Further Discussion....Last Week!!! Post 3

I feel most concepts in the book were gone through quite extensively. I feel as though if anything maybe the chapter on public communication could’ve been longer in that public communication is such a big part of life and communicating in a public sphere is very important for many jobs. I think the chapter could have been more elaborate when it was talking about types of arguments. I feel the authoritative and motivational arguments and substantive arguments had so much within each of those sections that it could have been broadened. I think this is especially true when talking about fallacies because that didn’t really go into depth and just talked about post hoc fallacy when in reality there are many more fallacies.

Concept I found Interesting...Last Week!!! Post 2

The general topic and chapter I found most interesting was chapter twelve, intercultural communication. Most of the concepts within this chapter I found very interesting because of how important intercultural communication is in California and especially in a melting pot such as San Jose. Some of the most important concepts I found interesting was individualism and collectivism. Because individualistic cultures are so much different from collectivistic cultures I feel as though it is very important to realize these differences because it explains a lot about how people from these cultures act with one another. People who were raised in the United States being a very individualistic culture tend to look out more for themselves and communicate much differently than someone from say Japan which is very collectivistic.

Reasearch Methods...Last Week!!! Post 1

The research method I found most interesting was ethnography. “The researcher observes behavior in its natural setting” (Trenholm 374). I find this to be the most interesting because the researcher is developing their conclusions off what they see instead of having a set research agenda in hand and systematically conducting a research analysis. To study deception a research question I may use would say “In a relationship who tends to lie more, men or women? For this question I would most likely use Survey research because it is typically the easiest to code and would be the easiest to get a set response to my question given that the population I distributed the surveys to were equal in gender.

Cyber-Relationships...Week 13 Post 1

When I was younger and AOL and chat rooms and things like that were really popular I would go on and meet people in there. I must’ve been around fourteen or fifteen and I had friends online that I had never met in person. Now on the other hand I don’t go on any of those sites or chat rooms so I don’t have any friendships exclusively in cyberspace. These cyberspace relationships are much different from face to face relationships because you could tell the person whatever you wanted without worrying that they were going to find out you were lying. I have never been a fan of meeting people off of the internet so I felt as though I could act however I wanted and pretend to be whoever I wanted to be because I thought that the people on the other side were probably doing the same exact thing.

What I found Interesting...Week 12 Post 3

I really enjoyed reading aout upward, downward and horizontal communication. I found that downward communication in a workplace is what I would think is typically used because of the hierarchy. I do understand why the employees feel dissatisfied with this process and the lack of face to face conversation. The upward communication I think is good in that the employees give feedback to the bosses and I think it helps keep everyone at the same place and feel as if they are being listened to if they progress reports are taken into consideration. Horizontal communication kind of reminds me of think tanks or right now with this budget crisis where everyone is getting together from different departments of the government to develop a plan. I see pros and cons of each of the communication styles.

Etiquette...Week 12 Post 2

The etiquette rules are important in that many people are affected by cell phones, answering machines, conference calls, faxes, timing your communications, and screen names and ring tones. I feel the rule about cell phones is a bit ridiculous. I agree that no one should use their cell phone during a movie and what not but sometimes at a restaurant you do need to pick up the phone and talk or I will talk on the phone if I am waiting for someone to arrive. I do feel there should be more of a voice etiquette when talking about cell phones. Many times I think that the loud obnoxious people on their phone drives me crazy but if someone is just chatting it doesn’t bother me. I do agree about the answering machines because I get really annoyed when someone plays music forever or they talk way too long on their machines. Conference calls are beneficial in many situations especially in business situations where I feel as though the rule is very appropriate. The faxes rule is true because typically faxes should be very impersonal and usually are not private. I think call waiting is rude but necessary. I hate being put on hold but I think if there is a time limit than it is okay.

