RA 8

After reviewing my first assignment, my definition of communication has completely changed.  This class has forced me to think about communication in a completely different light than I ever would have thought.  I have realized how complicated communication is and that it’s something you really can’t define.  I also realized that using rhetoric is such a part of everyone’s life and their ways of communicating, it would be impossible to eliminate rhetoric.  I think that rhetoric is something that has helped me on a day to day basis and will continue to do so, this class has made me think about what I am saying and by using rhetoric the message that I’m trying to convey.

R.A. 8

Back at the beginning of the semester, I described communication as one person transmitting a message to another. Now I still believe that is the ultimate goal of every person when wanting to communicate, however, the ways in which someone tries to accomplish that has changed for me. I don’t look at communication as just a transmission of a message because it is everything that is between those two people during the message is what is most important and vital or in my case, more interesting.

Rhetoric encompasses a lot of what I will be doing with the rest of my life. My plan after undergraduate school is to go onto Law School, and then become a lawyer. It is very safe to say that lawyers use a decent amount of rhetoric in their profession. The ability to understand the concepts we learned as a class about rhetoric and the importance of rhetoric with communication will play a vital part in my everyday life for a long time. The understanding of the importance of rhetoric can and will only help me in future career endeavors. Whether the saying of “attorneys not caring what they say as long as they get what they want” may be true or not, but at least with me, in my life, I’ll understand most of the entities that go on with the language used every day.

Assignment 8

For the first assignment I defined the words as if they were all separate and did not relate to one another. I was able to define the words in elementary terms because I had the knowledge of a ten year old when it came to the concept of communication. Basically, my definition included the transition of and idea or message to someone or something. Yes this is what communication consists of but without this class I wouldn’t have added the other concepts in my definition such as knowledge, truth, and culture. After every class meeting I was probably able to add another component to the definition of communication. If I now had to give a set definition for communication it would be a little longer than my first and it would be more in depth with how all the other concepts affect or stimulate communication. Honestly, I think knowing more about the rhetorical view will affect how I will one day raise my children. Seeing how communication affects our every day lives I think I will notice more about life through a rhetorical view just because I have learned so much about it. I will try to teach my own kids about the metaphors placed on objects and myths that affect their lives and how they grow up. Because I have this knowledge I am able to take a concept and really dig deep with how it is rhetorical which allows me to help teach others or make them aware of how communication affects our lives.

The Moment of Truth

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to say good bye to one we have all shared moments of our lives and knowledge with. Through assignments, comments, blog posts and more, we have examined, rolled-over and roasted the themes of knowledge, communication, performance, identity and so much more. Let us take a moment now to reflect upon these moments we all shared with this one and see if our understanding of the world was truly been bettered by these efforts as we were guided through this class from the beginning to the end. Let us now partake in the meditation that comes with the mourning of a passing one something we once held so dear.  

At the beginning of all of this, we were here for various reasons and we all came with various levels of understanding and knowledge. Some of us came to this class with the thought that communication had nothing to do with how our identities, our realities, and our lives were shaped. I was no different. But because of this class and its enthusiastic professor, which we are saying good-bye to…(but necessarily today), that has been changed.

In the first assignment, we were forced to face our understanding of communications, culture, knowledge, reality, and identity. Though I’m sure some of us were uncomfortable with this examination, I feel it was the best assignment that this class had. Though I feel that some of my responses were spot on with what we would talk about later on in the class, I think my take on the subject has changed.

When asked what my definition on communication was I had written that “Communication transports ideas, images, thoughts, and information to others through our senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. It does not have a source because it is circular and continually working with ever-flowing inputs of information and outputs of interpreted information.” Now that I have gone through this class, I think that I need to modify this slightly, and finally say good-bye to one we are gathered here for.

