Exam sections

There are four areas you need to understand in preparing for the exam:

1.      How do the contemporary media represent nations, regions and ethnic / social / collective groups of people in different ways? 

• How are young people/ males/ females/ gay people/ Northerners/ any social group represented? Discuss how the representations use stereotypes; are the representations hegemonic/ reinforcing dominant ideologies; do they challenge hegemony; are they represented as heterogenous/ homogenous; how could terms and phrases like Female solidarity/ teen solidarity/ male solidarity, Constructed certitude, Consciously cultivated (fe)male bond/ teen bond, Socialisation, Binary, Plurality, Femininities/ masculinities be useful in discussing the representations?; Who are these representations aimed at, and how does this affect the way the group are represented?; Who is creating these representations?; How are different social groups represented in the media industry, as well as by the media?; What is the purpose of these representations?; How does the media construct representations of groups of people?; How is collective identity constructed?

2      2.  How does contemporary representation compare to previous time periods?

• Compare recent texts (last 4 years) to past texts in terms of the ideas in question

• What differences/ similarities are there? 

3.    What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people?

• What impact does the media have on audiences’ sense of identity?; How do audiences respond to/ use media representations?; To what extent are audiences active in constructing their own sense of identity?; How useful are Uses and Gratification theory/ Hypodermic Needle Theory/ Cultivation theory in understanding audiences’ responses to media representations?; Does the media reflect or shape our sense of who we are?

4.   To what extent is human identity increasingly ‘mediated’? 

• Does the media reflect or shape our sense of who we are?; Is the media increasingly important in how we shape our identity?; How powerful is the media in shaping/ helping us to shape who we are?