Week 5/7-5/13: Methods of Discovery: Part 3

One concept I find many people do not get to experience in their lifetime is true culture shock. The term culture shock is tossed around in our verbal language when one describes a minor exposure to a culture other than their usual; however, this is not the correct way to express this serious concept. Culture shock is described by author Sarah Trenholm as an anxiety one experiences due to a loss of our familiar signs, symbols of our normal social intercourse (2011, pg. 340). We many feel at times we are adventurous and do not have a mundane lifestyle, but if you were to be placed in any other country this perspective would soon be exacerbated with fear. Two summers ago, I visited Vietnam and Cambodia with my current boyfriend. I was excited and nervous since I had only been out of the country once- Canada. We arrived and we were definitely not at home any longer. I was fine for the first 2 ½ weeks but as I became more exhausted of traveling, I became wary of further traveling. Although I was enjoying the new pace of life, the anxiety became more vivid. The food was malnourished, the beds were hard, and the heat was unbearable at times. A few times, I grew impatient and would cry in frustration. Once I reflected on all of these moments, I grasped that I was experiencing culture shock.

Week 5/7-5/13: Methods of Discovery: Part 2

Intercultural communication stood our greatly to me. When I pick up my course textbook, I refer back to chapter 12, Intercultural Communication. The example/story of the Moroccan family dinner stuck to my memory, and I told a few friends and family members about it. I liked to think I knew much about the world and the cultural differences within a group. However, reading this small excerpt, I recognized how large the world is, and how much we do not know of one another. A simple gesture, a thoughtful comment, and a normal dinner setting question can make a massive impression on your new friend, or now enemy, without realizing each cultural characteristic of your actions. Each cultural universal is vastly different in the enactments of these activities. It has made me realize how I would enjoy taking further cultural classes in the future. I would appreciate and possibly visit more countries, and would only be beneficial to me to understand my surroundings.

Week 5/7-5/13: Methods of Discovery: Part 1

To be completely honest, all of the popular research methods in Chapter 13, Methods of Discovery, of our textbook seem most appealing and interesting to perform myself. However, for the sake of this blog, rhetorical criticism remained in my thoughts after I read the chapter. In order to understand how we are influenced and persuaded, we must fully comprehend it ourselves. Choosing a topic, audience, and lastly, its context to analyze it suddenly materializes why this research method is popular. We see forms of rhetoric each day. We see the media persuading us to believe and fear certain places and people. We view television and internet advertisements which spark an urge to shop or crave a cheesy burger. On the other hand, when public speeches are performed and we research meaning behind every word expressed over the intercom, more rhetoric becomes apparent thus the reason for this methodologies to appear fascinating and attractive.

Week 4/23-4/29: Comm & the Mass Media: Part 3

This chapter encompassed many interesting and eye-catching terms, but the one I would like to focus on is the broad idea and characteristics of media. Last semester I took a Communication and Media class, and it opened my perception of what we define media as, and how and where we interpret those messages. Charles Wright touches on the model of the four media functions which are surveillance, correlation, cultural transmission and entertainment (Trenholm, 2011, pg. 285). Although these are terrific points, they briefly talk about the hidden agenda media has. I find media’s communication to us extremely interesting as most people do not think about how the media misinterprets news articles, and purposefully exclude information to make particular victims’ and offenders’ stories appeal to the mass public. Children are usually the receivers of all media subliminal messages, I only use this word because their brains are not developed enough to comprehend what the meaning or the commercials are trying to say. Studies have shown children who watch more television and do not have a parent monitoring their television intake, are more likely to become obese in their adult life. Some of these statistical numbers could be from a non-participating parent, but much of it has to do with why they make the decision to eat a McDonald’s burger verses a salad- the media and those bright vivid commercials.

Week 4/23-4/29: Comm & the Mass Media: Part 2

Marshall McLuhan believes the channel (i.e. television, radio, newspaper, and internet) is often times more important than the message communicated to the audience. In some cases this is true, but for others I do not. I have recently been hooked on different podcasts which are essentially either a video or a radio station (depends on how you would like to hear the message), and they are fascinating. I have been simply listening to the information through the radio channel. In my experience, I retain and am less distracted when I use this channel method. I am driving my car and am not viewing if the speaker is drinking his soda, or itching his/her nose thus I am less distracted, and I retain more information. When Marshall McLuhan discusses television as a cool medium, I do not agree with this theory. We are NOT forced to fill in any information since the information is given to us and we lazily watch our shows and movies. We are not forced to analyze detail and hidden meaning, and this is a wonderful marketing tool for the marketing teams selling products. A person may come across as a cool person and may be more successful but it cannot be fully attributed to the channel they have chosen to communicate on.

Week 4/23-4/29: Comm & the Mass Media: Part 1

I have never made a friendship or made any other relationship on cyberspace. I have definitely stayed in touch with a lot of friends and family that have moved out of the area. My mom lives in Oregon, my cousins and aunts live in Arizona, Idaho, Missouri, Tennessee, Nevada, and in other areas of California. It has allowed me to see what they are all up to, and if there is family events planned. I remember my cousin-to-be sent me a wedding pre-invite on Facebook. It was a way for her to gather everyone’s addresses she did not have, and see if anyone were not able to attend. At first I thought this was ridiculous, but then I figured she saved time and money in obtaining this information. I have not formed cyberspace relationships because I have all the friends I would like to have and more family than most people. It is difficult to find good friends, but finding friends on the internet seems odd to me.

Week 4/16-4/22: Organizational Comm.: Part 3

The rules for the professional behavior caught my eye this week. Some of these rules are outrageous and I do not see them in my current professional environment nor have I seen it in the past. Most of the rules are straight forward and I completely agree with. Remembering that one is at the workplace to actually work is totally true, and a manager cannot stand it and may fire someone due to the amount of time Facebook, personal email and/or personal email is accessed. Managing time and responsibilities effectively is a true rule, but not the extent the book suggests. When an employee arrives at work, when the business opens, and leaves, when the doors close, could be an impossibility due to the number of shifts. However, on the opposite side, you never want to work too many hours because your manager gets too comfortable with you working 9-12 hours a day and leaves you with no personal life.