Signifier

According to Roland Barthes’ myth formula, a sign acts as a signifier when society assigns it a widely accepted meaning. The meaning of the sign, called the signified, makes a sign logical. Walmart aligns with the mythical concept by using the happy face as a signifier. Contemporary society defines a happy face based on a perpetuated idea that adheres to the media and the Ruling Class. Popular culture defines a happy face as an expression to show a feeling of pleasure. According to Walmart’s Ruling Class, Smiley elicits positive thoughts. More specifically, “the Smiley face was once meant to signify price cuts, or “rollbacks” in Walmart-speak. The revived incarnation is now intended to represent any low prices at the retailer” (Wahba). Walmart uses television commercials to showcase Smiley working hard to slash prices. Additionally, Walmart includes him in their in-store price signs by having Smiley on the upper left hand corner with “Rollback” next to his name. Walmart’s iconic emoji intertwines with classical conditioning since customers can relate to Smiley if they shop at the store. Smiley elicits a pleasing shopping experience for customers, forcing them to return because Walmart met their needs at an affordable price with their…

The play describes the life of Nora, who like Esther, is conflicted by her role in society, therefore in the end, leaves her children and controlling husband to pursue a new life, one not confined in a bell jar. I find the situation that Esther has with the signifier and being signified to be relatable to most students, and how their master signifier is their GPA, of course Esther attempts suicide when she realizes she cannot be signified, whereas students are more likely to drop out. However,…

By reconstructing it in this way, Saussure is subordinating the “signifier” to the “signified”, attempting to convey that they signifier is a stand-in, or emblem of the signified-the thing that is real. This subordination is crucial because Saussure believes that “A particular language state is always the product of historical forces, and these forces explain why the sign is unchangeable, i.e. why it resists any arbitrary substitution” (Saussure, 72). Saussure is clearly stating that, though…

Opposing Forces The individuals who are in favor of gun control are the weaker force in the documentary and the society against gun control are the stronger force. The weakness in the society is fair of lose their rights to buy guns without permission and the goal in the weaker is fight against guns. Signifiers The first signifier is the background music of the song called “What a Wonderful World” when the documentary was showing images of cruel things that humans did to others. For example,…

cultural artifacts, bodily adornments manifest expansive historical narratives. When they are worn en masse, they are able to effect the convergence of common cultural identities. Due to their naturally conspicuous and distinctive properties, such items powerfully signify cultural difference to outsiders who do not partake in such traditions. This understanding and perception of cultural difference is governed by prior cultural associations. However, this is not to say that such associations…

During the storm scenes of King Lear, we are given numerous contextual signifiers. Some of these signifiers are that, the king and the people he is with are outdoors and that shelter is not far. Another is that the elements are stormy and that it is nighttime. Aside from close to the hut, there is nothing to let you know that they are near anything else during the storm. This is what indicates helps to indicate the where the characters are location wise. Each of the characters adds nuance to…

Advertising is an idea that allows companies to get through to communities all around the world by using tv commercials, magazines, newspapers and many other methods in order to manipulate society into thinking about the business and the products they sell.This essay will be focusing on the power of advertising and how it can be interpreted in many ways such as discourses and Ideologies.The advertisement is advertising Quick-step flooring and targeting men and women aged between 25 - 50 years…

to illustrate the relationship between the signifier and the signified. a. As the train pulls into the station one sibling is able to view the Ladies’ rest room and the other the Gentlemen’s rest room. Thus, each sibling attributes a different meaning to the bathroom. b. The signifier sends forth the significance. For the siblings, it is based on their perspective. 5.The S/s structure allows people to make meaning of the signifier. a. This structure allows people to use…

deconstruct this advertisement, three signifiers are chosen and the denotation and connotation of these will be determined. The discourse and ideology of the signifiers will then be discussed. The Tide and Downy ad targets…

contain elements of themselves but simultaneously differ from one another. This results in a text to be denoted as an ‘essentially vitiated, impure… thing, consisting of traces and traces of traces’ which complicate our understanding of a literary text. Thus, gendered oppositions and the meaning of their signifiers are rendered unstable because of differance. Furthermore, as Bennett and Royle assert, “sexual difference” involves not only difference between but difference within’ . They argue…