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.