You’ll select on-screen personality or character, analyze the signifying practices demonstrated by that-on screen figure, and write an essay (just written, no design elements) that conveys your analysis of that on-screen figure. Your choice of on-screen figure can come from a variety of forms—any of the following will work:
a real-life television personality
a fictional television character
a reality television
a film character
the main character of a music video
Our class readings will provide you with a methodology for interpreting the signs demonstrated by this on-screen figure, but among the questions you’ll ask (and answer) are the following: How does the person use clothing and appearance to make meaning? What about spoken language and body mannerisms? What are the denotations of any of the previous? The connotations? How about cultural myths: does the figure invoke—and/or challenge—any overarching cultural myths (the Romance Myth, for instance, or the Beauty Myth)? How do the patterns of signification demonstrated by your chosen person articulate social codes about things such as race, class, gender, sexuality, power, and/or authority?
As we will read, semiotics is a way to explain how things mean, not what they mean. When you write this essay, avoid just providing a laundry list of things you notice about the ad. Instead, use the terminology and principles we’ll study, and explain what’s going on when we watch your chosen on-screen figure. Write your analysis in the form of an essay, in a clear and interesting way. There is no one correct way of explaining the systems of meaning-making in the ad; writing a good analysis involves close attention to detail, thoughtful analysis, focused writing, and imaginative thinking.
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