1 - Short answer questions
A – Make sure to check out the correct answer to the questions
you got wrong (if any!)
2 - Media language
A – Ensure you refer to relevant theoretical frameworks to
support your answer, and make sure you get key words and the names of theorists
correct!
B – Make consistent reference to media language when analysing
adverts. Your answer is in danger of being ‘common sense’! Simply describing
things (for example the mise en scene
of the love hearts in the Tide advert)
without referring to it in detail (for example the fact this form a symbolic code) will not get you many
marks…
C – Suggest a variety of different meanings, and how
audiences can respond in multiple ways
D – Make explicit reference to the set texts. It should be
clear you know these inside and out!
E – Present a specific and explicit point of view in the
introduction, and keep coming back to this point of view throughout your essay
F – Ensure every paragraph includes a Point, Evidence and
Analysis of the set texts. Also, ensure that you have no ‘monster’ paragraphs,
which can make it hard to get your point across. If in doubt, start a new
paragraph!
G – Consider timing. You spent too long on this question!
H – Make life easier for yourself by the bullet points to
structure your essay. Intro, genre, audience, ideology, conclusion!
I – Include one point per paragraph
J – Avoid too much circumstantial information by focussing
on the adverts themselves. Background information is great, but you should only
briefly refer to context. You get far more marks for textual analysis!
K – Modes of address refers to the ways in which the text speaks to the audience, not how
the audience ‘sees’ the text. Use Stuart Hall’s reception theory instead.
L – Make sure to include a range of references to the
historical context of the advert you are studying
M – It’s never ‘you’ and ‘they’, always the audience and the producer!!!!
N – Try to avoid being too descriptive
O – Include a detailed introduction to ensure that you do
not just ‘launch in’ to the essay.
3 - Representation
A – Consistently refer to the concept of positioning
throughout your response
B – Give explicit examples of how audiences are positioned
C – You MUST define what representation is in the
introduction!
D – You must make explicit reference to both the adverts
referenced in the question
E – Push for a more forceful argument. What is your point of
view on this issue? Make sure the examiner knows this!
F – You need to manage your time better, as you either wrote
too little or nothing at all for this question!
G – Avoid description, and the temptation to describe
the entire advert (and then and then and then…)