1. What are the signifier and signified of an engagement ring? Can you think of a
way that this sign has already been stripped of history?
2. Why did Barthes think it was crucial to unmask or deconstruct the original
denotation of a sign?
3. Identify two or more distinct nonverbal signifiers from different reality TV shows
that have basically the same signified—“You’re out of here.”
4. “It’s not over ’til the fat lady sings”: what are the denotative signifier, signified,
and sign to which this statement originally referred? When spoken about a
baseball game, what connotative shift has altered the meaning of the original
sign?
