Summary Assessment Type: Analytical Report: semiotic analysis Due Date: Friday, Week 6 Weighting: 40% Length: 1500 words Task Undertake a semiotic analysis of one of the texts provided on the unit web site (to be posted by the tutor three weeks prior to due date) in the form of a report divided into five sections (see below). In your analysis, make use of a range of the terms, concepts and strategies introduced in Tutorials 1 – 4 of the unit. Your analysis must define any terms used, include in-text references and a reference list, and follow the guidelines of referencing set out in Guidelines for Referencing, Faculty of Arts, Griffith University. Your analysis needs to:  1.  identify and describe the signs and sign systems at work in the text, employing a range of the following (minimum of 5): syntagms, paradigms, metonym, metaphor, connotations, denotations, icon/index/symbol, mode of address, binary oppositions, othering, intertextuality, ambiguity (500 words, 10 marks) 2. undertake a commutation test to test the paradigmatic value of one or more of the signifiers (250 words, 5 marks) 3. show how the gaze operates in the text (250 words, 5 marks) 4. show how the text includes and excludes identities and meanings through myth and ideology (250 words, 5 marks). 5. show how the text can be read in terms of dominant, negotiated, and oppositional readings (250 words, 5 marks) 6. Writing, referencing (-5 marks). Marks will be deducted (maximum of 5) for incorrect grammar, spelling, punctuation, referencing, and report composition.  *please note - marks will be adjusted out of 40. Lodgement: your assignment needs to be lodged as a Word file through the Assignment Submission portal on the Blackboard website for this unit. No PDF or other non-word file formats allowed. There is no need to use terms and concepts other than those presented in the Study Guide, text book and readings provided. Reference all terms and concepts. There is no need to analyse every signifier, although you will need to engage with the text at the signifier level to show how signification takes place. Avoid simply listing signs and sign systems. Do not use material found on internet sites in your analysis. Draw only from the material provided in the unit. WORD LENGTH: THE WORD LENGTH FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT IS 1500 WORDS. PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOU STAY WITHIN THIS LIMIT AND NOT GO OVER IT (10% leeway allowed either way). Marking Criteria The marking criteria for the second assignment is as follows:  For (4) Pass or better: · evidence that you have engaged in analysis of the text, indicating logical connections between signs at various levels, as distinct from simply identifying and describing signs. Some attention to mode of address and reading positions. · evidence that you have read and understood the main definitions of key terms, arguments, concepts, examples relevant to answering the question. · attention to the criteria specified in the question. · written expression i.

1. Summary
Assessment Type: Analytical Report: semiotic analysis
Due Date: Friday, Week 6
Weighting: 40%
Length: 1500 words
Task
Undertake a semiotic analysis of one of the texts provided on
the unit web site (to be posted by the tutor three weeks prior to
due date) in the form of a report divided into five sections (see
below). In your analysis, make use of a range of the terms,
concepts and strategies introduced in Tutorials 1 – 4 of the unit.
Your analysis must define any terms used, include in-text
references and a reference list, and follow the guidelines of
referencing set out in Guidelines for Referencing, Faculty of
Arts, Griffith University.
Your analysis needs to:
1. identify and describe the signs and sign systems at work in
the text, employing a range of the following (minimum of
5): syntagms, paradigms, metonym, metaphor, connotations,
denotations, icon/index/symbol, mode of address, binary
oppositions, othering, intertextuality, ambiguity (500 words, 10
marks)
2. undertake a commutation test to test the paradigmatic value
of one or more of the signifiers (250 words, 5 marks)
3. show how the gaze operates in the text (250 words, 5 marks)
4. show how the text includes and excludes identities and
meanings through myth and ideology (250 words, 5 marks).
5. show how the text can be read in terms of dominant,
negotiated, and oppositional readings (250 words, 5 marks)
6. Writing, referencing (-5 marks). Marks will be deducted
(maximum of 5) for incorrect grammar, spelling, punctuation,

2. referencing, and report composition.
*please note - marks will be adjusted out of 40.
Lodgement: your assignment needs to be lodged as a Word file
through the Assignment Submission portal on the Blackboard
website for this unit. No PDF or other non-word file formats
allowed.
There is no need to use terms and concepts other than those
presented in the Study Guide, text book and readings provided.
Reference all terms and concepts.
There is no need to analyse every signifier, although you will
need to engage with the text at the signifier level to show how
signification takes place. Avoid simply listing signs and sign
systems. Do not use material found on internet sites in your
analysis. Draw only from the material provided in the unit.
WORD LENGTH: THE WORD LENGTH FOR THIS
ASSIGNMENT IS 1500 WORDS. PLEASE ENSURE THAT
YOU STAY WITHIN THIS LIMIT AND NOT GO OVER IT
(10% leeway allowed either way).
Marking Criteria
The marking criteria for the second assignment is as follows:
For (4) Pass or better:
· evidence that you have engaged in analysis of the text,
indicating logical connections between signs at various levels,
as distinct from simply identifying and describing signs. Some
attention to mode of address and reading positions.
· evidence that you have read and understood
the main definitions of key terms, arguments, concepts,
examples relevant to answering the question.
· attention to the criteria specified in the question.
· written expression is adequate, with minimum grammatical,
spelling and punctuation errors.
· referencing compliant with requirements to an adequate level.

