Peirce’s interpretants for the analysis of representations of High School students: focus on speech official theme ecological ‘trash’

Abstract

In this exploratory researchpaper we present the results of a study which sought to identify and examine typical High School students’generalization when it comes to the topic household waste. The theoretical framework is inspired in the interpretantsconcept of Peirce’ssemiotic theory. We produce a process of visual literacy in which students were able to express themselves through verbal and pictorial languages, composing a hybrid expression to expose the perceptions that they were acquiring. Through the method of descriptive and interpretative narratives we describe the stages of visual literacy proposed and we cut out for a analysis the phases of artistic creation and imagery reading performed by students. The data reveal that the representations made by the studentstransmit great potential for externalizing dynamics interpretants (meaning on construction), putting into relief the dispute generalizations about pollution in the worldand Pollution versus Animals, containing the aesthetic and evaluative emotional interpretantcategory, prescriptions and compelling propositions in the energetic interpretantcategory, and argumentative force characterized by multiple connotations in the logical interpretantcategory.