1. “When we engage with media we both act and are acted upon, use and are used.”
Daniel Chandler

3. SYNTACTICAL LEVEL:
IMMEDIATE/FIRST IMPRESSION:
What are the dominant elements on the text?
USE OF COLOUR:
What are the main colours used and where are they used?
OVERALL EFFECT:
What are overall messages that are suggested by the text?

4. REPRESENTATIONAL LEVEL:
What/how are meanings created?
The relationship between –
Key concepts
Key ideas
Objects

5. Consider: SYMBOLIC LEVEL:
Ideology – what ideas are being established? How are they communicated?
Institution – who is speaking? How are they trying to represent their identity and relationship with the consumer?
Context of consumption – where/when will the text be consumed? Why is this important?
Cultural History – when was the text produced? What do you know about social values?
Target Audience – Who is the text aimed at? How do you know?

6. DECONSTRUCTING A TEXT:
Images:
Setting?
Location?
Genders?
Clothing?
Facial expressions?
Emotions of the character?
FOR EACH OF THE SIGNS – CONSIDER WHAT IS BEING SIGNFIED
WHAT MEANINGS ARE BEING REPRESENTED?

7. DECONSTRUCTING A TEXT:
LAYOUT:
Z line – which signs are featured along the Z line? Why?
Thirds – how are the ideas divided up according to the rule of thirds? Which ideas have priority space and why?
Do you notice any relationships between the ideas across the text? Are any ideas repeated? Reinforced? Why?
What do you notice about the use of white space?
What do you notice about the alignments?

8. DECONSTRUCTING A TEXT:
LANGUAGE:
Use of pronouns/direct address
Use of repetition
Use of exclamatory sentences
Use of comparisons
Use of onomatopoeia
Use of dependent clauses
Use of superlatives
Use of tone / relationship with the reader
Use of short sentences
Relationship between the language used and other signifiers

9. DECONSTRUCTING A TEXT:
TYPOGRAPHY
SERIF?
SANS SERIF?
SCRIPT?
DESCRIPTIVE?
*** SEE HANDOUT ON NEXT SLIDE***

11. DECONSTRUCTING A TEXT:
BARTHES FIVE CODES:
The proairetic code: Clues of what will happen next or could be about to happen e.g. she will do her laundry and be happy!
The hermeneutic code: Enigma codes – questions for the audience e.g. where is the husband?
The cultural code: linked to what we already know as part of our culture e.g. gender stereotypes
The semantic code:  connotations e.g. woman smiling = happy to be doing the laundry
The symbolic code: deeper implied meanings e.g. that the role of the woman is keep the house tidy!
What other ideas can you get through these codes?

12. “Language is the only system which is composed of elements which are signfiers and yet at the same time signify nothing.”
Jackobson