Tutorial Letter 001/3/2021/ECP: Media Studies: Media Content and Media Audiences
Tutorial Letter 001/3/2021/ECP: Media Studies: Media Content and Media Audiences
Tutorial Letter 001/3/2021/ECP: Media Studies: Media Content and Media Audiences
Media studies:
Media content and media audiences
COM3703
Semester 1
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Please register on myUnisa, activate your myLife e-mail account and
make sure that you have regular access to the myUnisa module
website, COM3703-2021-S1/S2, as well as your group website
BARCODE
CONTENTS
Page
1 ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................................. 3
1.1 Assessment criteria....................................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Assessment plan .......................................................................................................................... 3
1.3 Assignment numbers .................................................................................................................... 4
1.3.1 General assignment numbers ....................................................................................................... 4
1.3.2 Unique assignment numbers ........................................................................................................ 4
1.4 Assignment due dates .................................................................................................................. 4
1.5 Submission of assignments .......................................................................................................... 5
1.6 The assignments .......................................................................................................................... 6
1.7 Other assessment methods ........................................................................................................ 18
1.8 The examination ......................................................................................................................... 18
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COM3703/001/3/2021
Dear Student
1 ASSESSMENT
The purpose of this TL001 is to inform you of the new assessment requirements for module
COM3703 for students who qualifies for the ECP programme.
Note the following points regarding your assignments for this module:
• The marks awarded for your assignments contribute towards your final mark.
• The only way in which you can gain admission to the examination is by means of
submitting Assignment 01.
• When you submit your assignments via myUnisa, you have an automatic extension of two
days only in the event of myUnisa not being available on the due date.
• Comments on the assignment will be provided in a tutorial letter after the due date for the
assignment.
Assignment 01 is compulsory.
Two assignments are set per semester. You HAVE TO do Assignment 01 and hand it in before
the due date to gain admission to the examination.
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• You need to submit COMPULSORY ASSIGNMENT 01 (a written assignment) to gain
examination admission.
• The portfolio examination mark contributes 60% towards your final mark. Assignments 01
and 02 together contribute the other 40% towards your final mark.
You need a subminimum of 40% for the portfolio examination to pass. This means that,
even though your final mark is over 50%, you will still fail if you have not obtained a
minimum of 40% in the portfolio examination.
DUE DATE
Written assignment 07 May 2021
(Assignment 01)
Multiple-choice assignment 31 May 2021
(Assignment 02)
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COM3703/001/3/2021
• Go to myUnisa.
VERY IMPORTANT: Always keep a copy of every assignment that you submit.
A DECLARATION has to be signed by yourself and a witness. Every university has such a
legally binding document for their students. However, as we are a distance education institution
that requires the online submission of work, and you might not have access to a scanner, we
accept the use of typed signatures and e-signatures.
The DECLARATION, along with all the documents to which it refers, will be available on
myUnisa, at the beginning of each academic SEMESTER, under ADDITIONAL SOURCES.
The DECLARATION will be available for you to download as a .pdf and MS Word document,
which you are required to fill in and submit with each assignment/portfolio and non-venue
examination portfolio.
As this tutorial letter is a .pdf document, the links and embedded documents will appear to be
“dead” here. However, when present as MS Word documents under ADDITIONAL SOURCES,
the links and embedded documents concerned will be seen to be “live”.
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DECLARATION OF OWN WORK
I,
Policy on Research
Ethics.pdf
✓ I have read the University’s Policy of Research Ethics
✓ I have read and understood the PLAGIARISM POWERPOINT FOR UNDER-
GRADUATE STUDIES (available under ADDITIONAL SOURCES on myUnisa)
✓ I have familiarised myself with the library guides ON PLAGIARISM AND ETHICS
offered by Unisa’s library: https://libguides.unisa.ac.za/research-support/plagiarism
✓ I have read and understood Unisa’s Policy for Copyright Infringement and
Plagiarism, and I am aware that plagiarism is punishable in terms of the
Copyright Act (Act 98 of 1978) and I have read the regulations of the University of
South Africa in this respect, available online:
https://www.unisa.ac.za/static/corporate_web/Content/Apply%20for%20admission/Documents/
Policy_copyright_infringement_plagiarism_16November2005.pdf
_________________
STUDENT NUMBER
_________________ _____________
SIGNATURE DATE
_________________ _____________
WITNESS DATE
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COM3703/001/3/2021
ASSIGNMENTS
You must complete and submit Assignment 01, because it is compulsory – you have to hand in
this assignment to gain examination admission. Assignment 01 and Assignment 02 contribute
40%, in total, to your final mark. Assignment 01 counts 30% of your final mark, while
Assignment 02 counts 10% of your final mark.