3. For (5) Credit or better:
· a more thorough analytical engagement with the text,
indicating logical connection between signs at various levels,
and their production of meaning, mode of address and reading
positions.
· evidence that terms and concepts are used correctly.
· attention to the criteria specified in the question.
· little or no redundant material, i.e. material which does not
extend or develop argument.
· written expression is good, with minimum grammatical,
spelling and punctuation errors.
· referencing generally compliant with requirements.
For (6) Distinction or better:
· thorough analysis of a range of signs and sign systems at work
in the text, drawing out complexities of signification and the
production of meaning, mode of address and reading positions.
· evidence that terms and concepts are used strategically to
further analysis.
· no grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors. No redundant
material. Essay is coherent.
· referencing fully compliant with requirements.
For (7) High Distinction:
· as well as the above criteria, the essay should be outstanding
in every way. There should be very little in this essay that could
be faulted.
· high level of capacity to use terms in strategic ways, to
advance an argument or point. It should show command over the
way the text produces meaning at all levels.
· engage in a critical reading of the text, its relation to broader
cultural and social meanings, identities.
· ideas clearly expressed, with no problems of ambiguity or lack
of clarity.

4. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION COVER SHEET
Student name:
Student Number:
Course code: CMM19
Assignment: Assessment Item 2: Semiotic Analysis
This is an electronic submission. By submitting your assignment
electronically you are accepting the conditions outlined in the
Academic Integrity Declaration.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY DECLARATION
Breaches of academic integrity (cheating, plagiarism,
falsification of data, collusion) seriously compromise student
learning, as well
as the University’s assessment of the effectiveness of that
learning and the academic quality of the University’s awards.
All

5. breaches of academic integrity are taken seriously and could
result in penalties including failure in the course and exclusion
from the
University. Students should be aware that the University uses
text-matching software to safeguard the quality of student
learning
and that your assignment will be checked using this software. I
acknowledge and agree that the examiner of this assessment
item
may, for the purpose of marking this assessment item: reproduce
this assessment item and provide a copy to another Griffith staff
member; and/ submit this assessment item to a text-matching
service. This web-based service will retain a copy of this
assessment
item for checking the work of other students, but will not
reproduce it in any form. Examiners will only award marks for
work within
this assignment that is your own original work. I, hereby certify
that : except where I have indicated, this assignment is my own
work,
based on my personal study and/or research. I have
acknowledged all materials and sources used in the preparation
of this
assignment whether they be books, articles, reports, lecture
notes, or any other kind of document or personal
communication. I have

6. not collaborated with another student or person in planning,
developing and writing this assessment item. This assignment
has not
been submitted for assessment in any other course or at any
other time in the same course. I have not copied in part or in
whole or
otherwise plagiarised the work of other students and/or other
persons. I haven’t made this piece of work available to another
student. Providing this declaration falsely is considered a
breach of academic integrity. I have retained a copy of this
assessment
item for my own records.
Assessment Item 2: Semiotic Analysis of Patek Philippe Text
Signs and Sign Systems
The Patek Philippe advertisement (The World of Interiors, 2012,
back cover) is comprised of a
full page image of a woman and girl sitting together drawing.
The woman wears a Patek Philippe

7. watch and ring, also depicted in a smaller image in the bottom
right corner. In the bottom left
corner is a description of the products and a contact number.
The Patek Philippe logo and slogan
“Begin your own tradition” are in the top right corner. There is
also a caption below the main
image “Something truly precious holds its beauty forever”.
If a text is a combination of signs (Thwaites et. al. 2002, p. 77)
and a sign is something which
produces meanings (Thwaites et. al. 2002, p. 9), this
advertisement is a piece of text and all the
components above signs. Studying the main image the reader
immediately has a mental
impression, a “signifier”, as defined by Thwaites et. al., which
creates an abstract concept, a
“signified” (2002, p. 31). yes
The woman leans towards the girl smiling, her arm circling the
girl’s chair in a protective
manner. Watching the child drawing, her pencil is poised ready
to help if needed. Both figures
are attractive and dressed in smart casual attire. Many possible
signifieds, or connotations (Study

