Exam preparation

L.O: To prepare for a mini

exam question
 Terminology Test!
Parody
Pastiche
Hyperreality
Structured reality
Verisimilitude
Hyperidenties
 The criteria!
Level 2:
Limited ability to answer the question in a basic argument
Some evidence from texts, theories and debates
Some use of contemporary media theory and basic
theoretical language
Level 3:
Understanding adapted to the question in a mostly clear
argument
Texts, theories and arguments are connected and
developed
Material is mostly informed by media theory using
appropriate
Level 4: terminology
Excellent understanding of the task and a balanced,
coherent argument
Texts, theories and arguments are clearly connected and
integrated into argument
Material is informed by media theory throughout and
command of termonology is excellent.
 Postmodern media blur the boundary
between reality and representation. Discuss
this idea with reference to media texts that
you have studied. (June 2010)
Key Words
Blur the boundary:
Reality:
Representation:

Texts to Use
In the real exam you will have to quickly make the decision of
which texts you want to use out of the ones we have studied.
What are the rules for this?
You must write about at least two different forms of media
For this practice exam you will be writing about: Structured reality,
computer games and social media
Answering the Q in a few sentences

How do the texts blur the boundaries between

reality and representation?
Structured Reality:
GTA:
MMORPG:
Social media (Facebook and Insta)

I am expecting you to write about five paragraphs for

this practice exam. Decide how many paras you want
to write about for each text. You dont have to write
about every one e.g. you might decide you want to
do two paras on SR and three paras on GTA.
Postmodern media blur the boundary between reality
and representation. Discuss this idea with reference
to media texts that you have studied.

Introduction: Definition Ideas: Remember point sentences

need to refer to the question.
of pomo, introduce the When watching SR, the audience
idea of how they blur dont know what is real or what has
been constructed for entertainment.
boundaries between GTA: real streets of LA, real music
reality and rep. on the radio etc creating quite a
high level of verisimilitude. Uses the
Para 1: Try to voices of real gangsters. Elements of
use parody within this hyperreal world.
Para 2: Blurring the line between player and
three character. You as the character can
Para 3: phone other real people.
quotes! MMORPG: create an avatar and move
Para 4: around in the game world interacting
with other avatars who represent real
Para 5: people. Social, economic and
hyperidentity implications
Conclusion
 E L
PE
i s e
c t P: One way postmodern
Pr a
texts blur the boundaries
between reality and
representation is
E: For example
Ensure you use terminology!
E: This shows that.
. comments that
L: This has the effect on
CHALLENGE:
Include more than audiences that
one contemporary It appears that in the future
example
 Lets see an example of how
this would work.
One of the ways in which the computer game GTA blurs
the boundaries between reality and representation is
through its questionable stance on morality. In the
game, players success relies on their ability to break
societys rules by selling drugs, committing murders
and even rape. Some believe that as the game rejects
the grand narrative of law, leading to a blurring of the
lines between reality and representation as players
sense of what is right and wrong can be compromised.
Jameson notes postmodernism is no longer shocking
and has become part of the establishment, implying
that the more desensitised we become to violence in
games such as this, the larger the impact on the
morality of society as a whole. Others argue that the
desires fulfilled in games such as this only mirror the
 E L
PE the boundaries between reality and
P: One way postmodern texts blur

ir
Pa representation is
E: For example
E: This shows that.
. comments that
L: This has the effect on audiences that
One of the ways in whichIt the
appears
computerthat in the
game future
GTA blurs the boundaries between
reality and representation is through its questionable stance on morality. In the
game, players success relies on their ability to break societys rules by selling
drugs, committing murders and even rape. Some believe that as the game rejects
the grand narrative of law, leading to a blurring of the lines between reality and
representation as players sense of what is right and wrong can be compromised.
Jameson notes postmodernism is no longer shocking and has become part of the
establishment, implying that the more desensitised we become to violence in
games such as this, the larger the impact on the morality of society as a whole.
Others argue that the desires fulfilled in games such as this only mirror the issues
already prevalent in our postmodern society. Either way, it appears that games like
this will become more violent in a bid to shock and intrigue players.
 Peer assess
Level 2:
Limited ability to answer the question in a basic argument
Some evidence from texts, theories and debates
Some use of contemporary media theory and basic
theoretical language
Level 3:
Understanding adapted to the question in a mostly clear
argument
Texts, theories and arguments are connected and
developed
Material is mostly informed by media theory using
appropriate
Level 4: terminology
Excellent understanding of the task and a balanced,
coherent argument
Texts, theories and arguments are clearly connected
and integrated into argument
Material is informed by media theory throughout and
command of termonology is excellent.
 e r nt
Pe eme P: One way postmodern texts blur
o v
r ki ng the boundaries between reality and
p
im mar representation is
E: For example
E: This shows that.
. comments that
L: This has the effect on audiences that
One of the ways in whichIt the
appears
computerthat in the
game future
GTA blurs the boundaries between
reality and representation is through its questionable stance on morality. In the
game, players success relies on their ability to break societys rules by selling
drugs, committing murders and even rape. Some believe that as the game rejects
the grand narrative of law, leading to a blurring of the lines between reality and
representation as players sense of what is right and wrong can be compromised.
Jameson notes postmodernism is no longer shocking and has become part of the
establishment, implying that the more desensitised we become to violence in
games such as this, the larger the impact on the morality of society as a whole.
Others argue that the desires fulfilled in games such as this only mirror the issues
already prevalent in our postmodern society. Either way, it appears that games like
this will become more violent in a bid to shock and intrigue players.
 Feedback
WWW:
Point: Make a point about an element of pomo media that
specifically blurs the boundary between reality and
representation
Example: Give a specific example from the text of when
this blurring of the boundary occurs

