Chapter 27 11/1

In this chapter, the ideas of the literary and culture theorist Roland Barthes are discussed. The excerpt in the chapter was taken from one of his most well known books, Mythologies. Unlike many other theorists, Barthes emphasizes the hidden ideological content of such things as televised professional wrestling, toys, margarine and plastic. In the second section of the book, Barthes argues that “myth is not defined by the object of its message, but by the way it utters this message”. In this quote, he is saying a myth should not be defined by the idea it is trying to bring forth, but rather on HOW it brings this message out. In the next part of his book, Barthes describes aspects of everyday things that we usually overlook. When discussing soap powders and detergents, he points out that one particular product claims to clean “deep”. This suggests that the linens the powder cleans are deep, however we all know this is not the case as linens are very thin. The important thing we can take from Barthes is to look at texts, rituals and objects as signs, as they all have meanings that can be deciphered. I agree with Barthes in this sense because I believe everything has some type of meaning to us and as a semiotician we must figure it out. However, there are definitely objects in everyday life that we tend to overlook that may have some type of explicit meaning.

Chapter 26 10/28

In this chapter, Haug’s ideas on the power of advertising are discussed. He believes humans have been reduced to objects, no different from something like peanut butter or soap. Haug argues that these items need to be packaged correctly in order for them to sell and through the power of advertising, this is now what many people believe about themselves as well. People want to “package” themselves as best as possible in order to get the best job or find the best sexual partner. An advertisement from a magazine reads, “You can sell yourself better in a new suit”. This gets people to think they need the newest and most high quality suit in the store in order to make themselves look good. The author points out that today, sellers of items have used aesthetics to seduce us into believing what they are selling. He also mentions the fact that consumption is no longer a task for the stores, but has turned into a source of pleasure for many as they try to improve their appearance, which makes shopping a way of enjoying oneself.

Chapter 24 10/28

In this chapter, Harvey Cox’s ideas and the symbolic significance of the “American girl” are discussed. As mentioned in previous chapters, a hero plays an important role in all people’s lives as they connect us to the unconscious psyche within our minds. However, in this chapter, the author believes girls in such pageants as Miss America or Miss Universe, who were once looked upon as goddesses are now being overlooked by more prominent female icons, such as Britney Spears and Madonna. Miss America used to represent a type of innocent “virginal” girl, but has now been replaced by women who exploit themselves sexually with the hopes of selling more albums or music videos. Miss America also used to symbolize the All-American girl, who was an icon in American society. The term paradigmatic figure is also used to describe the pageant queen. This term is used to describe people that are exemplary and models for the rest of us to follow. Another term found in the chapter is mythical motif. This term is used to describe a part of our thoughts and dreams, of the things that we wish were real, but later find to only be in our minds. Paradigmatic figures and images are a part of these mythical motifs, which include the maiden, the hero, hell, etc.

Chapter 22 10/27

In this chapter, the meaning of symbols are discussed by Carl Jung. An important key term from this chapter is symbol, which is defined as something that stands for something else. Semiotician Charles Pierce argues that signs communicate in three ways (resemblance, casual connection, convention). There are also three types of signs, including an icon (resemblance), which you can see, an index (casual connection), which can be figured out, and a symbol (convention), which can be learned. Symbols do not have any meaning by themselves, so we have to give symbols a meaning and teach others what they mean. The meaning of these symbols is shaped by historical events and other things. Humans learn the meaning of these symbols unconsciously and we absorb them as we grow up. Another of Jung’s theories, archetypes, is also discussed. Archetypes are part of the collective unconscious of all people and are universal.

Symbol: American flag

Icon: Mozilla Firefox picture

Index: Books/ School

Chapter 21 10/27

In this chapter, Johan Huizinga’s ideas on the Middle Ages are discussed. He feels that people in this time found significance and meaning in everything because, from their perspective, everything was connected to God. Even if a person wasn’t sure God existed, symbols were still very important, as they connected people to the unconscious ideas in their minds. It is because of this reason, Huizinga suggests, that we need social scientists to recognize the significance of unconscious actions taken by people. I agree with this statement from Huizinga because if people realized the significance of their unconscious actions, the actions would have less meaning as they would not be unconscious. The chapter goes on to give an example of the unconscious actions taken by people and breaks it down into two functions, latent and manifest. Huizinga defines the manifest function as the reason a person gives when they are asked why they did something. The latent function is the unconscious reason we do something. The idea of transcendentalism (simple objects can have a powerful emotional effect on people) is also discussed. Huizinga argues that the most simple objects do a better job of revealing the character of an age than a philosophy. Part of me agrees with this statement, as many times philosophers go so deep into something and often overlook or overanalyze some of the more simple things that may give away something about the character of a person or place.

