WEEK 4 : How semiotic system affect human behavior

This is a perfume advertisement form DKNY. Its is meant for women. At the first glance,we can see how happy the smile of the women is, and how she looks to the audience, and we know that she is the main focus point of the advertisement.

This advertisement brings us the topic how semiotics system affects human behavior,
most of us tend to follow trends, buy what we see and what we think is best for us, without knowing how it came to our mind why do we do this. According to Barthes, the secondary signification is the production of myth. Take this advertisement for example, you may think this perfume may attract men, makes you 'Delicious', but you may forgot the main purpose of the perfume. Perfumes are meant to cover up body odor. Other than that, the designers made the perfume bottle to look like an apple, and the advertisers made the girl to hold an apple in her palms, the purpose of this is to remind you of the perfume when ever you see an apple, tempting you to buy it in other ways. So every time we see an apple, our brain will signify this perfume, sooner or later without noticing, it becomes a nature to us. Advertiser use myth in their advertising a lot, it makes us try to achieve our what we see in our myth but not what we need.

Lawrence Tan 1091102538

WEEK 3 : What is Index and Symbol in Semiotics?

According to Pierce. An index is a meaning based upon some cause and effect relationship (for example, a weathervane carries certain meaning because of the wind): "Because the indexical sign is understood to be connected to the real object, it is capable of making that object conceptually present."

I'm not very sure about the definition, but from what I can understand, index in semiotic brings the meaning of a meaning or a sign which is made by creating an effect relationship. For example, smoke signal. Smoke is a combustion of air release when something is burned. However, for people in the olden days, even nowadays, smoke could mean other things besides something is burning. Indexical sign is to be understood and people who are taught or exposed to can only than understand. The majority of traffic signs are index signs as they represent information which relates to a location. An index sign is a sign where there is a direct link between the sign and the object.

Finally, a symbol carries meaning is a purely arbitrary way - this is the way natural language carries meaning. A symbol has no logical meaning between it and the object. For example, the heart shape symbolizes love.

-KooKooZai

WEEK 2 : What is TEXT in SEMIOTICS?

We're a week late from posting. Sorry about that. As stated in the class, lecturer had given us a task in seeking what is text in semiotic and what does text in media meant.

Based on wikipedia semiotics, also called semiotic studies or (in the Saussurean tradition) semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes (semiosis), indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphorsymbolism, signification, and communication. Semiotics is closely related to the field of linguistics, which, for its part, studies the structure and meaning of language more specifically.

In the modern days, It represents a methodology for the analysis of texts regardless of modality. For these purposes, "text" is any message preserved in a form whose existence is independent of both sender and receiver.

Therefore, in my opinion, 'text' is a medium containing a sign within and a approach of semiotics is to explain or interpret it as a phenomenon of language. For methodological purposes they are divided into three general approaches according to their definition of the text and the character of its connection with meaning.

The first approach is immanentism. The relations and hierarchy of elements and levels are thought of as immanent, that is real and existing before and independently of any analytical procedure. The audience or analyst can only reveal that which is contained in the text.

The second approach can be called would be intertextualism. Attention is transferred to the relationship between texts.The elements constituting a particular text are thought of as borrowed from and referring to other texts.

The third approach concerns the investigation of semiosisthe, which consists of the problem of arising sign structures from certain non-sign or pre-sign reality.

So what do you think text meant in semitotics? Are they signs? Or a message medium? Or it's something else?

-KooKooZai

Member Name List

Student's Name	Student's ID
Tai Khai Shen	1091104895
Nicholas Lee Wei Loong	1091102365
Yeoh Zhi Sheng	1091102952
Koo Zhan Heng	1091102258
Yap Lay Hong	1091102661
Lawrence Tan Bing Thong	1091102538
Naomi Yap binti Muhammad Isa Yap	1091103023