MA in Television Studies

        Television Literacy and Media Education

        Dr Daniel Chandler

        Assignment Options

        Choose one of the following assignments. Essays should be around 2,500 words.

          1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

        Assignment 1

        Outline and comment critically upon the main reasons offered by various theorists and practitioners for the study of media in schools and colleges. What appear to be the underlying assumptions and agendas? What do you believe to be the strongest arguments for media education and why?

        Some suggested reading

        • Alvarado, Manuel & Oliver Boyd-Barrett (Eds.): Media Education: An Introduction. London: BFI/Open University
        • Bazalgette, Cary (1991): Media Education. London: Hodder & Stoughton
        • Buckingham, David (1987): Media Education, Unit 27 of Open University Course EH207 Education, Block 8: Media for Education. Milton Keynes: Open University Press
        • Masterman, Len (1985): Teaching the Media. London: Comedia

        Assignment 2

        Offer a semiotic analysis of several different television advertisements for a particular product or similar products.

        Some suggested reading

        • Bignell, J (1997): Media Semiotics: An Introduction. Manchester: Manchester University Press
        • Chandler, Daniel (1998): 'DIY Semiotic Analysis'. In Semiotics for Beginners. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem12.html
        • Clare, Alexander (1998): 'A Semiotic Analysis of Magazine Ads for Men's Fragrances' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/awc9401.html
        • Danesi, Marcel (1994): Messages and Meanings: An Introduction to Semiotics. Toronto: Canadian Scholars' Press
        • Griffiths, Merris (1996): 'A Semiotic Analysis of Diesel Print Ads' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/lmg9302.html
        • Langholz Leymore, Varda (1975): Hidden Myth: Structure and Symbolism is Advertising. New York: Basic Books
        • McKeown, Ruth (1998): 'Le Parfum de Washing Up: A Semiotic Analysis of Two Ads for Persil Liquid' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/rum9501.html
        • Richards, Sarah (1998): 'A Semiotic Analysis of Wallis Adverts' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/sar9501.html
        • Steven, Michael (1998): 'A Semiotic Analysis of Three Beer Advertisements' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/mvs9501.html
        • Williamson, Judith (1978): Decoding Advertisements. London: Marion Boyars

        Assignment 3

        Identify the genres that television does not share with film (e.g. game-show). Establish what viewers regard as the defining characteristics of any two of these which seem closely-related. Compare and contrast several examples currently or recently broadcast. Try to relate your findings to genre theory. How can genre theory contribute to our understanding of television?

        Some suggested reading

        • Chandler, Daniel (1998): An Introduction to Genre Theory. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre.html

        Assignment 4

        Compare media education agendas and practices in the UK with those of any other country. Offer a critical commentary on the differences and similarities.

        Some suggested reading

        • Bazalgette, Cary, Evelyne Bevort & Josiane Savino (Eds.) (1992): New Directions: Media Education Worldwide. London: BFI

        Assignment 5

        In the same sense in which it has been said that every teacher is a teacher of the language which they use as a teaching medium, it could be argued that every teacher is a teacher of media. Discuss the nature and value of this notion.

        Some suggested reading

        • Alvarado, Manuel & Oliver Boyd-Barrett (Eds.): Media Education: An Introduction. London: BFI/Open University
        • Masterman, Len (1985): Teaching the Media. London: Comedia

        Assignment 6

        There is a lively debate amongst media educators about the value of school students who are studying television making their own videos. Explore the various dimensions of this debate and offer your own case for or against. Note in particular the contributions of Len Masterman and David Buckingham.

        Some suggested reading

        • Alvarado, Manuel & Oliver Boyd-Barrett (Eds.): Media Education: An Introduction. London: BFI/Open University
        • Buckingham, David (1987): Media Education, Unit 27 of Open University Course EH207 Education, Block 8: Media for Education. Milton Keynes: Open University Press
        • Masterman, Len (1985): Teaching the Media. London: Comedia

        Assignment 7

        Can children be taught to deconstruct TV news? If so, how, at what age, and what is the value of such an activity?

        Some suggested reading

        • Craggs, Carol E (1992): Media Education in the Primary School. London: Routledge
        • Masterman, Len (1985): Teaching the Media. London: Comedia

        Assignment 8

        How does everyday life as depicted in popular films (or advertisements) differ from your own everyday experience? Using such sources as movie cliché lists (there are several on the Web) draw up a detailed taxonomy of key differences. Offer your own reflective commentary on these differences. Note: You may not do this assignment if you did the related one for ED30520!.

        Some suggested reading

        • Ebert, Roger (1995): The Little Book of Hollywood Clichés. London: Virgin Books

        Assignment 9

        How would you teach secondary school students the importance of interpretation in making sense of the visual world? Offer a brief rationale, outline your aims and objectives and provide some classroom materials with a commentary on how they might be used. Specify the age-group intended.

        Some suggested reading

        • Chandler, Daniel (1995): 'The Active Reader' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/TF12710/active.html
        • Chandler, Daniel (1998): 'Visual Perception' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MAinTV/visindex.html

        Assignment 10

        What are 'moral panics'? List some of the moral panics which have featured in the mass media over the last year. Outline the role of the media in orchestrating these, with detailed reference to the treatment of one which is currently topical and which concerns children, young people and/or education.

