EXAM QUESTIONS

EXAMPLE PAPER 2 with mark scheme and guidance 


All questions  30 marks ( 50 minutes ) if both texts or 15 marks ( 25 minutes) if one text only. 

You must revise Media Language, Representation, Audiences, Industry and relevant Theory for all sections as the questions can be mostly applied to every text.

Life on Mars/The Bridge

1 How significant are economic factors in the television industry? Refer to Life on Mars and The Bridge in your answer

2 Identify how meaning is created through symbolic and technical codes in both Life on Mars and The Bridge, through a sequence of your choice for each text. Apply Barthes semiotic theory to illustrate your points.

3 To what extent do you agree that female characters in both Life on Mars and The Bridge go against stereotype? Apply the theories of hooks and Van Zoonen to your points.

4 Compare how narrative techniques are used in both Life on Mars and The Bridge to create tension and conflict. Apply Todorov’s narratology theories to support your points

5 Account for the global appeal of both Life on Mars and The Bridge

6 According to Claude Lévi-Strauss, texts convey their meanings through a system of binary oppositions. Evaluate this structuralist theory. Refer to the set episodes of Life on Mars and The Bridge in your response.

Life on Mars

7  To what extent can the set episode of Life on Mars be considered a postmodernist text?

The Bridge  

8 Television production takes place within an economic context. 
   Discuss the influence of economic factors on The Bridge.

Vogue/Big Issue

1 How significant are economic factors in the magazine industry? Refer to Vogue and The Big Issue in your answer

2 Identify two contrasting audiences for the set editions of Vogue and The Big Issue and how each would appeal to that target audience.

3 How far do the choice of advertisements in each of the set editions of Vogue and The Big Issue reflect the values of their target audiences and model their response? Apply Bandura’s Media Effects Theory to support your points.

4 How might individuals represented in the set editions of both Vogue and The Big Issue conform or subvert Hall’s theory regarding stereotypes.

5 Compared with the past, David Gauntlett argues that in the media today ‘we no
longer get singular, straightforward messages about ideal types of male and female
identities.’
Evaluate the validity of this claim with reference to the set editions of Vogue and The
Big Issue and the historical contexts in which they were produced.

6  How far do you agree that both Vogue and The Big Issue are representative of the historical and social contexts they are produced in. Refer to the set texts of both magazines to support your response.

Zoella/Attitude

1 How far might Butler’s Gender Performativity theory and Hall’s Representation theory be applied to both Zoella and Attitude with regards to gender stereotypes?

2  How significant are economic factors for both Zoella and Attitude ?

3 Account for the audience appeal for both Zoella and Attitude due to the use of digital convergence. Apply Shirky’s End of Audience theory to support your points.

4 How far do you agree that both Zoella and Attitude might be considered examples of hyperreality? Use Baudrillard’s Postmodern theory to support your points.

5 How far can aspects of identity be seen to affect the way in which audiences use
online media? Discuss, with reference to Zoella and Attitude. [You should refer to relevant academic theories in your response.

Zoella

6  Explain how social and cultural contexts influence responses to online media products. Refer to Zoella  to support your response.

Attitude

7 Explore how the representations on  Attitude’s website position audiences