SCOTTISHQUALIFICATIONSAUTHORITY EnglishAdvancedHigher SelectionofsuitabletopicsfortheSpecialistStudydissertation:supplementary guidance

Thisdocumentshouldbereadinconjunctionwiththefollowing: SpecialistStudyNationalUnitSpecification(pp2633)intheEnglishAdvanced HigherArrangementsDocument(Secondedition,publishedMay2007) EnglishAHguidanceonSpecialistStudytopics(issuedinOctober2003and availableintheDownloadssectionofthelistofCandidateGuidanceDocumentson theEnglishpageoftheSQAwebsite). 1 Theattentionofteachersandlecturersisdrawntothefollowingextractsfromthe Arrangementsdocument. Thecandidatemustdemonstratetheabilityto: selectasuitabletopic adoptapersonalstancetowardsthetopic devise,structureandsustainanargument selectevidencefromprimaryandsecondarysourcestosupportanargument employtheliterary,linguisticormediaconceptsandterminologyappropriatetothe expositionofthetopic.

The firststageintheprocessistheselectionbythecandidateoftextsortopicsforstudy andtheformulationofabriefdescriptivestatementofwhatthecandidateproposesto study.Thisproposalmustbesubmittedtotheteacher/lecturerforapprovalin orderto ensurethattheproposedmaterialsareappropriatetoanEnglishcourseandworthyof studyatthislevel,andthatthestudyitselfismanageable. Thestudyshouldexplorealimitedareaandexamineitindetailwithappropriate supportingevidence. (Page31) Teachers/lecturersshould: briefcandidatesonthenatureofthetaskattheoutset illustratethewiderangeoftextsandtopicsavailable discusswithcandidatestheirindividualandpersonalinterests guidecandidatestowardsconsultationwithlibrariansorotherteachers/lecturersand towardsuseofdatabanks givepracticalhelpwithfinalchoiceandlocationoftextsandwiththewordingof topicsandtitles provideregularopportunitiesforconsultationandsupport. (Page32)

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Someimplicationsoftheserequirements (a) Theteacher/lecturershouldassistcandidatestoidentifyauthorsandtexts,language ormediatopicsthatare: appropriatetoanEnglishcourse worthyofstudyatthislevel. (b) Thepurposeofprovidingacarefullywordedtopicistwofold: tofocus,atanearlystageintheprocess,thecandidatesattentionontheaims ofthestudybeingundertaken toprovideexaminerswiththemeansofassessingtheextenttowhichthe candidatehasachievedtheaimsassetout. (c) Thewordingofthedissertationtopicshould: identifyauthorsandtexts,languageormediatopicstobestudied indicatethescopeofthestudytobeundertaken provideaconciseexpositionoftheliterary,languageormediaaimsofthe studytobeundertaken.

Toassistcandidates,teachersandlecturersinmakingachoiceofauthors,textsand topics,thereareappendedthefollowing(asaguide,notaprescription): alistofauthorswhosework,eitheronitsownorinappropriate combinationwith theworkofanotherauthororauthors,cansustainextendedstudyatthisleveland onwhoseworksuccessfuldissertationshavebeensubmitted (Appendix1) alistoftopicswhichreflecttheprinciplesoutlinedaboveandwhichexemplify goodpractice (Appendix2).

Notes (i) Teachersandlecturersmustusetheirjudgementinassistingcandidatestodetermine whatconstitutesanappropriaterangeofpoemsorshortstoriestobestudied. Studiesinvolvingthecomparativestudyoftextsofdifferentgenre novelswith films,filmswithplays,playswithpoems,fictionwithnonfiction,etcare intrinsicallydifficultandareseldomsuccessful.

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(iii) Ifacandidatewishestostudyanauthororauthorsnotincludedin Appendix1or mentionedin Appendix2,itisstronglyrecommendedthattheadviceofSQAissought ontheproposedtopic.

