Part One

Title: Short Essays

Due Date: 5pm Friday -‐ Week 4, Week 7, Week 10.

Assessment Value: Worth 40% of final mark for the unit (10% for short essay 1, 15% each for short essays 2 and 3).

Length: Short Essay #1: minimum 500 words.

Short Essay #2: minimum 750 words

Short Essay #3: minimum 1,000 words

Task:

Write a short essay in weeks 4, 7 and 10 (3 in total). Each short essay should be a critical discussion/summary based on the lecture and readings for the previous weeks. Each submission should:

contain an introductory paragraph including a proposition/thesis statement

define, from the readings/lecture, a key concept in your own words using at least one example from the media and another text

introduce 3-‐5 key points which relate to the proposition with examples and references

use correct referencing (both in-‐text and end-‐text)

* you must include additional references to the set readings.

Assessment criteria/Marking key:

Content

Proposition/Thesis statement clearly stated and argued.
Clear understanding of the main ideas in the text
Some critical engagement with the ideas presented

Formatting

Correct referencing including paraphrasing of ideas
Clearly written expression (including spelling, paragraphs, connectives)

Resources:

Set readings
Independent research

Learning outcomes from the unit outline:

Discuss the interactions between media and their social and cultural contexts.
Discuss the concepts of the individual, ideology and the social subject.

Background:

This assessment is designed to encourage you to:

engage in reading the set texts;
attend tutorials and to engage in group interaction;
develop an understanding of contemporary theories of communication and media as presented in the reading;
apply theoretic concepts to selected media examples;
facilitate effective reading and note taking practices
develop skills in clear, concise written expression;
use correct referencing conventions, as outlined in the ECU Referencing Guide (available from the ECU Bookshop or on-‐line).

Part Two

Title: Tutorial Leadership (Group Presentation) Due Date: Tutorial Weeks 3 -‐12

Assessment Value: Worth 20% of final mark for the unit (see the Assignment section on the unit’s Blackboard portal for a copy of the marking key).

Length: Presentation: 15 minutes (not including discussion)

Task:

In groups of two to three members you will be asked to conduct a tutorial. Your tutor will allocate you a set week. Select an aspect of the topic that you can develop research and discuss. You need to:

prepare a short summary of the set readings
include at least three additional academic references (journal articles or books) with examples to support the topic of the week.
highlight the key points that each author/text is stating.
initiate a class discussion and/or activity based on the topic following the presentation.

The oral summary should be presented to class in the following format and should not exceed 15 minutes:

You must follow this format:

Title
Proposition (argument)
Key ideas and concepts (3-‐4 main points)
Present examples to support the ideas…