Semiotics (Discussion)

Group 3

1. Explain C. S. Pierce's "indexical sign" (aka, index) in terms of the relationship of "signifier" and "signified." What examples of it are provided in Television and Channels of Discourse? What would be two examples of it that are not mentioned in the textbooks?

Group 4

1. Explain C. S. Pierce's "iconic sign" (aka, icon) in terms of the relationship of "signifier" and "signified." What examples of it are provided in Television and Channels of Discourse? What would be two examples of it that are not mentioned in the textbooks?

Group 1

1. Explain C. S. Pierce's "symbolic sign" (aka, symbol) in terms of the relationship of "signifier" and "signified." What examples of it are provided in Television and Channels of Discourse? What would be two examples of it that are not mentioned in the textbooks?

Group 2

1. Explain the semiotic principle of syntagmatic structure. What examples of it are provided in Television and Channels of Discourse? What would be one example of it that is not mentioned in the textbooks?

All groups

1. Define "denotation" and "connotation." What are the denotations and connotations of the Wonder Years' opening montage? What does semiotician Roland Barthes mean by the term, "myth"? Is there a "binary opposition" to be found in this montage?

Bibliography

1. Butler, Jeremy G. Television: Critical Methods and Applications. Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007.
2. Robert C. Allen, Channels of Discourse, Reassembled, second edition (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992).

See also

• Semiotics II (Discussion)

External links

• The Wonder Years (1991) illustrations
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1991) illustrations
• Fangface (1980) illustrations
• Chapter 13 illustrations