Class:Language and Representation

 Language and close-textual analysis

Co-owner of a Lonely Heart

1) How is CLASS a hybrid (mix) of teenage drama and Science Fiction genre?
It is obviously a teen drama because the characters are teenager with teenage issues such as Ram and April relationship, Tanya who is an intelligent girl who moved 3 years up because of her cleverness and Ram is sporty and is struggling with his schoolwork.And the narrative features issues such as overprotective parent example Tanya's mum got mad because Tanya is talking to Ram because he is a boy.It is obviously science fiction genre because there are props such as futuristic weapons and flesh eating pink petals.There are settings such as the school building, Corakinus' planet and the students houses.
There are characters such as Corakinus who is an evil alien who shares a heart with a human and Charlie and Miss Quill who are aliens which are from a different planet which Miss Quill is protecting charlie because she is a slave to Charlie.

2) How does Todorov's theory of equilibrium apply to Co-owner of a Lonely Heart?
A reminder that the theory of equilibrium is that everything starts off 'normal' and this is called an 'equilibrium' (like when Tanya is helping Ram with his homework and Charlie is settling in as a new student and April is organising the prom) then there is some kind of DISRUPTION (or disequilibrium) which changes the characters and the storyline. This is the moment when the Shadow Kin invade Earth through the tear in the universe and enter the school. The 'New Equilibrium' is when new normal is achieved.The episode starts off as a normal day at school when April is in history class which Corakinus is taking over April's heart which means he is mind controlling her because she is talking about war.  

3) Applying Propp's character theory, what character roles do each of the main characters in Class fit into? 
Consider who is the HERO and why (you may want to consider April, Charlie and Ram for this). How do they fit the stereotype of the hero? How do they not? Now do the same for villain but use Corakinus and Charlie or Miss Quill. 
The Hero in Class is April because she shares a heart with Corakinus, Ram is also a Hero as well because he lost his leg but he still fought Corakinus. This shows how the characters develop during the series.The Villain in Class is Corakinus because he is an alien who shares a heart with April and mind controlling her, Charlie could also a Villain or a Hero because he has a box of souls of his people but it could use this as weapon and he has Miss Quill as his slave.This show how the characters 

4) What enigma and action codes (Barthes) can you find in Co-owner of a Lonely Heart? 
find three examples of each.

 One example of an enigma code is when the portal to Corakinus' planet. An example of an action code April and Ram are having sex this suggest they will have an relationship.Another example of an action code is when April's mother start moving her legs this suggests April's mother got healed. 

A reminder that enigma code means questions asked by the episode (e.g. think of the cliff hanger at the end) and action codes mean hints of future events e.g April and Ram sleep together so this suggests they will have a romantic relationship in future episodes / April's mum starts moving her feet suggesting she may learn to walk again. 

Representations

1) How is gender represented in Class - Co-owner of a Lonely Heart? Are gender stereotypes reinforced or subverted? use the glossary to help you in your folders. 

2) How is age (e.g. teenagers; older people like teachers or parents) represented in Class - Co-owner of a Lonely Heart? Does the show reinforce or challenge stereotypes about young people?

3) How is race and ethnicity represented in Class - Co-owner of a Lonely Heart? Are  stereotypes reinforced or subverted?

4) How is sexuality represented in Class - Co-owner of a Lonely Heart? How does this reflect the BBC's remit to represent modern Britain? (Hint- we live in a diverse world and the fact that they explore different sexuality is indicative of real life)

5) How is disability represented in Class - Co-owner of a Lonely Heart? Why are disabled people generally under-represented in the media and how does Class try to address this? Think of April's mum. Does she seem weak or strong?When?