Department of Media Studies

Sample Question, PART I

Read the question below, and then watch the film/video clip carefully. The clip will be shown twice, with a pause for note taking in between each showing. In answering the specific question given below, please respond with as much detail as possible. Make specific reference to creative/technical aspects of the clip (editing, mise-en-scene, etc.) and to the meanings created or themes addressed through those techniques. A successful response will be a thoughtful, unified essay that builds its case by making specific reference to the clip.

Question: Write a focused and reasoned essay on the cinematic qualities of this clip. Discuss suspense and point of view, as well as several among the following considerations: visual perspective, gaze, tempo, private vs. public spaces, appearance vs. reality, the speaking subject.

Sample Question, PART 3. These samples are taken from a past years' tests.

Sample question on Susan Douglas's Where the Girls Are:

In Where the Girls Are, Susan Douglas provides a series of readings of popular culture texts: television shows, movies, advertisements, magazines, pop songs, and others. In doing so, she suggests that these cultural texts contain meanings that must be analyzed carefully in order to be understood. In a well-constructed essay, explain how Douglas uses her readings of specific texts to build a larger point about "growing up female with the mass media."

Please note that in identifying Douglas's larger point and explaining the way she uses examples, you will need to provide supporting evidence from more than one or two chapters of the book. You must use quotations from Douglas to help make your points, but don't try to use long ones; - your time is limited. Before you begin writing, you will probably want to spend 5-10 minutes organizing your thoughts and deciding on your examples. Keep in mind that your essay should move smoothly from one paragraph to the next, and please write legibly.

Sample question on Tricia Rose's Black Noise:

In the "Bad Sistas" chapter of Black Noise, Tricia Rose discusses the ways in which black women rappers negotiate the sexual politics of black music. What precisely are the issues involved? How do male and female rappers position themselves differently in response to these issues? Be sure your answer includes attention to both the content of rap and hip-hop texts (music, lyrics, video) and their socio-political context. Please note that addressing issues of context will require that you draw concisely on other chapters from Black Noise.

You must use quotations from Rose to help make your points, but don't try to use long ones; - your time is limited. Before you begin writing, you will probably want to spend 5-10 minutes organizing your thoughts and deciding on your examples. Keep in mind that your essay should move smoothly from one paragraph to the next, and please write legibly.