film and tv dissertation crisiS!

[happytohelp]

Hi guysi need help in any form on this one, i have a dissertation proposal hand in in two days and today met with an advisor who pretty much rubbished my ideas. i want to do it on the portrayal or role of sex and sexuality in british and or american teen drama eg skins the oc sugar rush or dawsons creek- but she started going on but who are you studying, as in what am i find out,why the portrayal, who responds to it?? etc etc but now i am just fully confused and feel i cant even do this one and need to very quickely change all ideas to something more geneirc please help!!! xxxx

[marwel7]

I hope you have spellcheck for your dissertation and that you write it more clearly than you did this question.

[emx384]

Hi,

It is a little difficult to help without knowing certain things - I assume you are studying media? Is that why you have chosen this topic?

Did your advisor suggest you didnt do this topic at all or was she asking you to re write your proposal so you could defend it in terms of the questions she was asking you?

Choosing your dissertation topic and writing the proposal is almost the hardest part of the whole thing! It has to be written in a certain way. You also need to back up your proposal with plenty of evidence of where you are going to get the primary and secondary information from. This also helps you to decide if it is acually feasible to do the study in terms of the amount of info you will find to do it.

This is a good guide for content if you decide to stick with the topic but just need to re write the proposal!

http://www.graduate2b.co.uk/dissertation_advic e/sample_proposal.htm

Hope this is a help, good luck with it all!

[eleanswers]

I would suggest especially as you are studying tv & film that you present a topic that has a 'narrative' drive through it.
Your example above is complex and has no real purpose. Keep it simple but interesting. Examples would be:
Why soap operas are sucessful.
Commedy in Television (you must include Monty Python, because I didn't & got told off)
Storytelling techniques in television.
You have many options, keep it simple and do extensive research & present it in story from.

[fairkatrina]

You need to create a question and answer it. As all-encompassing as 'sex and sexuality in british or american teen dramas' sounds, it is very difficult to get into because there is so much to discuss. Choose an area - such as homosexuality; infidelity; sexual experimentation; virginity etc, and look at how three or four different dramas present your issue, given their target audience, social and cultural background, the aims of their sponsors or tv station etc etc. Good luck!

[lilyfrog]

or try studying how the portrayal of sex and sexuality has changed in a space of ten years in teen drama's. I did the same with child pornography in art and photography. Or should I say what is deemed as Child Pornography such as Mapplethorpe's "Rosie" or Sally Mann's 'Virginia"