Media Folio 1 – Detailed instructions

The Media Folio 1 assignment comprises two pieces of writing. It is due Tuesday, 10 September by 9:00am via LMS and worth 35% of your final grade. In total, the assignment comprises 1500 words.

Formatting

Submit all two paragraphs in one Word document – doc, docx  

Ensure your work is 1.5 or double-spaced. Your file name should include your name.

Top tip: Use the template provided for this assignment. 

Keep copies of ALL your assignments on your computer / backed up online.

1. Reflective essay (700 words; worth 15 %)

Intended learning outcomes:

This exercise helps you advance your critical expression and argumentative writing skills. You will need to write a short reflective essay demonstrating your engagement with the subject learning so far and reflecting on your relationship with the media and its content. Use the concepts discussed in this subject to critically assess the media’s influence on your life, your opinions, and/or your surroundings. You must also conduct further independent research to deepen your learning and strengthen your claims. This assignment helps you develop your research skills and your knowledge-application skills by gaining a stronger sense of the media landscape and its impacts on your life. Both skills are highly crucial for Folio 2.

Apply what you have learnt from your Media Analysis and show us how you have improved your critical thinking and argumentation skills.

Submission details:

Your essay should fit the prompt “Me & Media”.

Write a 700-word-essay that critically engages with your relationship with the media and applies concepts and theory that we have covered in class so far.

You will need to:

Pick a clear headline for your essay, one that is more specific than “Me & Media”.

Engage with at least 5 required readings from this subject AND at least 5 additional sources. These 5 additional sources should demonstrate your independent research skills and must thus not be from the required or further recommended readings from this subject.

Engaging with sources (i.e. readings) does not mean to merely mention them. You need to critically reflect on the theory or examples they provide and integrate them into your writing. Tell us what you have learned in this subject and that you know how to apply media theory to grow in your media expertise.

Apply your argumentative skills to outline your learning progress. Do not simply say ‘I now think more critically’. Give us examples. Elaborate. Critically discuss. Show don’t tell.

Be honest. An important step in your learning can also be that you have not yet reached the final line. That is OK. We prefer honesty over trying to impress us with false claims. BUT demonstrate to us that you have taken steps to close the gap in your learning, e.g. through your selection and engagement with your additional sources.

Thematic focus:

You can decide to focus on one particular aspect (e.g. news, representation, media bias …) or address a variety of topics. BUT your essay must be cohesive and coherent.

AND we want to see depth. Do not list so many things that you can only scratch the surface and not provide details.

Don’t forget to include your “positionality”. We have spoken about positionality in the lectures and tutorials. What is your background? How does it impact your views?

Positionality refers to one’s social identity, which shapes how we understand and engage with the world. Maher and Tetreault (2001, p. 164) explain it as the idea that “people are defined not in terms of fixed identities, but by their location within shifting networks of relationships, which can be analyzed and changed”. Reflecting on your positionality means to reflect critically on your position in existing societal systems, whether it be through race, class, gender, ethnicity or ability, and how that may influence your views and experiences.

Maher, F. A., & Tetreault, M. K. T. (2001). The feminist classroom: Dynamics of gender, race, and privilege (Expanded ed.). New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Note: You do not need to divulge personal information. How much or how little you share in your essay is completely up to you. However, please reflect on your positionality for yourself and use it to guide your writing and critical thinking.

Take time to think about how your positionality shapes

Your media selection and consumption

Your understanding of others through the media

Your opinions on the media and content in the media

Your experiences with the media

All these are aspects you could discuss in your reflective essay.

Tips

You may want to write in 1st-person.

Make it personal. Write about what you know and use your authority.

Make it unique. This assignment invites you to share your voice and include your own perspective and background.

MUST: Support your perspectives and opinions with thoughtful explanation and sources.

Referencing:

As mentioned in the lecture and the subject guide, you must always cite your sources. The Student Support section provides useful links for Referencing and Citing sources. This rule applies to all assignments.

Please provide a reference section after each reflection for the three articles you compared. You may use any reference style you like (e.g. APA, MLA, Harvard etc.). Just be consistent and please indicate the reference style you chose, e.g. References (APA).

