Communication Term Paper

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CN 101 W3 D1

Communication, Identity, and Perception Intro (2 minutes) Last Time

§ Areas of Study in the Communication Discipline Things Due

§ For Wednesday o You have some videos to watch beforehand. This will be a discussion-heavy class,

so I expect you to have reviewed the material beforehand. o There are questions associated with each video (they are on the same screen as

the videos). Sketch out your answers and bring them to class. § For Friday

o Discussion post is due Today

§ Methods of Studying Communication § Communication, Identity, and Perception

Time to Write a Book! (5 minutes)

§ After our picnic, we felt energized and decided to write a book about our adventures escaping Jurassic World.

§ So, in your small groups, introduce yourself and brainstorm the title for your book. As a reminder, these aren’t graded. I want you to be creative and wacky with your ideas. But “I don’t know” isn’t a good enough answer (unless that’s the title you’ve decided to go with). Share your ideas! Courage! Designate someone as your representative.

§ Then, we’ll go around the room and hear what each group of dinosaur researchers has chosen for their book titles.

Lesson (35 minutes)

§ In our reading for today, we learned about identities and perceptions. We learned about the myth of the true self and we learned about how our identity judgments are often based in perception rather than fact.

§ We also watched the video clip on D2L and we brought our responses to several questions posed alongside that video.

§ We won’t always watch the video clip in class, but we will do so today to refresh our minds before we break out into discussion groups.

§ Video (5 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gpt2Zb5V5A&feature=emb_logo

§ For 10 minutes, you’re going to discuss how you responded to a set of those questions. I’ll tell you what each group is discussing.

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o Group 1 – Question 1 and 2 + Overall Questions o Group 2 – Question 3 and 4 + Overall Questions o Group 3 – Question 5 and 6 + Overall Questions o Overall questions:

§ Does Alice have a core self? § Does the Caterpillar have a core self? § Why or why not?

§ Let’s recap together (20 minutes):

o Question 1 -- What moods do you think that Alice and the Caterpillar are experiencing in this clip?

§ Dr. K observations: Amusement, irritability, defensiveness, frustration, misunderstanding, misinterpretation, confusion

o Question 2 -- Does the Caterpillar seem comfortable in this setting? Does Alice? Why or why not?

§ Dr. K observations: • Caterpillar: Yes! Until Alice makes a comment about how terrible

it is to be small (like the Caterpillar is). • Alice: No. While she is curious and is rather calm, given the

circumstances, she’s confused and still adapting to existing in Wonderland.

o Questions 3 -- How do you think Alice's and the Caterpillar's relationship (as strangers) affects the way they're communicating with each other? How do you think they would act if they were close friends?

§ Dr. K observations: • They seem to be doing a bit of an identity dance. They are being

fairly polite, but eventually get frustrated and storm off. I’d anticipate that if they were friends, that frustration might happen earlier, but then be resolved by honestly discussing their frustration and misunderstanding.

o Questions 4 -- In your opinion, what does the Caterpillar think of Alice? What does Alice think of the Caterpillar?

§ Alice: Perceives the Caterpillar to be acting funny, although he is quite a serious person. Perceives him to be rude when he takes offense to her size comment.

§ Caterpillar: Perceives Alice to be of little interest due to her inability to articulate who she is. Also perceives her to be insensitive of his size while standing in his own house.

o Question 5 -- What cultural assumptions do you think the Caterpillar and Alice made? What was a specific line that reflected that assumption?

§ Assumption 1: to be small is a dreadful experience. § Assumption 2: there is one and only one way to recite the poem. § Assumption 3: The other party is acting peculiar.

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o Question 6 -- We know that identities are performed. What identities would you say that the Caterpillar and Alice were performing?

§ Caterpillar – grouchy, yet thoughtful person. Creative. Unbound by what things “should” be.

§ Alice – polite, abiding by socialized norms (curtsy), not used to being confronted when she says something insensitive. Overall, I’d guess from a highly proper family of society. But Alice’s polite performance snaps at the end when she has smoke blown in her face and when she returns and the Caterpillar snaps at her.

o Overall Questions § Does the Caterpillar have a core identity?

• No. Although he seems more of the mindset that you should know who you are, he himself changes into a butterfly when he gets angry. We see him go from highly poetic to really gruff by the end (different moods).

§ Does Alice have a core identity? • No. She seems like the poster child for the idea that the core self

is a myth, mentioning that she didn’t know who she was anymore. We see her mood shift and her communication shift, as well. We might think differently of her after seeing her get angry.

Next Time § Read the rest of chapter 2 (pp. 27-34) § Watch the video: “Leading Lady Parts” on D2L. It’s about 10 minutes long and it’s a

funny one featuring some potentially familiar faces. Jot down some responses to the questions. Again, these are jumping off points for discussion.

§ Watch the video: “I’m Gay” by Eugene Lee Yang on D2L. In case you were curious, yes, this is Eugene from the Try Guys! Jot down some responses to the questions on that video, too.

o Trigger Warning: This video depicts re-enactments of homophobia, gun violence, and public/familial intolerance of identity.