You will need a couple of texts as case studies that you will be using as evidence for the points that you make.
Choose your texts carefully - think about the research you have conducted before deciding what you are going to use as examples.
Remember that you are going to use these texts to prove or disprove the things you have found in your research.
You may even find that the texts that you have selected become the centre of your essay - that is to say that the argument you are making becomes about that particular text.
Don't pick more than two texts* because the word count for the essay is so small that any more than this will divert the attention away from the main focus of your essay.
*The only execptions to this are the Music Video and the Moral Panics essays whereby you will need to use lots of examples as evidence of the points you are making.
Once you have decided on your texts you need to decide the elements which relate to the research that you've done.
The way that you achieve this will be down to the texts you are using and may be carried out in the following ways...
- Number the quotations from your research and keep them by your side - watch the films or TV shows that are your case studies and make a note of whenever something happens in the film that relates to your research - make a note of when this happens in the movie (a specific time) and write that next to the number of your research.
- Flick through the magazines that you have selected as a case study and place a sticky note in each time you find an article or feature that relates to some of your research - write on the sticky note which number quotation it relates to. REMEMBER - you are analysing the magazine NOT the advertising in the magazine.
- Find a trailer, cut scene or video of some gameplay which illustrates the point your research has made or which disproves it. Write down where this can be found and save a copy of it.
- For each point you have discovered in your research regarding Moral Panics or Music Videos you may need to find a separate text - particularly in the case of Moral Panics - more than one text may be needed to prove the point you are making.
- Remember for all of the texts that you can use anything as part of your textual analysis - but the best answers will use a variety e.g. A character, a scene, a setting, dialogue, narrative devices, written codes, technical codes. - DO NOT rely on just one type of code.
Then, once you have found the evidence it's time to start writing the paragraphs...
...this should be as simple as fitting together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle - follow these steps and you should be able to put together some paragraphs for your essay...
- Choose one of the sequences/pages/articles/trailers etc you thought would be interesting to discuss and provide a short textual analysis.
- Find a quotation from your academic research that either proves or is at odds with the point your textual analysis makes.
- Explain the quotation and why it either proves or challenges your textual analysis.
- Give your own opinions
...alternatively...
- Find a quotation from your academics research that makes a statement about the representation of women in film or the media, or summarises a theory
- Write a textual analysis from a section of the film/article/trailer etc which either proves or disproves your point
- Explain what your own thoughts are on this area.You MUST include quotations from your research - whichever way you do this!
Either of these two options are useful and may be combined when writing the paragraphs of your own essay. The second option might require you to do additional textual analysis. The first option might require you to do extra reading. However, if both your Textual Analyses and Academic research is thorough then you should be fine.
