How do I apply theories into my essays and answers

When writing essays in a subject like media, the main focus is to plan your answers before answering the question. Planning is vital especially because media is a subject for which your answers do not always have to be from the book! If you have a perspective on a specific medium, backing it up with further proof through theories and examples gets you the marks and shows the examiner you have wider knowledge on the subject. An example is when talking about a female or male character in a movie. If one is being stereotyped in the standardised way, you can link it to a theory or use key words such as 'regressive' to show it is a downfall for the movie given how in the recent media, people are reverting from the steretoypes of gender