Achieving your Dream

By Roisin Mcgranahan

backstory

I did an interview with John Mcgranahan who has achieved his dreams and aspirations in life. I have asked some questions on how he has managed to do this. “When i was 7 or 8 my gran used to go to the auctions and buy old broken radios, speakers, tape recorders and electronic devices and she used to bring them back to her house and when I visited she asked me to fix them” so how did you progress from fixing radios in your grans house to achieving your dream as an electrician “when I was 15 I went to a open day at a technical college and sat a test to become a quantity surveyor with one of the companies that were exhibiting i was successful in the test and then again in the interview process, the company wrote to me and offered me a opportunity to become a qs i was due to start college but i actually wanted to become a electrician so i went and asked the vice principle for advice he then directed me to the electrical section of the collage to speak to the head of the technical department” so what happened next “i then sat a test to become a electrical apprentice and passed i then sat through a interview process and was given a placement with a electrical contactor” what motivated you to keep going to the point where you own your own business “it was easy for me i loved the job i was doing because it was just a job it was my hobby” did you have any hardships or obstacles during the way which could have thrown you off and how did you get through them “my only hardship was that i was paid off at the end of my apprenticeship and it was difficult to find work at the time but i wasn’t the type of person to not work so i left scotland and moved to london to find work the same week” was it difficult following through with your dream “ it wasn’t because it was the only job i knew how to do and i was good at it because i was interested in it i wanted to know every single aspect of the job from where it came from to how it got to the end user” how did you progress from that to working for yourself “ i was very independent and didn’t really like being told what to do so i decided that working fir myself was the best way to achieve my goals” 

Now life

was owning a your own business what you always wanted to do “yes by the time i was 21 i was running jobs large contracts telling 15-20 electricians what to do all people who were older and experienced but i was very confident” what would be your advice to anyone who also wanted to follow their dreams “failure is the key to success you learn more from your mistakes and your failures than you do your successes” was it difficult “i worked for myself 3 times the first 2 times the business failed because of my lack of experiences and business acumen the 3rd time i was 30 and more experienced and used the experience of my last 2 failures to not make the same mistakes again:” what would you say motivated you “it comes from inside i was very independent and didn’t want to give up and had a burning desire to achieve what i wanted in life” now that have achieved your dreams do you feel fulfilled “no i still have a desire to leave a legacy and i don’t think that you ever truly feel like you have achieved success i think people who think they have achieved success is only setting themself up for failure you have to have the desire to keep going , strategizing , expanding and always reaching for the stars but never quite being able to grasp them” do you will ever fully feel fulfilled after your business “ no i dont think ill ever fully feel fulfilled because i still love what i do and its still my hobby i would do it even if i didn’t get paid for it “

advice?

do you think it’s important for people to fully love what they are doing “ i think you have to enjoy the work you do otherwise it feels like a chore if you enjoy your work it’s not a job it’s just getting paid to do something you like” what is the most important reason you think has made you achieve this dream “ i think because i loved what i was doing and was so enthusiastic about it that other people wanted me to do their jobs they could feel the enthusiasm and when your working with people you want them to feel like your happy to be there and wanting to do the job” 

index-A sign with a link to its object

icon– a sign which looks like its object

symbol– a sign with a more random link to its object

Semiotics

sign– something that stands in for something else

code– symbolic tools that are used to create meaning

dominant signifier– the main representative

anchorage– words that have an image to give context

Ferdinand De Saussure

signified– an idea which is summoned by the signifier

signifier– something which stands in for something else

Roland Barthes

Myth– the most apparent quantity of signification which disfigures the meaning by validating arbitrary cultural assumptions in a similar way to the denotative sign.

Radical– something which challenges dominant ideas.

Reactionary– dominant ideas which are confirmed by something

ideology– the reinforcement of codes which are congruent with structures of power

denotation– literal or basic meaning of a signconnotation– the secondary cultural meaning of signs or “signifying signs,” which are then used as the signifiers for a secondary meaning.

Semiotics 

Sign – Stands in for something else 

Code – Symbolic tools used to create meaning 

Convention – Accepted ways of using media code 

Dominant Signifier – The main representative 

Anchorage – Words with an image to provide context 

Ferdinand de Saussure 

Signifier – Stands in for something else 

Signified – Idea being evoked by signifier 

C S Pierce 

Icon – A sign that looks like its object 

Index – A sign that has a link to its object 

Symbol – A sign that has a more random link to its object 

Roland Barthes 

Myth– the most apparent quantity of signification which disfigures the meaning by validating arbitrary cultural assumptions in a similar way to the denotative sign. 

