Comm 403 Blog 5-Three Act Structure

   Aristotle's three act structure of narrative is still popular today.  To fully understand this three act structure, it is important to understand the meaning of a narrative.  A narrative is any story that follows events with some sort of frame of time.  Time is the most important part of a narrative because without a sense of time, it simply does not fit into the narrative format.  Almost all movies, books, television shows, and many other forms of media are considered to be narratives.  Thus, they generally follow Aristotle's three act structure.  According to Aristotle, the first act includes the character or characters getting into some sort of trouble.  Then, the second act involves the same character or characters getting into even more trouble, that it is difficult to see a resolution or way they will get out of trouble.  The final act involves the character or characters finding a way to resolve their conflicts.  Because most movies follow this three act structure, it can be demonstrated by breaking down most movies.  So, lets break down the three act structure of the movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic.

     In the first act of the movie, the main character, Rebecca Bloomwood, is hired to be a writer of a magazine entitled Successful Savings.  Although her columns are incredibly popular, she cannot seem to follow her own advice about saving money.  She is a complete shopaholic and continues to get in more and more debt.  After several failed attempts of her debt collector contacting her, she finally decides to attend shopaholic meetings to try to remedy her problem.

     In the second act of the movie, it appears as if she may be able to save herself from her problem by going to the shopaholic meetings, but things turn even worse than being in mounds and mounds of debt.  After a few shopaholic meetings, Rebecca is forced to start selling the items that she just purchased, including her bridesmaid dress for her best friend's wedding and an expensive dress she wanted to wear during a television interview.  She immediately tries to buy her dresses back, but can only afford to purchase one.  So, since the interview is first, she decides to buy that dress back and count on the fact that no one else will purchase her bridesmaid's dress until she obtains enough money for it.  However, she is wrong.  Not only is her bridesmaid dress purchased by an old homeless woman, she is also exposed on national television by her debt collector and loses her job.  Next, her friend realizes that a homeless woman is walking around in Rebecca's bridesmaid dress and does not want anything to do with her anymore.

     Although Rebecca seems like she is in too much trouble to ever recover, act three gives her an option to get out of trouble.  First, Rebecca is offered a job at a new magazine, but she decides to decline.  Next, Rebecca auctions off many of her clothes so she can afford to pay off her debts.  Also, she is able to recover the bridesmaid dress and attend her best friend's wedding, who forgives her.  Finally, her old boss starts a new company, and she starts dating him and working at his new company.  

     Overall, Aristotle's three act structure can be applied to almost any narrative.  The structure is simple; the narrative starts with a character in trouble, it gets worse, and then the conflict is resolved by the end.  This is the structure that is expected and is continued to be told.

Comm 403 Blog 2-The Semiotics of a Road

     Semiotics, at its most basic level, is a study of communication that deals with signs and codes.  Anything and everything can be considered to be a sign, which includes signifiers and signifieds.  A sign is anything that symbolizes or represents something else.  A signifier is something that has a material or physical existence in the world while a signified is the value that is attached to a sign and there can be more than one per sign.  On a higher level, a sign has a denotative and connotative meaning.  The denotative meaning deals with a physical description of a sign and the connotative meaning deals with anything associated with the sign that can not be defined by its description or, more simply, its meaning in everyday life.  Because examining the semiotics of anything can be interesting and important to understand communication better, the examination of the semiotics of a road is a simple way to break down semiotics.

      In a very general, denotative sense, the road depicted in this picture is dark gray or black with a yellow line down the middle. (This road is not considered a signifier because it has no physical sense in the picture.  Although where the road actually exists, it would be considered a signifier.) To the direct right side of the yellow line, a broken yellow line can be observed.  On either side of the road, close to the the edge, a white line exists.  With no additional knowledge, these signs mean absolutely nothing.  However, to pass a driving test and legally be able to drive, one must understand the signified or connotative meanings of the lines in the road.  To begin, it is important to understand that a road automatically connotes that one should be driving to the right of the yellow line.  That way, cars in the other lane to the left will be traveling the opposite direction.  There are exceptions to this rule though.  For example, in the picture the broken yellow line signifies that one can legally pass another car by going into the other lane if that car is going at least ten miles under the speed limit.  Alone, a broken yellow line does not mean this, but society has given that meaning to it.  In addition, a white line at the edge of road indicates not to pass over it because the road ends there.  However, if the white line was down the middle of the road, it would connote that both sides of traffic are traveling in the same direction and it is acceptable to pass any cars not going the speed limit by traveling around them.

     Overall, a road can be a simple breakdown of semiotics.  There are many other examples of signs on the road, including stop lights, stop signs, and speed limit signs.  Each of these things have a denotative meaning that is a simple description of the sign.  On an everyday, connotative level, though, meaning has been given to these signs by a society.  This is the level that individuals live at.  Pictures, ads, and other things can all be broken down into simpler understandings.  

Comm 403 Blog 4-Framing

     As discussed in George Lakoff's article, Framing 101: How to Take Back Public Discourse, Lakoff discusses the important concept of framing and the ways in which it continually affects everyday life, specifically politics.  In its most basic definition, framing is an image or any other thought brought about by a particular word.  Any word can and will evoke framing.  The example Lakoff uses is the phrase, "Don't think of an elephant!"  However, it is impossible to not think about an elephant after it is brought up, even if you are not supposed to.  The mental image of an elephant or any other knowledge about an elephant will creep into your mind, even if just for a brief moment, once one hears the word.  Thus, it becomes extremely important in politics because word choice and framing can be used to enhance one's self or hurt another.  

