Coursework: A 3,000-word essayWeighting: worth 100% of the total mark
Submission deadline: 3pm, Monday 8 January 2024
Method of Submission: through the Turnitin submission link on Moodle
Instructions:
Write a 3,000-word research essay based on ONE of the following questions:
1. Using a social constructivist approach (e.g. Foucauldian discourse analysis) to analyse how the identity of a person (usually a celebrity or a public figure)or a group (such as a youth band or a sports team) is represented in the media.
2. Drawing on your own experience, informed by cultural theories on identity, critically reflect on how you negotiate with an identity (or identities) in your life.
3. Choose a media or cultural text (e.g. a film, a television show, a news report, an advert, a novel etc.) and analyse the representation of class, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, disability, national identity, or transnational identity in the text. Depending on the context and the specific case, you can choose to focus on one identity or adopt an intersectional approach to examine how some of these identities are intersected or strategically mobilised under specific circumstances.
4. Write an essay on a contemporary social or political issue focusing on identity. You can choose to write about one of the following topics: #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, Stop Asian Hate, Refugees, the Transgender debate, Brexit, COVID-19, the environmental crisis, among others.
5. Critically reflect on how memory is represented in a certain context. You can choose to analyse memories in your own social group, a different social group or a media work such as a film or television series, with the central objective being to critically examine how the past is represented there.
6. Write an essay based on the Reimag(in)ing the Victorians exhibition(Lakeside Arts, 2023). This can be a critical review of the exhibition, or an essay discussing the issues arising from the exhibition.
OR
7. In consultation with your seminar tutor, you can formulate a question of your own that relates to issues raised on the module. You must agree your essay question with the tutor by email well in advance of the deadline.
2
Tutor’s advice:
1. Choice of the topic
You are encouraged to choose questions, topics and/or examples NOT yet substantially covered in your previous coursework.
2. References
A minimum of five pieces of reference are required
for this essay. Besides referencing essential readings from this module, you are encouraged to demonstrate your own independent research by referencing readings outside of the essential reading list. Please follow the Harvard referencing guide (author-date in-text citation plus a list of references at the end of the essay) on Moodle, or a referencing style recommended by your home department. You can choose to use another referencing style but you should use it consistently and not mixing up different styles. Please revisit the University’s guidelines on referencing before submission. Plagiarism is a serious academic offence.
3. Word count
A typically word count for this coursework is 2,500-3,000 words. Please note that
3,000-word is the maximum word count. When calculating the word count for your essay, you should include footnotes/endnotes, but exclude the title and bibliography (i.e. reference list). Please include a word count on your title page.
4. Structure and Argument:
An academic essay should have a title, an introduction, the main body, and a conclusion, complete with a reference list. It should also have a clear argument, supported by a combination of primary and secondary sources.
5. Knowledge and understanding
You should draw on concepts, theories, and insights you learned from this module to conduct your analysis or make an argument. Although your chosen essay topic may specifically address one session, you should demonstrate an overall understanding of this module. You are therefore encouraged to bring together concepts, theories and insights from other sessions where appropriate.
6. Writing and presentation:
The essay should be in clear, written English. Please use double space, a legible font and font size (e.g. 12-point Arial or Times New Roman). Please use British spelling. Please also paginate your essay. You should proofread your essay before submission to make sure that there are no spelling or grammatical errors.
7. Formative feedback and questions:
You are encouraged to discuss your essay topics and ideas with your tutor in the seminars or in the tutorials. There will be dedicated seminar sessions to support your essay writing. You are also welcome to send questions to the tutors by Email and some of the frequently asked questions and answers can be found on
this padlet. Please note that your tutors cannot read your essay before your
formal submission.