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Appendix1 ListofAuthors

Pre19th Century Drama Jonson,Ben Lindsay,SirDavid Marlowe,Christopher Shakespeare,William Sheridan,RB Webster,John Poetry Burns,Robert Chaucer,Geoffrey Donne,John Dunbar,William Fergusson,Robert Henryson,Robert Herbert,George Herrick,Robert Marvell,Andrew Milton,John Vaughan,Henry TheScottishBallads Prose Defoe,Daniel Fielding,Henry Richardson,Samuel Sterne,Laurence Swift,Jonathan

19th Century Drama Chekhov,Anton Ibsen,Henrik Shaw,Bernard Wilde,Oscar Poetry Blake,William Browning,ElizabethBarrett Browning,Robert Byron,Lord(GeorgeG) Clare,John Coleridge,Samuel T Dickinson,Emily Hopkins,GerardManley Keats,John Kipling,Rudyard Rossetti,Christina Shelley,PercyBysshe Tennyson,Lord(Alfred) Wordsworth,William Prose Austen,Jane Bront,Anne Bront,Charlotte Bront,Emily Chopin,Kate Carroll,Lewis Collins,Wilkie Cooper,JamesFenimore Dickens,Charles Eliot,George Galt,John Gaskell,Elizabeth Hardy,Thomas Hawthorne,Nathaniel Hogg,James James,Henry Melville,Herman Poe,EdgarAllan Scott,SirWalter Shelley,Mary Stevenson,RL Stoker,Bram Thackeray,WilliamM Trollope,Anthony Twain,Mark Wells,HG

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20th Centuryand21stCentury Drama Albee,Edward Ayckbourn,Alan Beckett,Samuel Bennett,Alan Brecht,Bertolt Bridie,James Byrne,John Churchill,Caryl Friel,Brian Kane,Sarah Lochhead,Liz McGrath,John Mamet,David Miller,Arthur OCasey,Sean ONeill,Eugene Osborne,John Pinter,Harold Stoppard,Tom Synge,JM Wesker,Arnold Williams,Tennessee Poetry Auden,WH Brown,GMackay Crawford,Robert cummings,ee Duffy,CarolAnn Dunn,Douglas Eliot,TS Finlay,IanHamilton Frost,Robert Harrison,Tony Heaney,Seamus Hughes,Ted Jamie,Kathleen Larkin,Philip MacCaig,Norman MacDiarmid,Hugh MacNeice,Louis Morgan,Edwin Muir,Edwin Owen,Wilfred Plath,Sylvia Rosenberg,Isaac Sassoon,Siegfried Smith,IainCrichton Thomas,Dylan Thomas,RS Walcott,Derek Yeats,WB Prose Achebe,Chinua Allende,Isabel Amis,Martin Angelou,Maya Atwood,Margaret Auster,Paul Baldwin,James Barnes,Julian Bellow,Saul Berger,John Brink,Andre Bukowski,Charles Burgess,Anthony Burroughs,William Byatt,AS Camus,Albert Capote,Truman Carey,Peter Carver,Raymond Cather,Willa Chandler,Raymond Cheever,John Coetzee,JM Conrad,Joseph Dick,PhilipK Doctorow,EL Doyle,ArthurConan Faulkner,William Fitzgerald,FScott Ford,Richard Forster,EM Frayn,Michael Galloway,Janice Gibbon,LGrassic Golding,William Gordimer,Nadine Gray,Alasdair Greene,Graham Greig,Andrew Gunn,Neil Hemingway,Ernest Huxley,Aldous Ishiguro,Kazuo Prose(cont.) Jenkins,Robin Joyce,James Kelman,James Kenneally,Thomas Kennedy,AL Kerouac,Jack Kesson,Jessie Kincaid,Jamaica Lawrence,DH Lessing,Doris Lewis,CS Lewis,Sinclair Linklater,Eric McCarthy,Cormac McEwan,Ian McIlvanney,W McLaverty,B Mailer,Norman Malamud,Bernard Morrison,Toni Munro,Alice Nabokov,Vladimir Naipaul,VS OConnor,Flannery Ondaatje,Michael Orwell,George Pynchon,Thomas Rhys,Jean Roy,Arundhati Rushdie,Salman Salinger,JD Smith,Ali Spark,Muriel Steinbeck,John Tan,Amy Updike,John Vonnegut,Kurt Walker,Alice Waugh,Evelyn Wharton,Edith Wolfe,Tom Woolf,Virginia

