A First Look At Communication Theory, 10e (Griffin)
Chapter 26 Semiotics
1) The Swiss linguist who coined the term “semiology” in the early 1900s was:
A) Roland Barthes.
B) Ferdinand de Saussure.
C) Jacques Simeon.
D) Douglas Kellner.
2) Semiotics is concerned with everything:
A) that can be taken as a sign.
B) that has potential symbolic significance.
C) that exists, whether natural or artificial.
D) All of the answers are correct.
3) In the context of Roland Barthes’ sign systems, the ________ sign system is a descriptive sign
without ideological content.
A) denotative
B) annotative
C) connotative
D) commutative
4) Barthes labeled the ideological baggage that signs can carry as:
A) annotation.
B) connotation.
C) denotation.
D) semiotician.
5) According to Roland Barthes, ________ signs enlist support for the status quo by
transforming history into nature—pretending that current conditions are the natural order of
things.
A) iconic
B) symbolic
C) ideological
D) indexical
6) Barthes held that the relationship between nonverbal signifiers and signifieds was:
A) arbitrary.
B) quasi-arbitrary.
C) causal.
D) symbiotic.
7) Griffin uses the example of the yellow ribbon to:
A) illustrate a second-order semiological system.
B) argue that some signs are non-mythic.
C) suggest that new symbols arise every day.
D) demonstrate that subversive semiotic systems are eventually co-opted by mainstream society.
8) Barthes claimed that every ideological sign is the result of two interconnected sign systems in
which the first system:
A) becomes the signified.
B) retains its entire denotative meaning.
C) becomes the connotative system.
D) is strictly descriptive.
9) In Barthes’ view, mythic signs typically:
A) idealize some previous semiological structure.
B) produce new values for society.
C) reinforce the dominant values of their culture.
D) question the legitimacy of the status quo.
10) According to American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, ________ signs bear no
resemblance to the objects to which they refer.
A) symbolic
B) indexical
C) iconic
D) ideological
11) According to Roland Barthes’ theory, a descriptive sign without ideological content is called
the connotative sign system.
12) In a secondary (connotative) system, the meaning of the original denotative system is
impoverished.
13) According to Roland Barthes, signified is the physical form of the sign as we perceive it
through our senses.
14) According to Barthes, all semiological systems are mythic.
15) According to American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, iconic signs have a perceived
resemblance with the objects they portray.
16) Douglas Kellner uses Barthes’ approach to support his claim that Madonna’s media image
perpetuates negative stereotypes of women.
17) Ideological signs enlist support for the status quo by transforming history into nature.
18) Mythic communication is unable to imagine anything alien, novel, or other.
19) Barthes believed mythic signs reinforce the dominant values of their culture.
20) Semiology has its roots in the medieval study of Christian and heathen signs and symbols.
21) The sign is a combination of the ________ and the ________.
22) According to American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, ________ signs are directly
connected with their referents spatially, temporally, or by cause and effect.
23) Connotative or second-order signs can become ________ as they lose or are separated from
their original referent.
24) Semiologists disagree as to whether there is any logical connection between the image of the
signifier and the content of the signified. What is your opinion? Defend your stand.
25) What is the relationship among a sign, a signifier, and a signified?
26) Explain the step-by-step process by which the “yellow ribbon” was transformed into its
present state.
27) What are the dominant values of our culture and how are they reinforced by seemingly
innocuous signs? Provide examples from the media.
28) In the “I’d like to be like Mike” commercial, what are the denotative sign and the second-
order connotative system it suggests? How are the historical implications of the denotative level
drained from the second-order connotative system?
29) Keeping his analysis of wrestling in mind, how might Barthes respond to the genre of reality
television shows? How would he characterize the basic premises and plot elements that comprise
the shows? How might he account for their great popularity?
30) How would Barthes critique McLuhan’s claim that “the medium is the message”? What
would Barthes think of McLuhan’s pun “the medium is the message”?
31) Compare Barthes’ sign with Richards’ semantic triangle.
32) How does Barthes’ notion of a semiotic system compare with Fisher’s narrative paradigm?
33) Compare Barthes’ claim that mythic systems reinforce dominant cultural values with Burke’s
notion of the “god term.”
34) How might Burke reinterpret the central drama in Barthes’ essay “The World of Wrestling”?