3(a) Identify and comment on two examples of anchorage in this text. (4/4)
Anchorage in this text is found in the title of the box “Marks and Spencer Cauliflower Cheese”. This is the simplest example as it is literally telling the viewer exactly what the contents is. The words ‘cauliflower cheese’ are symbols in the way they represent this food because we agree it does however the syntagmatic combination isn’t totally random. Another form of anchorage is the collection of production information stamps on the right hand corner of the page. This tells people it is, in fact, a product.
3(b) The product is represented semiotically as icon, index and symbol.
Give an example of each. (6/6)
The product is represented as an icon in the way that it is a visual reference/representation of the thing it is representing. The photographs are high motivated images making it easier for the viewer to see what the product is and the codes, use-by dates and content information inform us of the fact that this is an icon of a product.
The product is indexical as it indicates meal times. The synecdochic side of the index is how it represents the wider ‘Marks and Spencer’ brand and the metonymic side is how the name triggers off associations to the brand that is Marks and Spencer.
The product is symbolic because of how the green colour scheme has been chosen, how the title has been allocated and how the design has been laid out. These three features are random but we get a sense of the high quality foods because we agree that this something green represents.
The choice of these four images is important as it acts as a visual representation as to the quality of the product and the outcome. The difference in size between the image of the final product and the ingredients suggests how something so grand and delicious can be created in what seems like three previously small and easy steps.
The paradigmatic selection between the images shows the production process in an angelic and natural light; the pure water, perfect slice and gentle notion of grating cheese implies that the final product and largest image is something you can indulge in.
The calligraphic type used for giving a brief blurb on the product has historical links to when children in schools were expected to write like this. If they weren’t they were punished and this implies the strict analysis Marks and Spencer put on their products in order to ensure that it is worthy of a place in their shops.
The rejection of images portraying the sauce-making process shows that M&S are trying to sell this product and gain the preferred reading from all consumers. The referential language and the high motivated icons cause for a high chance of the preferred reading being the made.
Overall the syntagmatic combination created by the four paradigms is there to benefit the sale of this product. The images have been used to ensure that this product looks as appealing as possible to as many people as possible.
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