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FINAL PAPER!
It’s impossible not to ask this question as Comm118 comes to an end. Looking at our finished wiki pages and final projects, it’s hard to believe that we started with thunder; ambiguous thoughts on an ambiguous topic. Our class was basically a giant unfinished creative process, and no one knew what would happen next. The Buzz Buzz Boom. It divided us as a class in a way that seemed to some (i.e.; me) insurmountable. The two sides’ opposite perceptions of the story, though, would eventually lead to thoughtful discussion, observable group communication dynamics, and the “gorilla” in the room (or what Steph was trying to get us to see from the beginning): maybe communication wasn’t all superficial. Maybe communication didn’t exist in one understood pattern, but arbitrarily in all directions. In the end, we have learned this: communicating, in all its forms, is a complex, creative, and never-ending means of connection with each other and that communication should never be immediately perceived at face value.
Taylor 21:03, 18 December 2010 (EST)
Extra Credit Quote and Links!
Presentation Team: Intercultural and Multimodal IPC
Our Assigned Readings:
- boyd, danah. Friendship. In Ito, Mizuko; baumer, Sonja; Bittanti, Matteo; boyd, danah; Cody, Rachel; Herr-Stephenson, Becky; Horst, Heather A.; Lange, Patricia G.; Mahendran, Dilan; Martinez, Katynaka Z.; Pascoe, C.J.; Perkel, Dan; Robinson, Laura; Sims, Christo; and Tripp, Lisa. Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out: Kids learning and living with new media. 2010. Pp. 79-115. (MIT) (16 points)
- Rogers, Everett M. Wilbur Schramm and the Founding of Communication Study; Establishment of the Communication Field. A History of Communication Study; A Biographical Approach. Pp. 10-15; 476-483; 492-495.
Necessary Links
Class Links
- ddavies,
- Mcliu,
- CeeKay2892,
- Sgershlak,
- Mhatz24,
- Dipiero,
- Dfoley,
- Cdanoff,
- Nfoy,
- D.Robinson,
- Kimdelehanty,
- Ali Haddad,
- Smheffer,
- Hmonahan,
- Mjezard,
- Ktrychon,
- Rosemara,
- Imaimon,
- Kayla landry,
- Natashakapadia,
- Chelseag68,
- Kkoswick
- Shilton12
The Buzz Buzz Boom, by Seth Gore
LIbrary Recon Team, Communication: Business and Professional (HD 30.3)
"Initial Impressions of the Buzz Buzz Boom"
- Dean is insecure
- Did Dean's uncle sexually abuse him?
- Mary-Ann is looking to connect and build a lasting relationship with Dean
- Dean is not sure if he's ready to commit to Mary-Ann
- Is Dean deaf?
- Uncle Richard probably plays a bigger role in the meaning of the story then is obvious
- Uncle Richard doesn't feel things the way that Dean does (evidence that he's deaf? we don't know/I don't think so)
Identifying Details in The Buzz Buzz Boom
Questions and Answers:
- 1. Mary Ann, Uncle Richard, Dean
- 2. Dean is trying to get past his past, and let Mary Ann into his life. Mary Ann is trying to get Dean to love and accept her. Uncle Richard is a character more in the past, but he is in the story because he represents Dean’s own hesitations.
- 3. Uncle Richard and Mary Ann are parallel characters in the story. Both of them want Dean’s acceptance. Dean is in this story because it is his tale, he narrates. Mary Ann represents the good and Uncle Richard is the negative.
- 4. In this story you can conclude that other forms of communication exist both good and bad.
- 5. This story has many levels to think about and I would examine more closely the connection between the Buzz Buzz Boom, and the characters meaning.
- 6. Was he abused? Does he love her, or is he afraid? Whats the deal with the rain?
Another Angle on Interpersonal Communication
1. What label(s) describes the information in your assigned section of the library?
Business, professional, and organization communications and ethics.
2. How does information included within that category relate to Seth Gore's short story?
Ethics and ethical questions are fundamental to organizations and to all of human experience. They are concerned with essential judgments of good-bad, right-wrong, desirable-undesirable, acceptable-unacceptable,…worthy-unworthy.” [Seger 2]
3. What elements or aspects of the meanings in Seth's story does your team's category highlight, prioritize, or emphasize?
