QUESTION 1

Gutenberg’s Galaxy

As Postman says (p. 31), Thou shalt not write down thy principles, still less print them, lest thou shall be entrapped by them for all time.” His point is that putting things in print makes the nebulous concrete and forces the communicator to stand forever in relation to the printed document. This brings out one of the powerful impacts of print technologyits permanence as a social memory. What might have been forgotten now becomes a permanent reality. Can you identify a circumstance in your own life where putting something in text led to bad consequences as circumstances or contexts changed? How did the readers relate what you wrote under one condition when you were now under a different condition (and texting drunk does not count )? What did the medium do to your expression and how might you have changed what you wrote now that you have experienced the negatives of its permanence?

125 WORDS

QUESTION 2

The Textual Mind

One of the points we are generally ignorant of, but which Postman wishes to draw to our attention, is how texts shape our thinking. Texts are much easier to follow logically and sequentially than are oral narratives (the major preceding way of communicating), and allow the development of long, tedious and carefully logical thought developments. We have all run across the long boring memo, but we need to think about how much information is carefully packed into that long boring memo that could not be communicated orally. Think about what your work would be like if information was only transmitted orally. How would you help people remember your points and what would people need to tell you (and how often) in order to get your work done? Could you even do your work? What are the differences in thinking that would help people remember your spoken words the same way they can refer to your written words? What is the difference? How much easier is it to write logically what would otherwise be hard to communicate? What do you come to expect from the communication of others because of this possibility? How do you think because of texts? (And do you now begin to understand why we make you write so many essays?)

To receive full credit for this assignment, you must accomplish the following:

1. Briefly, explain each theory assigned in your own words. The first theory is “Expectancy Violations Theory ” by Judee Burgoon and the second theory is “Social Penetration Theory” of Irwin Altman & Dalmas Taylor.

2. Illustrate how the theory explains “real world” situations. 3. Choose one of the following options to illustrate and apply the theory: a. Movie or television: Choose a scene or set of scenes from movie or television program you think is a good illustration of a communication theory in the assigned reading chapters. Explain how/why this movie or television episode illustrates the theory. b. Print media: Choose a passage or set of passages from a book or written article (news, commentary, comic) that exemplify a communication theory in assigned reading text. Explain how/why this passage can be understood in terms of the theory. c. Personal experience: Choose a personal experience you have had that exemplifies a communication theory in assigned reading text. Explain how/why this experience exemplifies the theory. 4. What questions come up for you as you reflect on the reading chapter; i.e., critique and/or questions that you would like to explore and find answers to. 5. Reflections are MINIMUM two pages – Times New Roman – 12 font and 1.5 spaced. Sources, if any used, are properly cited according to APA citation format.

2. Illustrate how the theory explains “real world” situations. 3. Choose one of the following options to illustrate and apply the theory: a. Movie or television: Choose a scene or set of scenes from movie or television program you think is a good illustration of a communication theory in the assigned reading chapters. Explain how/why this movie or television episode illustrates the theory. b. Print media: Choose a passage or set of passages from a book or written article (news, commentary, comic) that exemplify a communication theory in assigned reading text. Explain how/why this passage can be understood in terms of the theory. c. Personal experience: Choose a personal experience you have had that exemplifies a communication theory in assigned reading text. Explain how/why this experience exemplifies the theory. 4. What questions come up for you as you reflect on the reading chapter; i.e., critique and/or questions that you would like to explore and find answers to. 5. Reflections are MINIMUM two pages – Times New Roman – 12 font and 1.5 spaced. Sources, if any used, are properly cited according to APA citation format.

3. Choose one of the following options to illustrate and apply the theory: a. Movie or television: Choose a scene or set of scenes from movie or television program you think is a good illustration of a communication theory in the assigned reading chapters. Explain how/why this movie or television episode illustrates the theory. b. Print media: Choose a passage or set of passages from a book or written article (news, commentary, comic) that exemplify a communication theory in assigned reading text. Explain how/why this passage can be understood in terms of the theory. c. Personal experience: Choose a personal experience you have had that exemplifies a communication theory in assigned reading text. Explain how/why this experience exemplifies the theory. 4. What questions come up for you as you reflect on the reading chapter; i.e., critique and/or questions that you would like to explore and find answers to. 5. Reflections are MINIMUM two pages – Times New Roman – 12 font and 1.5 spaced. Sources, if any used, are properly cited according to APA citation format.

4. What questions come up for you as you reflect on the reading chapter; i.e., critique and/or questions that you would like to explore and find answers to. 5. Reflections are MINIMUM two pages – Times New Roman – 12 font and 1.5 spaced. Sources, if any used, are properly cited according to APA citation format.

5. Reflection is a minimum of 2 pages: Times New Roman, 12 font, 1.5 spaces. NO NEED TO CITE !! AND NO plagiarism.

I HAVE ATTACHED ONE OF MY OWN PAPERS FOR YOU TO REFER TO AS A SAMPLE PAPER to help you comprehend the expectations better.