The upcoming key assessment 7 exam marks the first time we have ever been able to set a full exam for A-level media studies (for the current second years). This is because of the slightly strange order we teach the industries (it makes sense, honestly). The following information will help you prep for the mock exam
Key information
- The mock exam will be based on component one
- The areas being assessed will be representation, industry and audience
- There are a mix of longer and shorter questions
- Not every industry will come up. This is typical of component one
- There will NOT be an audiovisual unseen question. This is NOT typical of component one
Component one section A
1 - Representation - 30 marks, recommended time: 1 hour
You will be given a piece of print media related to any of the industries we have studied for component one. You will be asked to compare the representations in this unseen print media to ANY of the set NEWSPAPERS, MUSIC VIDEOS, ADVERTS
Important edit: this question will definitely be on the newspaper industry, and will definitely be a representation question. You will be asked to refer to one of the case study newspaper pages (for you, 'the Johnson pages' and compare it to an unseen newspaper front page that you have never seen before. I strongly reccomend that you check out the PAST PAPERS section of the blog for examples on how the representation question in the final exam looks like, as the question you will be given will be phrased very similarly.
2 - Media language - 0 marks, 0 minutes
There is NO media language question in this mock :)
3 - Industry - 25 marks, recommended time, 25 minutes
This section is made up of a series of smaller questions. The industries which may come up in industry questions are NEWSPAPERS, THE FILM INDUSTRY, RADIO AND/OR VIDEOGAMES. Multiple industries are likely to come up. The final question in this section will ask you to draw "together knowledge and understanding from across your full course of study, including different areas of the theoretical framework and media contexts"
4 - Audience - 20 marks, recommended time, 20 minutes
This section is made up of a series of smaller questions. The industries which may come up in industry questions are NEWSPAPERS, ADVERTISING, RADIO AND/OR VIDEOGAMES.
Tips - these are not really 'tips', more statements. If you do these things, you will get a higher mark. If you do not, you will not.
- Figure out the KEY WORD of the question, and make sure you are answering appropriately. There are 4 KEY WORDS in media studies: media language, representation, industry and audience. So if the question is in the audience section, use audience theory and talk about the audience.
- Underline the key terms, and use the language of the question to answer the question. If the question asks you to explore "how these products construct versions of reality", then you will consistently use phrases like 'another way in which reality is constructed...", or "However, a further and potentially contradictory version of reality is constructed..." Check out this post for some more examples of how to use the language of a question to answer a question
- Use the right theory of the right question. To know what theory goes where, you can use this video, and also this blog post. Also, make flash cards
- Use the blog to revise. The headings at the top are where you should start. Everything is on the blog. I promise.
- Know what a component one exam actually looks like. Check out the past papers section of the blog and make sure you can answer every question that has ever come up.
- Realise that this is going to be a lot of work. You will put a lot of time and effort in to this round of revision. YOU WILL HAVE TO REVISE TOPICS THAT YOU FIRST STUDIED OVER A YEAR AGO. Given the linear nature of the course, this was always going to happen, so use your own notes and of course this blog to make sure you are prepared
- You have every resource available to you, and if you can't find anything, ask your teacher!