     Another article, written by LZ Granderson, gives a very relevant example of framing in politics today.  The Republican Party used framing, which Granderson believes them to be extremely good at, to make many people believe the first stimulus package was a complete failure, when, in reality, it was not.  Although it may not have accomplished everything it set out to, many of the benefits of the stimulus package have either been ignored or have not happened yet, as predicted.  However, the Republican Party has done such a good job at framing the word stimulus into having such a negative connotation, that the president tends to not use the word "stimulus" to describe his next stimulus package, as to not discourage individuals from supporting it.    

     Unfortunately, political systems are not perfect and many examples of framing can be seen throughout history.  All sides are guilty of framing at some point.  It may be unethical, but it is a rather good strategy to gain support for oneself and, maybe even more importantly, lose support for another.  An excellent example of framing in politics is the response to Septemeber 11, 2001.  The Bush Administration immediately called these attacks terrorists attacks and declared a "War on Terror".  The country as a whole was already at a vulnerable place and using the word terror played on that vulnerability.  Not being for the War on Terror means being against fighting terrorists, a place that most people just did not want to be at even if they did not fully support the war.  This led to many people supporting attacking a country that did not even commit the terrorist attacks.  Because framing may very well always be part of the political system, it is important to recognize it and therefore hopefully be less affected by it.

Comm 403 Blog 3-Semiotic Analysis of a Cultural Symbol

Purses are everywhere!  It is almost impossible to go anywhere and not see at least one woman with a purse.  They come in all different colors, sizes, and shapes.  What started out as a place to keep items like wallets, keys, and other small on-the-go items, has turned into a complete fashion statement for many women.  So let's examine the semiotics, including the denotative, connotative, and mythological significance of a purse, specifically a Coach purse.  
     On a denotative level, specifically a simple physical description of the an item, this bag is beige with brown "C"s around the entire outside of the bag.  The bag appears sturdy enough to stand up on its own and is shaped like a rectangle.  Additionally, the straps of the bag stick up by themselves on the middle top of the bag and appear shiny.  Also, a small, decorative rectangle hangs from the strap of the bag.  A pocket can be seen on the left-hand side of the bag.  Although this is a nice visual of this Coach bag, it says so much more than just on a denotative level.
     A more abstract, cultural interpretation of the bag, or the connotation, tells that it is a Coach bag in the first place.  From the picture, the word Coach does not appear.  Moreover, the letter C alone does not only represent Coach.  However, the "C"s connote that this is a specific brand, Coach, because of the font used and the fact that they are covering a purse and the positions of the "C"s on it.  Furthermore, the "C"s tell that this bag is of high-class.  There is no price tag on the picture, but culturally, we can determine that this bag was expensive.  When one buys a Coach bag, he or she is paying for the prestigious name, not the amount of reliability, the labor put into it, or the materials used. 

     Finally, on a even deeper interpretation of this bag, there are more than one mythical significances.  To begin, our culture has define that purses should only be used by women.  More specifically, Coach bags are extremely feminine, maybe even more so than other brands of bags.  Generally, the only way a man is going to purchase a Coach purse is to buy a present for a female.  This, however, does not really make sense.  First, men cannot show their prestige with a bag; they are left to do it in other ways.  Also, although some women may carry more items with them than men, men carry wallets, keys, and other items too.  For example, a woman could place her sunglasses in her bag (and may even be asked to place her significant other's sunglasses in her bag!) while a man is left to either keep them at home or in a car or put them on the top of his head.  A man could reap the same benefits from carrying a purse, but would be looked down upon in our society.  Another mythical significance of  the Coach bag is the idea of prestige and class.  Carrying a Coach bag means that you may be wealthy or at the very least have a lot of class.  In our society, wealth, class, and prestige are so very important.  That is simply the ideal.  A Coach bag is just one way to show you may have reached such status.  Overall, on a denotative level a Coach purse is just another purse, society has placed connotative and mythical meanings to this brand of bag.   

Semiotics in a 1949 Salem Cigarette Ad

This Salem Cigarette Ad attempts to encourage all people to smoke Salem cigarettes.  The use of semiotics, including signs, signifiers, and signifieds, is present throughout the entire commercial.  The biggest sign in the commercial is the Salem cigarettes.  This is the item that the ad is trying to sell so it is important to use this as a sign.  An example of a signifier would be the doctor.  Another example would be the women who smokes a cigarette and smiles towards the end of the commercial.  The signified is what the doctor represents. He represents power, wealth, prestige, and intelligence.  The advertiser clearly wants individuals to identify with the doctor and strive to be like him.  A doctor has an important reputation and the fact that all doctors prefer Salem cigarettes hopes to encourage other people to smoke Salem cigarettes as well.  In addition, the women represents sexiness and beauty.  The advertiser tries to convey that smoking Salem cigarettes will make women be like her and make men have women like her.  Overall, semiotics plays an important role in this Salem ad.