Question 4

The image of the pipe with the words "this is not a pipe" is an example of semiotics. The signifier is something that has no meaning until a social or cultural stereotype is added. This is the signified. Together the signifier and the signified make a sign. In the example of the pipe image, the image is a signifier and the signified is a pipe. Then the text claiming it is not a pipe reminds viewers that it is only an image representing a pipe.

Question 3

In the Ghetto Delta Airlines video the white successful male takes on a specific type of blackness to discuss the ghetto airline. This portrays blackness as always being "ghetto" and speaking in slang. The Everest College advertisement also portrays this through the black man shouting at the camera in what appears to be a poor neighborhood. However, the Everest College commercial takes on the stance that the blacks are all throwing away their future and need to call the college to fix it.

Question 2

An audience fallacy is an assumption or generalization about how an audience feels. An example would be saying that all suburban housewives do not care about the environment. An authorial fallacy is an assumption of an author’s intent. An example would be if an advertisement were to contain a signifier of masculinity, it does not necessarily mean the author intended for it to be there. These are significant because the assumptions can hurt an argument.

Question 1

Cultural study theorists use uppercase letters even for words that are not proper nouns to mean the concept of that word rather than just one of that word. For example, "woman" with a lowercase "w" is talking about a single woman, whereas "Woman" is talking about the idea of what a Woman is.