My favorite Concept

Hi class,

Out of all the concepts learned from reading this book, I believe that audience adaptation is my favorite. Audience adaptaion is defined "when we take into account the beliefs and life experiences of audience members and use that information in constructing a message". This basically means making a message relevant and understandable to the audience. The reason why I like this concept so much is because it is so important, if you want to be a great speaker. In order to get the audiences attention for the entire speech, you have to "speak their language". For example, if you are reading a book or telling a story to a class of first graders, you can talk to them like how you would a class full of colleges students and vis versa, you can't talk to a class full of college students like you would to a bunch of first graders. I met a few people who did not know how to adapt to their audience and their speeches quickly went down hill.

This Class

Hi class

What I have learned throughout this class is the many different communication concepts that I have been using throughout my life, without even knowing. For example, Nonverbal communication, Communication in groups, audience adaption and many more. There are a few things I like about this class like how we can comment on our classmates' post, give them feed back, giving us all a different viewpoints on topics. That is a great way we can learn and grow together. I also like how we were able to learn about the many different communication concepts that we can use in our lives and that we have been using in our lives without even knowing. There are other things that I liked about this class but my favorite thing about this class, is the fact that it is online, and the teacher is so cool.

The only thing that I can say that I did not like about the class, are the test. I love how it is open book but, I did not like the little amount of time we had to find the answers. Even reading through the chapter it was still difficult to find the answers in the short amount of time we had. Overall, this class was great and I really enjoy it. The only thing I say should be changed is to allow more time on the test.

Most Interesting

Hi class,

By reading "Thinking Through Communication" I have learned about many different concepts. Not all, but most of the those concepts that I have read about, I found them to be very interesting and true. Out of all of those concepts that I have read about, the one I found to be most interesting is the nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication in the book is defined as "the study of communication systems that do not involve words". The reason why I have found this concept to be most interesting is because even before I knew what nonverbal communication was, I have been witnessing it through out my entire life.

The interesting thing about nonverbal communication is the fact that we can tell what other people are thinking or feeling just by seeing their body language and facial expressions. In the book they call it Kinesic Code 1: Body Movement and Gesture, and Kinesic Code 2: Facial Expression and Eye behavior. This is so true. You can see if somebody is digusted with something or if they are extremely happy by looking and their facial expression or even their body language.

The nonverbal communication my mom used on me when I was younger that I loved so much was when I was really upset about something or sad, and she just gave me a big hug and a kiss. That comforted me and by her doing it, it let me know that she was telling me that everything was going to be alright, and it made me feel better.

So as you can see, nonverbal communicayion is a concept that I found to be most interesting.

Chapter 2 Concept

Hi class,

A concept that I found to be interesting after reading chapter 2 is the term definition. The term definition "....to determine, bring to an end, or settle". Yes if you read this I'm sure you are thinking to yourself, why is this concept so interesting? The reason I found this to be interesting or better yet, ironic, is because just recently I was bored and playing games on my phone and I just so happend to ease drop on somebody else's conversation. One person was making fun of the other for not knowing how to explain what the word definition means. I kept hearing a group of people laughing too so I got up and walked closer to the scene and saw that it was one teenaged boy and 15 years old getting made fun of by a bunch of people. I felt bad for the kid and stood up for him. Then I also thought to myself, I know what a definition is but I too had a hard time explaining what the word definition means, without saying the word define. Honestly I thought it was funny so when I was reading the beginning of chapter 2 and saw the word definiton, it just reminded me of the situation.

"Build worlds"

Good Afternoon class


I am going to talk about the social constructionist perspective.


In the perspective of the social constructionist, worlds are built through communication. How we view our world, our beliefs, knowledge and perspective, comes from what we hear from people in our culture rather than direct experience. But everybody is not raised and taught all the same thing so people will have different view points on many situations. For example, in the bible days many people did not believe that Jesus was the messiah and that he could perform miracles, but after he was crucified and rose from the dead three days later, many people started to believe.