Chapter 16 10/15

In this chapter, the ideas of Roger Abrahams, a folklorist, are discussed. In particular, he mentions the term regression, which he describes as momentarily returning to our childhood days. He uses this term when describing the language used by African American people in Philadelphia. The example used in the book is when an adult eats an ice cream cone, as it returns a person back to their youth when eating ice cream was very enjoyable. This theory also compares to Mikhail Bahktin’s idea of intertextuality, in which people use sources that have already been created to form and create new texts. Abrahams also discovered that young African Americans were very talented at creating rhymes and inserting them everywhere. There is a clear correlation between this rhyming/verbal dueling and rap music, in which rhymes are given music and set to music.

Chapter 15 10/15

In this chapter, Deborah Tannen discusses her research on communication and how it relates to gender. Specifically, she wanted to research why women who attended all female colleges did better later in life than women who attended coed colleges. She discovered that there is a difference in the way men and women use language in their peer groups. Men tend to be more aggressive and learn to use their language in a competitive setting, while women tend to be less assertive. Women view their best friends as someone that they can share their secrets with, while men view their best friends as people they do activities with. She explains that girls are at a disadvantage in the classroom because men are raised in “adversativeness”, which makes them talk more in class, drowning out the girls. Although, this does not mean all men talk more than all women, it is saying that this is the case most of the time. The ideas of sociologist Charles Winick are also discussed in which he believes sexual identity in America is becoming twisted. This can be seen in the new ways we dance, the names we give our children and current fashions. I believe this is particularly true in fashion as we see many people dressing comparable to the opposite sex not only through mass media, but real life as well.

Chapter 14 10/13

In this passage, Catherine Riessman discusses some basic rules we use in conversation. She believes our conversations usually follow six rules that need to be followed in order to tell a story or narrative. According to Riessman, something is characterized as a narrative if one is always responding to the question, "and then what happened?". The first rule is an ABSTRACT, which gives an overview of the story. The next rule is an ORIENTATION, which tells us the who, what, when and why of the story. The third rule is a COMPLICATING ACTION, which tells us the sequence of events in the story. The next rule is an EVALUATION, which suggests the meaning and importance of the events in the story. The fifth rule is a RESOLUTION, which lets others know how the story ends. The final rule is a CODA, which returns the recitation of the story to the present time. She also points out what Bahktin pointed out in his theories, that we must anticipate what is going to come next in our conversations. J.F. Lyotard, a French scholar, compares conversations to a game, as there are rules we follow just as there are in a game. The chapter later discusses the ideas of Laurel Richardson. She believes stories are the main way humans organize their experiences into something meaningful that other people will listen to. She goes on to say that narrative is both a mode of reasoning and a mode of representation. People comprehend their experiences in the form of a story and also tell of their stories to other people in the form of stories. Both modes are rational ways of making sense of something. In our advertisement, an abstract is seen after the host, Monica Blake, comes on stage and tells the audience that "no one likes to play with dirty equipment". An orientation is seen in the ad when the camera focuses on the men in the audience, while the women on stage wash the different sports equipment. This continues when the host actually uses the AXE product on stage to demonstrate how it works. The complicating action is seen in the commercial as they go through different sizes and ages of sports equipment.There are a few evaluations in the ad, seen after each of the different balls have been cleaned and polished. The attitude of the narrator is not of surprise at the cleansing of the balls, but she takes more of an "I told you so" stance on the product . She is very confident that the AXE gel will work. The resolution of the story comes when the old man steps on stage. He feels as if there is nothing that can be done about his balls, but after the AXE product has been applied, they are like brand new again. The coda can be found in the ad when the host makes her call to action to the audience. She lets the audience know where to go if they would like to purchase any of the AXE products and recommends anybody with dirty balls should definitely give it a try.

Chapter 13 10/13

In this chapter, the ideas of Russian communication theorist Mikhail Bahktin are discussed. His theory of dialogism focuses on the two-way aspect of communication. Dialogism is made up of dialogue, which is the basic unit of communication. When we speak with other people, we must remember what has already been said in the conversation in order to know what we are going to say later in the conversation. The chapter later discusses another of Bahktin’s ideas, intertexuality. This theory believes that there is a strong relationship between a text being produced at any time with texts or any media that has been produced throughout history. We may be conscious of these earlier texts, however other times artists are influenced by these texts unconsciously. I don’t believe a work can ever not be intertextual, as I think all media is influenced in some way by past forms of communication. However, I cannot find how our advertisement has any intertextuality. I also believe there is dialogue in our advertisement, as it is a basic idea of communication. The commercial takes into account cultural norms/ beliefs and plays against the norms by creating this sarcastic skit. Also, from what I understand about dialogue, isn’t it considered dialogue when there is a two-way conversation between people? In this case, our advertisement is full of dialogue, as it contains many conversations between the host and the audience of the game show.