ASSIGNMENT 01
Semester 1
IMPORTANT
DECLARATION
1 INTRODUCTION (5)
2 COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA SEMIOTICS (20)
3 NARRATIVE ANALYSIS (20)
4 MEDIA AUDIENCE THEORY (20)
5 MEASURING MEDIA AUDIENCES (20)
6 CONCLUSION (5)
7 SELF-ASSESSMENT AND SELF-REFLECTION (5)
SOURCES CONSULTED (Technical presentation: 5)
TOTAL: [100]
1 INTRODUCTION (5)
In your introduction, you should clearly identify/indicate what you discuss in the assignment, and
how your assignment is structured. You should refer to all four themes / study units that you
cover in your assignment, as well as to the particular topics within the themes regarding which
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you answer the questions. Furthermore, in your introduction you need to identify by name/title
any media texts that you intend to use as examples in your answers to the questions asked.
Your introduction should, ideally, consists of a paragraph of approximately eight sentences that
cover approximately half a page.
2.1 Critically discuss the concept of a sign, as it is contextualised within semiotics. Your
discussion should refer to the specific characteristics of a sign.
25% deducted for not referencing sources (5)
2.2 Roman Jakobson distinguishes between six different functions for signs and sign
systems. Choose any print advertisement (either magazine or online) in which you can
identify all six of the functions. (If your advertisement is not attached to your
assignment, you will receive NO marks for the question.) Critically discuss how each of
the six functions operates within your chosen advertisement. (15)
3.1 Critically discuss Roland Barthes’ theory of a narrative, by means of focusing on the
three attributes of a narrative structure.
25% deducted for not referencing sources (2×3=6)
3.2 Select a South African / African novel or short story of your choice and conduct a
narrative analysis of it, in terms of the linear progression of the narrative. You are free to
use a novel / short story that you have already read.
25% deducted for not referencing sources
3.2.1 Give the title and the name of the author of the novel / short story. (1)
3.2.3 Analyse the text, in terms of the four phases of a narrative. (8)
3.2.4 One assumption regarding media messages is that individuals negotiate meaning in
media texts. Provide your self-reflection, in terms of your interaction with your selected
text. (3)
Read the case study example by Pitout (2017:414–416) in your prescribed book. Also read
Activity 9.5 (Reid 2009:226–228) in your study guide.
You now have two examples of how to conduct an ethnographic research study, so that you
can investigate media use by specific groups of people.
For this assignment, you must now explain how you would conduct an ethnographic research
study of your own, while following the same pattern as is given in the two examples.
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COM3703/001/3/2021
Read the scenario below, and then answer the questions that follow.
A producer of a 10-year-old actuality programme realised that people in Bellville, Cape Town
were no longer watching the show, because they had come to find it boring and irrelevant.
Although they used to watch the programme in previous years, she now suspects that
changes in the community might have caused the loss of audience interest, with it having been
a long time since the producers last studied the community. In her desire to retain the
remaining audience, she feels the need to know the needs, values and morals of the
community concerned, as well as its socioeconomic status, language and day-to-day activities,
so that she can design the show with them in mind.
You have to write a proposal to the producer, explaining why you think that her proposed study
should take the form of an ethnography. Your proposal must include the following
considerations:
4.1 Write an introduction explaining briefly what an ethnography is, and why it would be
suitable for this kind of study.
25% deducted for not referencing sources (3)
4.2 Explain the epistemological and the ontological assumptions of audience ethnography,
by means of referring to the above scenario. Refer to Pitout (2017:412–413) in your
prescribed book and to Reid (2009:225–226) in your study guide. (8)
25% deducted for not referencing sources
4.3 Explain how you would gather data for the ethnographic study. For example, would you
conduct focus group interviews or in-depth interviews, or would you perform participant
observation or perform a literature study, or would you use a combination of such
methods? Motivate your choice of data-gathering methodology by means of referring to
the above scenario, and describe how you would go about gathering your data. (4)
4.4 What types of questions will you be asking, or issues will you be considering while you
gather data? What are your research questions? Or provide questions that you will ask
participants or factors you will look at for. (3)
5.1 Critically discuss the five concepts that are fundamental to all aspects of audience
measurement. (10)
