TCF 311 Discussion Questions:
Channels of Discourse

Chapter One: Semiotics

1. How does TV challenge the assumptions of traditional criticism?
2. Define "denotation" and "connotation." What are the denotations and connotations of the Wonder Years' opening montage? What does semiotician Roland Barthes mean by the term, "myth"? Is there a "binary opposition" to be found in this montage?
3. What is syntagmatic and paradigmatic? How might these concepts be appled to the Wonder Years montage?
4. What are the "five channels of communication," according to Christian Metz? How do these channels interact in the Wonder Years' montage to generate meaning?
5. Define these terms: "langue," "parole," "encoding," "decoding" and "discourse."
6. What are the strength(s) of semiotic/structuralist analysis? What are the weaknesses of this approach (no, a difficult vocabulary does not count)?
7. What characterizes "post-structuralism"? How does it differ from standard "structuralism"?

Last modified: February 25, 1999
Comments: Jeremy Butler, jbutler@ua.edu