Key terms

  Representation – Page 1

WJEC

Match up the key terms and definitions.

  • Construction
  • Selection
  • Mediation
  • Anchorage
  • Ideology
  • Stereotypes
  • Context and purpose
  • Ethnicity
  • Race
  • The way in which the text is put together to communicate meanings. For example, on a magazine cover the choice of central image, colours and cover lines to create glamour.
  • The choices made by the producer of the text about what to include and what to leave out. For example, the scenes selected to construct a film trailer in order to attract an audience but not give too much away.
  • The process by which messages and meanings are added to the text, for example the role of the expert in a news story who explains a point or the news anchor who gives background information to put the story into context.
  • The words that go with an image and explain its meaning. For example, the headline accompanying a picture on a news website.
  • The big messages that the text is trying to convey to its audience. For example, some newspapers try to persuade us that being a part of Europe is a bad idea.
  • This is where the media, across different texts, presents a group of people by exaggerating certain characteristics. For example, a situation comedy may represent a teenager as moody, messy and reluctant to take advice from parents.
  • The representation changes according to the text in which it appears and its effect on the audience. For example, a television advert may use stereotypical representations of gender to communicate messages about the product quickly to an audience.
  • This is often confused with race but is more social than biological. Ethnicity is related to culture and customs, for example: dress, food, religious practices etc. Ethnicity may also relate to an ancestral place (in the case of Jews), ideology or religion. These elements may set you apart from those of a different ethnicity.
  • This is more biological than social and is a way of grouping people according to characteristics that are passed on from generation to generation. These characteristics may be related to the colour of your skin, hair or facial features