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Appendix2 ListofTopics Drama

Acomparativestudyofthecontributionofsetting,incidentanddialogueto characterisationandthedevelopmentofthemeinJohnOsbornesLookBackin AngerandEdwardAlbeesWhosAfraidofVirginiaWoolf?. AdetailedstudyoftheusesBeckettmakesofhumourin WaitingforGodot, EndgameandKrappsLastTape. Adetailedcomparativestudyofthedramaticmeansbywhichfeministworlds areeffectivelyrealisedandexploredin TopGirlsbyCarylChurchillandMy MotherSaidINeverShouldbyCharlotteKeatley. AnexaminationofthedramaticmeansbywhichBrianFrielexploresissuesof identity individual,social andnational in Translations,MakingHistory andDancingatLughnasa. DavidGreigsOneWayStreetandLizLochheadsQuelquesFleurs:adetailed comparativestudyofthewaysinwhichthesetwoplaysmakeeffectiveuseof dramaticmonologue. AcomparativestudyofthecharacterisationandroleofwomeninHenrikIbsens ADollsHouse, HeddaGablerandTheMasterBuilder. Acomparativestudyofthedramaticmeansusedin TheCheviot,theStagand theBlack,BlackOil byJohnMcGrath,in WormwoodbyCatherineCzerkawska andin BrothersofThunderbyAnneMarieDiMambrotoaddressissuesof contemporaryrelevancetoScotland(andbeyond). Redefiningthetragichero:adetailedcomparativestudyofthecharacterisation androleofthemaleprotagonistintwoofMillersplays:DeathofaSalesman andTheCrucible. AcomparativestudyoftheeffectivenessofSeanOCaseysJunoandthe PaycockandThePloughandtheStarsasdramaticportrayalsoftheresilience andheroismofordinarypeopleinthecontextofpoliticalandsocialupheaval.

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10 Pintersplaysaretypicallycharacterizedbyimplicationsofthreatandstrong feelingproducedthroughcolloquiallanguage,apparenttriviality,andlong pauses. (TheOnlineOED,2006) Drawingevidencefromdetailedanalysesof TheBirthdayParty,TheCaretaker andTheHomecoming,Iintendtoconsiderthevalidityofthisstatementandto cometomyownconclusionsabouttheprincipaldramaticfeaturesand effectivenessofPintersplays.

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IintendtoanalyseandevaluatetheprincipaldramatictechniquesPeterShaffer usestoexploresuchthemesasidolatry,conflictsbetweenpassionateand rationalimpulses,andthequestforimmortalityinTheRoyalHuntoftheSun, Equus,andAmadeus. AstudyofthecharacterisationofBeatriceandHeroin MuchAdoAbout Nothing,KatherinaandBiancain TheTamingoftheShrew andPortiaand Jessicain TheMerchantofVeniceinorder toconsidertheextenttowhichthe outcomesofShakespeariancomedymaybeinfluencedjustasmuchbythe softersensitivitiesoffemalecharactersasbytheirobviousstrengths. Acomparativestudyofthecharacterisationandroleofthecentralfemale charactersinShawsMajorBarbara,PygmalionandSaintJoan. Whileconstantlyentertaininganddelightfulandfullofwit,Wildesplaysare carefullycraftedtoexposedarkeranddeeperthemesandtoleaveaudiences withanuncomfortableawarenessofmoreseriousissues. Iintendtotestthevalidityofthisstatementthroughacomparativeanalysisof LadyWindermeresFan,AnIdealHusbandandTheImportanceofBeing Earnest.

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Acriticalanalysisofthetechniquesusedtodramatisetheforcesandpassions whichdestroythecentralcharactersintwoofTennesseeWilliamssplays:A StreetcarNamedDesireandCatonaHotTinRoof.

