This document discusses several key concepts in media language theory: - Denotation refers to literal objects in media texts, while connotation involves the cultural meanings audiences associate with those objects. A poppy could denote just a flower but connote war, violence, and death. - Saussure's semiotic theory proposes that signs have two parts - the signifier, the actual form or object, and the signified, the concept it represents. Words and symbols only have meaning through both parts. - Hall's encoding/decoding model suggests audiences can decode media texts in three ways - accepting the preferred meaning, negotiating some meanings, or taking an oppositional interpretation.