Semiotics (Discussion)
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Group 3
- What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "indexical sign" (aka, index) that are not mentioned in the textbooks?
Group 4
- What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "iconic sign" (aka, icon) that are not mentioned in the textbooks?
Group 1
- What would be two examples of C. S. Pierce's "symbolic sign" that are not mentioned in the textbooks?
Group 2
- What would be one example of syntagmatic structure that is not mentioned in the textbooks?
All groups
- Define "denotation" and "connotation." What does semiotician Roland Barthes mean by the term, "myth"?
- What are the denotations and connotations of the Wonder Years' opening montage?
- Denotations: List/identify as many of the images as you can.
- What are the denotations and connotations of the Wonder Years' opening montage?
- Ellen Seiter, in Channels of Discourse, writes, "The picture [of Fangface] itself is a syntagm. ... In the paradigmatic dimension the options are a pair of categories nature/culture (or animal/human...), which is the source of the image's meaning." She continues, "...Hodge and Trip have introduced the binary opposition (nature/culture) and proceeded to organize the elements of the television image into paradigmatic sets."
- List three or four "paradigmatic sets" in the "Prophecy Girl" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Refer to your list of the episode's scenes to provide specific examples.
- Are there any "paradigmatic sets" to be found in the Wonder Years montage?
- Both programs are about high-school students. How might paradigmatic sets be used to identify a similar thematic structure in the two programs?
- List two strength(s) of semiotic/structuralist analysis. List two weaknesses of this approach (no, a difficult vocabulary does not count).
- Group 1:
- A potential strength of paradigmatic sets is that they provide a visual vocabulary for a specific audience.
- A potential weakness of paradigmatic sets is that they provide a complexity of signs that may get lost in translation.
- Group 4:
- Strength of semiotic/structuralist analysis: Makes analysis of themes in a television show easier to understand by identifying syntagms within the work.
- Weakness: Analyzer must be familiar with the signs that appear in the work for them to hold any meaning. A level of cultural understanding is required.
- Group 1:
Bibliography
- Jeremy G. Butler, Television: Critical Methods and Applications (NY: Routledge, 2011).
- Ellen Seiter, "Semiotics, Structuralism and Television," in Robert C. Allen, Channels of Discourse, Reassembled, second edition (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).