History of Communication
Reading, Writing, & Thinking
I can significantly see a progression in my writing and reading skills from my first journal to my last. By reading the assigned selections, I feel like I can evaluate readings better and come up with my own conclusions. Because the journal questions were more opinion-based, this allowed me to read the selections, try to analyze them, and then come to a sound conclusion based on supporting evidence.
The Comm. Ancients section of the course was a little difficult for me because philosophy has never been a strong point of mine. Although I was uninterested in the material and found it difficult to grasp, I still think it is a necessary entity of the course. It allows you to progress through history and apply communication to it—hence, the title of the course. After reading Cicero, Gorgias, Aristotle, and Plato, I feel like I can understand the concept of rhetoric better and can more importantly, read and write about it easier.
Media
The discussions and focus on media throughout the course was very interesting to me. Because we live in a media-rich society, it is important to discuss this powerful force and try to analyze it the best we could. I only missed one or two classes I think mostly because class time was used effectively. The lectures, audio and visual clips, and presentations were very informative. I am glad the course is not centered on memorization because I don’t have to sit and write the power point slides down word-for-word in my notebook. I can listen to what the professor has to say and apply it to my field of interest or the present day.
I think my appreciation for TV news has decreased since the start of the course. Almost every journalism and communication course I have had at Duquesne has stressed the importance of newspapers and their ability to cover the whole story and offer a wide variety of opinions, whereas television can only show you a minute and a half package of something. I’m beginning to see why this is the case among college professors, but I still keep a sense of awareness for TV news because I know it can dominate public opinion, and it is the way most Americans still get their news.
Skills
I think my skills have most definitely increased since the beginning of the course. All the entities of communication (reading, writing, speaking, reasoning) are tied in a direct relationship so when one increases, the rest tend to follow. Because I can read and understand what I’m reading more effectively, I can express my feelings in writing better and I can speak with more confidence.
I have learned that it is often how you say things, not what you say. I can take this into account because to speak with confidence and “eloquence” allows others to look at you as if you really knew what you were talking about. I think you still need to have some substance behind what you say, but the better speaker will always have the upper hand because he knows what his audience wants to hear and can tell it to them easier.
Self-Analysis
One thing I would change about the way I handled the course would be to get things done earlier. The journals were often a burden on Sunday afternoon because I would rush to get what I had all week to get done in one day. If you take one or two readings a day then it can make things a lot easier on yourself. This would also have given me better understandings of the readings.
I would also have not put the World War II project off for as long as I did. I wasn’t sure the significance of the assignment of how it applied to communications, but sometimes you have to do what is assigned even if you don’t like it. After I took the time to do a little research and write a paper I was glad I did because I know a lot more about the war than most of my friends.
It is also important to have good communication with your writing partner. My partner and I are friends and speak in class but we don’t take advantage of the opportunity to help each other with our work. Getting advice from a classmate about your WWII project, your journals, or The Screwtape letters, can help out a lot. It is always better to have two opinions than one.
Suggestions for Improvement
There aren’t any noticeable changes that I can see to help the course significantly. One thing I did enjoy was the class discussions because it allowed for a wide range of people to get their opinion heard. But once they were heard many of them did not face any opposition. Many things we talked about in class were opinion-based so maybe the addition of a small debate fit into the course schedule would be interesting. This would allow writing partners to get into groups and put their opinion to the test against another. It would also force people to apply facts, substance and communication skills to their debate. And once the debate is over, you can see who won by taking a class poll and analyzing what the winning group did. Did they speak eloquently to sway the judges or did they have sound evidence and proof to their opinion?
I enjoyed watching Network because I thought it was a film that really tied in a lot of themes from class. I’m not sure if there are any other films that do the same thing, but maybe adding another one to a journal somewhere or doing one as an extra credit could be interesting. It is always educational and entertaining for a student to get to watch a film and learn something at the same time.
