http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheenachi/108311326/
This first image is one of a memorial in my town (East Brunswick, NJ) for the victims of the 9/11 tragedy, and especially those who were residents of my town. It was erected in the municipal complex in my town that houses the library, police department and senior center. It lies next to the Veterans Memorial (the flag statue in the background). It acts as an icon, a symbol and an index. First, it is an icon because the memorial is built in the shape of the Twin Towers, and has American flags on it to secure its function as an image of the towers. It is a symbol because it, in reality, is two vertical rectangular prisms, but is understood as the Twin Towers due to its association with the neighboring veterans statue, the words upon it, and the American flags. It is an index because it matters that it is in a town somewhat near New York City. If it were place in Austrailia, for example, it would mean something different, and especially because it bears the names of my town residents who died.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sheenachi/3377629728/
This image is from the inside of our local Circuit City, which was doomed to close as all other Circuit City’s were after the company went bankrupt this year. This image really has two signs in it, first, the “PC Accessories” Sign, and next the sale signs underneath it. The PC accessories sign acts as an icon and index. It is an icon for the picture of a mouse, a PC Accessory. It is an index because it is located above the PC Accessories. More important to me, however, are the sale signs. They are symbols and indexes. They are symbols because they contain words, which represent arbitrary aspects of the language. Their role as an index is paramount. They are in reference to the PC accessories section, but also to the sign above them, and also indexes because of the store they are in. They also bring up the fact that they are not only indexical of the sign’s or store’s location physically, but also the status of the store, and that is, bankruptcy. While symbolizing it, it does not indicate this fact explicitly, only through indexing.
http://www.ebyouthcouncil.com/images/EBHS.gif
I apologize for the quality and size of the image, but this is a particularly interesting sign in front of my high school. Its bushes are cut to read EBHS (East Brunswick High School). It faces the road, since our high school is on a hill and not visible from the road. It is accompanied by an electronic sign that projects surrounding school events. The bush sign is a symbol and an index. It is a symbol because it represents the four arbitrary letters of the high school, but could stand for something else in a different place. It is highly indexical, because it stands in front of its namesake, and it indicates the pride of the school it stands for and for the town. During our year of graduation, some students arranged sticks under the sign to read “EBHS ’08″, indicating further pride in our graduating year. It is a unique sign because of its medium, plants, and therefore it symbolizes a regard for the school’s attempt to be “green”.
