A2 Unit 4 Student Guide to A2 Coursework

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Sites
The Person
Body Modification (2009-10)
Celebrity (2010-2011)

Cultural Practice
Cinema-going (2009-10)

Guide to Referencing

There are two parts to your coursework - a Case Study (2000 words - formal written part) and a Creative Piece (original presentation produced by you - website, powerpoint or podcast. Each part is worth 50% of the marks for this unit. You will present these two pieces in the form of a webfolio, as you did with your AS Level coursework. For help with preparing or making a webfolio, click here.

The Case Study - Coursework 1 (50%)

For the case study you MUST choose one of the set questions for either Site A or Site B. You may not make up your own title of question. To see the titles, click on the links to the Site A and B topics in the left-hand margin.

Site A The Person
Body Modification
Celebrity

Site B Cultural Practice
Cinema-going

I've chosen my question and topic - now what do I do?

You now need to do an investigation of both secondary sources (what other people have written and said about your topic and the issues surrounding it) and primary sources - this can be based on fieldwork observation or market research, questionnairese etc.

You will be expected to include in your writing, where appropriate, reference to relevant theoretical perspectives such as the feminist perspective or the structuralist perspective. To find out more about these perspectives, click here.

You need to show the Examiner, in this piece of coursework, that you can refer to material you learnt last year and from the other A2 unit, Unit 3. You will also use some of the information and ideas from this Case Study in your second coursework piece, the Creative Piece.

You will also be expected to know how to write in a formal academic way, with proper referencing and a bibliography. There is a simple guide to referencing here on the website - see the link in the left-hand margin of this page.

Creative Work - Coursework 2 (50%)

Your creative work should be based on the set question you chose for your Case Study. You will use your Case Study to develop an original and creative idea or argument, aimed at an audience of your peers (fellow Communication and Culture students and people of your own age) in a form which is publishable to the web. For ideas about how to make a webfolio, a website, a podcast etc click here for a practical guide.

The presentation should be in the form of either:

a website (at least three pages)
a multimedia or Powerpoint style presentation (at least twelve slides)
a podcast (of three to seven minutes)

This is a minimum set of time limits - you are expected to provide your audience - Communication and Culture students - with 10 minutes worth of viewing, reading, listening or interpreting.

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