Structuralism

The term structuralism is used in many contexts in different disciplines in the 20th centry. Structuralism proposes the idea that many phenomena do not occur in isolation, but instead occur in relation to each other, and that all related phenomena are part of a whole with a definite, but not nec

essarily defined, structure. Structuralists, in any area of knowledge, attempt to perceive that structure and the changes that it may undergo with the goal of furthering the development of that system of phenomena or ideas.

Denotation & Connotation

So, What is denotation ,Denotation is the specific, literal image, idea, concept, or object that a sing refers to.

And Connotation is the figurative cultural assumpitions that the image implies or suggests. It involves emotional overtones, subjective interpretation, socio-cultural values, and ideological assumptions.
Examples:
Stop Sign


 Denotation—Stop (even without words, we recognize the meaning from the shape and color)
Connotation—Risk (accident or ticket)
Health club ad

Denotation, fit person in foreground, you could look like this Connotation fit person in background you could pick up a date like this in our club

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Reading the signs (semiotics)

 It's true! Most men don't even know it, and even more of us don't notice even the most basic nonverbal signals that women send out. But regardless of how oblivious you may be, body language still affects your life in a major way on a daily basis. During a typical conversation, the body language of the individuals talking can tell you everything you need to know about their interaction even if you can't hear what they are saying. That makes it very powerful when harnessed by someone who has mastered the art of reading body language.

intertextuality

Shannon's Model of the Communication Process

Shannon's (1948) model of the communication process is, in important ways, the beginning of the modern field. It provided, for the first time, a general model of the communication process that could be treated as the common ground of such diverse disciplines as journalism, rhetoric, linguistics, and speech and hearing sciences. Part of its success is due to its structuralist reduction of communication to a set of basic constituents that not only explain how communication happens, but why communication sometimes fails. Good timing played a role as well. The world was barely thirty years into the age of mass radio, had arguably fought a world war in its wake, and an even more powerful, television, was about to assert itself. It was time to create the field of communication as a unified discipline, and Shannon's model was as good an excuse as any. The model's enduring value is readily evident in introductory textbooks. It remains one of the first things most students learn about communication when they take an introductory communication class. Indeed, it is one of only a handful of theoretical statements about the communication process that can be found in introductory textbooks in both mass communication and interpersonal communication

Shannon's Model of the Communication Process

Media and Everyday Life ....

It is completely true how the media is changing our life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWNXg7Vt-ig