Chapter 12 10/11

In this chapter, both M.H. Abrams and Arthur Berger discuss their models on art and society. Abrams begins by pointing out that most people focus on one of four elements in the total situation of art and tend to neglect other possibly important ideas. The first of Abrams elements is work, which is the product itself. The second element in his model is the artist, or the producer of the work. The third element is a very broad term. It is the subject of the work, defined by the term universe. Abrams argues that the universe, or subject, is taken from things in relation to the existing circumstances. The final element in Abrams model is the audience, anybody to whom the work is addressed or whoever the works becomes available to. Abrams model is drawn out in the shape of a triangle with whatever is being discussed or needed to be explained in the center, depicted as the word “work”. Arthur Berger has also created his own model for art and society that is very similar to Abrams. However, Berger adds media to his model and also replaces the word universe with society because he feels it is too broad of a word. By adding media to the model, Berger argues that there are five elements that one deals with when considering mass-mediated communication. Also, to make it easier for readers to understand his concepts, Berger uses words that start with “A”, except for media. In Berger’s model, there is an artist (sender of the message), Art (the thing that conveys a message), Audience (those who receive the message), America (a society in which the message is interpreted in), and a Medium (how the audience receives the message). In Berger’s model, all of the points are connected and are capable of influencing one another. Both Abram’s and Berger’s model are very similar to Laswell’s model of communication. Laswell’s Who, is the artist in both models. His Says What, is the work in Abrams model and the Artwork in Berger’s model. His In Which Channel, is not in Abram’s model, but is Medium in Berger’s model. Laswell’s To Whom, is compared to the audience in both models, while the With What Effect, is the Universe in Abram’s model and the America (society) in Berger’s model.

Chapter 11 10/6

In this chapter, we are introduced to Harold Laswell’s formula and its similarities when compared to Jakobson’s model of the communication process. First, Laswell’s formula is a brief statement that can be used to describe an act of communication by answering the following the questions: Who, Says What, In Which Channel, To Whom, With What Effect. The Who question of the Laswell formula is the addresser in Jakobson’s model of communication, while the Says What question is the message or the content. In Which Channel refers to the medium or contact, while the To Whom question is the receiver of the message. The final question in Laswell’s formula is With What Effect, referring to the functions of the message being sent. One of the key terms in this passage is formula, defined as a statement expressing some fundamental truth or principle. Another key term, models, is the abstract presentation of processes that occur in the world and therefore have their values and limitations. A certain value that a model contains is they provide an easy-to-understand overview of what is being described. One limitation is that they tend to simplify information too much, leaving key ideas out. Laswell also discusses phatic communication, which is used to express emotions rather than communicative information. This communication is not based on persuasion. An example would be a man grunting in the gym while lifting heavy weights.

Chapter 10 10/6

In this chapter, Roman Jakobson’s model of a communication process is discussed. He suggests that there are 6 fundamental units in this communication process including the addresser, message, addressee, context, contact, and code. The addresser (sender) sends a message to the addressee (receiver). In order for the addressee to understand this message it must have some sort of context that is either verbal or capable of being verbalized. It must also have a code that is able to be understood by both the addresser and the addressee. Finally, the message must contain a contact, or a channel in which the message is sent. Author Robert Scholes adds to the discussion by saying that although the message unites a sender and receiver, the message is not always the same as the meaning. Therefore, someone must interpret the meaning of the message. This occurs a lot with mass media, as we receive messages from advertisements and must decipher the meaning of the message being sent. Later in the passage, Jakobson discusses the emotive, or expressive function. This function focuses on the addresser and interprets the speaker’s attitude on what he is speaking about. Jakobson believes there are messages that simply establish, prolong or discontinue a conversation, as well as check the attention level of the listener. There is also a referential function, which is defined in the book as the “accessory participation of the other functions in such messages must be taken into account by the observant linguist”. I don’t understand this last definition, so I am hoping we go over it in class.

Chapter 8 10/4

In this chapter, Claude Levi-Strauss discusses some of his many ideas on the unconscious elements of the human psyche. He stresses the fact that we do all of the things we do because we are either blind to the unconscious ideas within our minds or that we simply refuse to recognize the way we do certain things. The chapter later discusses the ideas of another thinker, Franz Boas. He argues that we don’t learn to speak our language until someone writes a grammar for the language. We learn to speak by listening to our parents or watching the television, which makes sense of how we learn to speak the language we speak when we are young. I have always wondered why we don’t speak a different language, but the idea of learning a language by listening to a person speak the language and deciphering what is correct and incorrect makes sense. There are two key terms mentioned in the chapter, the first being anthropology, which is defined as the study of culture or civilization. The other key term mentioned is culture, which is “the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”

Chapter 7 10/4

This chapter is centered on the ideas of Mary Douglas, one of the most important social anthropologists of our time and Claude Levi-Strauss. Douglas once again states that the meaning of a word is relational and that it stems from where the word is found in a sentence and the context in which we find it. Douglas stresses the theories of Levi-Strauss and how he believes the mind receives any experience in a structured form; it is human nature that most all of these forms are unconscious. Another reoccurring theme in the book is that ideas come in pairs of opposites, once again stated by Levi-Strauss. We are also introduced to the idea of structuralism, which analyzes different phenomena in terms of their basic units and the way these units are assembled. Structuralists believe that the relationship between elements in something like a myth (something that we are unaware of) is extremely important. According to Levi-Strauss, “In both language and myth, the separate units have no meaning by themselves, they acquire it only because of the way they are assembled.