Example of first chapter in a thesis
This time I'd like to share the sample writing of Chapter I in a thesis. It will discuss about semiotics using Roland Barthes' theory:
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of
the
Study
Semiotics
or semiology is generally defined as the study of sign. As stated by Ferdinand de
Saussure, “semiology is a science that
studies the life of signs within society is conceivable” (Pierre Guiraud,
1975: 1). The term is taken from Greek words бημείου ‘sign’ and σήμα ‘signal’.
The Latinized transliteration of the Greek form semeio- has become the basis derivation of various terms in field
of semiotics and semantics (Winfried Nöth, 1990:13). Semiotics is developed
greatly by several founders; some who are influential in this field are Pierce,
Saussure, and Barthes.
Each
founder have their own concept of sign, like Charles Sanders Pierce who
categorized sign into three categories which he called ‘triple connection of
sign’ that consist of sign, thing signified, and cognition produced in mind. Diferrent
from Pierce, Ferdinand de Saussure has different concept as well. He divides
linguistic sign into two sides; they are signified (mental concept) and signifier
(material concept). As the previous
founder, Roland Barthes also has his own concept of sign. He separates sign
into three messages: a linguistic message, a coded iconic message
(connotation), and a non-coded iconic message (denotation). Since this thesis will
be analyzed based on Barthes’ concept, his theory will be discussed deeper.
Semiotics
which studies sign system has many forms in application, such as languages, codes,
set of signals, etc. Language is part of semiotics because it has a privileged
and autonomous status, and it is defined as the study of linguistic sign system.
One of the real applications of semiotics is advertisement can be found in many
kinds of media like television, radio, newspaper, magazine, online, etc.
In
this thesis, I will analyze audiovisual advertisement of Samsung mobile phone
taken from video-sharing website called YouTube. The advertisement which is in
form of short movie
entitled “Samsung Galaxy
A8: In 20 hours ft. Eva Celia – Short Movie” was published on November 20, 2015 by the name of Samsung Indonesia.
I choose to take the object from online source, because nowadays many people
can easily access everything in virtual world. I will analyze both linguistic
sign system and non-linguistic sign system of the advertisement since it is in
form of video. The advertising video is
not only promotes the mobile phone, but also contains other messages. Therefore,
I am interested in analyzing the advertisement in form of short movie to
uncover its denotative meaning, connotative meaning, and myth.
1.2.
Research Questions
Based on the explanation of the background of the
study above, the questions that will be discussed can be seen as the following:
1.
How
are the meaning of denotation and connotation of the Samsung mobile phone
advertisement entitled “Samsung
Galaxy A8: In 20 hours ft. Eva Celia – Short Movie”?
2.
What
are the messages contained in the Samsung mobile phone advertisement?
1.3. Purpose of
the
Study
The
main purpose of this study is answering the research questions; it is to
investigate the meaning contained in the Samsung mobile phone advertisement
entitled “Samsung Galaxy
A8: In 20 hours ft. Eva Celia – Short Movie”. In analyzing the meaning, the researcher will use
Roland Barthes’ theory; therefore, there will be three output meanings; they
are denotative meaning, connotative meaning, and myth. Each scene of the
advertisement will be analyzed from the three meanings and will be described
the message contained. This explanation hopefully can be reference for people
who have not understood the meaning of the advertisement and can be more
interested in studying semiotics.
1.4. Scope of the Study
The
object of the research will focus on the advertisement video of Samsung Galaxy
A8 taken from online sites called YouTube. The video that will be analyzed are
only the video entitled “Samsung
Galaxy A8: In 20 hours ft. Eva Celia – Short Movie”, because the video has a
quite long duration for an advertisement; it is 9 minutes. In addition, by
using the semiotic theory of Roland Barthes, this study will focus on three main analyses:
denotative meaning, connotative meaning, and myth that will be described broader on each scene.
1.5. Previous
Studies
There
are several previous studies that can be taken as references related to Roland
Barthes’ semiotics. The first is a thesis written by Siti
Sopianah (2010) entitled “Analisis
Semiotik terhadap Iklan Susu Bendera Edisi Ramadhan 1430 H di Televisi”. She
analyzed the milk advertisement using Roland Barthes’ theory, therefore; she described the denotative meaning, connotative meaning, and myth
of every scene of the video. In describing the thesis, she was not only
described the analysis but also explained the type of shot on the scene.
However, she did not make a deep analysis of the verbal communication, but she made the overall analysis.
The
second study was written by Sri Wahyuningsih (2014) that analyzed the Samsung mobile phone advertisement version Gading
and Giselle in Madura Island. On her journal, she also used Roland Barthes’
theory in analyzing the advertisement. She focused on describing the cow racing
as Madura people’s tradition in denotative and connotative meaning. She united
the connotative meaning and myth as one component as second order
signification.
The
third previous study used as reference is entitled Pemaknaan Lirik Lagu Imagine (Studi Analisis Semiotika Pemaknaan Lirik
Lagu Imagine yang Dipopulerkan Oleh John Lennon) by Aldino Agusta Walad.
His research focused on song lyrics ‘imagine’
which was analyzed using Roland Barthes’ theory. He explained the three output
meaning of each line of the song, but he just interpreted the meaning shortly
on the table.
Based
on the previous researches, there are spaces that can be filled in this
research such as make a deep analysis of the object of
the study, not only the whole advertisement, but also describe the linguistic
sign of it. I will
also describe the denotative meaning, connotative meaning, and myth of each scene
of the advertisement,
and the type of shot as well.
1.6. Writing Organization
CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION
This chapter consist
of background of the study, research questions, purpose of the study, scope of
the study, and previous studies.
CHAPTER II : THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
It contains the underlying
theory
CHAPTER III : RESEARCH METHOD
It discussed the types
of research, data and sources, population, sample & sampling technique,
data collecting method, and data analyzing method.
CHAPTER IV : DISCUSSION
It describes the
analisis of the data. The explanation will be the answer of the research questions
that are wanted to identify.
CHAPTER V : CONCLUSION
This chapter
contains the conclusion of the analysis and suggestion for the next researchers
who are interested to this topic.
References:
Guiraud,
Pierre. (1975). Semiology. Great
Britain: Routledge & Kegan Paul
Cobley, Paul and Litza Jansz.
(1997). Introducing Semiotics. United
States: Totem Books
Fiske, John. (1990). Introduction to Communication Studies (2nd
edition). London:Routledge
Nöth,
Winfried. (1990). Handbook of Semiotics.
USA: Indiana University Press
