Representations of social class

Overview

Class being made invisible and balanced conclusion about representations of class.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Why is social class a category of media representation?

   Model answer

   The media attach characteristics, settings and speech to class positions, and those attributions shape how class is understood.

2. 2

   How is a character's class signalled visually?

   Model answer

   Through costume, housing, possessions, food and setting, all of which locate a character before the dialogue does.

3. 3

   How does accent function as a class marker?

   Model answer

   Received pronunciation and regional or urban working-class accents carry established associations of authority, education and trustworthiness.

4. 4

   Give a common negative representation of the working class in factual media.

   Model answer

   As dependent, disorderly or feckless, particularly in coverage of welfare and of crime.

5. 5

   Give a common romanticised representation of the working class.

   Model answer

   As warm, communal and authentic, usually set in the past or in a place presented as left behind.

6. 6

   How is the middle class typically represented?

   Model answer

   As the unmarked norm — the position from which others are described — which is itself a representation.

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