One idea that we discuss in our culture that may not be discussed in others is that having a stabilized government is very necessary. Our government basically gives us rules and regulations that keeps our country organized and well put versus Mexico whose government is ran by drug lords so everything is chaotic out there. Having a stabilized government is making our country a safer place where we all can live great lives have a great chance of becoming very successful ourselves. Yes our country is not perfect or 100% safe, but at least it is stabilized. 

Moral Delimmas

Hi class,

Enthographers learn from observation. They observe people in their own "territory" and use different approaches to go about their studies. One approach is the covert role. The cover role is basically when the researcher goes undercover and and observes. The problem with this is, the researcher could end up building a relationship with the people he or she is researching and it could be harder for them to lie to the people being researched or even publish the information that was found. Another approach they use is the overt role. The overt role is when the researcher makes it clear to the people he or she is researching, that they are being researched. The problem with this is that the person or people being researched may not like the idea that they are being researched so they might act differently than how they would normally act. This could cause the researcher to find false information which would completely defeat the purpose of even doing the research, finding out the truth.

Honestly to resolve the cover issue, I would make sure while doing my research, to keep everything strictly business so feelings and emotions wont be catched. For the overt role, I probably wont be so blunt with it, so the person who is being researched wont feel so weird about it.

Methods 13.3

Hi class,

The research method found in 13.3 that I thought was most interesting is the Ethnographic Research. Enthnographers learn from observation and that is the exact reason I found it to be most interesting. Its interesting because the researcher "goes undercover as a participant". For example, if I wanted to discover information about why football players are so hungry all the time, I would dress up as one, try out for the team, observe and participate in the activities of a football player. Enthographers do not do this for personal interest, they do it for scientific reasons. There are actual steps and approaches in Enthographic research. The first approach is the covert role. The covert role " goes "under cover" by becoming a member of the group being studied.  The second approach is over role. This is apprach is different because this one is not under cover. The people know  that they are being observed. What can also help this research are field notes, and an informant. Field notes are basically notes that you take from observing and informants are the people who are willing to inform you and answer whatever questions the researcher may have.

If I were to study some aspect of deception  my research question would be, why do some kids in junior high school get bullied? The research method I would use is ofcourse Enthographic, because I think it is really effective. I would also use survey research because you can hear other people's views on the situation.

Chapter 13 concept

Hi class,

A concept I found interesting was the survey research. Survey research is defined as "an investigator chooses a sample of people to question, decides what to ask and how to ask it, either in written or oral form". I found this concept to be interesting because I have done surveys multiple times as an assignment. I actually enjoy doing surveys because you get the privilege to hear a variety of opinions on the topic at hand. The first survey I was assigned to do was in 8th grade about which sport out of football, soccer, and baseball did the people in my age group prefer to be most interesting. I asked the ladies for their view point, but it was unsuccessful. The reason was because the majority of them did not care for sports or did not watch them. As a result of the survey, I noticed football was the most interesting, along came soccer, and finally baseball. Many guys had their own reason why they chose the sport they thought was most interesting, but I felt like the decisions were based off ethnicity. For example, the majority of the black males selected football to be more interesting, hispanics chose soccer; and an even mix of hispanics, cacasions, and blacks chose baseball to be more interesting. As an ending result, I was able to conclude with a variety of different perspectives. Everybody has their own opinions and surveys help obtain a well-rounded general idea overall.

Marshall McLuhan

Hi class,

In terms of media,

I agree with McLuhan's theory that the medium is the message. I do believe that the "channel through which a message is transmitted is as important as the message itself and that the channel, in fact, often determines which message will be transmitted and which will be ignored". Each form of media, television, radio, news paper etc, has its own ways of giving messages and depending on the message and viewer some are more effective than others. I believe each form of media is effective, but once again, it depends on what the message is. For the people who are trying to get a message across to other people, I'm sure they know which form of media would be more effective to use.

