Artifactual Communication

 

I went through several advertisements before I chose this controversial Hardee's advertisement "BBQ's Best Pair - The Memphis BBQ Thickburger."  I chose this advertisement because they are using women that most men would find attractive to sell their burgers.  The advertisement is clearly displaying the use of communication artifacts such as clothing, hair, make-up and jewelry to appeal to their audience.

 

It is important to recognize that the advertisers are using a woman with blond hair and a woman with brunette hair.  The advertisers want to appeal to the audience who are attracted to blonds and the audience who are attracted to brunettes.  Both women are in bikini tops and "daisy dukes" which revel most of their bodies and the audience cannot take their eyes away from the advertisement.  The blond has a heart necklace which dangles above her breast and draws your attention there.  Both women are wearing make-up, but it is applied so the audience is drawn to their eyes (which never look up at the camera) and lips.  This gives the audience the impression that the women are satisfied with their sandwich and if the audience would have the same sandwich they would be just as satisfied.

 

This advertisement uses several forms of nonverbal communication, matter of fact, there is no verbal communication until the last 10 seconds of the advertisement.  The advertisement begins with the two women meeting and giving each other eye contact, which implies that either woman better not invade the other's personal space.  There a lots of use of gestures from a hand on the hip to the movement of their legs.  Towards the end of the advertisement when they realize that they invented a new burger their facial expression changed and there was no concern over personal space.

 

These artifacts and use of nonverbal communication are illustrating that the potential buyers are young men in the age group of 18-34.  The advertisement is using very attractive women and are expressing how Hardee's can make men crave sandwiches like they crave women.

 

 



Language & Society

1. What information did you find interesting in the article you chose?  Why?
• The information that I found interesting was when "Ms." took root.  The reason I found this interesting was because I never realized that "Ms." was not used at one point in time.  I assumed it was always either Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Miss.  In my job when we address a female customer primarily in a letter we are to address them as Ms. because we do not know if this person is married, widowed, divorced or single.
2. What did you learn that you did not previously know?
• I realize as Americans everyone may or may not speak English as their first language, but I did not realize that many African Americans use a language known as Black English or Ebonics.  I was not surprised as I read further in the article that many non-African Americans who live in the inner cities speak this language as well.  It would make sense to me considering they would be exposed to this language everyday.
3. What information did you find fascinating and wanted to learn more about?
• I found it fascinating to learn that bilingual schooling was more common practice in the 19th century, but the students were not given the tools to learn English and more than half dropped out.  I feel it is a shame that immigrants are losing their native language and they should have minority language rights. On the flip side, I do feel that if they are immigrating to America then English should become their primary language. 
4. How will you use this new information in the future? Where? How?
• Even thou English has been adopted by many as the official language we need to keep in mind that not all Americans speak English or can speak English fluently.  I can use this information everyday at my job.  Since I work in a call center I deal with customers from all over the United States.  There are customers I can understand with ease, while there are others that have a heavy southern or foreign accent that I may need them to repeat what they are telling me.  I have to keep in mind that I cannot make stereotypes about the other person on the phone and judge them because they have an accent.

Working Mom

If stereotype is defined as a generalization about people, places, or events held by many members. I would define stereotype in my own words as a pre-conceived judgement about someone/something.

1. How am I most likely stereotyped?  I would stereotype myself as a "Working Mom"
2. What characteristics of the stereotype would be generally true about me?
• Organized
• Multitask
• Flexible
3. What characteristics of the stereotype would be completely untrue?
• Unreliable at work
• Not being able to be that "super mom"
• Not being able to separate my personal life from my professional life
4. What does this tell me about the role of stereotyping in communicating with others?  It is important to recognize fact from inference.  For example, as a working mom there may be times that I come in late to work due to taking a child to the Doctor.  It would be unfair to make the assumption that I was unreliable at work. 
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages to stereotyping others?
• The advantages of stereotyping would be that we already have a generalization about a person, place or event.  When we would be first introduced to a particular group of people, for example "working moms", we would already know that they need to be organized, flexible and be able to multitask.  If we did not stereotype we would have to go through the stages of perception each time we are introduced to this group of people. 
• The disadvantage of stereotyping is when stereotype is involved there is also prejudice and blindering which limits one's perceptual capabilities. 