Organization and the Environment...Week 12 Post 1

As the book says, “organizations depend on their surroundings for resources and energy” (pg 215). Thus organizations need to work closely with the environment and one another in the surrounding areas in order to not damage or completely deplete a resource used by the community. San Jose State is very interesting to me in that it is situated in the Downtown area of San Jose surrounded by businesses and housing. Most other college campuses that I have seen or been to typically aren’t placed in the heart of downtown. On the other hand I feel as though the relationship between the school and the city in which it is situated in is very good because it does provide a lot more jobs and because of all the students it helps local businesses such as restaurants, local bookstores, coffee shops and more. The ethical obligation I feel the school has is being capable of handling the amount of students that come to the school with parking and safety so the local community is not entirely burdened by students disrupting their own parking spaces or causing havoc with the communities safety needs.

What I found Interesting...Week 11 Post 3

The part of the chapter that I found particularly interesting was Duck’s relational dissolution model. I feel as though this model is very true and that many couples do go through these stages especially towards the end of the relationship. The intrapsychic phase is true in that typically when one person in a relationship is dissatisfied in a relationship they go over all the bad things that have happened in the relationship and reevaluate the benefits and costs of it. The next phase being the dyadic phase I feel is a branch off of the intrapsychic phase in that they are still looking at the costs and seeing if these things are able to be fixed. The social phase I feel is the most popular one in that after every breakup most people go and tell their friends and let them know what happened. The grave-dressing phase is where the people who were in the relationship decide what happened to the relationship. All these phases I feel do relate to real life and how couples go through breakups or problems in their relationship.

Duck's Cues... Week 11 Post 2

There are many characteristics and behaviors that usually determine what I deem to be unattractive. I typically look at how they are with their family, whether or not they do drugs, if they are in school, and their job stability. Duck’s theory does make sense to me. I use most of his filtering cues when considering someone to date. I have definitely eliminated people on their preinteraction cues; based on how they look and their non-verbal body language. These people that I at once put off because of their pre-interaction cue, once I got to the cognitive cues I decided to give them a chance because I really like their personality and completely misjudged their character.

Which is most damaging?...Week 11 Post 1

The three patterns are all interesting in that I feel as though all of them would be difficult in their own way to change. If I were to pick the most difficult to change I think it would be the competitive symmetry. I was going back and forth between this and rigid complementarity but I decided competitive symmetry because I feel if two people are that rigid and both like control and want to be in the leadership role, it would be very difficult to change that behavior. I feel that if both people cannot relinquish control then how would they be able to change? The one that I feel would be most damaging to a relationship would probably still be competitive symmetry because of both people always trying to top the other so if you look at a romantic relationship and the people in the relationship are competitive with one another I think they ultimately would get fed up and it wouldn’t work because neither would want to compromise. Apart from that, the pattern that would be most damaging to self-esteem I believe would be rigid complementarity. Because of the resentful feelings that both parties end up having towards one another can be very damaging to the self-esteem of both people involved.

Rationality, Perfectibility, Mutability...Week 9 Post 2

The rationality, perfectibility, and mutability premises are completely different in what each is based on. I do not necessarily believe in the perfectibility premise but I do see some truth in both the rationality and mutability premises. The mutability premise I feel is very important in the many peoples’ behaviors are shaped by the environment in which they live in; also the rationality premise I see truth in because I feel that most people are indeed capable in discovering truth it is just up to whether someone decides to do that or not is another case all together. The social institutions that use the rationality premise would be like what the book says: American institutions, trial by jury and free enterprise. I feel that some religions are based upon the perfectibility premise and the mutability premise would include many psychological institutions which would look at why a person ended up there based on their environment and mental capacity.

Creatures of our Culture?... Week 9 post 1

I completely agree that we are creatures of our culture, whatever that culture may be. I feel that if someone is from a particular culture it is reflected in his or her everyday life. Because the United States is considered a “melting pot”, the majority of the population is from different cultures and countries. Since most of us live with our families we pick up the habits, beliefs and values from them and in turn these beliefs typically reflect our cultural standpoint. I do feel like we can break through the limits of our culture and that people do it all of the time. There are many who change religions, marry outside of their culture and pursue job careers that the cultural “norm” would not necessarily approve of.