 

I also agree with McLuhan when he says that television is a "cool" medium. "It demands that viewers fill in detail". I believe that television is more non verbal than verbal, but that is what makes a lot of television shows, commercials, etc, entertaining. Television would be boring if it filled in every detail about the show leaving us with nothing to think about. Sometimes I don't even listen to the words, I just watch and feel in the details myself.

Chapter 8 concept, Sexual Harassment

Hi class,

A concept I found interesting was Sexual Harassment. Sexual harassment is an unwelcome sexual action made by a person against your own will whether it’s verbal or physical leaving a hostile environment. People commonly think that only women can be sexually harassed, but mistakenly forget that males can be victims as well. I used to work at target and I had a boss named Roxanne, who found me to be attractive. I was in need of this job, so I did not want to do anything to get myself fired. Roxanne would constantly make inappropriate sexual remarks and touched me in uncomfortable places. It eventually reached its climax and I told her she needs to stop. She then said if I wanted to continue to work there I would have to "take it like a man", so I did. For weeks the sexual harassment continued until one day she invited me to her house to have sexual intercourse with her. I then stood up for myself and told her no. She threatened to fire me. I decided not to go and I got fired. I was so furious with the situation, so I reported her to the police. They did not take me seriously at all and she got away with her sexual harassments. I believe they did not take me seriously because she was a 5'2, 150 pound women and I am a 6'3, 230 pound male. The situation was so unfair.

 

Sexual harassment violates the Title Vll of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it should lead to "serious legal repercussions". In my case it did not, but in many others, it is.

Cyber Friends

Hello

I have made friends on cyberspace. I met some weird people and some really cool people. I was invited to this social group on facebook called Nitter, by one of my good friends that I grew up with. He told me that this group is very interesting and its just like a twitter,instigram, and facebook put together, but for Nigerians. My friend is Nigerian as well, I just thought that I should mention. In this group, I have made a lot of friends and learned a lot about the Nigerian culture, more than what I already knew. Some of the members of this group I met in person and others I havent.

To be honest, the only difference I see from having a face to face friendship with someone than to have one that exist exclusively through cyberspace is the fact that I can actually hang out with my face to face friends. One is in person and the other is through the computer, thats the only difference I see. I have met weird people, and really cool people on both the computer and in person. Its still easy to talk to people whether I'm on the computer or not. I am just a very out going talkative person. Who knows, I might actually meet my cyberfriends in person one day and they will remember me and how great of a friend I am. If they are the bosses of a company or something like that, that I want to work for, they might offer me the job just because how cool I was to them. Got to treat everybody with respect.

Cahpter 7 concept

Hi class

The concept I found to be very interesting is free-riding. Free-riding is defined as a person who obtains something without effort or cost.  The reason I found this to to be interesting is because I have experienced this first hand. When I was junior high school, I use to free-ride all the time. We would have assignments to do, like math problems and I would pretty much get all the answers from my classmates without even attempting to find out the answers on my own. As I got older and smarter, I started doing my homework assignments on my own, with little to no help. I also learned that free riding can be very annoying. I did not realize that until it happend to me. In my english class in high school we was assigned a paper to write and it was based off a book we had to read. In class we had to work in groups and review each others rough drafts and make grammar corrections and suggest idea for the other person's paper. I just so happend to finish my paper early so I brought that paper in to class. I was working with this guy who didn't even start his rough draft. He did not start because he did not read the book. So he started to take notes for his paper, from my paper. He wrote his essay based of the information he found from my paper.

I found that to be very annoying becuase its like, I did all that work, read the book and everything and he basically copied my paper and put it into his own words and got a good grade in it. That is not right and it made me want to become a free-rider again because its like, why would I put in all this effort to do well on things if I can save myself from the stress and free-ride other people and still get good grades from it. Then I realized that I won't get far in life free-riding people, so still to this day, I put in a lot of effort and do my own work. You become a smarter person doing it that way anyways.

