A2 Communication Studies

          Unit 5 Culture, Context and Communication

          1 hour 30 minutes – two questions 15% of the total A Level marks

          The creation and transmission of culture in different communication

          contexts.

          Unit 5 Written Unit 1½ hours

          15% of the total A Level marks 60 marks

          Culture, Context and Communication

          Candidates will be assessed by answering two questions which test

          their knowledge and understanding of concepts of culture and cultural

          transmission across four contexts of cultural communication:

          •  personal
          •  organisational
          •  the mass media
          •  the constructed environment.
          Some possible areas of study:

          CCTV in your local community:

          This unit tests Assessment Objectives 1 and 2 and assesses Module 5

          of the A2 Subject Content.

           

           

          Sample Paper:

           

          Section A

           

          1. "One clear reason for the growing importance of the study of popular culture is the fact that popular media culture has become a more crucial and pervasive feature of our everyday lives. The TV set in  per cent and video in almost two-thirds of British homes (…), the number of hours spent watching television, the mushrooming of pop culture and a popular press preoccupied with media celebrities all attest to this. Popular media culture, then, is increasingly central to the ways people live their lives, how they define those lives and how others may define those lives for them, how they come to construct and reconstruct their identities and to their sense of time and space." (source: STRINATI D AND WAGG S (eds) Come on Down? Popular Culture in Post-War Britain, Routledge, 1992

           

          To what extent are Strinati and Wagg's claimes for the importance of popular culture justified?

           

          (You should also consider the arguments of those who are less sympathetic to the importance of studying popular culture, and illustrate your answer with specific examples of culture with reference to relevant theoretical debates.)                   30 Marks

           

          Section B

          Answer either Question 2, Question 3 or Question 4.

           

          1. Critically analyse the ways in which an organization may address its workers and clients or customers with particular reference to either gender or social class or ethnicity or the rapidly changing context of modern living.

           

          (You should refer to relevant theoretical perspective on 'organisational culture' in your answer.)                                                                                                                30 Marks

           

           

          OR

           

          1. Suggest and evaluate alternative reading of the role of one of the following in the process of cultural transmission. One or more of these readings should be taken from a relevant theoretical perspective with which you are familiar: feminism, post-colonialism, Marxism, postmodernism.

           

            • Popular Music
            • The City
            • Shopping Centres
            • Magazines
            • The Internet
            • Domestic Housing
            • Public Buildings
            • Television

                 30 Marks

          See: Sample Essay Plan for a Marxist analysis of the shopping centre and its role in Cultural Transmission by Mrs Mac.

          See: Sample Essay Plan for a Marxist analysis of domestic housing and its role in Cultural Transmission by Helen and Jess.

          See: Sample Essay Plan for a Feminist analysis of the television and its role in Cultural Transmission by Natalie

          See: Sample Essay Plan for another Feminist analysis of the television and its role in Cultural Transmission by ???? (no name!)

          See: Sample Essay Plan for yet another Feminist analysis of the television and its role in Cultural Transmission - this time by Heather

          See: Sample Essay Plan for a Postmodern analysis of the magazines and their role in Cultural Transmission by Cara

          OR

           

          4.  To what extent do personal forms of communication (appearance, language, possessions) reflect or challenge dominant ideology?