critical Investigations from this year - all worthy grade A essays. Well done for producing excellent work!

They contain a wealth of research that is directly relevant for the MEST 3 exam, particularly those on New/Digital Media and Representation (the two Section B topics that need to be revised). Try to read/make notes on as many as possible in preparation, at the very least identifying a few quotes/ideas from each one that you think could be useful...

NEW/DIGITAL MEDIA

How and why is violence so prevalent in modern videogames, and should audiences be better protected from it through censorship? (Kalbir)

How and why does graphic violence within video games such as ‘Call of Duty’ attract a teenage demographic? (Bilal)

Why are video games such as 'Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2' and 'Grand Theft Auto IV' becoming more violent? How is this a concern? (Parminder)

REPRESENTATION

Despite the success of 'Slumdog Millionaire' why is it that there is still a lack of South Asian actors in Hollywood? (Ranjot)

How does the R&B genre construct certain gender ideologies around artists such as Ne-Yo and Rihanna? Why might these ideologies be considered post-feminist? (Mariam)

How and why does the horror/thriller genre exaggerate the mentally ill in films such as ‘Shutter Island’ and ‘The Uninvited’? (Megan)

GENRE/AUDIENCE

How effective is aspirational advertising such as ‘Paco Rabanne: 1 Million’ and perfume advertising in general, in influencing male consumer lifestyles, and why is this the case? (Sonia)

How are reality TV documentaries, such as 'Wife Swap' and 'Supernanny' constructed? Why is this genre so popular? (Bianca)

Why is celebrity culture abundant in reality TV shows such as 'MTV Cribs' and how does the ideology presented affect the audience? (Raheam)

Media A-Z Glossary

You've all got copies of this, but make sure you're re-reading it during your revision.

The more media terminology you include in the exam (all the terms covered in this book) the more marks you will get, so keep testing/re-testing yourself on what's in here...

Media A-Z Glossary

And here is a checklist of the media Issues/Debates and Theories that the specification lists as you needing to know...

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

...make sure you have some keywords/theorists for each one that you can apply to whichever texts appear in Section A, or in response to typical Section B questions.

Theories, Issues & Debates Summaries

Easy to revise from - some of the key ideas/theorists you need to know...

Theories Issues and Debates Handout A2

Revision Express Textbook

You received copies of this to carry out your Easter pre-mock revision. We advised you to learn all the key terms (in bold) and have a go at the exam questions at the end of each section (these are good for practice although NOT the typical ones you'll get in the exam; see the list of Section B questions for that).

This download covers most of the key issues & debates that you MUST be able to apply to the Section A texts you have to analyse/compare in the exam...

Advertising, Advertising & Marketing, Audience Profiling, Cult of the Celebrity, Effects Theory, Globalisation, Marxism, Media Ownership, Narrative Theory, News Values, Pluralism, Postmodernism, Reception Theory, Uses & Gratifications

...Revision Express Textbook

AQA A2 Textbook

Read and make notes on this text book, written by the exam board - great for revising...

Contents

1. Critical Perspectives

2. Media Theories

3. Approaching Texts Critically

4. Approaching Topics Critically

New Media Revision Links

From MediaEdu...

A2 AQA MEST3 Revision New and Digital Media Example Question

The Impact of Digital Media Revision

We Media, Democracy and Convergence

From MediaMagazine...

The Rise and Rise of UGC

Others...

Newspapers - The Effect of Online Technology

(Where prompted, use the login details you were emailed earlier in the year to access the site).

Representation of Gender Lessons

All of the representation lessons to revise from...

Representations of Gender Lessons 1-15

Representations of Gender Lessons 16-17

Representations of Gender Lessons 18

Representations of Gender Lessons 19-20

Representations of Gender Lessons 21-23

New & Digital Media Lessons

Use this to help you revise...

New Digital Media Lessons Yr 13

Introduction to New & Digital Media Yr 12

13C - Work for 25/5/11 and 26/5/11

Asha - Could you please lead the class in creating theory trading cards as we discussed? They should look a bit like these but yours will be much better!

Include: Name and picture of theorist, brief summary of theory, a useful quote, strengths and weaknesses of the theory.

Spend 10 minutes at the start discussing which theorists you will make cards for - allocate at least 2 theorists per student.

Refer to your critical investigations for useful quotations.

Periods 1 and 2 on Thursday I will be in DF10 doing controlled assessment - come and see me Period 1 to report on your progress.

By the end of period 2 on Thursday each student should email at least 2 trading cards to lwigley@greenford.ealing.sch.uk

Work hard! See you on Thursday!

13A Classwork 19/05/11

You MUST attend the lesson to be registered and you are expected to remain in the classroom throughout until 12.30pm.

Teachers will be in to monitor you!!

Firstly, spend 5-10 minutes showing each other your revision folders, getting ideas about what you also need to include in yours.

Please bring these in again on Monday for me to check them with any additional revision notes etc. that you add over the weekend. They should be really impressive (as good as Sonia's!) by then.

Then, start this new/digital media essay in class...

"Web 2.0 promises more opportunities than threats." (Jason Bhatti) Discuss this statement with reference to your case studies.

...this needs to be completed for homework, for Monday (should take an hour in total).

Also, for homework, for Monday, please complete the following representation question under test conditions (1 hour)...

Choose one or more group whom you believe to be inadequately represented in the media. Discuss some examples of the way the group is represented. Why is the group represented in these ways?

13A HW Due 13/5/11

Answer for the following question:

Some media research has raised concerns about unrestricted access to violent images. Do you think control is necessary?
You should refer to other media products to support your answer.

Remember: Refer to a wide range of theories, issues and debates and wider contexts (SHEP) and examples

Due 13/5/11