I think that perhaps I should say communication is the idea that embodies transportation and realization of thoughts and other information. It is no longer just a fact of science, nor is it a definitive shape or cycle. I cannot say it is just a transportation of ideas, but a piece of the ideas themselves. It is essentially the subjective metaphor we have created to describe the tangles and the webs we humans use to create our daily lives and realities.

From this realization, all of my other definitions have to change or adjust to consume and grow from this realization that communication is what I described above. And because of this change, I understand now that, because of rhetoric and its all-encompassing stride, new avenues have been opened and old roads have been repaved for future endeavors. Not only will I be able to understand there are different faces behind what I see as I walk down the street, but that there is also a different reality that can be made in every event that I participate in and everything I do. Information is no longer objective facts. There are no more lies or set lines in life like on a piece of paper. There is no more right or wrong. There is only opportunity.

And so, in conclusion as we wrap up the one in its burial shroud (and say a prayer to whoever or whatever we feel like praying to that the poor thing will find a better place or that we don’t ever have to learn about this so-called crap again), I feel that I must propose a toast of thanks to the life-encompassing force that is rhetoric and what it did for me and my future. Now that I am able to greater understand the world with new eyes more skeptical and critically unjust, it is my utter hope that my principles now tempered and sharpened will carry me into greater success that will not only benefit me but others as well. Oh, thank thee, rhetoric, for slaying the one we place to rest here in peace on this soft earth! Thank thee for slaying the one who clouds our minds and disrupts our passions and thoughts with so-called reality! Shall thou name be hailed through the land and given its rightful place in the eternity that follows! All join me now in saying goodbye to the tyrant we once loved!

Oh, “standard view,” may thy will and thy strife rest in peace outside, and inside, the minds of those gathered here today, for you now hold no sway over these who are freed and given the justice of understanding “truth” and “reality.” May you no longer control the identities and the cultures as if they are set in stone, and may the lies we weave continue to grow! May you rest forever more in the shadow of the valley of death, fearing no evil, for there now is no evil to harm you now! “Standard View of Communication,” go forth now to the heavens and into the earth to rest for all eternity in the shadow of your unjustly darkened twin, for we need you no more!

R.I.P

“Standard View of Communication”

10,000 B.C. – May 1st 2009

 

Reading Assignment #8

1. I don’t think my original definition of communication and identity were completely wrong, but after this semester I definitely look at communication in a different way. My whole life I’ve grown up being fed information and forced to retain it.  Children are raised with the standard view- they are taught to be the receiver. It’s not that I never believed that communication could could do something other than transmit facts and knowledge, I was just never exposed to any other way of thinking about communication until this class. Reading some of the authors in this class, as difficult and confusing as they sometimes were,  made the see the bigger picture…that communication shapes and creates reality as we know it.  I had read some Plato before this class and I had read that he thought style was just deceitful flattery and I kind of had that in my head coming into this class. When I wrote my definitions for communication and identity at the beginning of the year, they didn’t really have much to do with each other. The same goes for reality and truth. All my definitions at the beginning of the year were very separate ideas that didn’t really flow together. So as i said in the beginning, i wouldn’t necessarily scratch all my definitions, but blend them together. If there’s one thing I learned its that communication is everywhere, it shapes our realities and identities, and creates truth and knowledge.

2. Thinking in a rhetorical view definetly puts you at an advantage. I think the part of class that will be most applicable to my life is Goffman’s ideas about performances. It taught me how importnat things such as first impressoins are. His readings helped me understand that part of our identity is out of our hands and we must perform to our audience to make htem belive we are who we say we are. Besides that I don’t know how mcuh my behavior will change. Althought I do think it will make me much more concious of the fact that everything I do and say is in some way rhetorical and shapes reality.