EBI:
Explanation: Explain how this blurring works, what is
occurring, what its implications are
Link: What do audiences derive from this? Are there
criticisms of this? Are there wider
social/technological/ideological/ future implications?
Using Theorists

L.O: To be able to include

critics meaningfully
Starter: What are you confident
about for the exam? What do you
still feel worried about?
 One game that I have studied which blurs
the boundary between reality and
representation is the game GTA. In GTA a
sense of hyper reality is created through
the way they mimic the real world. They
feature things from the real LA, real music
on the radio, which also creates a high
level of verisimilitude. These features blur
reality and offer escapism to players.
Link: What do audiences derive from
this? Are there criticisms of this? Are
there wider
social/technological/ideological/futu
re implications?
 Look at the criticism in pairs

Write the main ideas simply- what is the

critic saying?
Underline what you feel to be the most
important sentence
Think about our media examples- how
could this criticism be linked to any of
the texts we have looked at?
Look at your essay plan- can this quote
be linked to any of the ideas you have
written?
In Simulacra and Simulation (1981)
Baudrillard postulated that we inhabit a
society made up wholly of simulacra
simulations of reality that replace any
pure reality. Pure reality is replaced by
the hyperreal where any boundary
between the real and the imaginary is
eroded. The hyperreal is "more real than
real": something fake and artificial comes
to be more definitive of the real than
reality itself.
The futility of everything that comes to
us from the media is the inescapable
consequence of the absolute inability of
that particular stage to remain silent.
Music, commercial breaks, news flashes,
adverts, news broadcasts, movies,
presentersthere is no alternative but
to fill the screen; otherwise there would
be an irremediable void Baudrillard
In his book Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Capital of Late
Capitalism (1991) postulated that postmodernism is no
longer shocking and has become part of the establishment
it has become its own metanarrative. As for the
postmodern revolt against all that, however, it must equally
be stressed that its own offensive features from obscurity
and sexually explicit material to psychological squalor and
overt expressions of social and political defiance, which
transcend anything that might have been imagined at the
most extreme moments of high modernism no longer
scandalise anyone and are not only received with the
greatest complacency but have themselves become
institutionalised and are at one with the official or public
culture of Western society. Fredric Jameson
The dissemination of new ways of thinking which make the
real and the virtual equal is only a matter of time.
Videogames, and especially networked games, are one of the
most accurate metaphors of contemporary life. Games are
the medium that most perfectly describe our existence and
express the way the human self functions in the
contemporary world, It is on screen that we can compose our
hyper-identity in the most imposing way. Having a free hand
when creating our own images is a commonly- accepted
convention in internet but not in the offline world; or rather
not yet, because the future belongs to interactive media and
hyperidentity.
Filiciak
 Lets write an example of how
this would work.
One of the ways in which the computer game GTA blurs
the boundaries between reality and representation is
through its questionable stance on morality. In the
game, players success relies on their ability to break
societys rules by selling drugs, committing murders
and even rape. Some believe that as the game rejects
the grand narrative of law, leading to a blurring of the
lines between reality and representation as players
sense of what is right and wrong can be compromised.
Jameson notes postmodernism is no longer shocking
and has become part of the establishment, implying
that the more desensitised we become to violence in
games such as this, the larger the impact on the
morality of society as a whole. Others argue that the
desires fulfilled in games such as this only mirror the
 Write an improvement!

Aim to consider your links to the

future and to critics!!