← Media syllabus

EnglandMedia

Representation (the theoretical framework)

5 dot points across 5 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What does it mean to say the media re-present reality, and how does Stuart Hall explain representation as construction rather than reflection?

Representation: Stuart Hall's representation theory. Representation as construction not reflection, selection and mediation, stereotyping and the exercise of power, and the reinforcing or challenging of dominant ideologies.
An OCR A-Level Media Studies guide to representation and Stuart Hall. Covers representation as construction not reflection, selection and mediation, stereotyping as the exercise of power, and how media reinforce or challenge dominant ideologies, with the analysis skills the representation questions reward.
16 min answer →

How does the media represent ethnicity, and how does Paul Gilroy's postcolonial theory explain the persistence of otherness and racial hierarchy?

Representation: ethnicity and postcolonial theory (Paul Gilroy). The legacy of colonialism, otherness and racial hierarchies, the civilisationism that ranks cultures, and postcolonial melancholia, applied to media representations of ethnicity.
An OCR A-Level Media Studies guide to ethnicity and Paul Gilroy's postcolonial theory. Covers the legacy of colonialism, otherness and racial hierarchies, civilisationism, and postcolonial melancholia, applied to media representations of ethnicity, with the analysis skills the representation essays reward.
15 min answer →

How is gender represented in the media, and what do van Zoonen and bell hooks each add to a feminist analysis of representation?

Representation: feminist theory. Liesbet van Zoonen (gender as constructed, the objectification of women, the male gaze) and bell hooks (feminism as a political struggle against patriarchy, intersectionality of race, class and gender).
An OCR A-Level Media Studies guide to gender and feminist theory. Covers Liesbet van Zoonen (gender as constructed, objectification, the male gaze) and bell hooks (feminism as political struggle, intersectionality of race, class and gender), with the application skills the representation essays reward.
16 min answer →

How does the media shape identity, and what does David Gauntlett mean by audiences using a pick-and-mix of media to build a sense of self?

Representation: theories of identity (David Gauntlett). The greater diversity of representations in modern media, audiences using media as a pick-and-mix resource to construct fluid identities, and the shift from singular role models to negotiated selves.
An OCR A-Level Media Studies guide to theories of identity and David Gauntlett. Covers the greater diversity of representations in modern media, the pick-and-mix construction of identity, the shift from singular role models to negotiated selves, and the link to participatory media, with the application skills the representation essays reward.
15 min answer →

How are social groups represented in the media, and how do selection, stereotypes, countertypes and audience positioning shape those representations?

Representation: social groups and stereotyping. How age, gender, ethnicity, region, sexuality and class are represented; stereotypes and countertypes; selective and constructed representation; and how representations position the audience.
An OCR A-Level Media Studies guide to representing social groups. Covers age, gender, ethnicity, region, sexuality and class, stereotypes and countertypes, the selective and constructed nature of representation, and how representations position the audience, with the analysis skills the representation questions reward.
15 min answer →