These references do not count towards your overall word count.

You do not need to include a copy of the articles.

Word Length

Your reflective essay should be 700 words +/-10%. The headlines and references will not be part of your word count. Please indicate the word count at the end of the essay.

2. Book/Film/Album review (800 words; worth 15%)

Intended learning outcomes:

This exercise helps you build and improve your critical expression and your argumentative writing skills. You will need to research a text (e.g. book, film, album) and critically evaluate it (i.e. review it). Writing a review requires great skill as you will need to express an opinion, while also remaining as objective as possible. You will also need to do both inform and entertain. This assignment helps you expand your critical thinking and argumentation skills because you will need to back up your opinion with evidence. Both skills are highly crucial for the op-ed in Folio 2.

Apply what you have learnt from your Media Analysis and show us how you have improved your critical thinking and argumentation skills.

Submission details:

Write a review of a recently released film/TV series or book or music album of your choosing.

Film includes movies, TV series and documentaries, but not promotional movies (e.g. advertising, PR) or microfilms (short films). Also do not review one single episode of a TV series. If you choose a TV series, you should provide a review of the complete series.

Book includes novels, (auto)biographies, self-help, science/history, graphic novels and children’s and young adult literature, but no picture books (e.g. the newly published Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer is fine, The world needs more purple people by Kristen Bell and Benjamin Hart is not).

Music album includes albums released on CD or digitally (including streaming platforms, for example, spotify), but not music videos. Also note that you will need to review the whole album, not just one single/song.

You are welcome to review films that have been released on online streaming platforms or DVD in 2024.

Recently means that the text you choose must have been released AFTER 1 January 2024. Please do not review a movie or book that was published earlier. We aim to keep this assignment as industry real as possible and currency is essential for newsworthiness.

Target publication

Please aim your review at an online publication or website and indicate which publication you have chosen, e.g. Target publication: XYZ. This information is not part of the word count.

Do your research. Find out which publications include similar pieces of writing and match your piece to their target readership.

If you have any queries about potential publications, please speak with your tutor.

Please do not target the review at a publication that does not publish reviews. Do research.

Referencing

If you take information from another source, you must cite this source – otherwise you commit plagiarism.

Do NOT use footnotes or citation in brackets!

In text please include a hyperlink for that information.

For example, let’s say that you review season one of Beastars, an anime recently released on Netflix. You may compare it to other popular animes on Netflix and mention that Beastars deserves being added to the top 10 list. You will need to include a hyperlink to your source.

Hyperlinking is a very common practice in online writing and will enable you to acknowledge from where you took a particular point (rather than pass off that point as being your own).

If you do not know how to include hyperlinks in Word, please speak with your tutor.

In addition, please include a reference list. You may use any reference style you like (e.g. APA, MLA, Harvard etc.). Just be consistent and please indicate the reference style you chose, e.g. References (APA).

These references do not count towards your overall word count.

Example (APA):

Weiss, H. (2020, April 1). The 10 best anime series to watch on Netflix right now. Business Insider Australia. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/best-anime-series-to-watch-on-netflix-naruto-pokemon-2020-3

Voluntary: Image/Embedded content

You may include an image, tweet or video clip with your review. If you do, please also provide a caption and copyright disclaimer (if the content is not your own). This caption does not count towards your total word count.

Example:

“Beastars - Trailer” owned by Netflix.

Also see: Australian Copyright Council. (n.d.). Www.copyright.org.au. https://www.copyright.org.au/browse/book/ACC-Fair-Dealing:-What-Can-I-Use-Without-Permission-INFO079

Interview

Please do not interview anyone for the review. Reviews almost never contain interviews.

Tips

Please write a headline for your review. Not just “[Movie title] review”

No spoilers! Whether it is a film or a book, do not give away the ending.

Write in present tense.

Back your opinion up with evidence (e.g. quotes, description of a scene, research).

Establish your authority.

Remain as objective as possible. Don’t hate and don’t love. Instead, provide context and comparison.

Word Length

The review should be 800 words +/- 10%. The headline will not be part of your word count. Please indicate the word count at the end of the piece.