25% deduction for not referencing sources
5.2 You have been asked to investigate the readership patterns of your local community.
Choose, and critically discuss, any two research methodologies/techniques that you
could employ in conducting your research. (10)
25% deduction for not referencing sources
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6 CONCLUSION (5)
Here, you will present a summary of the contents of your assignment as its conclusion. The
conclusion should mirror your introduction, and you should not include new information or
theory in it. Once again, you will need to refer to all the themes discussed in the assignment,
and you will need to refer to media examples that you have used for analysis and discussion.
TOTAL: [100]
ASSIGNMENT 02
Semester 1
QUESTIONS
Q2 You have been tasked to conduct a social film historiography on the film, iNumber Number.
Which of the following aspects won’t form part of your investigation?
(1) a c
(2) b d
(3) a b
(4) b c
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COM3703/001/3/2021
Q3 All writing, from personal letters to news reporting in the mass media, is an act of …
(1) mediation
(2) vocabulary
(3) discourse
(4) rationalisation
(1) metonymic
(2) condensed
(3) analogic
(4) displaced
Q7 You are watching the state president deliver the state-of-the-nation address/speech on live
television. You feel as though you agree with some of what the president has said, but you also
believe that the president is incorrect about some important political matters. What type of
reading have you produced at the moment of decoding?
Q8 You have recently updated your Instagram account and uploaded a new profile picture of
yourself, which reveals a close-up of your face. Your new profile picture is a/an ………. sign.
(1) symbolic
(2) arbitrary
(3) iconic
(4) indexical
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TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: NARRATIVE AND ARGUMENT
Q10 Vladimir Propp established seven character functions in a narrative. Which of the following
is not among these functions?
(1) Villain
(2) Hero
(3) Princess
(4) Arch-enemy
NARRATIVE ANALYSIS
Q11 The postmodern television series Glee (2009–2015) is about a group of misfit high school
students who find acceptance in a glee club. The students in the club perform a variety of
existing songs. This act of rehashing existing songs and thereby paying homage to the original
artists is a characteristic of which of the following postmodern concepts?
(1) Pastiche
(2) Faux TV
(3) Spectacle
(4) Mystery
Q12 Which one of the following pairs is not an example of a binary opposition?
(1) Peace-war
(2) Youth-old age
(3) White-grey
(4) Dominant-submissive
Q13 Which of the following criteria for closed-ended questions is not met by the following
questions?
Do you think the EFF is disrupting meetings of Parliament and society at large?
• a lot
• a little bit
• a great deal
• not at all
(1) a b c
(2) b d e
(3) a c d
(4) a c e
Q14 A two-part question in which the first part determines which question(s) the respondent
needs to answer next is known as ….
Q15 Ziya, a researcher from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), spoke face to face to
participants in her study for an hour per participant to gauge their views about the imminent
local government elections. This is an example of…
Q16 Thomas is conducting focus group research for a local NGO in a rural area of KwaZulu-
Natal on the responses of Zulu-speaking male high-school learners to a recently launched
educational campaign about HIV/Aids. His focus group is made up exclusively of Zulu-speaking
boys of less than 18 years of age. Which type of sampling technique does Thomas use in the
preceding scenario?
Q17 Consider the following scenario and answer the questions that follow:
Rendani is the station manager at a local radio station in Port Elizabeth. He was tasked by the
management committee of the station to establish the values, attitudes, motivations and
preferences regarding audience members’ media use. In audience measurement, these
characteristics are referred to as …
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(2) is longitudinal
(3) makes use of systematic recall
(4) includes the entire population
Q19 Ravi watches television to avoid thinking about the problems he experiences at work.
Which relationship with the media does this example illustrate?