Rhetoric of Tailgates

It’s coming to the end of the year nad my roomates and I were talking about all the good times we had this semester, and we brought up tailgates. We were talking about how everyone goes, whether you like the team or not, and everyone hangs out with everyone. I thought this fit in really well with some of he concepts from class. Tailgates do a really good job of demonstrating identity and divisoin. All the IU fans come decked out in red and that’s how you know that person is okay to socialize with. If you see anyone from the opposing school you know to disregard them and maybe even throw something at them. The fact of the matter is that we know just as little about most of hte IU fans at the tailgate than we do the kids form other schools; but identfying with IU is such a strong sense of community that it creates a huge barrier and divides us from other schools. I saw many fights break out this past tailgate season simply because one person was a purdue fan and one an IU fan.

Reading assignment 8

How has your knowledge and understanding of communication changed over the course of the semester? Would you change your definitions and explanations? Why?

I can’t really remember what my definitions were, but I think it’s safe to assume they’ve been greatly expounded on. My understanding of communication has been deepened. Communication isn’t solely the way we speak to one another but refers to a multitude of things, like advertisements and performances. I certainly feel more aware of how reality is shaped with rhetoric, and how understanding rhetoric can help us in many different ways.

In what specific ways do you see a “rhetorical view” of communication helping you in your future roles and endeavors? In what specific ways are you “better equipped” to act and intervene in your own circles and areas of interest?

I’m grateful for studying rhetoric mostly because of its relation to art. My interest lies heavily in filmmaking–whether it’s feature length narratives, experimental films, digital/video/installation art–as well as literature. The great thing about art is that it’s always a new and different way of looking at things, and that’s exactly what the rhetorical view of communication stresses. Art would be nonexistent in a transmission model world. Also, with rhetoric we can scrutinize certain aspects of our society. We can further analyze difficult topic areas, like race, gender, sex and sexual orientation, putting them into perspective or under a microscope, critiquing them, commenting on them, offering different views that may help to change the world we live in, hopefully for the better. Art that makes a statement about interpersonal communication or society in general really impresses me, and with the knowledge I’ve gleaned from this class I feel like I’m better equipped to engage in more serious artistic endeavors.

RA8: What about rhetorically looking at rhetoric?

(How has your knowledge and understanding of communication changed over the course of the semester? Would you change your definitions and explanations? Why?) 

At the beginning of this semester my definition was exactly like that of Chandler’s model. If I were asked to explain what communication is or does back then my answer would be completely different from today’s answer. Its interesting that after each author we read about I had this trend happening in my mind of, “Oh wow that’s an interesting idea that explains communication more to my liking. But that’s probably as far as it goes.” And then another author would introduce another facet/aspect and then it would happen again and again until today where I’m realizing that even now after reading all these different authors about what they think communication is and does is still not everything! This makes complete sense because of the point reiterated all the time, “there is no such thing as perfect communication.” Using the same logic of rhetoric, even rhetoric is just one of probably many many more ways to look at communication. My definition has definitely changed from a more static explanation to now a very big rant because I don’t know if I could say enough. I would change my explanation and definitions of communication because I’ve accepted most of what the authors have to say on the matter. Why? Maybe because of the biweekly reinforcement of the material, maybe because I’ve been reminded of these past and forgotten truths that many things and ideas and stereotypes we hold have all been constructed, or maybe its because I the majority of my reservations about accepting this perspective lean towards looking the rhetorical eyes. So therefore maybe just one or all or neither of these are creating a new truth/new reality for me about my world and how communication and people play a role in shaping it.           

(In what specific ways do you see a “rhetorical view” of communication helping you in your future roles and endeavors? In what specific ways are you “better equipped” to act and intervene in your own circles and areas of interest?)