Nonverbal Messages...Week 7 Post 1

I have been wrong about peoples’ nonverbal communication many times. Once my boss was saying something he meant to be funny and as a joke, but because he had his arms crossed over his chest while he was saying it, I took it as him being serious about the situation and that I was in trouble. Also another time with my boyfriend our communication gets mixed up all the time. People can increase the accuracy in their nonverbal communication by taking a second to stop talking and really read the persons’ body language they may be able to be more accurate. Also reading the nonverbal cues by how they relate actually to what the person is saying will help a lot in interpreting the messages correctly.

What I found interesting... Week 6 Post 3

There were a few things that I found interesting in chapter four one that was interesting but also confusing was the idea of sign, signified and signifier. According to the book a sign is the vehicle for this expression; the signified is the private idea located solely in the mind of a communicator and the form in which the idea is expressed is the signifier. During this blog I kind of want to go over this idea. I feel as though this is interesting concept because the signified can be different for every person. The entire symbolism that comes with language is all dependent on who is viewing it and their past experiences. To me if I saw a sign for pizza, the signifier would be p-i-z-z-a, the signified would be the delicious crust with tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni; which would all constitute the sign. If someone who wasn’t from this country and didn’t have pizza their sign would be completely different.

Do Men and Women use Language Differently?...Week 6 Post 2

I completely agree with Deborah Tannen that women and men communicate differently. Every example she gave in the book reminded me of my boyfriend and I. I feel that women and men are different in many ways from anatomy to how we go about dealing with a situation. Men and women use language differently when it comes to personal relationships to how each interacts with their friends. In personal situations I feel as though men hate to be asked questions when it comes to the details and things that most women find important and men find to be burdensome. Also men and women typically use language differently when communicating with children. A lot of times when a child gets hurt women use nurturing comforting words and men will use the attitude of its alright but don't cry and toughen up. I couldn't begin to go over all the ways that we use language differently but there is no doubt in my mind that we do.

Can we really not judge?...Week 6 post 1

In all honesty this is a really tough question because we all like to think that we don't judge one another. As humans we judge. We all have first impressions which is basically when we are judging each other for the first time; and if we didn't judge then why would the saying of "first impressions count" matter. In everyday life we judge and categorize one another either by dress or the type of music a person listens to even to the point of the dialect and how a person talks. I feel living in the place that we live in (especially California) we naturally are more predisposed to be judgmental and I don’t really think we can be fair when judging someone, unless you wait to judge people until you actually know them and not by how much money they have or how they dress or talk; but whether that is possible never to judge immediately I don’t think so.

Presidential Candidate...Week 4 Post 2

My beliefs may seem a bit back and forth just by looking at my blogs talking about David Duke to Barack Obama. The Presidential candidate that I feel has the best characteristics including power, attractiveness, and credibility would be Barack Obama. I feel him being young and in such a high position makes him attractive. Though many people feel as though he doesn’t have much experience, I disagree. Though he may not have as much experience as the other presidential candidate I feel that in the time he has been in senate he has had much success. And I feel as though him just being in the position that he is in, he has great power and has the ability to exude that power over the audience he is addressing. To be completely honest I feel as though he has great ethos in all of those areas.

Speakers...Best and Worse...Week 4 Post 1

I have been influenced by many speakers, one of which is David Duke. I don’t believe in many of his ideals but I feel as though he does have a very powerful way of getting his views across to his audience. He uses facts and statistics in his speeches, even though these facts may be taken from a biased point of view, he uses them with great precision in order to make himself and his speech more credible. He is highly educated and uses that education to his advantage. Though most of his messages I do not agree with I do believe he is a great speaker because he makes his speeches memorable. I remember most of his speeches because of the way he doesn’t hold back his opinion. I feel one of the worst speakers I have ever heard is President George Bush. He does not have any flow or connection with the audience he addresses. His speeches are not fluid and I don’t see any ethos, pathos or logos used during them. To be honest I don’t feel as though anything is memorable when I hear him speak except that every time I hear him speak I just get reminded again of what a terrible speaker he is.