        Some suggested reading

        • Barrat, David (1986): Media Sociology. London: Tavistock
        • Cohen, Stanley (1972): Folk Devils and Moral Panics. London: MacGibbon and Kee
        • Golding, P & S Middleton (1982): Images of Welfare. Oxford: Martin Robertson ('welfare scroungers')
        • Goode, Erich & Nachman Ben-Yehuda (1994): Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance. Oxford: Blackwell
        • Hall, Stuart & T Jefferson (Eds.) (1976): Resistance Through Rituals. London: Hutchinson (youth subcultures)
        • Hall, Stuart, C Critcher, T Jefferson & B Roberts (1978): Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State and Law and Order. London: Macmillan
        • Haralambos, Michael & Martin Holborn (1995): Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London: Collins Educational/HarperCollins
        • Hebdige, Dick (1979): Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Methuen
        • Jenkins, Philip (1992): Intimate Enemies : Moral Panics in Contemporary Great Britain. New York: Aldine de Gruyter
        • Marsh, Peter, Elizabeth Rosser & Rom Harré (1978): The Rules of Disorder. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
        • O'Sullivan, Tim, John Hartley, Danny Saunders & John Fiske (1994): Key Concepts in Communication and Cultural Studies (2nd edn.). London: Routledge
        • Thompson, Kenneth (1998): Moral Panics. London: Routledge
        • Watson, James & Anne Hill (1989): Dictionary of Communication and Media Studies. London: Arnold
        • Wood, Matthew (1997): 'Moral Panics' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/mtw9403.html
        • Young, J (1971): The Drugtakers. St Albans: Paladin

        Assignment 11

        Illustrate the workings of intertextuality in a detailed analysis of an extended series of television advertisements for one of the following products:

        • Bodingtons beer
        • Guinness
        • Kenco coffee
        • Gold Blend coffee

        Some suggested reading

        • Chandler, Daniel (1998): 'Intertextuality'. In Semiotics for Beginners. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem09.html
        • Griffiths, Merris (1996): 'A Semiotic Analysis of Diesel Print Ads' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/lmg9302.html
        • Langan, Catherine R (1998): 'Intertextuality in Advertisements for Silk Cut Cigarettes' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/crl9502.html

        Assignment 12

        Compare and contrast the form and content of television advertisements for the same product (or a closely-related product from the same manufacturer) which are aimed primarily at women with those which are aimed primarily at men.

        Some suggested reading

        • Chandler, Daniel (1998): 'Notes on "the Gaze"'. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze.html
        • Courtney, Alice E & Thomas W Whipple (1983): Sex Stereotyping in Advertising. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books
        • Dines, G. & J. M. Humez (Eds.) (1995): Gender, Race and Class in Media: A Text-Reader. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
        • Dyer, Gillian (1982): Advertising as Communication. London: Routledge
        • Jhally, Sut (1990): The Codes of Advertising. London: Routledge
        • Kress, Gunther & Theo Van Leeuwen (1996): Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge
        • Manca, Alessandra & Luigi (Eds.) (1994): Gender & Utopia in Advertising: A Critical Reader. Lisle, IL: Procopian Press
        • Messaris, Paul (1997): Visual Persuasion: The Role of Images in Advertising. Thousand Oaks: Sage
        • Vestergaard, Torben & Kim Schroder (1985): The Language of Advertising. Oxford: Basil Blackwell
        • Williamson, Judith (1978): Decoding Advertisements. London: Marion Boyars

        Assignment 13

        Offer a semiotic analysis of a particular topical news story in news programmes on two different television channels.

        Some suggested reading

        • Bignell, J (1997): Media Semiotics: An Introduction. Manchester: Manchester University Press
        • Chandler, Daniel (1998): 'DIY Semiotic Analysis'. In Semiotics for Beginners. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/sem12.html
        • Gambles, Helen (1998): 'A Semiotic Analysis of a Newspaper Story' [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/hlg9501.html
        • Hartley, John (1982): Understanding News. London: Methuen

        Assignment 14

        Investigate, categorize, illustrate and discuss 'the gaze' of male and/or females in a variety of television programmes. Relate your observations to existing studies and to the reactions of individual viewers.

        Some suggested reading

        • Chandler, Daniel (1998): 'Notes on "the Gaze"'. [WWW document] URL http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze.html
        • Hermes, Joke (1995): Reading Women's Magazines: An Analysis of Everyday Media Use. Cambridge: Polity Press
        • Kress, Gunther & Theo Van Leeuwen (1996): Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge
        • McCracken, Ellen (1993): Decoding Women's Magazines: From 'Mademoiselle' to 'Ms'. Basingstoke: Macmillan
        • Messaris, Paul (1997): Visual Persuasion: The Role of Images in Advertising. Thousand Oaks: Sage
        • Millum, Trevor (1975): Images of Woman: Advertising in Women’s Magazines. London: Chatto & Windus

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