I do agree with Jonathan’s statement, ““I believe strongly that citizens who learn to understand communication in the way presented in this course are infinitely better equipped for contemporary, everyday life than those who think of communication as merely a way to transport data.”  I do agree with feeling that I have been equipped now to see my world in a way as Neo saw the inner-workings of the Matrix. Its important to understand where something (especially someone) is coming from. I know that in my ventures for success and how to live life as I believe it should be lived that being enabled to look more at the rhetoric; the style, the probable formation of a reality, a truth, a metaphor, and/or a myth of a potential boss including the job description, what’s expected of me as an employee, in that specific work environment to maybe see what’s wrong with that image, atmosphere, and expectation of me. I think being able to look at those different facets more deeply will also help me position myself somewhere where I think I’ll feel more secure in my decision about where I spend my time and how. Not only that, but also I’ve noticed already how the concepts of the rhetorical view, like style for example, is popping its head up everywhere in my life. Just about two hours ago I lead a study and we talked about correcting versus judging. The definitions it seems are actually very similar. The main difference I saw was in the “style” of how you do the correcting. If done overbearingly then its condemning which falls similarly with how we feel (or how the metaphorical word “judgement” is interpreted for various reasons) about the word judgement because usually we think of standing before someone how has authority over how we spend the next 10 to life years! Done out of a loving behavior/tone/way it seems more like correction which we all (at least me) initially think of as totally acceptable because I don’t want to think that if I’m against correction because that means I’m “stupid.” Already the teachings have taken effect and for good reason because the rhetorical view really does kind of open the eyes of those who would at least investigate what rhetorical theorists/idealists would have to say. Something I desire to look into more though is “looking rhetorically at rhetoric” itself. I’d like to continue to look at what brought about the rhetorical view’s publicity from once a very little voice to now taught in the classrooms? How does studying rhetoric affect my life, perspectives, beliefs, and future in not only positive ways, but also negative? It’d be really interesting to know where these authors drew their conclusions from; like the experience or revelation they had that formed the words they used in their literature. Overall, rhetoric seems like a pretty sweet deal, though honestly I’m still reserved in the sense that I feel like going completely rhetoric just ends in a whole bunch of confusion, hopelessness, and bitter skepticism of people and the world, but that’s a whole other draft! From what I’ve learned about life so far; there always seems to be a need of balance. I think even one of our authors mentioned a balance between standard and rhetoric…

Men are better then Women!!

Here is a great example for our class when it comes to television representing gender differences in society..

I love this video because it has so much of our class all wrapped up into one little minute long commercial.. there are the topics of: myths, style, metaphors, problem of communication, etc. all within this commercial.. I like it because Nike is obviously trying to increase their sales of running shoes by showcasing men battling women in a race for who can run more and which sex is superior.. it turns sales into a competition instead of just an ad saying “here, buy our shoes instead of everyone else’s.” No Nike is saying that if you buy our shoes, you are entitled the right of being able to beat the other sex in the fight for superiority when it comes to running.. I just love how our society nowadays turns almost everything into a competition especially battles between men and women as if there always is a mental process within everyone needing to always feel as if they are the better of the two sexes.. im not saying men are better then women or vice versa, all im asking is why do people care so much and why is this gender/sex fight always an incredible way to market certain things? I honestly find it sexy if a woman could out-run me, so i dont look at as a battle but a welcomed site, but then am i also falling into what the commercial is going after? which is falling in love with the competition just in a different way? I guess Nike’s sales reps know what they are doing when they market their merchandise, especially since like 90% of all my athletic apparel is Nike brand..

Children

After reading Bryce’s last post it made me think about how we communicate with the young people. I am a nanny over the summer and I have been babysitting since I was in middle school. I know how to communicate with children and it always fascinates me because we treat them so differently. Not only the way we communicate with them but also how they communicate to eachother. For example, the 5 year old girl I nanny is a drama queen all the way. Every time her older brother makes her mad she thinks it is ok to hit him. At that age children always want to hit other kids. I don’t understand where they get it, maybe from the television they watch or even witnessing other kids do it. So when this happens I have to say hitting is not alright and in order for her to understand me I have to tell her she would be punished if she did it again. Obviously I need to communicate in another way because she more than likely does it right after I would say that. For her to comprehend what I am saying I then had to put her in time out. To her this means the world is coming to and end because it is the worst thing possible. I don’t understand how they don’t understand me.