Remember, grades are not nearly as important as feedback. You will need to know exactly how to improve for the next time you complete a timed essay. Right now the feedback is blunt and to the point. For most of you, you will either be asked to use more media language, or to know the set texts better.
Your feedback numeral is the only thing we want you to concentrate on from now on. So if you got a 'I', as lots of you did, we really want you to concentrate on using as much media language as possible from now on, in both your essays and your verbal responses.
Looking for more detailed feedback? Then check out the 'advice for individual questions' towards the end of this post. This section will be of particular interest to students who are aiming for a B or higher. This is all of you!
Grade boundaries
Disclaimer - the following grade boundaries are purely speculative and have been fabricated for this mock exam. They should not bee seen as being indicative of the final exam's grade boundaries.
Media language grade boundaries
A - 25-30
B - 19-24
C - 13-18
D - 7-12
E - 1-6
Representation grade boundaries
A - 13-15
B - 10-12
C - 7-9
D - 4-6
E - 1-3
Overall grade boundaries
A* - 43-45
A - 36-42
B - 27-35
C - 18-26
D - 13-17
E - 6-12
U - 0-5
Feedback legend
I - Media language - you are not using enough key media language! Make sure to revise the textual analysis toolkit. Remember, without media language, you are giving a common sense response!
II - Knowledge and understanding - you are not familiar enough with the set texts... or you are simply not getting this knowledge across in the response. Re-read/watch the media products we have studied in class!
III - The big concepts- you are not making enough considered reference to concepts such as ideology, cultivation, patriarchal hegemony, polysemic readings and so on. Revise and apply advanced media concepts for a better result.
IV - Theorists - You are not referring to theories and theorists by name. Sort it out!
V - you must answer the question. If the question asks you to consider representation, then this is what you must write about!
Advice on individual questions
Media language
- For this question, it is absolutely essential that you make consistent use of media language throughout.
- Make sure that you refer to the 'producer' and the audience', and avoid using terms like 'they' and 'them'. The reason for this is that you must be as precise and formal in your response as possible.
- Not using the key terms that you defined for the first question, or using terms from the textual analysis toolkit will impact your grade heavily here. Using terminology like lexis and paradigmatic features will help you to explore media products in detail, and also help you access the higher grade boundaries. However, there will rarely be a prompt in the exam to do so. This time there was a prompt, and you really should have used it!
- Examples should be detailed, but not descriptive. It's a fine line to tread, and if you didn't quite make it this time, don't be too annoyed. This is a trial run.
- References to intertextuality were rare, and more of you should have used this concept. All three advertisements make significant use of intertextuality/referential codes. For example the Tide advert makes intertextual reference to the romance genre through the generic conventions of love hearts, the proairetic code of pursed lips, an the symbolic code of the rich, red lipstick.
- Additionally, there was little reference to ideology. This is one of the 'big concepts' of media and should definitely be referenced in long answer textual analysis questions. For example in the Wateraid advert, what ideological assumptions are made about African people? About women? How is this ideological perspective encoded through media language? Why?
- There is no one 'perfect' response to this question however. It was pleasing to see students take a range of responses, including analysing the connotations of sans-serif font in Tide, and considering the atypical genre convention in WaterAid.
- A few people used the term 'subliminal' when exploring how adverts can influence the audience. This is not an appropriate term to use, as adverts generally* do not function subliminally, i.e below the levels of detection of the audience. Adverts are fairly blunt, and you can explain how they seek to cultivate and reinforce a dominant ideology. This all goes on in plain sight!
- Finally, some students need to address their tone. Try to avoid 'chatty' phrases like 'it's almost yelling in your face' or 'she is well known for the film LEON where she plays a badass girl'. These statements may be absolutely true, but they need to presented more formally. This is not a big deal at this stage, but adopting an academic tone will help you access the higher grades more efficiently.
Representation
- This question is possibly more tricky than the first, but there are significantly less marks available for it. Therefore you should have spent only half the time on this question than you spent on the media language one!
- Most of the advice for the last question can apply to this one too. But the most significant aspect of this question was to discuss representation. More successful answers considered the representation of women, which is highly atypical for an action/sci-fi/thriller film. Even more successful answers explored how this challenged hegemonic norms and values.
- However, while most responses explored the gender of the main characters, few made explicit and sustained reference to media language. For example, selecting the mixed race woman standing front-centre, the militaristic costumes, the symbolically violent mise-en-scene of the rifle and the low key lighting all combine to create a darker, aggressive and ideologically/hegemonically atypical representation of women.
- While most responses focused on the representation of women, one response also explored the representation of nature, which was an interesting take!
*There are a few theoretical examples of truly subliminal, i.e 'unnoticed' adverts that have been explored in sci-fi texts and in real life, though their effectiveness is debated.