Text and Culture
Task: You are required to write an essay of 2000 words responding to one of the questions in the following list. You are also required to write a separate 500 word episode or program summary (as indicated in the question), to be placed at the beginning of the assignment. Your essay and summary must be written in an academic format, and be referenced according to the Griffith Reference Guide, You must not use internet sites as sources of information for quoting or reference in your essay. You must use terms and concepts from specific tutorials indicated in each respective question. You can also draw from any of the material presented in the unit including all of the study guide, text book, set readings and articles and books in the reference lists, as well as any wider reading that you may wish to undertake, keeping in mind that references must always be to articles and books published in academic journals and by academic book publishers.
Question 2
Select an episode from one of the television programs in the list below. Undertake an analysis of genre, narrative and character using terms and concepts drawn from Tutorials 5-8 of the Study Guide. You must analyse the episode in terms of the following: (i) genre codes, (ii) narrative as a transformational structure (iii) the function of characters in terms of genre and narrative structure. As an integral part of your analysis you must develop a model using Propp’s character functions, making modifications as you see fit (see Tutorials 7 and 8). In your essay you must also show how the narrative produces meanings in terms of ideological representation, noting instances of ideological normalisation and skewing. Your essay must use and make reference to at least 6 scholarly articles and book chapters in the unit material. An episode summary is required (max. 500 words).
Sitcoms:
Roseanne, Season 2, Episode 2, 1989 – ‘The Little Sister’ on YouTube
I have additional information: Study Guide (for Tutorials 7 and 8 plus Propp’s Model) and research material in which I would like you to use.
