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CMNS3270 Major Essay Structure & Content – Semester 1 – 2018 1
CMNS3270 MAJOR ESSAY STRUCTURE & CONTENT
INTRODUCTION
BODY
SECTION 1:
(Approximately 500-700 words)
Having selected this specific newspaper report you are required to consider its
purpose as an example of media discourse to answer the following questions:
Which publication did this report appear in and why is it important to identify this?
What kinds of ‘institutional procedures and practices’ (Mayr 2008, pp.1-2) may have
impacted on why the contents of this report were deemed to be newsworthy?
Does any of the report’s content explicitly refer to the media’s role as a
communication medium?
If it does, why do you think this kind of encoding (see Hall in Talbot 2007) has
occurred?
If it doesn’t, why do you think that choice has been made by those who were
responsible for encoding the report?
SECTION 2:
(Maximum 500 words)
Provide a brief general overview of the report’s key story content.
SECTION 3:
(Approximately 1000-1200 words)
Explain how language style and specific instances of terminology have been used to
convey the story.
• You should include direct examples from the text.
• You should discuss whose language is being represented (e.g. an
interviewee’s; spokesperson’s; politician’s; the journalist’s?) and explain the
impact this may have on a reader’s decoding of the story’s content.
• If there are predominant ‘visual languages’ used (e.g. headlines; photographs;
captions; by-lines; video content), then you should also discuss how these
structural devices frame the story’s meanings.
CONCLUSION
Word Limit: 2500 words (word count does not include the bibliography)
Due Date: Friday 8th June by MIDNIGHT
Submission: Electronic submission of the essay + bibliography to the designated
TURNITIN area of the CMNS3270 Blackboard Site. Separate submission of
COMPLETED Assessment Item Coversheet required.
NOTE: Ensure that you list the direct URL hyperlink to the actual newspaper
article in your reference list/bibliography.