Filters

Hi class,



Duck believes that when it comes down to judging how close we want to become with others we use what he calls filters. Its like the process of elimination. Duck's theory involves attraction and four filters or cues which are, sociological, preinteraction, interaction and cognitive cues. Honestly, the first thing I judge when it comes down to talking to a girl on that level is her appearance. She has to be beautiful. Also how she carries herself as a women is important when it comes down to her apperance. The next thing i judge is her personality. I am a very goofy, out going, talkative person that loves to have a good time, but can get serious when its needed. Now with that being said, she doesnt have to be as goofy as me, but she has to be able to hold a conversation. She has to be outgoing, fun loving, nice person. If she is not, then I will end up getting bored of her and then its on to the next. Lastly her morals, beliefs are very important as well when it comes down to me finding her to be attractive. I can deal with a girl with a bad attitude and thats always negative all the time.

Duck's theory makes sense to me, but I do not believe that I used his Sociological or Preinteraction to eliminate somebody. People say first impressions are everything, but I do not think its really fair to eliminate someone by first impressions. It is the second interaction with the person that should determine whether you eliminate them or not. Thats why people go on dates and things like that.

Patterns

Hi Class,

In chapter 6, it discusses three different relational roles. Rigid complementarity is when the submissive partner begins to resent always giving in or when the dominant partner begins to tire of being in charge. Then there is the competitive symmetry. That is when both partners fight for the dominant role. Last but not least is the submissive symmetry. This is when both partners struggle to give up control. For example, "i don't care, you decide".

I believe the competitive symmetry would be the most difficult to change because neither one of them will want to settle for less than being the one thats dominant. They will continue to compete. With that being said, competitive symmetry would also be the most damaging to a relationship. The partners are continuously fighting and bumping heads for that dominant position, with no room for love and compassion for each other and that can lead them to drift apart from each other. I also believe that the rigid complementarity would be the most damaging to someones self esteem. I believe this only for the person who is always submissive, they probably do not have the confidence to stand up for themselves, voice their own opinions, or make decisions.

Rationality, perfectibility, and Mutability premise

Hi class,

Do I believe in rationality, perfectibility, and mutability premises?

I do believe in the rationality premise. The Rationality premise is "the belief that most people are capable of discovering the truth through logical analysis". Most people are smart enough to know if people are telling the truth or not, based on the evidence that is being provided. I for one can tell if the person is lying or not just by the things they say, how they say, and also by facial expressions or body language. The one social institute that practice this are the jury in  a court case. They decide whether or not the defendant is guilty or not based on the evidence being provided to them.

I also believe in the perfectibility premise. The Perfectibility premise is " based on the old Puritan idea that humans are born in sin but are capable of achieving goodness through effort and control". I am a Christian, and our religious beliefs are founded on the basis of the perfectibility premise. God gave us the free will do do as we please. Some people choose to do good, others choose to do bad. I for one try to do the right things even though I sometimes do bad. Church is the social institute that practice these beliefs.

I am neutral in my belief in the mutability premise. The mutability premise "assumes that human behavior is shaped by environmental factors and that the way to improve humans is to improve their physical and psychological circumstances." As humans, we make our own decisions. We can choose whether or not to let our environment to effect how we act. I come from an area where it can get extremely violent. Most people out here have a cold heart and do evil things. I even have friends that are like that, but I choose not to be that way. I chose not to let my environment shape how I act. Sadly, not everybody is like me, some people to act according to what their environment. So really, it just depends on the person.


Yes i believe in the rationality and the perfectibility premise, but I am neutral when is come to the mutability premise.

