306F W19 McMurry | English Language and Literature

ENGL 306F

Dr. Andrew McMurry

HH 265, ext. 32121

amcmurry@uwaterloo.ca

Office hours: Wednesday 1:45-2:45 and by appointment

Overview:

Semiotics is the discipline that studies the capacity of humans and others to make, disseminate, and understand signs. What is a sign? Basically, a sign is anything that can stand for something else. Obviously, then, the range of semiotic inquiry is very broad--from the dance of the honey-bee to the films of Christopher Nolan, from the expression on your face at this moment to a segment of your DNA. In this course we'll have three main tasks: to read about the history and theory of semiotics; to learn the vocabulary and methodology of semiotics; to practice this vocabulary and methodology on all kinds of everyday things.

Texts:

306F course book

Roland Barthes, Mythologies

Daniel Chandler, Semiotics: The Basics (recommended)

Assignments and Evaluations:

Students are expected to complete all course readings for the week before class and come prepared to discuss them. Students will be apprised of the examination formats before they are administered. Assessment will be based on the following:

Weekly Interventions: 10 points

Students will respond to at least 10 readings from the course material (the choices are noted in the schedule, below). For each cogent, thoughtful intervention—filed no later than 8 AM on day the reading is to be discussed—students will be awarded 1 point. Students are encouraged to read, and may respond to, each others’ interventions; “responses to responses” will count as interventions. Late submissions will not be counted. Length: minimum of 250 words.

Midterm: 25 points

The test will cover all terms and concepts studied to this point.

Mythology: 25 points

Students will analyze artifacts of their choice using the terms and methods we've discussed. The choice of artifact is open, but some which tend to conform well to the length and depth requirements include:

Found objects (things you come across in your everyday travels)

Final Examination: 35 points

The exam will be designed primarily to test students’ ability to apply semiotic principles to supplied artifacts.

Class Attendance and Participation: 5 points

Schedule: (* indicates eligible readings for interventions)

Date	Topics	Readings
Jan 7	What is/are sem(e)iotic(s)?
Jan 9	History of the sign	Pierce; Saussure; Chandler Ch.1
Jan 14	History of the sign	Pierce; Saussure; Chandler Ch.1
Jan 16	Natural signs	Sebeok*; Chandler Ch. 2
Jan 21	Structure	Chandler Ch. 3
Jan 23	The semiotic square	Floch*
Jan 28	Myth	Barthes, “Myth Today”; Chandler Ch. 4
Jan 30	Critical vocabularies: power & ideology	Thwaites*; Chandler Ch. 5
Feb 4	Critical vocabularies: power & ideology	Hall*
Feb 6	Modality	Van Leeuwen*
Feb 11	Semiotics and literature	Bowles*; Chandler Ch. 6
Feb 13		Midterm test
Feb 18	No class meeting
Feb 20	No class meeting
Feb 25	Semiotics and popular culture	Barthes, “Mythologies”*
Feb 27	Semiotics and popular culture	Harris*
Mar 4	Fashion codes	Owyong*
Mar 6	Social media codes	Rightler-McDaniels*
Mar 11	Memes	Grundlingh*
Mar 13	Comic codes	Batman comic selections in coursebook
Mar 18	Food codes	Sahlins*
Mar 20	Gender codes	Adams*; Mythology due
Mar 25	Proxemics	Canetti*
Mar 27	Buildings and architecture	Jencks*
Apr 1	Film codes	Monaco*
Apr 3	Screening of La Jeteé	Take-home exam released
Apr 17		Take home exam due

Class Format & Electronic Device Policy

This is an old-fashioned lecture-discussion course, which prioritizes open-ended questioning, on-the-fly critical thinking, face-toface interchange, and verbal presentation. Please turn off and put away laptop computers, phones, and other electronic devices, which distract and undermine discussion and engagement.

Fine Print

Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility.

Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity, to avoid committing academic offences, and to take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/ collaboration should seek guidance from the course professor, academic advisor, or the Undergraduate Associate Dean. When misconduct has been found to have occurred, disciplinary penalties will be imposed under Policy 71 – Student Discipline. For information on categories of offenses and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71 - Student Discipline.

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4.

Appeals: A student may appeal the finding and/or penalty in a decision made under Policy 70 - Student Petitions and Grievances (other than regarding a petition) or Policy 71 - Student Discipline if a ground for an appeal can be established. Read Policy 72 - Student Appeals. Other sources of information for students: Academic Integrity website (Arts) Academic Integrity Office (UWaterloo) Accommodation for Students with Disabilities Note for students with disabilities: The AccessAbility Services office, located on the first floor of the Needles Hall extension, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the AS office at the beginning of each academic term.