Annotated Bibliography
Text ONE: (academic text)
John T. Warren & Deanna L. Fassett (2011). Chapter 3: Public Advocacy: Commitments and Responsibility.
SAGE (Eds.) COMMUNICATION A Critical/Cultural Introduction (pp. 37-58). Chicago, USA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
In this chapter of the book, the authors, J. T. Warren
(Professor of Speech Communication at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale)
and D. L. Fassett (holds a PhD in communication pedagogy from Southern Illinois
University) identify what public advocacy means and what the responsibilities
of speakers and listeners are. They also describe the role of power in
communication in general and in advocacy in particular, as well as defining
logical mistakes and explaining how to avoid them. The authors express and
discuss their personal arguments, ask the readers questions and justify their
information by referencing all of their arguments, opinions and procedures. The
authors’ style is conversational, it doesn’t influence anyone, and the approach
encourages critical thinking. The facts are very credible and the examples are
relevant and trustworthy.
Communication means taking responsibility for your messages
and arguments but also for your silence. Communication has never been about
just talking, it is also about writing, drawing and expressing yourself throughout
your gestures and actions. Today, we have many ways of communicating, such as texting,
sending e-mails, using the social media (such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
etc.), which is discussed in the three articles below. Words are more than 'just words'. Words build, shape, sustain, position, and make an opinion about a topic which needs to be chosen very carefully, especially in writing (in either e-mails, text messages, notes, books, articles, etc.) so that the writer gets understood as he/she wants to be comprehended.
Text TWO: (Media text)
Mellors, W. J. (date unknown). Text communication for all (DUST). WM Services UK. Retrieved from:
http://www.hft.org/HFT06/paper06/10_Mellors.pdf
Walter J. Mellors, the author of this article, reports and informs
about text communication services. He writes about a guide that has been
developed on Duplex Universal Speech and Text (DUST) services. The DUST
services are communicating text, speech and video. Mellors begins his article
with explaining what text communication services are and what the advantages
and disadvantages are. Mellors continues by writing about how people use text
communication, telecommunication, real time interactive communication and how,
when and how they are used. He thereafter presents the DUST concept and
describes it advantages, how it differs from other implementations and what
contribution it will make to everyone that uses it. Text communication services such as chat, instant messaging,
SMS and e-mail are now mainstream services and can be understood and interpreted in many different
ways. A lot of elder think that because of the new technology and new ways of
communicating (such as texting, e-mailing and using social media services),
spoken communication and handwritten letters are being threatened. That is
something that is written and discussed in the two articles below.
I believe that communicating via texts, e-mails or social
media services is getting over-analyzed and that it has both a positive and
negative side to it. The negative side is that the younger generation exploits
it too much and is therefore negatively affected by for example misspelling or being
unsocial. One of the positive sides with using this relatively new technology
is that a message can be sent and received quickly from both individuals and
companies.
Text THREE: (Media text)
Hather, M. (14 August 2010). Twitter, email, texts: we don't talk anymore! The Guardian. Retrieved from:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/14/texts-twitter-email-children
Michelle Hather, the author of this article, is a mother of
three (3) and talks about her everyday lifestyle and way of communicating
with her sons. She tells the reader about how her mornings looks like, by
turning the computer on, first thing in the mornings to make sure she ‘doesn’t
miss anything’. She reflects about how
she more and more communicates via texts, emails or social media services to
her sons as she believes they ‘’have more chance of reaching his brain than
actual, face-to-face human- being exchanges.’’ as she writes in paragraph
number four (4). She seems to ‘blame’ her children to have sucked her into
their hi-tech way of doing things. She is now communicating to them via message
boards, phones and computers – just like their friends.
She worries about the family situation and is scared that
her sons are not going to be capable to communicate as well as she did at her
age because of this ‘modern’ technology, but what I find interesting in her
article is that the way she is writing and explaining her lifestyle, she
doesn’t seem to try to change anything in their way of communicating. She goes
on and does whatever her sons do and doesn’t try to teach them how to
communicate and spend time as a family, without all of these devices (mobile
phones, computers, Xboxes, etc.). This kind of behavior is discussed in my last
text choice, article number four (4).
Text FOUR: (Media text)
Gunther, R. (27 February 2011). Can text messages damage intimate communication? Psychology Today. Retrieved from:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rediscovering-love/201102/can-text-messages-damage-intimate-communication
Randi Gunther, PhD., is a clinical psychologist and marriage
counselor practicing in Southern California, USA. In her article she writes
about how couples, because of text messaging, struggle more and more to
understand each other and understand each others feelings. She gives an example of a couple that has
troubles communicating and to connect emotionally because of text messaging. She
explains that emotional connection relies on facial and corporal expression and
voice intonation, and that because of communication via ‘modern technology’,
messages can usually and frequently be misunderstood and misinterpreted. Randi
Gunther explains about the discussion that the couple, Michael and Ashley have
and that it is because of the text messages that they argue.
In her article she does seem very hopeful and looks into the
future positively and makes us understand that technology is going to improve
even more than it already has, but that until then, we have to learn how to communicate in ‘the
right way’ to NOT be misunderstood by our partner, colleague, boss, friend, or
even family member. This article resembles a lot to my third (3rd)
article choice, relationships gets affected in a negative way because of this
new technology (especially sending text messages). We all have to keep
ourselves clear and write clearly so that we do not get misunderstood and can
get in any kind of trouble.
