COM3703 Assignment 1 (ANSWERS) Semester 1 2024 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED

Well-structured COM3703 Assignment 1 (ANSWERS) Semester 1 2024 - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED. (DETAILED ANSWERS - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED!). . (DETAILED ANSWERS - DISTINCTION GUARANTEED!). 1 INTRODUCTION (5) In the introduction, you should clearly identify/indicate what you will discuss in the assignment and also how your assignment is going to be structured. You should refer to all four themes/study units that you are covering in your assignment, as well as the particular topics within the theme on which you will answer questions. Furthermore, if you are using any media texts as examples in your answers to some of the questions, you need to identify those media texts by name/title in the introduction. COM3703/101/3/2024 19 The introduction should ideally be a paragraph of approximately eight sentences and not more than half a page. 2 COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA SEMIOTICS (20) 2.1 Provide a definition of a sign (2) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 2.2 Discuss the three characteristics of a sign (6) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 2.3 Select an advertisement (print or online) and identify the following sign functions as conceptualised by Jakobson. You must first provide a theoretical discussion of each sign function before identifying it from your chosen advertisement. You must also justify why your example represents the specific sign functions. No marks will be awarded if the advertisement is not attached. 2.3.1 The referential function (3) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 2.3.2 The conative function (3) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 2.3.3 The poetic function (3) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 2.3.4 The phatic function (3) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 3 MEDIA AND VISUAL LITERACY (20) In this question, you must demonstrate an understanding of the three levels of media and visual literacy by applying these levels to a political cartoon (or a cartoon that makes a social comment) of your choice. The cartoon should focus on matters that you believe are of national or even international interest. Remember to attach the cartoon as an addendum to your assignment. No marks will be awarded for the application questions in this section if your selected cartoon is not attached to/included in your assignment. 3.1 Provide an in-depth discussion on the three levels of media and visual literacy as outlined by Du Plooy (2017). These three levels are: 3.1.1 Media content literacy (3) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 3.1.2 Media grammar literacy (3) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 3.1.3 Medium literacy (3) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 20 3.2 Application to visual example (cartoon) (11) Describe and interpret the visual message of the cartoon according to the three levels of media and visual literacy. This interpretation should state the overt and covert messages of the cartoon, as outlined in the discussion on the levels of media and visual literacy in the prescribed book and in your study guide. 4 TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: NARRATIVE AND ARGUMENT (20) Propp established seven-character functions wherein each function consisted of a single action, which was not related to a literal event, but serves to describe the particular function that it performed in the overall development of the narrative (Prinsloo 2017:224). 4.1 Critically discuss the contributions made by Propp to the field of narrative analysis by focusing on the seven character functions and the six sequential stages, including the narrative functions that fall under each of these stages. (16) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 4.2 Using a television or magazine advertisement of your choice, choose any two functions from Propp’s model and explain how these play themselves out or are portrayed in the advertisement. (4) 5 FIELD RESEARCH IN MEDIA STUDIES (20) Read the scenario below and answer the questions that follow. “Biased perceptions of media bias”: South African netizens’ responses to 2024 political news coverage. The manager of MMD, a media research company has asked you to conduct research for three days before the 2024 elections in order to analyse how individuals respond to News 24 political news posted on Twitter. You can select any three days in April 2024 (preferably the first week of April). You should select at least three News24 articles posted on Twitter and five Tweets under each article per day. Your overall sample should contain 15 Tweets. The manager is of the view that “bias is in the eye of the beholder”. Individuals tend to see news that report allegations of corruption of their favourite political candidates or political parties as biased. You have to use Hall’s encoding/decoding model to guide your analysis and identify the different types of readings adopted by Twitter users responding to these articles. 5.1 Using an academic source, briefly describe “netnography” and state whether the research you are going to conduct can be described as “netnography” or ethnography and motivate your choice. (3) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 5.2 According to Pitout (2017), five steps are involved in conducting participant observation. Using the scenario above, write an essay in which you explain how you will follow these steps when conducting participant observation. [25% deduction for not referencing sources] Step 1: Formulating a research problem/question Based on the above scenario, formulate a suitable research problem statement. (2) Next, explain why it is important to formulate a research problem statement before beginning your research. (2) COM3703/101/3/2024 21 Step 2: Entry to the research site State whether the site for this research is an open or closed location and motivate your choice. (3) Step 3: Decide on the roles of observers: overt and covert State whether you will adopt an overt or covert role and motivate your choice. (3) Step 4: data collection techniques Briefly describe how you will collect your data. Mention the instruments you will use to collect and record data and mention the dates when you will collect the data. (3) Step 5: Data analysis Briefly describe the categories you will use to analyse and present data. (2) Briefly describe the theory or model you will use to interpret your findings. (2) [25% deduction for not referencing sources] 6 CONCLUSION (5)