## Activity 4.1 — Icon, Index, Symbol: Sorting the Temple ★

Pair → Whole-class 40 min Phone camera (optional)

Practices: the three sign types by the sign–object relation (§4.2); signs usually combine types.

A Thai temple (wat) is a dense field of signs. Classify each of the following as **icon** (resemblance), **index** (real/causal connection), or **symbol** (convention). Then, note where a sign is **more than one type at once**: | Sign at the wat | Icon? | Index? | Symbol? | |---|---|---|---| | A Buddha image in meditation posture | | | | | Rising smoke from incense (thup) | | | | | The wheel of Dharma (thammachak) | | | | | A nāga sculpture on the staircase | | | | | Footprints/worn stone on a much-used step | | | | | The color saffron of a monk's robe | | | | | A mural depicting the Vessantara Jātaka | | | |

Instructor notes

- Buddha image: **icon** (resembles a seated human) + **symbol** (posture/mudra is coded). Incense smoke: **index** of burning/ongoing worship. Wheel of Dharma: **symbol** (conventional) with **iconic** shape. Nāga: **symbol** (protective mythic being) rendered **iconically**. Worn step: **index** of heavy use over time. Saffron robe: **symbol** (monastic status), color is conventional. Jātaka mural: **icon** (depicts scenes) + **symbol** (episodes readable only if you know the story/code). - The intended lesson (§4.2): almost nothing is purely one type. Reward students who see the layering. This directly refutes the beginner instinct that "a picture is just an icon." - Optional fieldwork version: students photograph their own examples and present the classification.

## Activity 4.2 — One Sign, Three Relations: The Banknote

Individual 25 min

Practices: analyzing a single complex sign across all three relations (§4.2); the object (§4.4).

Take a **Thai banknote** (any denomination). In three short paragraphs, analyze it as: 1. an **icon**: what does it resemble or depict? 2. an **index**: what real connections does it carry? 3. a **symbol**: what does it stand for by pure convention? Finish with one sentence on this puzzle: the *paper* is nearly worthless, yet the *sign* commands goods and services. Where does the value live?

Instructor notes

- Icon: portraits, buildings, imagery. Index: serial number (points to a unique note), security thread (causally produced), physical wear (index of circulation). Symbol: monetary value and legal tender status are conventional (§4.2), echoing §1.2's "money is a sign of value." - The closing puzzle re-states Saussure's **value** (§3.6) in Peircean terms and previews **codes/systems** (Ch 6): the note works only within an institutional system. - Sensitivity: Thai banknotes bear the royal portrait. Keep the analysis to how signs function; treat imagery respectfully and avoid defacing real notes (analyze, don't mark them).

## Activity 4.3 — The Interpretant Chain: สบาย (sabai)

Group (3–5) 25 min

Practices: the interpretant as itself a sign and unlimited semiosis (§4.3).

Sit in a circle. Start with one sign: the word **สบาย (sabai)** translatable as "comfortable / at ease." The first person gives an **interpretant**: another sign that expresses its meaning (a synonym, an image, a gesture, an example: "like lying in a hammock"). The next person interprets *that* sign, and so on around the circle, as fast as you can. Keep going for two full loops. Then look back at the chain and mark: (a) how far you drifted from the start, and (b) whether you ever reached a "final" meaning.

Instructor notes

- This *is* **unlimited semiosis** (§4.3): every interpretant is itself a sign requiring further interpretation ("the meaning of a sign is the sign it has to be translated into"). The chain never ends in a bare meaning: it only stops when the class tires, exactly as the book says. - The drift in (a) demonstrates that meaning is **dynamic and contextual**, not a fixed label. - Careful point (worth stating): the **interpretant is not the interpreter**, it is the interpretation produced, itself a further sign (§4.3). Students routinely conflate the two. - Variant: start from a non-linguistic sign (a photo, a chime) to show semiosis is not limited to words.

## Activity 4.4 — Dynamic vs Immediate Object: The Idol

Pair 25 min

Practices: the distinction between the dynamic object (the real thing) and the immediate object (as represented in a sign) (§4.4).

Pick a public figure everyone knows: a **T-pop / K-pop idol, a footballer, a Muay Thai champion, a monk-teacher**. Collect (describe, don't necessarily paste) several signs that refer to them: an official photo, a fan edit, a news headline, a meme, a statistic. For each sign, state the **immediate object** (the person *as represented in that sign*). Then discuss: what is the **dynamic object** (the actual person) and can any single sign, or all of them together, capture it?

Instructor notes

- Each sign gives only an **immediate object** (a partial, mediated version); the **dynamic object** (the real, whole person) is never fully accessible, it constrains representation but exceeds it (§4.4). This mirrors the book's John Lennon example. - Connect to §1.1's claim that we reach reality only through signs, and to Activity 1.4's debate. - Media-literacy payoff: a fan edit and a news photo are *different immediate objects of the same dynamic object*: a clean way to talk about representation and framing without moralizing.

## Activity 4.5 — Annotate the Street

Individual Homework + 15 min share Phone + free annotation tool

Practices: applying icon/index/symbol to a real multi-sign scene (§4.2).

Photograph a busy Thai street scene (a market lane, a food-stall row, a transit platform). Using any free tool that lets you draw on an image (your phone's markup, Google Slides, Canva, or even paper), **label at least six signs** in the photo, tagging each as **I / X / S** (icon / index / symbol) and adding one word for what it stands for. Bring the annotated image to class. Be ready to defend one classification a classmate might dispute.

Instructor notes

- A technology-based interactive activity, kept lightweight. The disputes are the learning: many street signs are hybrids (a fork-and-spoon café sign is icon + symbol; a queue is an index of demand or interest). - Assess for correct *reasoning*, not for a single correct tag: Peirce's types describe *aspects*, and most signs have several (§4.2). - Reuse the images later for Ch 6 (codes) and Ch 7 (visual semiotics).