Human communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Human communication - Essay Example According to Saussure, a signifier is a label attached to an object under discussion, and the signified is the object or mental concept of the object. The two units form the sign, but no absolute rules connecting the signifier and signified exist. This creates an arbitrary relationship with the physical impression often contradicting the mental concept (Signs 2007). Toyota has applied this concept to the extreme with an advertisement that shows an idyllic country scene with a lush green landscape. The focus, however, is on one tree, entwined with almost naked human bodies ( Zero 2007). In this very visual ad, denoting, according to the accompanying text (which is so tiny, it is difficult to read), the need for balance between man and nature, the signifier, or label, is the title of the adZero Emissionsè ¬ ¡hich has no real connection to the pictorial aspect of the ad. Charles S. Peirce was a theorist of logic, language, communication and the general theory of signs. He expanded Saussures theories of signifier and signified, adding more theories to the communication process (Burch 2007). The scene in Toyotas ad follows Peirces concept of Icon, Index and Symbol. The object is zero emissions depicting its message of mans concern for nature, and the tree of life is an icon showing the connection and thereby creating the index. The symbol, however, is the arbitrary connection, the word TOYOTA printed in red . The word Toyota calls forth a picture of a car, which represents damage to the environment through harmful emissions. Toyota, however, in the text for the ad, promises zero emissions as a future goal. By combining visual and verbal, the company manages to create a positive image for its customers from an arbitrary connection, with a hybrid automobile representing the present global emphasis on green. The scantily clad men and women in the ad brin g to mind the Garden of Eden and this creates a mental image of

Myth as a Precursor to History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Myth as a Precursor to History - Essay Example History is something different altogether, history is not used to explain natural phenomenon's or uncover aspects of daily life. History is fact that typically cannot be augured. It has evidence, it is fact. Ken Dowden states "History is what myth isn't.What history tells is true or else it would not be history, only failed history. What myth tells us is in some way false or it would be history"2 Myths can be said to have graduations of credibility, Dowden uses the example of the myth of Athena being born from Zeus head and compares it to Agamemnon's expedition to Troy to show that there are different levels of credibility in myth. As obviously there was never a women born from a man's head. Yet it is suggested that there was a Trojan War and Agamemnon's expedition to Troy has a place in history. In the example of Dowdens, we can see that myth can be a herald to history, as many believed that Homer's epic poem, The Iliad, was based not on a historical reality, but on mythical heroes. Heinrich Schliemann held a different view, believing in Homers war, he combined studies of Homeric text and fieldwork and published observations about Mycenae and the location of Troy in 1869.Although Schlie mann's arcelogical techniques were brought under criticism by many, ("Schliemann's excavations at Troy were not a good model of archaeological technique. Only solid structures were noticed and recorded, and they were rapidly demolished to reveal earlier features."3) Schliemann's aim was to identify the geographic setting of Homers Iliad only from literature and he brought the Greek Bronze Age and its antecedents to light for the first time. Not content with his identification of Troy, he also dug at Mycenae and revealed an unknown prehistoric civilization. The Japanese creation myth started out with the earth being a formless void of nothing but muddy water. From that water a green shoot sprung and inside it was the first god, who made all the other gods. Out of all he created though, Izagami and Izanami were the most perfect. The islands of Japan were formed when Izagami poked his staff through the clouds to see what was on the surface of the earth. As he lifted the staff from the muddy water, clumps of mud fell on top of the water and formed into the islands of Japan. The pair went down to the earth, and everywhere they went, flowers and plants sprouted. They had four children. One was the sun, one was the moon, one lived in the water and created storms and such, and from the fourth, the line of the emperors of Japan was established. In the Egyptian creation myth, most of the details are very similar to the Japanese myth. The world starts out covered in water, from one god all the others are created, and two of the gods, Osiris and Isis, sort of led all the rest. From them came all the rulers of Egypt, just like how in the Japanese myth Izanami and Izagami had a child who eventually had a child who was the first emperor of Japan. In the African origin myth of how leopards became spotted, the leopard invites fire over for dinner.