You can find a video version of this post by clicking here. It goes through everything you need to know to get an A in any exam you sit!
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This post explores how you can structure your response for any extended response in the A-level media exams. A lot of this is common to many subjects, and this information has been passed from teacher to teacher for many years. The idea behind using such a strict structure is that it allow you to answer the question, and not go off on a huge ramble that ends up with you failing the exam...
Here are a few pointers, including how long you could spend on each question, and how you could potentially structure a paragraph. Remember, there are many different ways of responding to a question. Just do remember to underline the keywords in each question you pick to help you with your structure.
Sample timings
Component one a - 2 minutes per mark
Component one b - 1 minute per mark
Component two - 50 minutes for each industry
Component 2 Micro-management
Intro and argument - 7 minutes
Text one – 19.5 minutes
Text two – 19.5 minutes
Conclusion - 4 minutes
Marks per section:
Component one a - 45 marks (media language and representation. One question will be worth more marks that the other! Usually a 30/15 split)
Component one b - 45 marks (usually 25 marks for industry, 20 for audience)
Component two a (TV) - 30 marks
Component two b (Magazines) - 30 marks
Component two b (Online) - 30 marks
Example question - Compared with the past, David Gauntlett argues that in the media today ‘we no longer get singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities.’
Evaluate the validity of this claim with reference to the set editions of Woman and Adbusters and the historical contexts in which they were produced.
Step one - underline key terms
Underlining key terms forces you to engage with the concepts you actually need to cover in your response. You will be coming back to these key words time and time again in your response.
Compared with the past, David Gauntlett argues that in the media today ‘we no longer get singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female identities.’
Evaluate the validity of this claim with reference to the set editions of Woman and Adbusters and the historical contexts in which they were produced.
This is a pretty beefy question! But if we break it down then it's pretty simple. "The representations of men and women are no longer simple. What do you think?"
Step two - knee jerk reaction
In order to present a coherent structure, you need an opinion. For this question, it's clear you need to evaluate, but even if you do not get prompted like this, you will still need to demonstrate your own point of view.
Never change your opinion halfway through the exam. You simply do not have the time to contradict yourself. You need to come up with a point of view, and you need to do it NOW.
Hence the 'knee jerk reaction'. What's your instant, honest response to the question?
Knee jerk reaction: Adbusters presents complex representations of gender, particularly of women, while Woman magazine presents singular, stereotypical and sexist representations of women typical of the political climate of the mid-1960's
Step three - plan
Your plan can take many shapes. It's totally up to you what shape it will take. But what ever your plan looks like, make sure you include it in the answer paper. There are lots of reasons for this, and they all involve you getting marks for it. If you write it on the question paper, or scribble it out, then you cannot get marks for it! The examiner will very likely skim the plan before she starts to mark. And if she spots references to textual analysis and theory, she can already start to consider assigning you a 'C' grade.
Here's one way of 'doing' a plan: vomit all your ideas on to the page. What concepts, theories, ideas and examples pop in to your head when you see the question?
Here's an example...
Representation
Sexism
Objectification
David Gauntlett
Pick and mix
Stereotypes
Patriarchial hegemony
Hegemonic norms and values
Van Zoonen's male gaze
Gender performitivity
Sociohistorical context
Step four - introduction
This can be divided into
Definition
Argument
Context
Using this structure, you would first define the key word of your question, including making brief explanations for why this is important to talk about. You would then make an argument or point of view. Finally, you would discuss the context of your chosen texts, including genre, year released, director, and how the text is interesting for your point of view.
Defining key words
Here are a couple of examples of how you could define key terms
‘Representation’
“Representation refers to the construction of reality. Representations are constructed by the producers of media texts in order to reinforce the agendas, ideals and ideologies of institutions”
‘Audience’
“Contrary to previous thoughts on audiences, both theorists and producers now agree that audiences are complex, and have a variety of different needs, tastes and ways of using media texts”
Argument examples
What argument are trying to make around your keyword?
Here are two potential arguments that you could make at the start of your essay.
‘Genre’
“Genre is primarily used as a shortcut by producers in order to target audiences in the most efficient manner possible. However, many texts can subvert audience expectation, while at the same time conforming to genre conventions”
‘Distribution’
“Distribution is undoubtedly important for the newspaper. However, I will argue that other factors, such as star appeal and modern digital technologies are more important for both financial and critical success in the newspaper industry”
here's an example of how an introduction could look:
In what ways can newspapers incorporate viewpoints and ideologies for their audiences?
[DEFINITION] The producers of newspapers typically incorporate a range of ideological perspectives when creating newspapers. This is for several reasons, including commercial, ideological, and audience related. Ideology itself refers to the beliefs and viewpoints of the producer. Through media language, audiences are invited to explore and negotiate a range of responses. [ARGUMENT] However, typically producers will attempt to anchor these responses through techniques such as captioning. In order to explore how newspapers incorporate viewpoints and ideologies, [CONTEXT] I shall be exploring the examples of The Daily Mirror, a British tabloid newspaper catering to a working class left wing audience, and the Times, a broadsheet targeting a middle class, right wing audience. I shall also be supplementing these examples with material from The Mail Online, a particularly popular online branch of the right-wing Daily Mail that primarily targets a working-class female audience.
Step five - The paragraph structure
One way you could structure the paragraphs within your response is by using
Point
Evidence
Argument
[Theory]
However, there are many other ways of structuring your responses. Just make sure to be consistent and clear!
In what ways can newspapers incorporate viewpoints and ideologies for their audiences?
P - The front cover of The Times, on the other hand, demonstrates an initially oppositional ideological viewpoint.
E - A mid shot double page splash wrap-around cover, saved only for the very most notable events adorns this edition. Trump gestures passively with his fist, eyes to the right of the camera, in front of the background of an American flag. The flag has clear connotations for the right wing target audience: of patriotism and of freedom and of victory. The headline, The New World is presented in a serif font, offering a sophisticated mode of address to the target middle class audience. However, the Times Does not openly ideogically support Trump in the same way that The Mirror opposes him. In an example of bias through selection, an image of Trump looking either smug or lost, depending on the negotiation of the audience is selected. His fist has symbolic connotations of power, but also functions as a proairetic code, suggesting violence ahead. This is further anchored to the sophisticated target audience through the lexis of the subheading demonstrating that Trump will send “shockwaves around the globe”.
A - The negative connotations of shockwave make intertextual reference to the disaster genre once more. However, the dominant reading is hard for the audience to deduce. The Times neither endorses nor rejects Trump’s ideology. Even the pull quote on the back cover, with its repeated use of you will be so proud” can by polysemically interpreted by the target audience.