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Poetry 16 AcriticalstudyofarangeofWHAudenspoemsinordertoexamine similaritiesanddifferencesofthemeandoftechniquebetweenhislove poemsandthosewithapoliticalmessage. Withdetailedreferencetoarangeofhispoems,Iintendtoexaminethepoetic meansusedbyJohnBetjemantoexploreaspectsoflifein 20th century England. AcomparativestudyoftherepresentationofwomeninChaucersGeneral ProloguetotheCanterburyTalesandintwoorthreeselectedTales. Anassessmentofthecontributionofstructuralfeaturestothemeaningand impactofarangeofpoemsbyEdwinMorgan. WordsworthIlove,hisbooksarelikethefields Notfilledwithflowers,butworksofhumankind (JohnClare) Acomparativestudyofthethemesandtechniquesofarangeofpoemsby WilliamWordsworthandJohnClare. 21 ScarsUponMyHeart (editedandintroducedbyCatherineW.Reilly) Adetailedcomparativeanalysisofthepoeticexpressionofwomensvoices duringtheFirstWorldWar,drawingevidencefromasubstantialrangeof poemsfromtheaboveanthology. 22 DoIdare Disturbtheuniverse? AdetailedcomparativestudyofTSEliotspoetictreatmentofactionand inactionin TheWasteland,TheLoveSongofJAlfredPrufrockandRhapsody onaWindyNight. 23 VoicesfromthingsgrowinginaChurchyard Acriticalstudyoftheprincipalmeansbywhich,inarangeofpoems,Hardy exploresissuesofdeathandremembrance.

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Hispoemscombinepassionandenergywithimpressivetechnicalskill.Heis incontrolthereisnofumbling. (RuthFainlight) Acritical analysisofthetechnicalskillofarangeofpoemsfromTedHughess Crow (1970).

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AdetailedanalysisofarangeofNormanMacCaigspoemsinorderto demonstratetheeffectivenessofsomeoftheprincipalpoeticmeanstone, form,structure,word choice,imagery,symbolism bywhichheexploresthe relationshipbetweenmanandthenaturalworld. AnexaminationofGeorgeMackayBrownstreatmentofthetensionbetween landandseainarangeofhispoems(orinarangeofhisshortstories). Astudyoftheliterarytechniquesusedtoshowtheeffectoftimeonthe individualinarangeofShakespearessonnets.Evidencewillbedrawnfrom detailedanalysisofatleasteightsonnets. Iintendtomakeadetailedexaminationoftheinterplayofmetaphorand narrativeandtoconsidertheeffectivenessofthatinterplayinarangeofpoems fromDouglasDunnsElegies(1985). Noonecouldbethatforsaken andcertainlynotWyatt.Heisactingapart. Bycloselyexaminingarangeof SirThomasWyattspoems,concentratingon thetechniquesheemploystocreateadistinctivepoeticvoice,Iintendtoargue thatthereismorerealityandvitalitytoWyattsrejectionpoemsthanone wouldexpectfromsomeonewhoissimplyactingapartoftherejectedlover.

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TheManwhodreamedofFaeryland Throughclosereferencetoarangeofhisearlypoems,Iwillattempttoshow howYeatsmakeseffectiveuseofCelticMythologyasameansofexploring personalexperiencesandbeliefs.

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ProseFiction 31 OneofthemainconcernsofGeorgeEliotsnovels,inmyopinion,isto highlighttherestrictionsimposedbysocialconventionsandmoralattitudeson variousaspectsofpersonalfreedom.MySpecialistStudywillfocusonEliots presentationoftheeffectsofsuchrestrictionsonhercentralcharactersin MiddlemarchandDanielDeronda. Marriage,Money,LoveandtheSingleWoman:acomparativeassessmentof twoJaneAustenheroines:ElizabethBennetin PrideandPrejudiceandEmma Woodhousein Emma. Adetailedcomparativestudyoftheimportanceofsettingphysical,cultural andhistorical inNeilGunnsMorningTide,HighlandRiverandTheSilver Darlings. AcriticalanalysisoftheusesEvelynWaughmakesofsatirein Declineand Fall,BlackMischiefandScoop. Acomparativestudyofthenarrativetechniquesemployedintheportrayalof centralfemalecharactersin JaneEyre,TheTenantofWildfellHall and WutheringHeights. Adetailedexplorationofconflictanddualityintermsofbothindividualsand widersocietyasconveyedthroughcharacterisationandsettinginWilliam McIlvanneysLaidlaw,ThePapersofTonyVeitch andStrangeLoyalties. TheUseoftheDoppelgangerin 19th CenturyScottishLiterature:a comparativeanalysisofcharacterisation,structureandthemein ThePrivate MemoirsofaJustifiedSinnerbyJamesHoggand TheStrangeCaseofDr JekellandMrHydebyRLStevenson. AcriticalanalysisofJohnGaltsportrayalof19th CenturyScottishrurallifein TheAnnalsoftheParishandTheProvost. Acomparativestudyoftheprincipalliterarymeansemployedin TheJewelin theCrownbyPaulScott,HeatandDustbyRuthPrawerJhabvalaandA PassagetoIndiabyEMForsterinordertoexploretheinfluenceofBritish RuleinIndia. AcomparativeanalysisofJosephConradsnarrativestyleandcharacterisation in HeartofDarknessandTheSecretAgent. AcomparativeanalysisoftheliterarytechniquesemployedbyEdgarAllanPoe inarangeofhisshortstoriestoexplorethepowersoftheconscience.

