PPE Paper 1 Learner Response

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

• 59/84- B
• Needs more media terminology 

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

• I achieved my targets for media but I don’t wish to remain at a B, I plan to work to an A/A*. I need to get 9 more marks on this paper to get an A, I think these will come from the 20 markers.

The grade boundaries for this paper:

A* = 78; A = 68; B = 56; C = 46; D = 36; E = 26.

Now read through the AQA mark scheme. This is vital as the paper was an official specimen exam paper and therefore the mark scheme tells us a lot about what AQA are expecting us to produce. The original question paper is here if that is helpful too.

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) 7/8- The composition is interesting in that it works in three ‘layers’ which each have different textures representing a movement from signs with high motivation to signs of the high convention.
• Q2) 6/12- both products are contemporary and address issues of identity and contested issues of representation within the context of their respective form. The representation here is provocative and challenging. Boys write love songs too? In a music industry still dominated by specific ‘boys’ singing of their various loves for girls in general, this is another double-take, conventional only at first glance, the point at which we are taken in.
• Q3) 7/9 - fantasy elements through special effects and transformations the road which the artist dances along, with its impossible layout across an imagined city suggests the yellow brick road of the Wizard of Oz (Michael Jackson had previously appeared in a remake of the film – The Wiz).the artist’s costume is an updated version of the clothes worn by Fred Astaire – another graceful, male dancer there is a mythic backstory that relates specifically to Jackson and more generally to the pop/rock star life.
• Q4) 14/20 - the woman in the advert isn’t objectified or sexualised (because the heteronormative element is absent) the male and female characters are represented as equals and friends rather than part of a power relation the representation of gender beyond binary divisions is reinforced by representations of other categories such as race and ethnicity.
• Q5/5.2) 3/3, 3/3
• Q6) 7/9-  time becomes an inevitable resource (the five years between seeing the play and making the film were due to ‘chasing’ funding) independent films usually need to create a ‘company/community of committed individuals (performers and technicians) preparation is vital to this kind of production (e.g. work with actors): Stephenson talks about working with Scott Chambers (Richard), spending “Hours and hours of discovering a complex character together so we could bring him to life with respect and honesty”.
• Q7) 12/20 - the intention of every issue is bound up with requirements to be educational and socially useful (give an example from a particular episode) the other generic element of the product’s pitch is the need to target a young audience by dealing with difficult issues and building interactive elements (within a regulatory framework) The Surgery also wants to address diverse audiences – by age, location, ethnicity etc The Surgery wants to offer useful advice in an appropriate way to a large student audience: it wants to be cool and reliable.

4) Look at Question 4 - a 20-mark essay evaluating how useful Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity is. Write a full essay plan for this question using the indicative content in the mark scheme and with enough content to meet the criteria for Level 4 (top level). This will be somewhere between 4-6 well-developed paragraphs planned in some detail.

• Intro- introduce both CSP's and initiate the socio/historical differences so that the examiner knows that I know what and when each was made. This will help start off the comparison of the two CSPs/
• P1- Maybelline - talk about Butler in the context of Maybelline. the male model subverts traditional gender expectations through appearance, body language, transformation through makeup usually associated with femininity.  though 50 years apart, for Butler they are manifestations of the same ongoing process creating the illusion of gender difference.
• P2- Score- the advert emphasizes the historical character of gender: it is constituted in time makes this once more coherent but never substantial construction of masculinity.the relationship between sex, gender, sexuality and power is transparent/ exposed (deconstructed): this was never ‘real’ always ‘fantastic this performance of gender lacks credibility as does its certainty about gender binary. Levi Strauss
• P3-Maybelline-  this subversion of socially constructed norms calls into question the relevance and stability of gender/sex as categories (the binary doesntwork) the male and female characters are equally interested in the product –the mascara. The significance of Digital influencers that reflect the digital age and the power of the internet now.
• P4- The reference to James Bonds postures and action codes ( HIstrical Context). The use of heterosexual characters, compared to Maybelline which is the opposite. The use of phallic symbols. bell hooks. 
• P5- Evaluate the contrast and impact of change in society ( Gauntlett ) on advertising and signifiers on screen. 

5) Based on the whole of your Paper 1 learner response, plan FIVE topics / concepts / CSPs / theories that you will prioritise in your summer exam Media revision timetable.

• I plan to go over all forms of industry in all magazine CSP’s that have more media terminology.
• Attempt to incorporate more evaluative theories that can advance my answer.
• Revise more on media constructs and language to successfully understand all unseen products.
• Work on exam technique in building my 20 markers more concisely.
• Revise the concepts regarding hefty media terminology that I can incorporate easily into my essays.