Teaching Week 2

The second lecture introduced us to semiotic theorizing of visual language. It also provided an overview of narrative theorizing of media. Specifically exploring relationships between 'form' and 'content'.

The definition of semiotics according to http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/semioticsterm.htm is "the theory and study of signs and symbols, especially as elements of language or other systems of communication. A person who studies or practices semiotics is known as a semiotician". Semiotics involves the study not only of what we refer to as 'signs' in everyday speech, but of anything which 'stands for' something else. In a semiotic sense, signs take the forms of words, images, sounds, gestures and objects.

A good and thorough explanation of visual language according to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_language: "A visual language is a system of communication using visual elements. Speech as a means of communication cannot strictly be separated from the whole of human communicative activity that includes the visual and the term 'language' in relation to vision is an extension of its use to describe the perception, comprehension and production of visible signs".

I found a brief explanation of narrative theorizing of media on the following website: http://projectnarrative.osu.edu/about/what-is-narrative-theory "Because of the pervasiveness of narrative in our culture and the diversity of the texts, media, and communicative situations narrative theory examines, narrative theory constitutes an exciting new frontier of English Studies, one that promises to bring English Department faculty and students into closer contact with their counterparts in a variety of social-scientific, humanistic, and other disciplines".