8. Guide CMM19 2013, p. 38), can be identified. These
possibilities include femininity, elegance,
mother/daughter, innocence and affluence. Yes It is the line,
“Something truly precious holds its
beauty forever”, that enables denotations to be determined. Yes
Denotations are “the most stable
and objectively verifiable of connotations” (Thwaites et. al.
2002, p. 62). These words remove
ambiguity and anchor the image to the denotation (Study Guide
CMM19 2013, p. 28). In this
case the mother and daughter drawing together signifies
preciousness and beauty. Yes, good
analysis
Transferring the qualities of a girl onto jewellery is an example
of a metaphor (Study Guide
CMM19 2013, p. 34). Yes The Patek Philippe products, like a
child, are “truly precious and hold
their beauty forever”, and investing money in Patek Philippe is
comparable to investing in one’s
children. The signifier of the sketchpad is another metaphor

9. comparing the product to a piece of
art. The mother and daughter are a metonym as they are a part
representing the whole (Study
Guide CMM19 2013, p. 34), in this case a family. yes
Having determined the denotations of the sign, the watch and
rings can be classed as fetish items.
Yes but fetish objects displace hidden desires They are not
necessities, but “designed to enhance
the consumer’s identity or lifestyle and to suggest hidden
desires” (Study Guide CMM19 2013, p.
41). What is the hidden desire? This is supported by the
syntagm, or the combination of signs
(Study Guide CMM19 2013, p. 22) that we see in this text.
These signifiers were selected from a
paradigm, or range, of choices (Thwaites et. al. 2002, p. 43).
They combine into a syntagm
signifying an affluent family full of beauty and preciousness.
This is also an example of the
cultural imaginary (Study Guide CMM19 2013, p. 7). Readers
aspire to own Patek Philippe
jewellery believing it will signify that they are now living the
good life. Generally sound with
some very good points. You’ve missed an opportunity to

10. analyse the hidden desire however.
Commutation Test
A commutation test is conducted to test the paradigmatic value
of the signifiers in a text
changing or interchanging different elements of the signifiers
present (Study Guide
CMM19 2013, p. 25). ✓ The signifier of the woman could be
tested by altering her
appearance. Changing her hair colour from brown to blonde
would not necessarily change the
connotation of elegance; however the sign would lose its
meaning as a metonym for family and
the connotation of the mother/daughter relationship would not
be so apparent. Thus the physical
appearance of the woman and child and the familial
resemblance between the two has a high
certain paradigmatic value.

11. Another signifier that has a high paradigmatic value is the
clothes that the mother is wearing.
Exchanging the simple, yet classic top she is currently wearing
for a ratty tracksuit would not
alter the mother/daughter connotation, but would alter that of
elegance and femininity and the
connotation of Patek Philippe as a luxury brand would
disappear. But this is not a likely signifier
here.
A third commutation test could be carried out on the sketchpad
as a signifier, replacing the
drawing with maths homework. Whilst the comparison drawn
between the product and the
artwork could no longer take place, the connotations of family
and beauty are not altered, nor is
the overall meaning of the text. The connotations of
preciousness and beauty could still be
drawn, indicating that the paradigmatic value of the sketchpad
is not as high as the appearance or

12. clothes of the people in the image. ✓
Good work.
The Gaze
The addresser and addressee are positions both constructed and
linked by the text (Study Guide
CMM19 2013, p 11). In this case the authorial presence of the
addresser is indirectly addressing
the reader. ✓ Both the woman and the girl are looking at the
sketchpad in front of them, and
the reader “is given the role of voyeur” (Glossary of terms
CMM19 2013, p. 6). Bearing witness
rather than voyeurism But however oblivious the woman is to
the reader, she would be fully
aware of the image she is projecting: feminine and elegant, yet
maternal. As a subject of the
male gaze she is constantly aware of how she appears and her
capacity to be looked at by men
(Study Guide CMM19 2013, pp. 13-14). ✓

13. Sturken and Cartwright (2001, p. 76) suggest that women are
presented as being either a sexual
being or a maternal figure by the media. ✓ The demure clothing
and conservative hairstyle
chosen from a paradigm of signifiers suggest she is portraying
the maternal figure. However she
is still very attractive according to modern conventions: slim
and pretty, with a perfect, clear
complexion and glossy hair. Together with the young girl they
“conform to a rigid set of
normative codes about beauty” and “go hand in hand with an
image culture which incites
women, and increasingly men, to see themselves and their
appearance as inadequate in some
way.” (Sturken & Cartwright 2001, p. 82). ✓
The addressee produced by the text is someone who aspires to
the myths of beauty and affluence
in the text. A woman who reads the text is a female wishing to
be the subject of the male gaze
(Study Guide CMM19 2013, p. 14).

