COM 204 Final: Purdue

text

indicates any communication artifact that we can study

rhetoric

the strategic use of symbols

soundness

an argument is sound if it is valid and true

enthymeme (aristotle)

according to Aristotle this is the missing part of rhetoric. it is when you have to fill in the blanks to know what someone is talking about

invitational rhetoric

the idea that rhetoric should deal more with a speaker inviting the audience to critique and respond

Dialogue (Plato)

the words of a conservation, Gorgias is written in dialogue

Metaphor: tenor and vehicle

The subject of the metaphor is the tenor while the vehicle is what is being imagined

Chiasmus

a reversal in words to make two phrases mean different things

4 types of identification

1) association

2) dissociation

3) transcendence "we"

4) unifying sybols

Identification: association

finding common ground between you and the audience

-I believe in and like the things you like

Identification: dissociation

finding mutual enemies between you ad the audience, segregation

-I dislike the things you dislike

Identification: transcendence "we"

Using we, our, ours, and us to make your audience feel connected to the speaker

-assume we are all together on something

Identification: unifying symbols

wearing something that supports two parties

-shared experience, image, song

-snow day is a unifying symbol of Purdue class of 2017

Critical/ Criticism

critical is thinking of something in a different way while criticism is an analysis following in advice

ethnomethodology

the study of the rules of everyday life (things that we know how to do and seem simple but we take for granted and have trouble identifying and describing them)

Ethnography

the study of culture based on research (writing of culture)

Culture centered approach to ethnography

Researcher : Detta

writing describing a culture,when the culture knows best what and where their problems are, more interactive (social, political, economic)

Focus groups

a structured interview of 6-10 people at once, you get to see the quality of peoples responses right away due to the number of people in your interview

marxism

the base which is economic relations in society shapes the superstructure which is the cultural institution which shapes the consciousness of individuals

Hegemony

ideological domination that is everywhere but invisible, making it impossible to see (men run our country)

Modernism

system of thought/reason that began with enlightenment, intensified during industrial revolution and still occurs today. it is 'majority rules' and 'best candidate always wins' ideology. Very positive and uses closure, certainty, and control

Rationality

reason/scientific method, basis for most research done at Purdue and basis for existence of the universe

race vs. culture

distinction is blurred and in both cases it is subjective socially constructed ideas. Race is based on perceived physical differences

standpoint theory

you see the world a certain way due to your race and upbringing and if you are not in 'power' you are less likely to assume that how things are are how they should be

Rhetorical situation

context of a rhetorical event that consists of an issue, event and audience and set of constraints

critical theory

originally from marxism, it is explicitly political being both modern and postmodern. wants to fix things and solve problems.

post modernism

a discourse of vulnerability, focuses more on finding the truth in multiple ways, shallow and superficial, skepticism, subjectivism, resistance

ideology

describes a set of ideas and examines how they are misinterpreted/ misrepresent the world

reactivity

the difference in someones behavior when they know that they are being observed

Character (in narrative research, 2 senses)

1) role you see yourself playing

2) ethics and morals

conversation analysis

studies the way people talk and interact (body language, eye contact, environment, tone, volume)

Semiotics

the study of signs and symbols, what their meanings create

Sign/signifier/signifieds

a sign is something that can be interpreted as having a meaning other than itself. The sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified.

EX: a (rose)flower is the sign

-the signifier is that you know this flower is a rose

-the signified is that when you think of a rose you think of love and passion

Three types of signs

1) icons

2) index

3) Symbol

Signs: ICONS

physically resembles what it stands for (a picture of your face represents you)

signs: INDEX

defined by a feature that correlates with a meaning thus implying something else (a dark cloud means it will rain)

Signs: SYMBOL

words are symbols (STOP)

-relationship between sign and idea

Professor Roberts research (conversation analysis)

Animal study on how pet owners talk about their animals to veterinarians they used baby talk

Professor Buzzanell's research on feminism

studied feminism

Why you "did nothing"

when you are doing nothing you are always doing something, this has to do with conversation analysis

Triangling

when someone talks through someone to indirectly get a message across (when a vet says "fluffy needs to get out and run more" to the owner)

Quotatives

attributing a quote to something that can't speak "poppy says I'm hungry"

Progress

development and improvement of the human spirit

Gender

gender roles of men and women in society and how the differences effect how you act in society

Liberal Feminism

you need to change laws and rules to achieve gender equality

Feminism

creates awareness, and advocates for change

steps to argument building

decide what you need to say

consider audience

establish common ground

talk about those who disagree

Gorgias, Plato, Aristotle

-Gorgias came first

-Plato wrote Gorgias's dialogue

-Plato was not in favor of rhetoric and was in favor of dialectic, analogy of the cave, Aristotle was his student

-Aristotle said dialectic was equal to rhetoric and he wrote a text book about enthymemes

Primary goal of qualitative communication research

understand qualities of human communication behavior

standard in text citation

(author, date)

quotation in text citation

(author, date, page number)

narrative research

-understanding how people interpret their own lives

-value on hearing voices

-highlights persons conceptions of turning points in their lives

What pointillism has to do with conversation analysis?

each dot is part of the whole image, and each detail attributes to the whole conversation in conversation analysis

time of conversation analysis

one minute of conversation takes an hour to transcribe

transcription signs and principles of conversation analysis

-if there is a number in parentheses it is a pause in seconds to the nearest tenth

-upward inflections is a question mark

-downward inflection is a period

attributes of ethnography

you need to take at least a year to study a culture and submerge yourself into the culture

three contexts to consider with culture centered ethnography

social

economic

political

logical issues of focus groups

how much to pay people, incentives must match the demographic of the person you are using

typical focus group formats

6-10 people for minimum 30 minutes max 90 minutes

How to solve problems in a culture centered approach to ethnography

culture knows where and what its problems are

why we listened to "closer to fine"

the less I seek the closer I am to find: give up on getting answers : postmodernism

"big box mart"

its critical theory at work because it is showing what main stream is telling us is good has bad implications

why we watched BMW films

post modern text: highlights characteristics of post modernism (lack of rationality, no context, lots of signs that did not have a lot of meaning)

Why we watched Agent orange

a very capitalist video that a marxist would critique showing that he wanted to be like the orange girl so that he could be with her and to do this he needed to conform and consume (to get the girl just buy the right stuff)

Disney cast members

example of metaphor at work: Disney is drama (show business)

why we watched the X files

introduction from perspectives unit: to see that based on different perspectives that people in the video people had different experiences due to what they are looking for

background and commitments of modernism

began with enlightenment and strengthened during the industrial revolution and arguably still is going on today

continuum from modernism/ positivism to postmodernism

1)modernism/ positivism is a discourse of representation

2)modernism/ interperativism is a discourse of understanding

3)critical modernism is a discourse of suspicion

4)postmodernism is a discourse of vulnerability

3 goals of critical theory

1) technical: understanding of how things work

2) practical: take information and use it for some other purpose for humanity

3) emancipatory: using knowledge to give people control over their lives

Significance of Fijian cannibal fork

an example of progress

twin goals of feminism

awareness and change

theory that needs change

feminism

modernism goals of critical theory

-critical theory emphasizes technical and practical

How critical theory bridges modernism and postmodernism

modernism: we can solve some problems

post modernism: what are the other stories in the fringes that are not in power

bridge: skeptical that modernism is always right

form vs. information

-Burke was afraid people were pushing information in place of form

-form you want to experience over again

-information is when you consume it you don't want to repeat it

Continuum of modernism and postmodernism

most peoples perspectives are in between modernism and postmodernism

Contemporary feminism

understanding how power effects their rights