Paper 2 mock exam learner response

  Paper 2 mock exam: Learner response:

1) Type up your feedback in full (you do not need to write mark/grade if you do not wish to).

WWW 

• This is a strong exam: close to a B grade with clear potential to improve further. Q1 unseen is excellent and Q2 and Q4 also contain some very good points.

EBI    

• Question focus in Q3 is holding you back a little here... revise the industry contexts for TV.
•  Some of your phrasing needs work in Q4. This is particularly important for question focus and showing you understand what is being asked.

2) Did you succeed in meeting or exceeding your target grade for A Level Media in this paper? If not, how many additional marks do you need to achieve your target grade in Paper 2?

I have achieved my target grad however I was 3 marks off a B.

3) Write a question-by-question analysis of your performance. For each question, write how many marks you got from the number available and identify any points that you missed by carefully studying the AQA indicative content in the mark scheme:

Q1 - 7/9

• Need more on ideology for top marks eg. capitalism

• an ideological reading might suggest that capitalism is a corrupt system which only benefits the few.

Q2 - 16/25

• Revise Shirky a little... some points feel contradictory here.

•  the key aspects of the relevant theory: Digital natives, ‘We the media’, Web 2.0, Convergence, Prosumer

• Shirky’s ideas and theories on end of audience: mass amateurisation, cognitive surplus

•  the way in which ‘end of audience’ theories argue that traditional boundaries (hierarchies?) between producer and audience have been blurred, integrated, reversed

• the way in which ‘end of audience’ theories argue that due to the volume of connections created by the internet, a transformation in networking and communication has taken place

•  the understanding of online media as creating a more active role for audiences – particularly in contrast to traditional, passive media forms

•  that online technology provides easily accessible tools for production and action

•  in addition, some answers may question ‘end of audience’ theories’ positive view – particularly in Shirky’s work – of the time people spend online

•  some responses might suggest that ‘end of audience’ theories do not take enough account of continued dominance of media industries and control of the networks

•  some responses might question the more negative aspects of amateurism such as the free supply of labour.

Q3 - 9/25

• Lack of question focus is key here

• Distribution and consumption- BBC/C4/Walter Presents etc.

• Economic and cultural contexts - audience consumptions/technology 

•  Increasingly global nature of media companies has enabled access to a range of international media products, suggesting a move away from the national and local.

•  Developments in technology have provided a range of media platforms and screens for viewing.

•  Shift to self-scheduling – enabled by technology and cultural changes – away from industry-controlled viewing.

•  Rise of binge viewing and interactive response to programmes.

•  Majority of viewing of television programmes still takes place via traditional TV screen – effect of convergence can be exaggerated.

• Scheduling is still key to the way audiences consume TV shows – particularly around key crime dramas and reality shows.

•  While there are an increased number of channels and streaming services, the choice is still relatively limited and dominated by the US conglomerates.

•  Major events which affect behaviour – such as the pandemic – provide evidence of the enduring strength of traditional distribution and consumption.

Q4 - 16/25

• Applying audience and industry contexts, perhaps The Sims franchise challenges a discourse of gender inequality by making the videogames industry more gender equal.

• While HFW has been praised for gender representations, it has been criticised for racial stereotypes ( particularly Eastern tropes - orientalism) showing that a discourse of inequality remains despite progress. Links to bell hooks - intersectionality.

4) Look at question 4 - the synoptic question. How many of the four key concepts did you cover in your answer? Write a new essay plan for this question using the indicative content in the mark scheme and taking care to include at least three of Language - Representations - Audience - Industries. You can use bullet points but make sure you offer enough content to meet the criteria for Level 5 (top level). This will be somewhere between 3-4 well-developed paragraphs planned in some detail.

INTRO

PARA 1:

Language:

•  How the different modes and language associated with different media forms communicate multiple meanings.
•  How the combination of elements of media language influence meaning.
•  The way media language incorporates viewpoints and ideologies.

PARA 2:

Representations:

•  The way events, issues, individuals (including self-representation) and social groups (including social identity) are represented through processes of selection and combination.
•  The way the media through re-presentation construct versions of reality.
•  The processes which lead media producers to make choices about how to represent events, issues, individuals and social groups.
•  How media representations convey values, attitudes and beliefs about the world and how these may be systematically reinforced across a wide range of media representations.

PARA 3:

Industries:

•  How processes of production, distribution and circulation shape media products.
•  The effect of individual producers on media industries.
•  The significance of patterns of ownership and control, including conglomerate ownership, vertical integration and diversification.
• How processes of production, distribution and circulation shape media products.

PARA 4:

Audiences:

• 
  
•  How media producers target, attract, reach, address and potentially construct audiences.
•  How audiences interpret the media, including how they may interpret the same media in different ways.
• How audiences interact with the media and can be actively involved in media production.
• How audiences use media in different ways, reflecting demographic factors as well as aspects of identity and cultural capital.

CONC

5) Based on the whole of your Paper 2 learner response, plan FIVE topics / concepts / CSPs / theories that you will prioritise in your Easter Media revision timetable.

• Ideology
• Shirky - End of Audience theory
• Question focus
• Distribution and consumption
• Economic and cultural contexts.