Deck 26: Semiotics

Question 1

The Swiss linguist who coined the term "semiology" in the early 1900s was:

A) Roland Barthes.
B) Ferdinand de Saussure.
C) Jacques Simeon.
D) Douglas Kellner.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Semiotics is concerned with everything:

A) that can be taken as a sign.
B) that has potential symbolic significance.
C) that exists, whether natural or artificial.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

In the context of Roland Barthes' sign systems, the ________ sign system is a descriptive sign without ideological content.

A) denotative
B) annotative
C) connotative
D) commutative

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Barthes labeled the ideological baggage that signs can carry as:

A) annotation.
B) connotation.
C) denotation.
D) semiotician.

Question 5

According to Roland Barthes, ________ signs enlist support for the status quo by transforming history into nature-pretending that current conditions are the natural order of things.

A) iconic
B) symbolic
C) ideological
D) indexical

Question 6

Barthes held that the relationship between nonverbal signifiers and signifieds was:

A) arbitrary.
B) quasi-arbitrary.
C) causal.
D) symbiotic.

Question 7

Griffin uses the example of the yellow ribbon to:

A) illustrate a second-order semiological system.
B) argue that some signs are non-mythic.
C) suggest that new symbols arise every day.
D) demonstrate that subversive semiotic systems are eventually co-opted by mainstream society.

Question 8

Barthes claimed that every ideological sign is the result of two interconnected sign systems in which the first system:

A) becomes the signified.
B) retains its entire denotative meaning.
C) becomes the connotative system.
D) is strictly descriptive.

Question 9

In Barthes' view, mythic signs typically:

A) idealize some previous semiological structure.
B) produce new values for society.
C) reinforce the dominant values of their culture.
D) question the legitimacy of the status quo.

Question 10

According to American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, ________ signs bear no resemblance to the objects to which they refer.

A) symbolic
B) indexical
C) iconic
D) ideological

Question 11

According to Roland Barthes' theory, a descriptive sign without ideological content is called the connotative sign system.

Question 12

In a secondary (connotative) system, the meaning of the original denotative system is impoverished.

Question 13

According to Roland Barthes, signified is the physical form of the sign as we perceive it through our senses.

Question 14

According to Barthes, all semiological systems are mythic.

Question 15

According to American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, iconic signs have a perceived resemblance with the objects they portray.

Question 16

Douglas Kellner uses Barthes' approach to support his claim that Madonna's media image perpetuates negative stereotypes of women.

Question 17

Ideological signs enlist support for the status quo by transforming history into nature.

Question 18

Mythic communication is unable to imagine anything alien, novel, or other.

Question 19

Barthes believed mythic signs reinforce the dominant values of their culture.

Question 20

Semiology has its roots in the medieval study of Christian and heathen signs and symbols.

Question 21

The sign is a combination of the ________ and the ________.

Question 22

According to American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, ________ signs are directly connected with their referents spatially, temporally, or by cause and effect.

Question 23

Connotative or second-order signs can become ________ as they lose or are separated from their original referent.

Question 24

Semiologists disagree as to whether there is any logical connection between the image of the signifier and the content of the signified. What is your opinion? Defend your stand.

Question 25

What is the relationship among a sign, a signifier, and a signified?

Question 26

Explain the step-by-step process by which the "yellow ribbon" was transformed into its present state.

Question 27

What are the dominant values of our culture and how are they reinforced by seemingly innocuous signs? Provide examples from the media.

Question 28

In the "I'd like to be like Mike" commercial, what are the denotative sign and the second-order connotative system it suggests? How are the historical implications of the denotative level drained from the second-order connotative system?

Question 29

Keeping his analysis of wrestling in mind, how might Barthes respond to the genre of reality television shows? How would he characterize the basic premises and plot elements that comprise the shows? How might he account for their great popularity?

Question 30

How would Barthes critique McLuhan's claim that "the medium is the message"? What would Barthes think of McLuhan's pun "the medium is the message"?

Question 31

Compare Barthes' sign with Richards' semantic triangle.

Question 32

How does Barthes' notion of a semiotic system compare with Fisher's narrative paradigm?

Question 33

Compare Barthes' claim that mythic systems reinforce dominant cultural values with Burke's notion of the "god term."

Question 34

How might Burke reinterpret the central drama in Barthes' essay "The World of Wrestling"?