Meaning

The whole chapter on meaning was very interesting to me, certainly because I had never seen the term "meaning" broken down so minutely. I will agree that meaning is based on a variety of different factors: cultural codes, who sends the message, the receiver's personal experiences, etc. The book states, "The codes of meaning that make up our common culture produce the very reality they represent" (p. 160). I find this interesting because it is very true. How we interpret meaning ends up becoming our reality. If we understand the meaning of X to be that yellow shirts are out of style, then that is our reality, when really there is no meaning of style embedded in the color yellow.

This chapter was definitely something that made you think about how you (individually) understand meaning. It's eye opening because now when I view a message produced by the mass media, I am more focused on what meaning I am getting from it and what factors have caused me to understand such messages to be that way.