(1) Escapism
(2) Identification
(3) Regression
(4) Transference
Q20 Film and television programmes resemble dreams in that they are fictional narratives
represented visually. What similarity is there between television and dreams? They both have
…
(1) dramatisation
(2) mirror stage
(3) a highly visual quality
(4) Oedipus complex
ASSIGNMENT 03
PORTFOLIO EXAMINATION
Due date: 30 June 2021
Contribution to final mark: 60%
Unique assignment number: 637329
You need to study the following to prepare for the portfolio examination:
This portfolio assignment is structured as follows, with the mark allocation indicated:
DECLARATION
1 INTRODUCTION (5)
2 COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA SEMIOTICS (35)
3 NARRATIVE ANALYSIS (35)
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COM3703/001/3/2021
1 INTRODUCTION (5)
In your introduction, you should clearly identify/indicate what you discuss in the portfolio
examination, and how your portfolio is structured. You should refer to all four themes / study
units that you cover in your portfolio, as well as the particular topics within the themes regarding
which you answer the questions. Furthermore, if you use any media texts as examples in your
answers, you need to identify the media texts by name/title here.
Your introduction should, ideally, consist of a paragraph of approximately eight sentences that
cover approximately half a page.
Conduct an in-depth semiotic analysis of any print (magazine or online) advertisement. (If a
copy of your advertisement is not attached, you will receive NO marks for the application section
of this question.)
2.2 Briefly define semiotics, and explain the importance and purpose of media semiotics.
25% deduction for not referencing sources (4)
2.3 Critically discuss the three levels of meaning – denotation, connotation and ideological
meaning – emphasised in semiotics. (9)
25% deduction for not referencing sources
2.4 Analyse your chosen print advertisement by means of discussing, in-depth, the
denotative, connotative and ideological meanings present in it. (18)
3.1 Select a film of your choice and use Todorov’s model of a narrative to conduct a
narrative analysis of it.
3.1.1 Give the title of the film and a short storyline. (2)
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3.1.3 Identify two sets of binary oppositions from your film and justify your choices. (4)
3.1.4 Based on your analysis in terms of Todorov’s five-step model, identify and critically
discuss the ideological position of the film producer. Please consult Chapter 3 of your
prescribed book for a discussion on ideology. (4)
3.2 Identify the following dramatis personae categories from your chosen film and explain
their spheres of action in the film.
25% deducted reference sources
For this portfolio assignment, you will be exploring the structural model for the analysis of the
soap opera genre, by selecting a soap opera of your own as an example. Please note that you
may NOT use any of the soap operas discussed in your prescribed book or study guide. If you
use any such, you will receive NO marks for the application questions in this assignment.
4.1 Identify your selected soap opera, and briefly explain what it is about. You can name
some of the main characters, or the dynamics between them, or else discuss the
setting. Please refer to tutorial letter CMNALLE/301 for the correct referencing
techniques to use when citing a television programme. (1)
25% deduction for not referencing sources
4.2 Critically discuss any five (5) assumptions of the reception theory, and provide
practical examples of each of your five chosen assumptions, as they can be applied to
your selected soap opera. (15)
25% deduction for not referencing sources
4.3 Using your selected soap opera as an example, discuss the structural model for the
analysis of the soap opera genre. Refer to relevant theory, and provide examples from
your selected soap opera.
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COM3703/001/3/2021
4.3.5 The longevity of soap operas and of archetypal characters (at least two types) (4)
25% deduction for not referencing sources
Read the following scenario, and then answer the questions that follow:
As a media researcher, you have been approached by a local campus radio station to conduct
an investigation into the listening patterns of its audience.
5.2 Discuss the three key questions that are addressed in audience research. (6)
25% deduction for not referencing sources
5.3 Based on the above-mentioned scenario, formulate three suitable research questions.
(3)
5.4 Discuss the techniques that are appropriate to employ in measuring radio audiences.
(8)
25% deduction for not referencing sources
5.5 Based on the above-mentioned scenario, choose any two of the appropriate techniques
discussed in 5.4, and explain how you will employ them. (6)
5.6 Measuring radio audiences is considered to be a more complex, and an even more
difficult, task than measuring, for example, television audiences. Discuss the four
reasons why this is the case. (10)
25% deduction for not referencing sources
6 CONCLUSION (5)
Here, you will present a summary of the contents of your portfolio examination as its conclusion.
The conclusion should mirror your introduction, and you should not include new information or
theory in it. Once again, you will need to refer to all the themes discussed in the portfolio, and
you will need to refer to media examples that you have used for analysis and discussion.
TOTAL: [160]
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1.7 Other assessment methods
Other assessment methods do not apply to this module.
The examination assessment for this module takes the form of a written portfolio.
1.9 IN CLOSING
For all other information regarding the module COM3703, please refer to Tutorial Letter 101 or
contact the lecturing team for clarity.
We wish you all the best with your studies!
THE COM3703 TEAM
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