Intentional communication... Week 3 Post 3

The chapter brought up the topic of whether communication is intentional.  I found this to be very interesting because the chapter brings up definition 5 which says " In the main, communication has as its central interest those behavioral situations in which a source transmits a message to a receiver(s) with conscious intent to affect the latter's behaviors." (pg 20) I do see the point of view that the author is coming from but on the other hand I feel as though non-verbal communication is just that verbal.  A lot of times when we do non-verbal communication it is unintentional so if that is the case then wouldn't it still be considered communication?  When people say something and an expression comes over your face with surprise or happiness, I feel that these are ways of communicating even though they are done unintentionally.

Pragmatic Perspective...Week 3 Post 2

Pragmatic Perspective...Week 3 Post 2 The Pragmatic perspective is one in which the authors characterize as independent behaviors that become patterned over time (pg 32). This suggests that patterns are developed between people as conversation continues and builds. In the chapter the pragmatic perspective is resembled to that of a game. I do see some characteristics with it that resemble a game in which people "rally" information and opinions back and forth and each individual makes certain decisions on where the conversation is going and in that sense they do become interdependent. At the same time I don't see it very much like a game for the fact being that in communication there is no real "winner" which is the goal of a game. The chapter does mention payoffs but I feel that a payoff is not the same as an ultimate win, which I feel is what players of a game really strive for.

Social Constructionist....Week 3 Post 1

The social constructionist model is one that I feel was a bit more difficult to understand then other models. It focuses on world building and that we build our worlds by having communication be a part of every day life it is all around us rather than just between the individuals talking (p 30). It is my understanding that our social constructions are ones that take form in our head which we become accustomed to and even while the social constructions of the outside world is changing, we may not be aware of it and have to decide to alter the social constructions that we have already established (like the example in the book of the male/female roles). I feel these constructions do help a lot in our cultures but they also are limiting. Because this way of communication is thought more of symbolic I feel that there is a sense of loss of the individual.

What I found interesting...Week 2 Post 3

There were many things within the chapter that I found interesting but what really caught my attention was the five canons of rhetoric; because of how practical it is and the way that these cannons really do need to be completed in order to have a good speech from start to finish. Cicero established these canons which include invention, style, arrangement, memory and delivery. Invention is how a speaker decides on what he or she is going to be speaking about. Style is how a speaker decides the best way to communicate a speech to a particular audience. The arrangement is just as it sounds; the ordering of the speech. Memory, which is one of the most important because it is what really makes us as speakers able to hold it all together and keep all the information arranged in our mind. Finally there is delivery which I think is really important in making people feel what you are trying to convey in your speech or what you are communicating.

Morally Good?... Week 2 Post 2

During the time period of the Ancient Greeks, Orators were extremely important to people in order to try and keep the truth out there and correct. I believe that people holding such positions as orators do in fact need to be morally good and know the current situations occurring around them. There is a big connection between goodness, truth and public communication. If a person is not morally good then i feel the likelihood of that person speaking the truth if it did not benefit him/herself is very slim. And though in today's world people feel as though speaking the truth publicly doesn't happen very often, I feel that it is very important to do so. There is a big connection with the truth and that truth being presented to the public if people are going to support and have a cause to believe for.

Who I admire... Week 2 Post 1

I admire Barack Obama because of his presence when he gets up to the podium.  The first time I ever heard him speak was watching the democratic national convention four years ago.  As soon as I heard him speak I agreed with his views and felt like he gave the American people a future they could rely on in an unstable economy.  Since that first occasion, my opinion of him and his speaking abilities have continued to grow.  Obama uses a combination of ethos, pathos and logos in order to connect to his audience.  He uses ethos effectively to add his own character into the speech he is giving.  He is able to use pathos well in order to get to the American people's hearts and he uses logos by his word choice showing his education and eloquence in speaking to a captivated audience.  The personal qualities I posses are more influenced by ethos and pathos.  I have the ability to be persuasive by relating to the audience that I am speaking to and targeting the emotions of people in order to get my point across.  Aristotle's methods are very handy in communicating effectively to people.