Apply these key questions to your two texts

1.The Code of Surface Realism (or ‘surface accuracy’ as John Ellis puts it) Key question: Does the representation of woman look and sound to you like the real world it claims to show? Dr Foster- it is a TV drama therefore we would expect some elements of the text to be 'dramatised' in order to appeal to an audience watching this for entertainment. However, the costume, setting and props are all realistic for a western British audience. Gemma's character dresses as we would expect a 'mother' to do-she is quite conservative in her dress code and favours black/grey and navy colours to perhaps symbolise a serious nature or a more professional nature when she is in her role of GP. Gemma's house, car and possessions also adhere to the conventions of a professional woman.
Osage County- it is
2.The Code of Social or Documentary Realism Key question: Does the representation present social reality ‘like it really is’? Or ‘as it really was’?
3.The Genre Code Key question 1: Is the representation what you’d expect to see and hear in this sort or genre of text? Key question 2: Does it make you suspend your disbelief?
4.The Narrative Code Key question: Are events likely to happen in this way and in this order? (Does b follow a in a believable way?)
5.The Code of Psychology and Character Motivation Key question: Does a fictional representation invest greater realism in the psychology of its characters than in the other codes?
6.The Code of Discursive or Ideological Truth Key question: Does a fictional representation construct for its viewers a particularly compelling and persuasive sense of truth?
7.The ‘Counter-Realism’ Code of Institutional Constraint Key question: Are representations shaped by the institutions that produce them in ways that constrain or limit their realism?