MEST3
Exam Specimen Question
It has been said that media representations often reflect the
social and political
concerns of the age in which they are created. Discuss. (48
marks)
Essay plan
Opening paragraph – outline your case
study. Who and in what ways is the place/group represented hegemonically
(dominant representation). Use a range of textual examples to exemplify
your points across the platforms or genres.
How were women/black people/cities etc
(focus on your case study) were represented in the past in the media? Apply
your theory i.e. Marxism/Gramsci and explain, again using a range of texts to
support your points, how your group/place were represented/stereotyped in terms
of hegemony. Within this paragraph highlight how these representations reflect
the social
and political concerns of the time. For example, fears of
women becoming too powerful after WWII resulted in a number of advertisements
showing women in the home. This reflected the very real concern at that time
that women would increasingly shy away from their ‘natural’ role as a housewife
and mother. The media was
used to show women how they were expected to behave!
How these representations have continued
until more recently. What has occurred either socially, politically,
economically that has resulted in these (transgressive) representations? Again
using women as the example, the growing feminist movement and a more relaxed
Labour government in the mid 1970s brought about change in terms of women
gaining equality through the a number of political acts.
Focus then on whether this has actually
resulted in less misrepresentation in the media or whether things have actually
stayed the same. Why? Think about who remains in control of the media. Would
they really allow hegemony to be challenged?