Roberts Pg. 323

Paul Roberts studied the art of speech and the way it affects us as we are today. He cites the example of a small village with a thousand people who only hear their own language. He says how there is always a new language developing and many different expressions. Then the village is to divide in half saying that the difference is very strange.

He highlights how our speech communities develop first within the family and how they learn their primary language, aka what their parents speak. The child’s language develops by two “obvious motives” the desire to communicate and that to be admired. A child tries to imitate what they hear. But just because a language is learned doesn’t always mean that it will come out correctly. Roberts says that the child tries to conform to what they hear so as they can be admired and understood.

Children and even adults are often exposed to very many social differences in which class plays an important factor. When you walk around a college campus, the dialect is usually different than that of an elementary school or a business place.

Birk and Birk Pg. 395

The principle of selection is defined by Birk and Birk as knowledge that determines which facts we interpret. They say that principle of selection is basically how we react to a particular situation. They site the situation of the lumberjack, the artist and the tree surgeon. These three people would each view a tree in a different way and this is what Birk and Birk call Principle of selection.

The principle of slanting is how we put our knowledge into words. They say that it is quite mysterious because of the fact that we really do not realize how much we are communicating and how it is retained in the subconscious. “Slanting may be defined as the process of selection (1)knowledge-factual and attitudinal; (2)words; (3) and emphasis to achieve the intention of the communicator” This quote demonstrates the opinion of the Birks as well as shows people that communication is the most major part of the principle of slanting.

They go on to explain the various types of slanting. Different types such as slanting by use of emphasis, and slanting by selection of facts, as well as slanting by use of charged words. These all have to do with the way people are received in society because of the way that they think things through. These actually also have to do with the way things are emphasized when you communicate with people. Emphasis is how you verbalize these things because they have to do with your feelings on certain issues. Everything we learn about is actually slanted.

Postman And Powers Pg. 405

This article discusses all of the issues with television and how things get blown out of proportion most of the time. It discusses how television has become the major source of news overall. Even over internet usage and newspapers to discover what the headlines might be. Postman and Powers go on to discuss the fact that each news cast is planned out and articulated to a t. Everything from what the anchors were going to say, to the actual stories even including the music to set the tone as it plays into the show. All of the anchors or actors have rehearsed what to say and in some cases we do not know what the truth is. After so much editing and re-editing as well as careful planning, the viewer may have mixed concepts of what is the truth, even though we are supposed to believe what people on television say without seeing any proof. The idea of television is a one of greatness, but it takes away people’s will to do things on their own, such as read a newspaper or even surf the internet. Television is beginning to make people become lazy.

Postman and Powers actually discuss the basics of being a broadcasting anchor of any particular television show. They both go on to discuss that the anchor basically has to establish control over their audience. And with out such their ratings will definitely suffer. But they actually help gain control by all of the special effects and lack of gaps. When is the last time you have heard an awkward gap of time on a news cast? Probably not all that often. The reporters are trained to keep the pace of the news cast going.

The language of pictures is something Postman and Powers go into greatly because the language of pictures is always shorter than that of writing or speaking. They use the example that a picture says a thousand words, and they use the inverse of that by saying a thousand words is worth a picture.

Kristol Pg.487

When you think about the way America has evolved from the early to colonial times to the present there are so many different advancements. Not only does that involve all electronic and cellular evolution, but evolution of the entertainment industry as well. That previous statement also includes a subject that tends to be taboo for those who consider themselves to be well respected individuals. The taboo is that of pornography. Everywhere you look there is a way to get a hold of porn. You can access it on the internet, or just go into an adult store and purchase it without an issue. Sometimes if you go to the movie theater, there is a chance that a rated r film can contain pornographic sequences, so its essentially everywhere you look.

Kristol says that not only pornography, but obscenity as well affect the world as a whole quite negatively. He goes on to add that pornography makes people behave like animals in situations where they need to show maturity and grace. Kristol believed that “Pornography's whole purpose, it seems to me, is to treat human beings obscenely, to deprive them of their specifically human dimension” By saying this he basically meant that pornography is another way to objectify people and their wishes. Essentially this makes them less human and more barbaric which meant that they were more like animals.

