Media Language Flashcards

Question

What does the image of the smiling woman in the Tide advert denote?

Answer 1

She's happy and hugging the Tide box. ## Footnote This suggests that using Tide makes women satisfied, fulfilled, and proud homemakers.

Answer 2

Red suggests energy and urgency, while white implies cleanliness and purity.

Answer 3

It anchors the meaning of the image, directing how the audience should interpret it. ## Footnote This indicates that this is what all good women want.

Answer 4

Words like 'miracle,' 'whitest whites,' and 'Tide gets clothes cleaner than any other washday product' reinforce the connotation of superiority and magical performance.

Answer 5

It is a sign of trust and authority, suggesting that experts have tested and approved this product.

Answer 6

It helps us understand how the advert creates meaning through visual signs, written signs, and cultural signs.

Answer 7

Stuart Hall's Reception Theory posits that media texts have multiple meanings and that the audience plays a role in interpreting the message.

Answer 8

1. Preferred Reading - the audience accepts the intended message. 2. Negotiated Reading - the audience partly agrees but also questions it. 3. Oppositional Reading - the audience rejects the message.

Answer 9

The way a media product is encoded by the producer using media language influences how it's decoded and understood by the audience.

Answer 10

The preferred reading suggests that being a good wife means being excited about housework and using Tide. ## Footnote Example: 'If I use Tide, I'm a great homemaker.'

Answer 11

The slogan assumes all women desire the same things: clean clothes and domestic success.

Answer 12

The advert uses bold fonts, exclamation points, and repetition to push the idea of domestic success as natural and desirable.

Answer 13

These visuals encode the message that women should be happy and fulfilled by domestic chores, reinforcing traditional gender roles.

Answer 14

Media language includes images, text, layout, and color that are chosen to create a preferred reading.

Answer 15

The preferred reading suggests that Tide is amazing and part of being a successful woman in the 1950s.

Answer 16

An oppositional reading occurs when a modern audience rejects the idea that a woman's role is in the home or that happiness comes from laundry detergent.

Answer 17

A negotiated reading is when some viewers see the advert as nostalgic or reflective of the time, while not fully agreeing with its message.

Answer 18

Hall's theory shows that media language doesn't control meaning, but it does try to guide the audience to respond in a certain way.

Answer 19

Lévi-Strauss argued that stories and media texts are structured around binary oppositions that help create meaning.

Answer 20

Binary oppositions are two opposing ideas that drive the narrative and highlight what the creator wants to promote as 'right' or 'better.'

Answer 21

Clean vs Dirty ## Footnote This is one of the examples of binary oppositions used in media texts.

Answer 22

Modern vs Old-fashioned ## Footnote This is one of the examples of binary oppositions used in media texts.

Answer 23

Good vs Bad ## Footnote This is one of the examples of binary oppositions used in media texts.

Answer 24

Domestic vs Undomestic ## Footnote This is one of the examples of binary oppositions used in media texts.

Answer 25

Media texts use binary oppositions to simplify complex ideas and persuade audiences by making one side clearly 'better.'

Answer 26

The advert uses bright, clean visuals to suggest a contrast with unclean laundry, even though we don't actually see dirty clothes. ## Footnote Opposition: Dirty vs. Clean - Tide represents the 'clean' side, both literally and symbolically.

Answer 27

It suggests that Tide is new, modern, and superior. ## Footnote Opposition: Tide vs. other detergents - a binary between effective vs. ineffective.

Answer 28

The ad visually celebrates a joyful woman in full control of her domestic space. ## Footnote Opposition: Perfect homemaker vs. careless wife - reinforced by facial expressions, posture, and the loving embrace of the Tide box.

Answer 29

The images, slogans, and color schemes create clear opposites that simplify the message: 'Tide is good, everything else is bad.' ## Footnote These binary oppositions help persuade the audience quickly and emotionally - no need for deep logic, just clear contrasts.

Answer 30

Strong opposites help brands position themselves as the solution to a problem. ## Footnote By using media language to set up and resolve these oppositions, the ad pushes the viewer toward the preferred meaning: 'Choose Tide because it's on the better side of every comparison.'

Media Language Flashcards

(54 cards)