Ruth Benedict

Hi class,

I agree with Benedict, but to a certain extent. It honestly depends on the person. As a child, we are "creatures of our culture". At that stage of age, we do not know much and we are very dependent. Our habits and beliefs are shaped by how we are taught and raised. By default, we believe in what we are being taught, because we don't know any better. As we get older, we are exposed to other cultures and traditions. We start seeing that there are other ways to do thing, not just the way that we were taught. At this point, we are very capable of making our own decisions. Some people still would rather stick to their own culture and how they were raised, others branch out and start doing things differently. For example, I have a friend who was born and raised in Nigeria until the age of 18. At 18 him and his mother moved out here to America. Now we all know, they have a different way of doing things in Africa than how we do out here. Once my friend started to see the habits and traditions of our culture, he started to change and become more Americanized. But his mother stayed the same. She still goes by the customs and traditions of Africa. So as I mentioned earlier, it just depends on the person. 




I agree with Benedict to a certain extent. At a certain point in our lives, we are "creatures of our culture". It just depends on the person though. Some people as they grow older stays "creatures of our culture" and some others change and branch off. 

Chapter 5 concept

Hi class,

In this post I will talk about Emotional Expression. Emotional Expression is a non verbal style of communication that is in a way, more effective than verbal communication. Actions speak louder than words. When you are in a relationship and you haven't seen your spouse in a while, you start to miss them and it makes you kind of sad. Talking on the phone alone is good, but not enough to comfort you completely. You want to be held and just be around your spouse. So when you reunite, it feels great; you become happier after spending time, hugging and kissing and just being around each other. Also when you are in a relationship, saying I love you alone isn't good enough to prove to your spouse that that's how you really feel about them. You have to show it through your actions as well. Hugging, kissing, playing, gifts, nice little gestures are all nonverbal ways to show your spouse that you really care. Action speaks louder than words. I'm sure everybody agrees that it feels good to be held by the one that you love.


I found this bit of information useful and interesting just for the simple fact that its true. I'm sure everybody can agree and relate in some way.

Language Differences??

Hi class,

Do I agree that men and women use language differently? To a certain extent yes, but honestly, it depends on the person and the situation. I say this because, everybody is different. For the most part, it is known to society that women tend to have more of a sensitive style usage of language and the men have more of an aggressive style of language. With that being said; I know men that talk with more of  a vulgar aggressive language but I also know men that talk with more of a sensitive style of language. I even know men that do both. It's the same thing with a lot of women I know. I know plenty of women that talk with a more of a sensitive style of language and I know plenty of women who talk with more of an aggressive style of language, just like a guy. When I am with my male friends, I tend to talk with more of an aggressive style of language, I even do it with some of my female friends that I'm really close with. But lets say I'm in a relationship with a girl and we are trying to get intimate, obviously during, I'm not going to talk to her with an aggressive style of language (unless she is into that kind of stuff, but that is a whole different conversation..lol), I would talk to her with a more sensitive style of language to keep the mood flowing. It can also be a point in time when she does something stupid and pisses me off, obviously I'm not going to talk to her with a sensitive style of language, I would use more of an aggressive one. The same thing could go with her or any other girl as well.  But like I said, everybody is different, it just depends on the person and the situation.

So yes I agree, to a certain extent, that men and women use language differently

Judging and Categorizing People

Hi class,

Honestly, I do not think it is possible for people not to judge others. You automatically judge somebody before you actually meet them when you first see them. The judgement might not always be a bad thing, but you still are going to judge the person. First impressions are everything. People that do not know you, judge you by how you look, how you dress and how they see you act. If you walk around with a smile people will assume that you are a nice person but if you walk around mean mugging everybody than people will assume that you are mean and unapproachable. But either way it goes, that might not be the case. The person walking around smiling looking all friendly that you assume is a nice person could in fact be a crazy evil person and the person mean mugging everybody could actually be a very nice person just having a very bad day. I'm guilty of judging people when I first see them. Whenever we get new teammates, before I actually see them perform, I judge them on the appearance and decide in my head whether they are a good athletes or not. If the person is really big and muscular, I assume that they are a great athlete, but if they look little or not really muscular or in shape, then they are probably not good athletes. Even though I am usually right about my judgments, I have met muscular in shape athletes who are really not that great of an athlete, and I have seen the less muscular people who are better athletes than the bigger more physiques athletes.


