Worked example: Semiotic systems at work in the text
Text: Grim Crims and Convicts by Jackie French, ‘Pests, Pox and Plague’ (Chapter 7), pages 63–65
| Semiotic system | What can you identify in the text and what meaning does this have for the reader? |
|---|---|
Visual Frame/shot Angle Colour Lighting Intertextuality Objects as symbols
|
Image on page 64 is a long shot to give the reader lots of information about what is happening: there are very sick Indigenous people and the colonists are helping them. Consider why grey tones were selected as a design element. Image on page 65 is a very long shot to take in a large area that shows nobody is there. Although the image represents Indigenous people as ‘gone’, actually they were not all gone. Some survived and there are still strong Indigenous communities there today. Object as symbol – image of rat – associated with plague and disease. |
Audio Pitch Volume Expression Pacing Voice Silence Sound effects Music |
There are no call-outs used in this part of the text. |
Gestural Expressions Gestures Movement Gaze Proximity Physical contact Facial expressions Body language |
Image on page 64 shows the colonists helping the Indigenous people. They are in close contact: one is even carrying an Indigenous person on his back. An Indigenous person lies on the ground as if very sick or dead. People in boats have their heads hung as if they are sick. Guards are in the water helping. All of these features give a message that the colonists were helpful to the sick Indigenous people. |
Spatial Layout and landscape How things are organised How things are placed on a page Setting and props |
Separate text boxes on pages 63 and 64 – salience – used to highlight the important information. Shape of boxes is like a piece of paper and the box that tells about the death of Arabanoo is like a notice. Use of subtitles to organise information. Placing the images on pages 64 and 65 almost side by side: before and after. |
