Narrative and Propp's character types — Eduqas GCSE Media Studies C680
Eduqas GCSE Media Studies · C680
Narrative and Propp's character types
Media language
What you need to know
Narrative as the way a product organises events, from a full television episode to the story a single poster or cover suggests.
Propp's character types (the hero, the villain, the princess, the helper, the donor, the dispatcher and the false hero) and how they fit, and don't always fit, modern products.
Narrative structure: a settled situation, a disruption and a resolution; enigmas that make audiences ask questions; and how print products hint at a story.
Todorov's theory of narrative structure (an equilibrium, a disruption and a new equilibrium) and Barthes's enigma and action codes: useful perspectives, though not ones the specification requires. Propp is the narrative theorist the specification names.
The set products for 2027 and 2028 exams are the Vogue and GQ covers; the Man with the Golden Gun and No Time to Die posters; the Guardian of 18 January 2022 and the Sun of 1 January 2021 (2027 exams only), then the Guardian of 6 May 2025 and the Sun of 22 March 2025 (2028 exams); the Quality Street and NHS 111 adverts; the Sun, Desert Island Discs, No Time to Die and Fortnite for industries and audiences; Trigger Point with The Sweeney, or Man Like Mobeen or Modern Family with Friends; and Lizzo or Taylor Swift, Stormzy or Justin Bieber, and Rio or Waterfalls. This Girl Can, The Archers and Luther were last set for 2026 exams, so past questions on them are practice only.
