Speaking Task - Question is too vague? (1 Viewer)

[bassistx]

Hey,
Just wanted some advice on this topic...

Quote: "Topic: Composers use image to portray characters, settings and themes in texts. In your response, refer to your prescribed text, and ONE other related text of your own choosing."

What the HELL does that mean?

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I mean, what am I supposed to talk about? There is no question, it's just a statement and it doesn't make much, if any, sense at all.

The prescribed text is Strictly Ballroom and I thought Bend it like Beckham would be a great comparison. I didn't want to do another movie, but I couldn't find any good poems. I'm sick of analyzing images - we do it everyday in art class.

Also... how things like camera, colour, setting, costume, etc. are used to create meaning in an image. Doesn't that just mean techniques?

Oh, and a final question... Sometimes when a certain character appears, we hear music associated with them. Is the soundtrack to a film part of IMAGE? Or is image only the visual aspects such as costume, camera, etc.?


Thanks!

 

[Wingom]

I think for the response.. u just gotta show how composers use image to portray chars, settings and themes in texts.. with liek examples from the film and explanations.. like what you would usually do in essays...

and.. camera, colour, settings, costumes.. are all techniques.. and u can talk about them about how they show image, etc.

And I believe that soundtrack, music and sound effects are all techniques that can show image.. since sound is a sense which can appeal to the viewers and thus can create an image, etc.

 

[bassistx]

Egh. Thanks.
I still don't really know what they're looking for. I asked my teacher politely and she refused to explain. She's really arrogant.
Everyone is talking about something completely different to the next person. If we don't have any common ground we have to cover, how can they mark/rank us? It's whoever justifies their answer better, not who actually ANSWERS what the question asks.

Which, in theory, is not asking anything. It's just a statement.

 

[o.bi.sess]

Ah, pretty sure that by now your speaking task will be over, but I'll answer the question anyway because I had the same trouble trying to wrap my head around the concept of Image.

Basically, Image is the module where the composer communicates his/her ideas to you through the images they create throughout their text (hence why the module is named "Image"). That is, the composer constructs their text is such a way to present a certain idea in the way they want it presented. For example, if the composer wants you to think that greed is bad in a movie, they might cast the CEO of a big company as a repulsive man who is ugly and crass. The lighting everytime the man is on screen is dark and the music is eerie. Hence the "image" created of him is a negative one and through it we don't like him and all that he stands for - ie greed. Thus, the composer has used the "image" of the CEO to present his idea and coerce us into feeling a certain way about the concept. That is the basic gist of what Image is about.

And the question you got is fairly common because it has to be general enough to encompass all the set texts of the entire Module, not just the question for Image. In the question, I would've probably gone on to explain how the composer uses images to manipulate our thoughts so that we feel the way the composer wants us to feel towards the ideas presented in the text. Then I would try to link the texts by either:

a) finding common ideas in both texts. I would then back it up by stating how the image is created by the composer (techniques), why the image was created this way and the effect of the image on the audience.

b) finding common images of the characters, settings and/or other elements. This way, the ideas presented do not have to be the same as you can link the texts by going "Similarly, in related text title, the images of the main characters also help the composer convey the idea that _____"

It doesn't matter which way you choose (either concept first and then image to back it up OR image first than concept behind it) as long as you bring in how the image affects the concepts of the texts.

Well, hope this has cleared some of it up for you!

 

[bassistx]

Arrgh, this came too late, but thanks! Could've saved me lol...

 

[o.bi.sess]

You didn't do too badly I hope?

 

[bassistx]

I got 11.5/15.
I was praying for 12. That would've meant 80% instead of a lousy 76.6%.
I'm doing horribly in English.

I didn't have enough time to finish my speech. I would've done well. But I freaked.
Loser.

 

[donetha]

Hey, I'm in a simliar situation. My oral assessment is on Monday, and I can't figure out hat the question wants in relation to my texts.

The question is: How has your study of the conventions and uses of dialogue composers to comment on aspects of human society?

The perscribed text is The Club, and my related text is Rerservoir Dogs

I don't need much insight into the texts as I've got a solid set of notes on both of them, what I really need is how to decipher the question and what things I should talk about

Thanks in advance

 

[o.bi.sess]

Hey, I'm in a simliar situation. My oral assessment is on Monday, and I can't figure out hat the question wants in relation to my texts.

The question is: How has your study of the conventions and uses of dialogue composers to comment on aspects of human society?

The perscribed text is The Club, and my related text is Rerservoir Dogs

I don't need much insight into the texts as I've got a solid set of notes on both of them, what I really need is how to decipher the question and what things I should talk about

Thanks in advance

Did you skip a word or something between "dialogue" and "composers" in the questions? 'Cause I can't make sense of it.

 

[donetha]

Did you skip a word or something between "dialogue" and "composers" in the questions? 'Cause I can't make sense of it.

yeh sorry. Its "How has your study of the conventions and uses of dialogue allowed composers to comment on aspects of human society?"

 

[ecd90]

I got 11.5/15.
I was praying for 12. That would've meant 80% instead of a lousy 76.6%.
I'm doing horribly in English.

I didn't have enough time to finish my speech. I would've done well. But I freaked.
Loser.

I wouldn't consider 76.6% too bad - especially not lousy. You did well, don't be so hard on yourself