GROWING PAINS: The portrayal of teenagers in different countries and time periods.

Media Studies 3.2 V. 1 AS91491INTERNAL Demonstrate understanding of the meaning of media text through different readings.

Media Studies 3.2 V. 1 AS91491Demonstrate understanding of the meaning of media text through different readings.

• You will be studying two very different films for this standard, Tsotsi (2005) and Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

• The films were made 50 years apart but resonate themes of youth disenchantment, historical and cultural struggles and varying political landscapes. The central characters in the film are both young people struggling to survive in difficult environments.

• Tsotsi is a South African film and Rebel Without a Cause an American film.

• In this assignment you will be writing four essays which analyse the films with alternative readings.

Media Studies 3.2 V. 1 AS91491

• You will be writing two essays on ‘Tsotsi’ on the questions below:

• Explain how the stylistic choices in Tsotsi reflect themes of hope and despair.

• ‘Tsotsi represents gender in conflicting ways’. Discuss.

Media Studies 3.2 V. 1 AS91491

• You will be writing two essays on ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ on the questions below:

• How does Rebel Without a Cause reflect the social and cultural landscape of 1950’s America?

• In what ways does Nicolas Ray (the director) portray the character of Jimmy as being a disenchanted teenager in Rebel Without a Cause?

Media Studies 3.2 V. 1 AS91491

ACHIEVEMENTACHIEVEMENT WITH MERIT

ACHIEVEMENT WITH

EXCELLENCE

Demonstrate understanding of the meaning of

media text through different

readings.

Demonstrate in-depth

understanding of the meaning of

media text through different

readings.

Demonstrate perceptive

understanding of the meaning of

media text through different

readings.

ACHIEVEMENTACHIEVEMENT WITH

MERITACHIEVEMENT

WITH EXCELLENCE

Demonstrate understanding involves analysing the effect of different readings of media text.

Demonstrate in depth understanding involves analysing the effect of

different readings of media text. This analysis may

involve the ways in which a reading uncovers, adds

or changes the meaning of a media text and may make connections to

media theory.

Demonstrate perceptive understanding involves

evaluating the significance of the effect of different readings for the text and/or society. The significance may

include: aesthetic, social, cultural, political,

historical, economic, technological, or

ideological considerations.

Questions to guide you…

ACHIEVEMENTACHIEVEMENT WITH

MERITACHIEVEMENT

WITH EXCELLENCE

How can you interpret the text and answer the question? What effect does the text have? How do techniques enhance the text and add to it?

How can you interpret the text? How does the text uncover meaning? How

does it add meaning? How does the text change

meaning? How can you interpret it differently?

What cultural arguments can you take from your

reading? How do techniques enhance the

text and add to it?

How can you evaluate this text against the

question? What is the significance of the text to society, the whole

film, the culture in which it is made, the

political/economic and historical climate in

which it was made? How does the text reflect

ideology (of the director or the country in which it

was made).