Kristol does a lot of comparing between people and animals. He says that the two separate entities are such. Which meant that they are two separate beings and should be treated in that manner. Even though sex is an activity which humans and animals alike participate in, that when you watch pornography that all you see is the animal-likeness of the actions. You do not see the human contact within pornography. He basically says that pornography is sexual regression from an human practice in which there is not only a physical connection but a psychological connection as well.

Taylor Pg. 501

Censorship is a major issue involved on many different levels of human interaction in everyday life. In this particular article, a student at California Polytechnic State University, named Steven Hinkle. His rights were basically violated at this prestigious college campus. He was posting fliers for an event in which an African American speaker was coming to the school to make a speech entitled “It’s ok to leave the plantation” The only reason Steven stopped himself was due to some students calling his flier disrespectful, if I was in this situation I probably would’ve still posted the flier. If the proper authorities had a problem with it, then they could take it down.

Steven Hinkle was actually subjected to a lot of inquiries by many different boards and was forced to apologize to the students which said that they felt offended, and if I was in Steven’s shoes I don’t think I would’ve been able to. He was simply advertising for a speech, given by an African American speaker., so it really shouldn’t be an issue. Luckily for Hinkle, the FIRE(Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) came to his rescue. FIRE was a Philadelphia based free speech group.

FIRE basically asserted that it was Mr. Hinkle’s right to say what he wanted and just because the university did not approve, does not mean that he should be penalized. Some colleges, though, do have a right to penalize their students because of violation of policy, but at what cost? The cost of free speech? They feel as if they need to censor certain things that may be found rude or offensive to other students, and they also feel as if they need to fight against sexual harassment, but what Steven Hinkle did was none of this. He was simply advertising for a speaker and truly should not be penalized.

Zinnisser Pg. 129

Clutter in any form is simply unacceptable. And according to William Zinisser, it is totally unacceptable in writing, just like everywhere else. He says that to be a well versed writer, one must be able to break down their writing to its bare minimum. Zinisser actually cites many specific examples, especially those from Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

He says that though the reader of any particular writing piece has an attention span of approximately thirty seconds, and though they have many distractions of every day life. The writer has a responsibility to help keep their attention and make sure that they can hold their attention throughout the entire piece. Zinisser says that a writer must be careful and ensure that the reader of any particular piece does not get lost.

At first a reader feels that it may be their fault that they get lost outside of the piece of writng. But after further examination, it was the writer’s failure that is shown. They lost the attention of the reader and that is very crucial. He says that the writer needs to constantly ask themselves, what is it that I need to ask the reader to do. He also believes that the writer must ensure the reader’s attention by flowing through any particular piece.

Hairston Pg. 99

As a person who dislikes the writing process as a whole, I totally understand what Maxine Hairston is trying to explain in this article. She writes about how different professional writers can be from amateurs, which has actually proven to be a common theme.

Successful writers begin the process just about the same way every time. Always writing where they fell comfortable, and usually at the same location each time. They just about always make sure that they allow time for them to begin their writing far before the deadline. Professional writers are also very observant and know what, when and how their environment can change from time to time. This is also a useful key in any sort of field. Just like everyone else, they also need deadlines.

Personally, I always tend to encounter writers block. But if some one allows themselves enough time in preparation, a writers block is usually expected and doesn’t change certain ramifications when it comes to the writing process. Procrastination is actually another issue that experienced writers tend to expect, and even most amateur ones as well, but then a writer does not have enough time to fully revise what it is that they are trying to say.

Hairston also goes into detail on two specific types of writing, explanatory and exploratory. When it comes to explanatory writing, a writer knows a majority of what they are talking about. Such as any type of historical writing, some political developments or even a biography. In all of these instances, the writer has an extensive knowledge of their topic and can write about this topic with ease. Exploratory, however, is mainly thus. It is a piece of writing meant to go further in depth and learn more about any particular topic. These usually involve a lot of work, meaning lots of notes and outlines.