Dean categorizes (files) all the people in his life under the title “untrustworthy” because of his past experiences of abuse by his uncle. This stereotyping is discouraged in business and organizational communications in order to keep an open mind about all coworkers and customers.
4. What elements or aspects of the meanings in Seth's story does your team's category ignore, avoid, or minimize?
Business and professional communication is based mainly on organization and efficiency, with no emphasis on emotion. This short story is basically entirely regarding emotion.
5. Is this category a useful or interesting way of examining the meanings in Seth's story? Explain how so or why not.
No, this category is not a useful way of examining the meanings in Seth Gore’s short story.
This story relies heavily on its emotional/sensual aspects; without them, the story would lose a great deal of meaning. Using business or professional communication, all but devoid of emotion, would not be helpful or interesting to use to examine such a story.
6. Would you recommend (based only on what you've discovered and thought about so far) that using the frameworks of this category is worth the effort to investigate further? Please explain.
This category is most certainly worth more investigation. However, not in this particular context.
What's Thunder Got To Do With It?
I asked you to read Seth's story in relation to your own experience of the thunderstorm that woke most of you up during the first or second night of classes. (Which was it? After the first day of classes, or was it the night before classes began?) What connections, comparisons, and contrasts did you and your teammates identify, and why might this be important?
A. there was rain in both the storm and in the story
B. different people reacted/felt the storm in different ways (ie: felt it, heard it, saw it, etc..) as Dean and the other characters in the story react/feel differently about life.
C. the thunderstorm was the night after the first day of classes.
Signs Dean is Deaf
- "She said, or something like that,..."
- I Love You
- "Began walking out of my eyes"
- "take a breather from Mary Ann, from her acoustical world"
- "Uncle Richard would ask me in awkward incumbent sign"
- "It was, for me, being unable to hear"
- "I'm not hearing it with my ears but with my whole body"
- "One hand roamed her back, the other surveyed for messages that her hand sent"
- "Hands. Touch and feel. No light, no more sound, just the ridges on your fingers...she kept on moving, touching, reaching..."
Business Field View of Interpersonal Communication in The Buzz Buzz Boom
- The books in our group’s section of the library, HD 30.3, were on the topic of business or professional communications and ethics. Ethics and ethical questions are fundamental to organizations and to all of human experience. However, this aspect of interpersonal communication focuses mainly on organization, respect in the workplace, and efficiency. Its purpose is usually to accomplish a set, straightforward goal or deal with a superficial professional issue.
- This reason is, perhaps, why our team didn’t notice the clues and hints within the text that pointed to the fact that Dean was deaf. Our focus was on the formal, cut-and-dry implications that the short story outwardly conveyed (for instance, that Dean was searching for someone to understand and relate sensually to him). Had our team investigated a more Buzz Buzz Boom-relative facet of interpersonal communication, such as Danielle’s team did with the category of “Non-Verbal Communication”, we would likely have picked up on the subtleties nodding to Dean’s deafness.
- Gore’s essay relies heavily on its emotional/sensual aspects; without them, the story loses a great deal of meaning. Thinking in terms of business or professional communication, all but devoid of emotional properties, is not particularly helpful in examining this piece. --Taylor 01:27, 13 October 2010 (EDT)
New Team AKA Fishbowl Team
Meanings of The Buzz Buzz Boom (applying SPEAKING!)
