Definitions

TV Drama: A television drama series that is scripted and normally fictional.
Representation: The action of speaking or acting on behalf of someone or the state of being so represented.
Mediation/Mediated: To resolve or settle differences by working with all the conflicting parties
Stereotype: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing (famales are seen as weak while males are portrayed as strong).
Hegemonic norm: Domination, influence, or authority over another, especially by one political group over a society or by one nation over others (when people assume something e.g. when someone is hetorosexual, gay, lesbian people).
Ideology: a system of ideas and ideals, the set of beliefs characteristic of a social group or individual.
Semiotics: The study os signs and other aspects such as indecation, likeness and communication. semeotics is linked to the field of linguistics (the study of language)
Connotation: An idea or feeling that a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning. (e.g. the colour red can have connotations of love/danger)
Signifies: Be a symbol of; have as meaning.
Signifier: A sign's physical form such as a sound, printed word, or image as a distinct from its meaning.
Types of signifier
-iconic: signs where the signifier resembles the signified, e.g., a picture
-idexical: signs where the signifier is caused by the signified, e.g., smoke signifies fire.
-symbolistic: signs where the relation between the signifier and signified is purely convetional and culturally specific specific e.g. most words
Binary opposites: Is a pair of words with related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning for example good and evil, male and female.
Mode of address: the way that media texts talk to its audience for example second, first and third person
Anchoring: fixing the meaning for example the copy text anchors (fixes to one spot) the meaning of an image (e.g. a rose that could be used for an advertisement for anything like a dating agency to a funeral home) in a print advertisement. The meaning of an image.
Conventions: the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of interview quotes in a print article but conventions are also genre specific.
Conventions of television drama:

TV Dramas are ongoing dramas that typically run week-in, week-out all year round. It features a continuous storyline, dealing with domestic themes and personal or family relationships. It generally has a well known theme tune and intro sequence that has changed very little over the years.