Assignment Brief

Today I received the first brief of the year! We have to write an essay and choose between 4 questions.

About the assignment

Analyse & reference.
1000 words (roughly 2 pages)
Short & sweet
10% over & under the word count
Include a bibliography – Harvard

1. Select a current or recent digital campaign and discuss it in terms of its relevance in the realm of popular culture and within the context of what Roland Barthes has called myth. 

• Myth
• Semiotics
• Saussure (Vis comms)
• Other ideas of Barthes
• Advertising for games/holidays/anything
• Digital campaign
  • Online adverts
  • Videos
• How you analyse it

2. Contemporary life is being market by its networked quality. Discuss an Advertising campaign in the context of Baudrillard#s “ecstasy of communication”, and what distinguish it from previous era.

• How different communication is without networks
• The idea of being “always on”
• Open campaign choice
• The network
  • Social media
  • The way you generate a response
  • Integrated campaign

3. How does celebrity endorsement in advertising become park ot complex processes of popular meaning in contemporary society? Discuss it with reference to current Celebrity theories.

• Celebrity
• Always been around
• Theories – no specific person
  • After half term, looking at a range of ideas around celebrity
• In what way celebrity endorsement has become part of a popular meaning
• Unmask why a particular person
  • Why Peter Andre does Iceland, why not someone else

4. Explore rituals of resistance to contemporary consumer culture and whether they can be successful.

• Naomi Klein
• Look at a resistance, are they successful, do they have significance
• Advertising works with whatever is around
• Changes in advertising
• May have impact in terms of how we approach a campaign

Look over the half term at subjects for the essay to discuss when we come back.

 

Marking criteria

Evidence of wider reading – bibliography & reference
Correct usage of conceptual tools – language that theorists use
Reading, referencing, and explaining
How well you understand what you’re writing about
Make sure you have a good insight to the subject
You must be able to write in context
Why is what is being represented, important

 

In terms of scope, don’t write about everything. Choose one, maybe two and focus your argument. Most essays need examples to talk about. Need to have theories and contextualise about the chosen subject. It’s how you work with it. Be specific.

Comparative essay – 2 examples & make a point
Take an example, make it the focus and wrap everything else around it.

Do not use too many examples. You want to be able to cover all of your points.