Theories in Combination or Competition?: Keys to Understanding
The three groups are non-verbal communication, translation and business communication. The business communication group did not see that Dean was deaf because their topic didn’t focus on that. Non-verbal and translation did see that because their disciplines allowed them to understand that he was deaf. Focusing on speaking without words made that group realize that he was deaf, and focusing on translating made them see he was deaf because they understood that something needed to be translated in order for them to understand each other. This reason is, perhaps, why the business communication team didn’t notice the clues and hints within the text that pointed to the fact that Dean was deaf. Their focus was on the formal, cut-and-dry implications that the short story outwardly conveyed (for instance, that Dean was searching for someone to understand and relate sensually to him). The way that translation and non-verbal commutation hinted to us greatly that their was another form of communication needed to understand what was going on,especially between Uncle Richard and Dean. With non-verbal communication they needed to find a way to communicate without speaking. Mary Ann and Dean communicated fairly well because of their bond, and because of Mary Anns knowledge of sign language. Uncle Richard on the other hand struggled to communicate with Dean since he was not as skilled at sign language. When comparing each discipline to the speaking model, the setting of and scene, and participants, were all the same: the setting being the motel, and the participants being Mary Ann, Dean and Uncle Richard. Mary Ann and Dean are the main participants in this story. Uncle Richard becomes important because Dean realizes how well he communicates with Mary Ann from looking at how poorly he communicated with his uncle. Uncle Richard lacked the ability to sign fluently as Dean points out when saying “Uncle Richard would ask me in awkward,incumbent sign...” The lack of communication between them made Dean realize that Mary Ann is the one for him because she understands him without speaking. Translation and non-verbal communication had the same Instrumentalities,which was sign language, where as business communication’s instrumentalities were their voices and speaking ability since they didn’t believed that Dean had the ability to speak. Ends is what is actually learned from the translation process. Dean and Mary Ann are able to eventually figure out their relationship problems through the sense of sign language and touch, even though at some points Dean had more casual feelings towards the relationship. When comparing and contrasting the three disciplines, it was clear that non-verbal communication and translation had the most in common. Those two disciplines focused mainly on Dean’s hearing problem and his journey to find someone that understand him the way he is. Business communication did not relate to these because they didn’t see he was deaf and were more focused on the work environment, and gaining respect.
Thunder and Theory
The main purpose of the selective attention videos was to teach everyone that if you are focusing entirely on one topic, you may be missing something else that seems arbitrary but is actually equally as important. This lesson was emphasized throughout our discussion of The Buzz Buzz Boom after our Recon missions to specific communications literature sections in the library. Although some teams found it quite obvious that Dean was deaf, some teams did not pick up any signs of it in the text at all. The difference between the teams that noticed and those that did not was simply that those teams that did were assigned to library sections that related directly to sign language communication (ie: Danielle noticed, and her group was assigned to ‘non-verbal communication’).
Another message that the “gorilla videos” suggested was one on the topic of perspective; what we were focusing on while watching the videos, determined, in many instances, whether or not we saw the gorilla (or the departure of the ball-player, or the curtain’s change of color). This lesson also tied into our class’s comprehension of the story. For example, the first time that Danielle read The Buzz Buzz Boom, she focused mainly on what, if anything, had to do with interpersonal (namely, verbal) communication; she completely missed all the clues in the text that nodded to the fact that Dean was deaf and, to that end, disregarded the obvious notions of his struggle to communicate with the ones he loved.
The gorilla videos’ messages can also be applied in terms of the thunderstorm. Tony experienced the storm through being woken up by thunder and kept awake through its entirety. Taylor, however, abruptly awoke following a loud clap of thunder, acknowledged the fact that a storm was passing over the area, and fell promptly back to sleep. The fishbowl we held in the days after the squall opened our class’s eyes. Most of us had been woken up by the thunder of REM-destroying decibel, so we figured that everyone else had too. Alas, upon further investigation it was discovered that some of our classmates hadn’t the slightest clue which storm we were referring to. From a completely different perspective, the perspective of one of our classmates who slept through the storm, we could now see how our simple storm could be interpreted so ambiguously.
Our class discussions and fish bowls are a great way to communicate intimately, pitch ideas, give our input, and think about others’ input. They are equally as beneficial to those taking notes outside of the discussion because everyone gets to hear and comprehend everyone else’s experiences and draw conclusions based on several different perspectives. Having group discussion and class fishbowls allows us to see different people’s perspectives and gives us incentive to re-focus our attention to more and more underlying concepts.
Focus: Pursuing disciplinary grounding in Language and Social Interaction
Describing Content
- the fact that Dean was deaf and, ... his struggle to communicate with the ones he loved.”
- “Most of us had been woken up by the thunder of REM-destroying decibel, so we figured that everyone else had too. Alas, upon further investigation it was discovered that some of our classmates hadn’t the slightest clue which storm we were referring to.”