Radical– something which challenges dominant ideas. 

Reactionary– dominant ideas which are confirmed by something 

Ideology– the reinforcement of codes which are congruent with structures of power 

Denotation– literal or basic meaning of a sign 

Connotation– the secondary cultural meaning of signs or “signifying signs,” which are then used as the signifiers for a secondary meaning. 

Semiotics

1. Sign – Stands in for something else
2. Code – Symbolic tools used to create meaning
3. Convention – Accepted ways of using media code
4. Dominant Signifier – The main representative
5. Anchorage – Words with an image to provide context

Ferdinand de Saussure:

1. Signifier – Stands in for something else
2. Signified – Idea being evoked by signifier

C S Pierce:

1. Icon – A sign that looks like its object
2. Index – A sign that has a link to its object
3. Symbol – A sign that has a more random link to its object

Roland Barthes:

1. Signification – Structural levels of signification, meaning or representation.
2. Denotation –  The most basic or literal meaning of a sign.
3. Connotation – The secondary, cultural meanings of signs; or “signifying signs,” signs that are used as signifiers for a secondary meaning.
4. Myth – The most obvious level of signification, but distorts meaning by validating arbitrary cultural assumptions in a way similar to the denotative sign.
5. Ideology – codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power.
6. Radical – Something that challenges dominant ideas.
7. Reactionary – Something that confirms dominant ideas.

1. Paradigm – A collection of signs that all have some sort of connection.
2. Syntagm –  How signs and things are put together and fitted together.

Semiotics

1. Sign: Something that shows or represents something related.
2. Code: Symbols that create meaning in something.
3. Convention: The ways of using code in media.
4. Dominant Signifier: The main sign that represents everything.
5. Anchorage: An image with words that has context.

Ferdinand de Saussure:

1. Signifier: A signs physical form.
2. Signified: The meaning or idea expressed from a sign.

C S Pierce:

1. Icon: A person or thing represented as a symbol.
2. Index: A sign or measure of something.
3. Symbol: Something that stands for something else.

Roland Barthes:

1. Signification: The act of signifying by signs.
2. Denotation: a direct and specific meaning.
3. Connotation: An idea or feeling.
4. Myth: A traditional story.
5. Ideology: A system of ideas and ideals.
6. Radical: Very new and different from the ordinary.
7. Reactionary: A favoring reaction.

1. Paradigm: A type of pattern of something.
2. Syntangm: A combination of interacting signifiers.

Semiotics

Sign – Something that indicates a meaning or conveys information

Code – A tool used to convey/construct meaning.

Convention – Ways to use codes in media

Dominant Signifier – The most important and typically most obvious sign

Anchorage – Words that go along with images to give those images meaning.

Ferdinand De Saussure

Signifier – An object that conveys a meaning

Signified – The meaning of said object

C S Pierce

Icon – Type of sign that has a direct link to the object its representing e.g. a picture

Index – Type of sign where the link is caused by the object e.g. smoke caused by fire

Symbol – Type of sign where the link only exists through rule e.g. words and their meanings

Signification – The representation of meaning

Denotation – The literal meaning of something

Connotation – Any interpretation of something

Myth – A chain of concepts accepted to have a specific meaning

Idealogy – The ideals and ideas that form the basis for a meaning

Radical – Something that goes against conventions and isnt expected

Reactionary – Something that is stereotypical/expected

Syntagm – How signs are positioned with each other to make sense

Paradigm – A collection of similar signs

Semiotics:

1. Sign – Possible to stand for something else
2. Code – Technical and Symbolic codes
3. Convention – the general ways of doing something
4. Dominant Signifier, – Something that stands out
5. Anchorage – an image with context to give meaning

Ferdinand de Saussure:

1. Signifier, – the material form, seen, heard, touch etc
2. Signified, – the mental concept

C S Pierce:

1. Icon, – looks like the object
2. Index, – something that relates to the object
3. Symbol – random link to the object, numbers, colours, alphabets

Roland Barthes:

1. Signification, – a code that we read
2. Denotation, – a description of what you can see in the image
3. Connotation – the meaning we have with the image
4. Myth – to communicate cultural and political meanings
5. Ideology, – a world view of how society should function
6. radical – challenges dominants ideas
7. reactionary – confirming dominants ideas

1. Paradigm – create differentiation in meaning
2. Syntagma – an orderly combination of interacting signifiers which forms a meaningful whole