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Focusingparticularlyondialogueandnarrativevoice,Iintendtomakea comparativestudyoftheliterarytechniquesemployedbyRaymondChandler in TheBigSleep,WilliamMcIlvanneyinLaidlaw andIanRankinin ResurrectionMentocreateprotagonistswhoarecynicalandalienatedfromthe societiesinwhichtheyoperateasdetectives. AdetailedcomparativestudyofFrdricBeigbedersWindowsontheWorld andIanMcEwansSaturdayasexplorationsofmoralambiguityandthesearch formeaninginrandomnessandcoincidence. AcriticalappraisalofAngelaCartersuseoftraditionalmythsandfairytales toexplorefemalesexualityinhernovel TheMagicToyshopandinfourofher shortstoriesTheBloodyChamber,TheSnowChild,TheLadyoftheHouse ofLoveandTheCompanyofWolves. AstudyofMargaretAtwoodsrepresentationofthechallengestowomens senseofselfandwomensresponsestothesechallengesin TheEdibleWoman, LadyOracleandTheHandmaidsTale. AcomparativecriticalanalysisofVirginiaWoolfsuseofthepresenceofthe seaandwaterintheexplorationofkeyideasinhernovelsTotheLighthouse andTheWaves. AnanalyticalandevaluativestudyoftheliterarytechniquesDHLawrence employsin LadyChatterleysLoverandWomeninLove tocreatepowerful femalecharacterswhochallengethesocialconventionsoftheirtimes. Acomparativestudyoftheliterarytechniquesusedtoconveytheexperience ofthecentralblackfemalecharactersastheyencounteroppressioninthe AmericanSouthin TheirEyesWereWatchingGodbyZoraNealeHurston, BelovedbyToniMorrisonandTheColorPurplebyAliceWalker. Anexaminationoftherelationshipbetweenauthorandreaderasexplored throughtheusesofstructureandsymbolisminItaloCalvinosIfonawinters nightatravelerandJorgeLuisBorgessFicciones. Layingbaretheanxietiesofthe19th Century:adetailedcomparativestudyof thewaysinwhichBramStokersDraculaandMaryShelleysFrankenstein exploresocietalattitudestowardssex,religionandscience. Adetailedcomparativeanalysisofthesatiricaltreatmentofhypocrisyin ThackeraysVanityFairandDickenssHardTimes. Morethanstereotypes?Adetailedexaminationoftheprincipalliterarymeans usedbyJamesKelmantoportraycentralmalecharactersin AChancer,A DisaffectionandHowLateItWas,HowLate.

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AcriticalanalysisofthetechniquesusedbyEMForstertopresentthetheme offorbiddenexperienceinhisnovelsWhereAngelsFeartoTread,ARoom withaView andMaurice. Adetailedcomparativeanalysisoftherepresentationsofhomeandfamilyin BrickLanebyMonicaAliandWhiteTeethbyZadieSmith. AcomparativestudyofGrahamGreenesportrayalofreligionandtheconcept ofsinin BrightonRock,ThePowerandtheGlory andABurntOutCase.