About the Medium
The fact of reading the story isn't commented upon; although the IPC of the characters is alluded to, which raises fascinating questions about translation: when you read a text in English, do you always assume that is the 'original' language? What are the implications of overlooking the use of another language - whether it is a spoken language or a signed language?
Reflections of your Consciousness
- “if you are focusing entirely on one topic, you may be missing something else that seems arbitrary but is actually equally as important.”
- “perspective; what we were focusing on while watching the videos, determined, in many instances, whether or not we saw the gorilla (or the departure of the ball-player, or the curtain’s change of color).”
- “focused mainly on what, if anything, had to do with interpersonal (namely, verbal) communication; she completely missed all the clues in the text that nodded to the fact that Dean was deaf and, to that end, disregarded the obvious notions of his struggle to communicate with the ones he loved.” Two notes: the equation of "interpersonal" with "verbal" represents a bias (see extended comments below). More importantly, in terms of the consistency and integrity of the argument, being 'focused on interpersonal communication' and missing the "struggle to communicate" is some kind of oxymoron!
Co-construction (Language Use and Social Interaction)
- “some teams found it quite obvious that Dean was deaf, some teams did not pick up any signs of it in the text at all. The difference between the teams that noticed and those that did not was simply that those teams that did were assigned to library sections that related directly to sign language communication (ie: [Ddavies] noticed, and her group was assigned to ‘non-verbal communication’).” This assumption is problematic for a couple of reasons, mainly because it categorizes a fully-fledged language as a more rudimentary mode of communication (such as mime, or the extra features of 'body language' that accompany spoken languages). This representation contributes to perpetuating stereotypes that Deaf people are less intelligent than non-deaf people, based on the use of the medium of vocalic speech. The second problem involves your small sample size, and that you don't name the other disciplines read by members of other Library Recon Teams - so the reader cannot even gauge whether they think those other disciplines reasonably might have steered you away from recognition by re-directing (disciplining) your focus to something else. (Note: There is an entirely relevant argument to be made on this point!)
- “From a completely different perspective, the perspective of one of our classmates who slept through the storm, we could now see how our simple storm could be interpreted so ambiguously.”
- “group discussion and class fishbowls allows us to see different people’s perspectives and gives us incentive to re-focus our attention to more and more underlying concepts.”
Communication Theories
Dell Hymes SPEAKING Model Relates to The Buzz Buzz Boom
- Setting & Scene
- Participants
- Ends
- Act sequence
- Key
- Instrumentalities
- Norms
- Genre
Initial Responses
- S-Where and what is happening
- P-who is doing the actions
- E-the intended outcome
- A-the order of events
- K-tone or mood of utterance
- I-styles (slang, formal, voice or gesture)
- N-accepted behavior of scene. Social Rules
- G-humor or comedy,educational, social, work,etc
In-Class Responses
- Setting/scene
- Motel room, Dean and Mary-Ann talking
- Listening to Uncle Richard's Thunderbird at a soccer field
- Participants
- Mary-Ann; interpersonal communication (speaking her feelings)
- Dean; intrapersonal communications (memories)
- Ends
- Mary-Ann wants an understanding of their relationship; does Dean really want this? Dean is asking himself the same..
- Dean wants Mary-Ann to "get it".
In Search of Gorillas
Cool Potentials of the Wiki
Selective Attention Report
When our Recon group watched the first video, we were confused as to what we were supposed to be learning.; we all counted the right number of passes, and we all saw the gorilla. When we watched the second video, however, the aim of the experiments was certainly made clearer. We all counted the right number of passes, but only one of us saw the gorilla and none of us noticed the black team’s player leave or the curtain change colors. We figured out that the video is meant to teach us that when you’re focusing on one thing so adamantly, it can be hard to see other things that are obvious. Taylor 11:00, 24 September 2010 (EDT)
Struggles with the Wiki
In the Aquarium with Steph
Observing Fishbrains in Action
Identifying Details in The Buzz Buzz Boom Group
- Agreement
- Characters (additional characters include pops, Jerry, Seinfeld, God, Jesus, Gaea)
- Disagreement
- Deaf?
- Abused by his uncle?
