End of Year 1 exam: Learner Response

End of Year 1 exam: Learner Response

My total= 35/42  Grade= 8

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

WWW- This is a hugely impressive exam: well done! Excellent notes, real detail; from the extract and very good focus on the questions throughout.

EBI- The challenge now is taking Q2 into the very top level (see the mark scheme on the blog). A wider variety of examples/ evidence from the CSPs could help with this.

2) Look at the mark scheme document linked above. Question 1.1 asks about mise-en-scene. What do we use to remember mise-en-scene? Give one example answer from the mark scheme too.

CLAMPS- costume, lighting, actor placement/movement/expression, make-up, props, setting.

An example answer would be: Will’s costume – makes him look like he is from our world.

3) Question 1.2 asks about narrative features in the extract. Look at the mark scheme to pick out three possible answers for this question. 

Examples of possible meanings communicated by narrative features:

• Todorov (equilibrium): The empty city creates a sense of disequilibrium – that something

has gone wrong and needs to be repaired or at least understood by the characters.

• Barthes (enigma and action codes): Action codes – the music, the chase scene, the

confrontation between the children. Enigma codes: why is the city empty? Who are they

chasing? What do the Spectres look like and is Will in danger? Key lines of dialogue: “Where

are the grown-ups?”; “Since the attack, Spectres are everywhere”.

• Binary opposition: Lyra and Will are presented as binary opposites to the other two

children. The lack of grown-ups creates a sense of young/old binary opposition (particularly

as children are not in danger from Spectres).

4) Now focus on Question 2 - the 20 mark essay. Use the mark scheme to pick out one way Doctor Who reflects 1963 and one way His Dark Materials reflects 2020. 

HIS DARK MATERIALS:

Changes in society, particularly advances in equality for women, have slowly been reflected

in TV drama. In 2016 it was announced that the next regeneration of Doctor Who would be

as a woman (played by Jodie Whittaker). In His Dark Materials, the protagonist and

strongest character is female (Lyra).

DOCTOR WHO:

Traditionally, Doctor was a white male, most often with a younger female companion,

reflecting and reinforcing traditional gender roles of the times, with the man as powerful

and in control and the woman as helper. Women’s helper role often been to provide an

emotional, empathetic side to the programme. Reinforcing the idea that men are active,

action-centred while women are more passive, emotional and sensitive

5) Reflect on your overall work and exam performance this year. What three things do you need to work on or revise in Media for Year 11? 

1. I need to keep on focusing into the deeper meanings and connotations of different media texts/ extracts and annotate the media products in as much detail as possible.
2. I need to focus on using more of Audience and Industry, as I find it a little more difficult to use than Language and Representations and I need to try to include more of this in all of my answers that ask for this.
3. I need to keep making flashcards of everything learnt and try really ha4rd to make a great coursework project with a lot of research to help.