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ProseNonfiction 56 AdetailedcomparativestudyoftwowarmemoirsShoottoKillbyMichael AsherandJarheadbyAnthonySwoffordexamininginparticulartheways inwhichfirstpersonnarrativeandimageryaredeployedandatmosphereand settingarecreatedtoexploreissuessuchasisolation,lonelinessandthe individualsstatusandsenseofidentityintimeofwar. AdetailedanalysisofthetechniquesusedbyWilliamDalrympletoexplore places,peoplesandculturesin InXanaduAQuestandin CityofDjinnsA YearinDelhi. AstudyoftheprincipaltechniquesusedbyGeorgeOrwellinhisportrayalof thedeprivationsofthelifeofthelowerclassesofsocietyin DownandOutin ParisandLondonandin TheRoadtoWiganPier. AcomparativeanalysisofPaulTherouxsTheKingdombytheSeaand JonathanRabansCoastingasexamplesoftheartoftravelwriting. AcriticalappraisaloftheeffectivenessofLaurieLeesevocationoftimeand placebasedonevidencefromhisautobiographicalvolumesCiderwithRosie (1959), AsIWalkedOutOneMidsummerMorning(1969), ICantStayLong (1979)andAMomentofWar(1991). AcomparativestudyoftwoOrkneyWriters:EdwinMuirandGeorgeMackay Brown.Mystudywillfocusoncomparingandcontrastingtheliterarymeans bywhicheachofthesewriterseffectivelycreatesasenseofplaceandtimein theirrespectivetexts:ScottishJourneyandAnOrkneyTapestry.

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Language 62 OngoingchangesinScots:astudyoftenlexicalvariablesacrossthree generationsinaScottishcommunity. Thelinguisticcharacteristicsoffootballcommentary:adetailedanalyticalcase studyofsixScottishPremierLeaguematches. Acomparativestudyoftheuseoffigurativelanguageinsixpoliticalspeeches: threebyTonyBlairandthreebyGordonBrown. Thesociolinguisticsoftextmessaging:Iintendtogatherdatafromawide rangeofsourcesandtosubjectthatdatatodetailedanalysisinordertoclassify itfromasociolinguisticperspective. MySpecialistStudywilltaketheformofadetailedanalysisoftheformsand functionsoftagquestionsinacorpusofScottishspeechorwriting. AstudyofsomechangesinthegrammarofnegationinthehistoryofEnglish. Mypurposeistorecordevidenceandtousethatevidencetoproduceadetailed sociolinguisticaccountofcodeswitchinginaPolishEnglishbilingualfamily.

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Media 69 Film TheNakedandtheDead (RaoulWalsh) Catch22(MikeNichols) Acomparativestudyofthedirectorsusesofcinematictechniquescamera, lighting,miseenscne,montage toconveythehorrorsofwar. Film AdetailedcriticalcomparisonofthefilmictechniquesemployedbyFrancis CoppolatodepicttherisetopowerofMichaelCorleonein TheGodfatherand hisdeclinein TheGodfatherPartTwo. Inadditiontoanalysingthechanging representationofMichaelCorleoneintermsoffilmlanguage(miseenscne, editing,sound)Iintendtoanalysethenarrativestructureofeachofthesefilms toshowhowitcontributestothecentralthemeofthecorruptinginfluenceof power. Television Adetailedcriticalcomparisonof WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire?andDealor NoDealintermsoftelevisuallanguage(setdesign,lighting,miseenscne, sound),narrativestructure,roleandrepresentationofthehost,contestantand audience,andtheattitudetowinningandlosingandtotheacquisitionof wealthexpressedorimplied. Printjournalism Acomparativestudyofthecoverageandrepresentationoftheissueofclimate changein TheIndependentandTheDailyMail. Iintendtomakeaqualitative andquantitativeanalysisbytakingasinglemonthscoverageofthistopicin eachnewspaperandanalysingitintermsofprioritising,frequencyofcoverage andcontent,bothimageandtext. Advertising AdetailedcriticalevaluationoftherepresentationofScotlandinprintand televisionadvertising. Iintendtostudyarangeofadvertisementsforproducts seenastypicallyScottish(beef,whisky,ScottishWidowsinsurance), analysetheimagesandtextsusedinthemtoconveyaformofnationalidentity andassessthepossibleeffectofsuchstereotyping.

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