Lesson 06: A1 — Timed Media Language Analysis
Media Studies · Unit 3 · Lesson 06 of 16 · ← L05 | L07 →
At a glance
| Days | 3 — Mon+Tue two-day block, Wed double (A1 sits) |
| Dates | Mon 2026-10-12 · Tue 10-13 · Wed 10-14 |
| Band/Unit | U3 Macro and Textual Analysis (S1 Unit 3) |
| AO focus | AO1 + AO2 |
| Deliverable | A1 script: timed media language analysis of an unseen extract |
| Feeds | AS Component 2 Section A |
| Homework | None: attainment week |
Goal
This is the first attainment of the course. Monday and Tuesday put Propp and Todorov under load on real texts, looking for where the theory strains — because a top-band answer discusses that strain, and “the model fits perfectly” is almost never true or interesting. Wednesday is the sit: sixty minutes, unseen extract, exam conditions, everything since Week 1 in play.
How it runs
D1 — Mon 10-12: Propp under load
- Calibration starter (10 min) — WS 4.1, the micro/macro quiz, self-marked against its key. The lack-of-sound item is marked BOTH on purpose — that argument is the point.
- Blog posts 1–7 are due Mon 10-26, to the mid-point standard. The 14-day window opens today.
- Propp on a trailer (25 min) — one full contemporary trailer, cast mapped onto functions in pairs. Then, logged in writing: where did Propp fail to fit, and why is that interesting? (The false hero who is also the donor; the trailer that hides its villain on purpose — a withheld function is a marketing decision.)
- Close (5 min) — start your strain log, a running list titled “Where the theory strains.” It is A1 ammunition.
D2 — Tue 10-13: Todorov under load
- Retrieval (5 min) — functions, five stages, cold.
- Todorov across an episode (30 min) — a full episode’s structure mapped against the five stages: where is the disruption really; does the new equilibrium arrive or is it withheld for the season arc; what does a cold open do to the model. Serial television bends Todorov — name the bend.
- Strain log (10 min) — add the day’s entries; trade logs with a partner and take each other’s best strain. Rehearse the exam sentence aloud: “Todorov’s model illuminates X, although the extract complicates it by Y.”
D3 — Wed 10-14 (double): the sit
- Set-up (10 min) — conditions briefing; personal code checklists returned at the door (systematic coverage in the script is a success criterion); screening protocol: four viewings on the exam’s own rubric — first watch, then three with note passes.
- A1 (60 min) — unseen TV-drama extract, exam-style prompt (how the extract constructs meaning through camera, sound, mise-en-scène, editing), written under full exam conditions.
- Debrief (20 min) — structured, no marks discussed: what did the extract reward; which code family did you reach for first and which did you forget; one thing you would do differently with the same sixty minutes.
Assessment
| Item | Date | What | AO |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Wed 2026-10-14 | Timed media language analysis of an unseen TV-drama extract, 60 min, exam conditions | AO1+AO2 |
Marking uses WS 4.6’s rubric and comment bank, banded in the official Paper 2 five-criteria language (concepts / contexts / terminology / analysis / examples — the resource library carries the full rubric). Scripts come back within five working days; the full review runs at L07. See the full register.