Signifier

Thanks to groups such as ISIS, many Americans believe that Muslims are extremists and believe the religion to meant to teach others violence while in contrast Islam actually a religion of peace. “We are thus tracing the history not only of a signifier, a label, but also a history of its effects”(Appiah,43). Appiah talks about how history is significant in identifying a group. Such as the term African to Negro because of the history of slavery. So by tracing the history of terrorist attacks in…

Since an early age we have been socialized to judge and categorized individuals based on what we see and what we consider “normal,” therefore, any deviation from that is considered something strange, unnatural which is more than likely to obtain a negative label; stigma. For the most part, first impressions are sufficient to make up our minds in regards to someone’s personality. It is this limited mindset that erases the personal attributes of individuals, and does not allow us to look behind…

The comparison between a typical poem about a woman missing her lover and a poem about a lady ghoul or demon of some sort getting herself ready for a feast with her lover illuminates the powerful way the same signifiers of a woman in love can be wielded by skilled poets to create two equally strong but totally conflicting moods. Poem 212 describes young women playing in water and decorating themselves with nature to the delight of the poet. It starts with the image of a girl’s bodice that is…

Nationalism Sells Nationalism refers to a belief, creed or political ideology that involves an individual identifying with and becoming attached to one's nation. Nationalism involves pride for one’s national identity. Through out history nationalism has been essential in uniting a nation together and working towards bettering a nation. However nowadays companies are using people’s pride for one’s country to profit.Advertisement which has the sole purpose to sale has recognized the…

His presence within the secular, historical, and geographical realm of the Earth. The cloth operates as a mode of preservation of the existence and likeness of Christ that which the viewers can discern upon. Furthermore, the vera icon serves as a signifier to the Roman church or universal church. Christ’s likeness “imprinted” onto the cloth is further visualized by his imprint onto the map itself. The likeness of His body as a whole is printed onto parchment that bears the trace of his physical…

As most women I read tons of fashion magazines a year. Awhile back I came across an ad for Tom Ford. Instead of sniffing the insert and flipping as usual, I paused. The ad was so in your face; it was almost impossible to ignore it. The apparent sexuality was a definite attention grabber and after further investigation so are many other aspects of the ad. Although sexuality is an indicator to make people stop and look, bottle placement plays a vast part in this advertisement. In this particular…

The struggle to survive is often overlooked as a phenomena that only occurs in specific situations; however, archeological evidence suggest that prehistoric homo required the aforementioned struggle to form their society. From physical trauma diminishing the individual’s value to simply making it past adolescence, the need for survival quite literally defined Neanderthal living. Evidently, it seems observable the amount of physical stress that proceeds the Neanderthal far outweighs that of…

We are drawn to the individual in the photograph. In the sign system we have the signifier and the signified (O’Shaughnessy, 2012, Chapter 8). The signifier of this advertisement is a black person, a woman wearing a suit and the signified is a woman who is successful and educated. There are different types of signs and they are classified as: iconic, indexical and symbolic…

The film cuts directly to shots that actively incorporate signifiers of chaos implied in the opening of the novel with a canted low angle of an open, black jeep riding down an empty city plaza, filled with at least a dozen young adults, some of whom are dressed in harlequin costumes and make up shouting joyfully. The characters spill out of the jeep and run down stairways, passing the oblivious pedestrians, breaking the silence of, presumably, the morning commute. The silence is re-established…

Heterosexuality is the most orthodox predominant formation of society today. The concept of heterosexuality is socio-culturally constructed and, according to CJ Pascoe, it establishes an irredeemable understanding of masculinity. Pascoe conducts research on socialization revolving around high school students. In this essay, I am going to review how Pascoe’s analysis of the understanding of socialization of masculinity is structured and, more importantly, what she missed. According to Pascoe,…