Seeking a Mother

Mother

• Tomahawk WI
• Full Time Sunday through Saturday

Background & Role

The role of a mother is a 24 hour, 7 days per week position.  Your primary responsibility will be to serve the needs of two young boys that are 7 & 6 by providing a nurturing environment.  You will need to have patience, love and understanding.  You will need to be able to handle pain, conflict and sickness.  Most important you must be willing to put your own needs aside and focus your attention on the boys.  The successful candidate will need to be organized and maintain daily morning, evening and bedtime routines.  I should also include that there is a 4 month old puppy that is involved in the daily routines.

 

 Morning Routine

• Let Buster outside
• Put 3.5 cups of food in Buster's food dish
• Get the boys up at 5:45
• Help the boys get dressed
• Let Buster outside again
• Give Louis his morning medication
• If the boys are not eating breakfast at school, you will need to give them breakfast before leaving
• Put Buster inside his crate with a full bowl of water and a treat in his Kong toy
• Grab the backpacks, have the boys get in the car and bring them to the bus stop by 6:20

 Evening Routine

• Pick the boys up at the bus stop at 4:15, head for home
• Let Buster out of his crate and take him for a 20 min walk
• Have the boys put 3.5 cups of food in Buster's food dish and make sure he has a full bowl of water
• Make supper, load the dishwasher and wash the dishes
• Help the boys with their homework
• Get backpacks ready for the morning
• Have the boys set their clothes out for the next day

Bedtime Routine

• Both boys will need to take a shower
• Let Buster outside
• Have Louis put on his "night -night" undies
• Help the boys with their pajamas
• Give both boys their night time medication
• Help the boys brush and floss their teeth (make sure they use the mouthwash)
• Read a bedtime book and tuck the boys into bed

Please keep in mind, that depending on the day of the week, the routines may change due to Wednesday night church school, obedience class for Buster, parent teacher conferences or sports to name a few.  The role of being a mother will bring great happiness, pride and joy, but along with the happiness, pride and joy; you need to be ready to provide unconditional love, able to handle frustration, and have an unlimited amount energy and patience.  Being a mother can be complicated because every child is unique.  Since your behavior will be reflected onto the children you must maintain self-awareness and have a good self-esteem,   As they say, "Children do not come with instructions!"

What "Course" to Take?

The questions that need to be answered are... was this course chosen by me to take or was it a requirement and what do I hope to learn from this course? I guess it all depends on the way you look at it. So to give you a better understanding of my situation and why I am here lets take a look back into my past.

For the past 9 years I have been trying to work my way up the ladder at work with no college degree. I have had some great accomplishments, but the lime light would always shine down on the fact that I don't have "that" degree. I'm told it doesn't matter what kind of degree you have as long as you have one. I have always tossed around the idea of going back to school, but I would always use the excuse "I don't have the time"; I am already working full time, raising 2 young children and my husband travels for work so he is not around to help.

This was my mindset up until 6 months ago when I received the news at work that the contract we are working on will not be renewed and we will be out of a job March 2013. So for about 4 months I did not know what to do. Do I find a new job, do I wait it out hoping the decision would be reversed, do I go back to school. Knowing that it is a tough job market right now and I do not have "that" wanted degree I felt it was best to take this opportunity and go back to school.

Yes, this course is a requirement for the program I enrolled in, but I did choose this specific course to take. Since I will have a job for another 6-7 months I am not able to start my program until Fall of 2013. My husband and I decided it would be best for me to go back to school slowly and start working on my general ed courses. I chose this specific course because it will help me in my current position at work. If things do not go the way they are planned for me to start my program next fall I will be able to use the information learned for a lifetime.

The next question to answer would be what do I hope to learn from this course?  Although I face losing my job, I am up for a promotion.  My promotion would put me in a leadership role, so having effective communication skills is a must.  I am intrigued by chapter 7: Listening, Feedback and Critical Thinking.  In a leadership role you must have excellent listening skills along with giving and receiving feedback from your co-workers.