Media, schmedia!

'Understanding Media'? Do I? Well, yes, but it's been a struggle. I chose DA204 in the middle of working on A103 last year as my external interests in popular culture, I thought, might make this an interesting choice. However, be warned: this is not a course you can leap into straight away after a Level 1 course not in Social Sciences. That's why I found it a struggle.

The book for Block 1 is, frankly, bloody impossible for newbies to this discipline. It's thick, intense, loaded with terms that are passed over very quickly and - at times - very boring to read. The starting block in A103 was far more generous to readers as it didn't assume you were familiar with the arts but didn't try to pander a simple audience. Plus we had a multitude of external sources sent with the block books - CDs, DVDs, 'Resource Books' - which kept you stimulated throughout. All we have is one book. That's it. This was very much a 'full on' experience and so frightening, it almost put me off carrying on. Most of it seemed to just not stick and I just kept writing pages and pages of notes, seemingly for the sake of it. It seemed like a bloody chore.

The other annoying thing (which still bugs me now) is the utter lack of face to face tutorials in this course. Now, admittedly, I started this a few weeks early so that I wouldn't end up with the problems I encountered on my honeymoon last year (see my last entry) but even if I did start it on time, I would have to have waited 3 or 4 weeks in before the 1st tutorial. In A103 it was nearly every week! I'm not expecting as much contact as that this time around but what's wrong with meeting once a month to discuss issues that come up when you go through the block book? The next one's in bloody April! Grrr!

So, I swallowed my pride and carried on with this appalling book and gradually it got easier. Some parts (audience & production) were far easier to understand than others (texts & 'what is a celebrity?'). By the end I was glad I stayed with it because it really was 50/50 in January as to whether I'd continue. I finished it 2 1/2 weeks in advance of the scheduled diary date and was happy to have some time to research & write up TMA1.

I decided to do some external research on the question and borrowed a few books from the library. There were loads of interesting 'quotable' points re the question in the 4 books that I borrowed. Things were looking up suddenly. However, when I started bouncing ideas around for the essay plan the weekend before last, I hit a brick wall. I had no idea what I was doing and felt under so much pressure to complete something coherent and knowledgeable that I just lost it. For two days I kept pulling my hair out trying to stitch themes together to no avail. Even though it was 1500 words, it was 1500 words I couldn't see myself completing without it reading like dumbass shit. I was a frustrated, grumpy old man that weekend having wasted an opportunity to get the essay started early.

Over the following week, support was on hand with the DA204 online forum, e-mails from the tutor and the 1st tutorial. The tutorial was low on content but high on opinions on how difficult the book was. Nearly everyone hated the book and were also were struggling with its contents. That was great to hear as well as the tutor agreeing that it was not designed well for non-Social Sciences students (and that this was a common opinion of fellow DA204 tutors). The online forum - despite being a bit of a ghost town most of the time & lacking a chat room - also was a good tool to vent ongoing frustration. I got plenty of pointers from there as to how to pitch the essay as well as a simple reminder that each section that we would have to describe needs no more than 300 words each. Plus I found out my local library near work is open to non-residents and non-students. So, I signed up for it. It's name? Oh, its just the library of the London School of Economics!!! Its media section is bloody enormous!!! Brilliant!

All this cheered me up in no time and on Sunday, I finally completed a coherent plan for TMA1. Since then I've been writing away like mad each night. I'm currently at 1000 words and have 1 1/2 sections left to complete as well as a conclusion. The deadline is 6 days time and has to be submitted electronically so I can - if I need to - leave it all to the last minute. But I won't. I want to get this done and get on with Block 2.