Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Histories: Editing & Semiotic Media Theory!

Students will review a couple of summaries for discussion: one (video) on film editing, and one (chapter) on Semiotic Media Theory. They will post separate blog responses for each summary - and will discuss in class.

PART ONE, Film Editing: students will view the video, research any connected lines of interest, and post their reflections.

PART TWO, Semiotic Media Theory: students will read the article/chapter, answer a series of questions, and post a blog with their observations, comments and questions.

READ THIS ARTICLE:
"Semiotics of Media & Culture" by Marcel Danesi

Students will answer a set of questions (see below) and will post their reflections, observations, and questions in their blog.

Reading Questions for Danesi’s “Semiotics of Media & Culture”
1.     What is “semiotics?”
2.     What is the “semiosphere” and how it can be both liberating and constraining.
3.     What is the “semiotic law of media?”
4.     The author sees the 1938 Radio Broadcast “War of the Worlds” as a “simulacrum.” What does he mean by that?
5.     What did Paul Lazarfeld discover in a 1956 study on media and elections? What is “Flow Theory,” and why was the 1960 election different?
6.     Describe McLuhan’s idea of the “mediashpere.”
7.     According to Roland Barthes, how can a photograph have CONNOTATIVE meaning? What is “textual pastiche?”
8.     What is the “culture industry?” What forces does Chomsky identify as shaping factors on media production?
9.     Stuart Hall identified three possible “readings” to a cultural media text. Describe them.
10. What is “markedness?”
11. Roland Barthes held that all texts have denotative (linguistic) and connotative (rhetorical) power. Explain.
12. Name some evidence of Levi-Strauss’ idea of "mythic opposition" in Star Wars.

13. How would Mikhail Bakhtin describe and explain the antics of outrageous celebrities in modern media?

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