Coursework Guidance: Essay Assignments

There are now 2 examples of student work available on the 'Student Work' page with key terms highlighted for guidance in your essay assignments. Use these, and the terms/guidelines below, as a minimum requirement for a satisfactory grade.

Key words

Section A:

Site A: Investigation

Key words
Section A:
Site B: Exploration

For each assignment:

The Codes of Gender

Written and directed by MEF Executive Director Sut Jhally, The Codes of Gender applies the late sociologist Erving Goffman's groundbreaking analysis of advertising to the contemporary commercial landscape, showing how one of American popular culture's most influential forms communicates normative ideas about masculinity and femininity.

What Is Culture For You?

Film created by the youths of Konratpunkt (Germany), for the euro-Mediterranean forume " What place for Culture in Europe of tomorrow? " Montepllier (France), July 2-3, 2009, as part of European plan EUROMEDINCULTURE (s) Citizenship

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis in Interpersonal Communication

Communication Theory

Being PC in this day and age

Jeremy Clarkson, Ricky Gervais and Andy Gray have all paid the price for causing offence. But are their comments any different from the merciless banter heard on the street every day?

In 2011, political correctness finally went mad. Really mad. It got angry with Ricky Gervais for using the word "mong"; it shouted at Jeremy Clarkson for saying that strikers should be shot; it had Andy Gray and Richard Keys sacked from Sky for being sexist about female match officials; it forced Ofcom to censure Frankie Boyle for his jokes about Jordan's disabled son. Maybe mad is the wrong word. PC got hardcore.

Berating people for revealing private prejudices in public, for picking on someone less than their own size, for making out-of-order gags… PC became so central to the nation's conversation with itself that I started collecting articles. Such as: "White officers sue Met for 'racism'" (they were charged, then cleared of race-related offences, and sued the Met for compensation). Lots of pieces on how Christianity is under threat from PC, or whether a comedian's joke is "bad taste". Blogs and counter blogs about how women are represented in computer games, whether on-pitch slagging between football players should be legally monitored. Many articles linked the BBC with political correctness – the furore about the Beeb proposing to stop the use of BC and AD (overly PC); the fuss about the lack of females on the shortlist for Sports Personality of the Year (not PC enough).

Read the full Guardian article here.

Simon Armitage: 'poetry is a form of dissent'

Poet and novelist Simon Armitage has been writing about Britain for decades now. In the latest in The Guardians National Conversations series of interviews, Armitage talks to John Harris about the obstinate nature of poetry and the culture of violence in Britain that he believes precipitated the UK riots.

Ricky Gervais - when is a word offensive?

Ricky Gervais recently made comments on Twitter and used the word 'mong'. When disability campaigner Nicky Clarke questioned his use of the word and it's links to Down's Syndrome, a nasty war of words raged between Gervais's supporters and those sympathetic to Nicky Clarke's views. This blog entry by comedian and writer Robin Ince tries to make sense of the issues.

TV review: Fry's Planet Word

Watch Fry's Planet Word (BBC2, Sunday) an examination of language and its evolution which can support your knowledge of NVC and other aspects of Communication & Culture. For instance it's interesting that when Fry is talking to a deaf German woman, he slows down slightly, spells it out, adopts the tiniest hint of an accent in that way we do with people who have a different first language, meeting them halfway. But he's talking to her though an interpreter, who's American! Read a review of this current programme on The Guardian site here or go to BBCiplayer to see last Sundays' show.

The Role of Social Networking

There have been many comments and theories about role that social networking had in the riots and their aftermath. Here are some links that take a variety of viewpoints.
The Guardian reports on David Cameron's speech to Parliament in response to the riots, where he calls for a clampdown on social media sites.
In contrast, this article from 'The E word' reports how the Manchester Police used Twitter and Facebook to their advantage during the course of the unrest. This report, also in The Guardian tells the story of a 21 year old club DJ who cycled for hours around Bristol giving up to date and accurate information about the riots in his home city. Also on the BBC website is an article about Andrew Bayles' photograph of the 'Broom Army' volunteers who cleaned up after the riots.
The story of 89 year old barber Aaron Biber and the money raised to help him after his shop was trashed, is told on the blog 'Keep Aaron Cutting'.
DeLoot London is a website set up to encourage people to shop at and support those independent shops that were looted during the riots.