What's Thunder Got to do With it?
- Agreement
- The storm was before our first Comm118 class
- If you didn't hear it, you are a heavy sleeper
- Disagreement
- Was the storm before our first Comm118 class?
- Some could just hear the storm, some could feel and hear it
- Unanswered Questions
- When was the f***ing storm?!
Theory Determines Interpretation
TBA
Steph Conversing with US through Feedback
Understanding the Lifelike Pedagogy
- I wrote..
- In the Video:
- Younger students
- A class/teacher-child works together to assess and define what they wish to learn
- In sub-par English
- In Our Class:
- Older students
- Our class-teacher works together to assess and define what we wish to learn, only we end up just talking and not really deciding upon anything..
- In the King's English (well, maybe not the King's...)
- In Both
- Both in the video and in class, the narrator/instructor honestly attempts to enact this method of teaching/learning
- Accents: we've got Boston/Jersey?NYC accents, they've got European (?) accents.
- The Point
- The "Lifelike Pedagogy" is designed to benefit us. We should stop being assholes and get the big picture..
What is Difference?
I wrote..
- 1. Difference, in humans, is the natural or chosen variation among people. Difference can stem from an individual, but there is also difference among cultures, communities, and geographical areas.
- 2. Difference matters to interpersonal communication because two or more communicating individuals may differ in language, accent, idioms, personal space, greeting and departure styles, speed of speech, and level of vocabulary. These differences are often based on culture and rearing environment. For interpersonal communication to be successful, all of these differences must be taken into account.
- 3. Factors involved in decision-making...
- Alone
- What is the decision that must be made?
- What are my options?
- Which option seems most plausible for me?
- Of these, which option seems the most beneficial to me?
- With Others
- What is the decision that must be made?
- What are the group's options?
- Which option seems most plausible for me? For the group?
- Of these, which option seems most beneficial to me? To the group?
- Are there any options that satisfy everyone?
- If not, are there ways to collaborate ideas/options that will still work?
- And Steph's opinion..
- 1. Underlined "natural or chosen variation among people" and wrote 'You propose two categories."
- 2. Placed "language, accent, idioms, personal space, greeting and departure styles, speed of speech, and level of vocabulary" in brackets; made a note that these specific differences are based upon larger categories (ie: "culture and rearing environments").
- 3. After "for interpersonal communication to be successful, all of these differences must be taken into account.", Steph asked "Why? For what purposes?"
- Summarizin'
- Apparently, I hit on a few good points (keys, if you will....hehehe). Firstly, that there are a myriad of differences among humans when it comes to communication. Secondly, that although many differences in humans are "optional", and therefore easily determined and dealt with (for example musical taste and accent, to some degree), some are not (for example, hearing or vision impairments). Those with differences in communication that are NOT optional are still completely able to be understood; one must simply take further steps to acknowlege, assess, and interpret in these cases. Communication differences MUST be taken into account, if only for the purpose of clear transfer and comprehension of information.
The Negative (Kenneth Burke)
- Homework Question
- Definition
- "Being bodies that learn language, thereby becoming wordlings, humans are the symbol-making, symbol-using, symbol-misusing animal inventor of the negative, separated from our natural condition by instruments of our own making guided by the spirit of hierarchy, acquiring foreknowledge of death, and rotten with perfection." [Coe 332-333]
Presentation Team: Intercultural and Multimodal IPC
Our Assigned Readings:
- boyd, danah. Friendship. In Ito, Mizuko; baumer, Sonja; Bittanti, Matteo; boyd, danah; Cody, Rachel; Herr-Stephenson, Becky; Horst, Heather A.; Lange, Patricia G.; Mahendran, Dilan; Martinez, Katynaka Z.; Pascoe, C.J.; Perkel, Dan; Robinson, Laura; Sims, Christo; and Tripp, Lisa. Hanging out, messing around, and geeking out: Kids learning and living with new media. 2010. Pp. 79-115. (MIT) (16 points)
- Rogers, Everett M. Wilbur Schramm and the Founding of Communication Study; Establishment of the Communication Field. A History of Communication Study; A Biographical Approach. Pp. 10-15; 476-483; 492-495.
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