No it is not fair to judge people before you meet them because usually you misjudge the person. Like the saying goes, you can not judge a book by its cover. With that being said, to make judgement more fair, you should not make your first judgment on someone final until after you actually meet the person. I know for one people probably think I'm some sort of goon just because I have tattoos and my ears are pierced, but I am really a fun loving, out going, talkative and good person.

Last thought, everybody is aware of judgments and first impressions, so you should always make yourself approachable to others.

Good and Bad Speakers

Hi class

In this post I will talk about my experience with a good and bad speaker.


The best speaker I ever heard would have to be NFL linebacker Ray Lewis. I never heard him speak live but I have seen videos of him making these powerful speeches. My favorite speech and the speech that influenced me the most was the motivational speech he gave to the Miami hurricanes. You can see this video on YouTube. The strong tone in his voice is what caught my attention. It showed me that he was serious and passionate about what he was saying. He talked about hard work and effort. Ray was not the most athletic football player, but his hard work, effort and determination is what got him to NFL. It is what makes him one of the best linebackers to ever play in the NFL. The reason why that stuck out to me is because it is so true and you can relate that to more than just football. If you want something, want to become good at something, you have to work for it. Getting a good grade, building your relationship with God, becoming the boss of a really big company, anything; you have to work at it. He also talked about the how the power of respect, and how you carry yourself is extremely important. He he made a quote live by now, and it has helped me tremendously. " ....its presence and essence that determines respect......... the power to respect is never to disrespect.." This speech alone is why I believe that Ray Lewis is the best speaker I ever heard and that influenced me the most.



Just like there are really good speakers, there are really bad speakers as well. Unfortunately the worst speaker I ever heard was one of my good friends who is also my teammate. It was during our comm 40 class freshmen year during the winter session. It was our final debate and even though he did his research and all the necessary preparations for the speech, he was clearly unprepared for what he was about to go against. My friend is not very good at speaking in front of a crowd so you can tell that he was nervous. That is that is the first reason why he did bad on the speech. He forgot all the information he had to win the debate. His opponent completely roasted him and by that I mean she made him look like as if he did not not do any research at all. I wish you guys were there to witness it because it is really hard to explain. But I mean this girl clearly has been debating since she was a child and if you were there you would know  exactly what I am talking about. Even though he is my friend watching him getting demolished like that was probably the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. He was too nervous, he forgot all his information so he was stuttering. Every attack he made on her, she had had a come back and attacked him twice as hard. It was terrible.

social constructionist perspective

Good Afternoon class


I am going to talk about the social constructionist perspective.


In the perspective of the social constructionist, worlds are built through communication. How we view our world, our beliefs, knowledge and perspective, comes from what we hear from people in our culture rather than direct experience. But everybody is not raised and taught all the same thing so people will have different view points on many situations. For example, in the bible days many people did not believe that Jesus was the messiah and that he could perform miracles, but after he was crucified and rose from the dead three days later, many people started to believe.


One idea that we discuss in our culture that may not be discussed in others is that having a stabilized government is very necessary. Our government basically gives us rules and regulations that keeps our country organized and well put versus Mexico whose government is ran by drug lords so everything is chaotic out there. Having a stabilized government is making our country a safer place where we all can live great lives have a great chance of becoming very successful ourselves. Yes our country is not perfect or 100% safe, but at least it is stabilized. 

Introductory Post

Hello everyone my name is Sean Bacon, nice to meet you all..lol I am french Creole and a member of the football team. Please come and support our team this year, we are going to do big things. My major is communication and the reason is; I am a very social out going person and I love to talk. I also like to act and model but I'm minoring in RTVF. Hopefully I can switch it to theater arts.. My family is from New Orleans but I am originally from Inglewood California. I will be a Jr when fall semester starts, I know that was kind of irrelevant, I just thought that I should mention..lol Anyways I look forward to working with you all and getting to know everybody. My goal for this class is to make new friends and get an A....ok ttul bye