14. Good work on the gaze, but more needed on the way the two
figures are looking in terms of the
maternal gaze.
Myth and Ideology
When analysing text, myths are metonyms; they are a single
particular idea that ends up
representing everything in that system. (Thwaites et. al. 2002,
p. 67)
Myths present in this text include the myth of female beauty, as
identified by Dyer (1997, p. 122)
as “the white woman”, the myth of females being the nurturing
sex, the myth of the innocence of
childhood and the myth of the good life. Also myth of the
nurturing mother
The reader accepts these connotations and myths as normal and
they fit together to form a
coherent pattern or ideology (O’Sullivan et. al. 1994, p. 287). ✓
In this case the ideology of the
perfect family. ✓ These myths and ideology ies naturalise the
meaning of the perfect family to

15. being western and white, middle to upper middle class, with two
parents of which the mother
takes on the role of nurturing and raising children.✓ avoid
running myth and
ideology together. Do not give the impression that they are
one and the same thing
This is an example of binary opposition where the strategy of
othering is used (Study Guide
CMM19 2013, pp. 31-32). This ideological family is set up as
being normal or unmarked, whilst
any family that does not resemble this is abnormal or marked
(Study Guide CMM19 2013, pp.
32-33). This results in the text excluding childless adults,
families of other races, single-parent
families or families of lower classes as ever being classed as a
perfect family.
Good work
Dominant, Negotiated, and Oppositional Readings

16. Reading the text at face value, accepting the interaction
between the signs and making the
denotations as intended is considered a dominant reading of the
text (Study Guide CMM19 2013,
p. 49). The preciousness and beauty of the watch and ring
signified in the image is accepted by
the reader, as is the notion that Patek Philippe is a luxury brand
and owning their jewellery will
equate to living an affluent lifestyle. The reader would also
acknowledge the investment as
comparable to investing in something as precious as children
and family. ✓
If “the myths portrayed are questioned” and the reader “does
not completely inhabit the
addressee role” a negotiated reading is taking place (Thwaites
et. al. 2002, p. 92). Reading this
text it could be acknowledged that wearing an expensive watch
and jewellery may be a sign of
affluence, but that buying them does not necessarily make one
affluent. The reader could also
start to question the comparison between family and jewellery;
having an expensive watch and

17. ring does not ensure a perfect family. ✓
In an oppositional reading the myths present in the text are
exposed and the addressee role is
rejected (Thwaites et. al. 2002, p. 92). The reader does not
aspire to be a part of the ideological
perfect family, and recognises that buying a fetish object does
not elevate anyone into a higher
class. Investing in luxury items is not attainable for everyone
and non-affluent people who aspire
to these ideals would be better investing money in their family,
not jewellery. ✓
Good.
Reference List
Patek Philippe advertisement, The World of Interiors, October
2012, back cover

18. Tony Thwaites, Lloyd Davis and Warwick Mules 2002,
Introducing Cultural and Media Studies:
A Semiotic Approach, Palgrave, London.
Study Guide CMM19 Text and Culture 2013, School of
Humanities, Griffith University,
Brisbane.
Glossary of terms CMM19 Text and Culture 2013, School of
Humanities, Griffith University,
Brisbane.
Sturken, Marita and Cartwright, Lisa 2001, Practices of
Looking: an Introduction to Visual
Culture, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
O’Sullivan, Tim et. al. 1994, Key Concepts in Communication
and Cultural Studies, Routledge,
London.
Dyer, Richard 1997, 'The glow of the white woman', in Richard
Dyer, White, Routledge,
London.

19. Your analysis needs to:
(i) identify and describe the signsand sign systems at
work in the text, including any or all of
the following: syntagms, paradigms, metonym,
metaphor, connotations, denotations,
icon/index/symbol, mode of address, binary
oppositions, othering, intertextuality,
ambiguity (500 words, 10 marks)
(ii) undertake a commutation test to test the
paradigmatic value of one or more of the
signifiers
(250 words, 5 marks)
(iii) show how the gaze operates in the text (250 words,
5 marks)
(iv) show how the text includes and excludes identities
and meanings through myth and
ideology (250 words, 5 marks).
(v) show how the text can be read in terms of
dominant, negotiated, and oppositional readings
(250 words, 5 marks)
(vi) Writing, referencing (-5 marks). Marks will be
deducted (maximum of 5) for incorrect
grammar, spelling, punctuation, referencing, and essay
composition.

20. This is a very good analysis. Covers most of the
elements required and demonstrates strong grasp
of
concepts.