Theorists

Question 1

(B) Semiology is the…

Answer 1

study of signs.

Question 2

(B) Signs consist of…

Answer 2

a signifier; a word, an image, a sound, etc.) and its meaning - the signified.

Question 3

(B) The denotation of a sign is its…

Answer 3

literal meaning (e.g. the word ‘dog’ denotes a mammal that barks)

Question 4

(B) Connotations are the…

Answer 4

associations of the denotation

e.g. ‘dogness’ - the thoughts and feelings associated with dogs

Question 5

(B) Denotations and Connotations are organised into…

Answer 5

myths - the ideological meaning. These make ideology seem natural.
e.g. a bulldog might activate myth of Britishness

Question 6

(B) Barthes uses the word myths to describe the way…

Answer 6

connotations suggested by a sign have come to be seen as normal and natural

Question 7

(B) The meanings created by myths often reflect…

Answer 7

dominant values and ideologies

Question 8

(B) Define Anchorage

Answer 8

when a piece of media uses another piece of media to reduce the amount of connotations in the first, therefore allowing the audience to interpret it much more easily.

Question 9

(B) Give an example of anchorage

Answer 9

in a newspaper, pictures are accompanies by a caption that allows us to understand what the picture is showing us

Question 10

(T) All narratives share a…

Answer 10

basic structure that involves a movement from one state of equilibrium to another

Question 11

(T) The two states of equilibrium (in a narrative) are separated by…

Answer 11

a period of imbalance or disequlibrium

Question 12

(T) The way in which narratives are resolved can have…

Answer 12

a particular ideological significance

Question 13

(T) Fill in the gaps:
Todorov identifies the different stages of a (1), moving from the everyday life of the characters (the (2) ), the disruption to that (the (3) ), and the resolution of that disruption into a new equilibrium.

Answer 13

(1) - narrative
(2) - equilibrium
(3) - disequilibrium

Question 14

(T) Define Masterplot

Answer 14

A technique for creating a story that is recreated through plot and retold differently over time because of its cultural significance.

Question 15

(T) Define Diegesis

Answer 15

A term used to name the story depicted on screen, as opposed to the story in real time that the screen narrative is about

Question 16

(T) Diegesis may concern…

Answer 16

elements - such as characters, events, and things with the main or primary narrative

Question 17

(N) Genre theory is about what…

Answer 17

genres are, and about how and why they are created, change endure or decline

Question 18

(N) Neale argues that genre is a process by which…

Answer 18

genetic codes and conventions are shared by producers and audiences through repetition in media products

Question 19

(N) Neale says that genres are not fixed, but…

Answer 19

constantly evolve with each new addition to the generic corpus

Question 20

(N) Define Generic Corpus

Answer 20

The collection of texts or relating to or shared by a whole group of similar things

Question 21

(N) What did Neale refer to as the ‘intertextual relay’?

Answer 21

Generic codes and conventions that are not just established in the media product but in the product that refers to it, e.g. critical writings, advertising and marketing material

Question 22

(LS) Structuralism is the study of…

Answer 22

the hidden roles that govern a structure

Question 23

(LS) Levi-Strauss thought that the human mind could be investigated by…

Answer 23

studying the fundamental structure underlying myths and fables from around the world

Question 24

(LS) Binary opposition is the idea that…

Answer 24

the system of myths and fables was ruled by a structure of opposing terms
e.g. hot-cold, male-female, culture-nature, raw-cooked

Question 25

(Bau) Postmodernism is the idea that…

Answer 25

society has moved beyond the movement of modernism

Question 26

(Bau) Fill in the gaps:
Baudrillard argued that, as modern societies were organised around (1), postmodern society is organised around (2) - the play of (3) and (4).

Answer 26

(1) production of goods
(2) simulation
(3) images
(4) signs

Question 27

(Bau) Hyperreality is the idea that…

Answer 27

representations are now more powerful and ‘real’ than reality

Question 28

(Bau) Hyperreal representations don’t represent reality, instead they are…

Answer 28

representations of representations

Question 29

(G) Gauntlett promotes the idea that media provides us with…

Answer 29

‘tools’ or resources that we use to construct our identites

Question 30

(G) Fill in the Gaps:
Gauntlett promotes the idea that whilst in the past media tended to convey (1) about ideal types of (2) identities, the media today offer us a more (3) range of (4) from whom we may pick and mix different ideas

Answer 30

(1) - singular, straightforward messages
(2) -male and female
(3) -diverse
(4) -stars, icons and characters