Hey!
In this document I have summarised the book Thinking Through Communication and added some notes from class. It was so helpful when preparing for the exam and on the actual day!
Best of luck!
Communication is the process of generating meaning by receiving and sending verbal and nonverbal
symbols and signs that are influenced by multiple contexts.
CHAPTER 1: THE COMMUNICATION TRADITION
Studying rhetoric in ancient Greece
- Rhetoric: the study of communication
- Rhetorics: teachers of communication
- Plato: a greek philosopher, Aristotele was his student and attended his academy
3 pillars of persuasion
1. Ethos: credibility and personal character
2. Pathos: emotions and the ability to arouse emotions
3. Logos: reasoning, the wording and logic of the message
The classical period (500B.C. - 400 C.E.)
Corax and Tisias were two Sicilian greek rhetoricians. The sophists were those professional speech teachers
who advertised their services by posting notices in public places where they could find an audience. Cicero
was a prominent roman politician who helped creating the five canons of rhetoric (table 1.2):
1. Invention: research as much as you can
2. Arrangement: arrange ideas for maximum impact
3. Style: select and arrange wording carefully
4. Memory: remember what you want to say
5. Delivery: nonverbal (the way the content is delivered)
Quintilian was the last great classical theorist. He stressed the ethical dimension of communication when he
defined rhetoric as the study of “the good man speaking well”.
Medieval (400-1400) and renaissance (1400-1600) communication
Augustine was a major christian theorist. He argued that it would be foolish for truth to take its stand
unarmed against falsehood. He believed that people communicate through signs, something that causes
something else to come into the mind as a consequence of itself.
- Natural signs: those created by God (smoke, which causes one to think of fire)
- Conventional signs: are arbitrarily created by humans (spoken or written word)
The modern period (1600-1900)
In the modern period there are 4 approaches:
1. Classical approach: recover the insight of the greatest classical rhetoricians, adapting them to modern
times
2. Psychological/ epistemological approach: investigating the relationship of communication and thought,
trying to understand in a scientific way how people influence each other through speech
3. Belletristic approach: focusses on writing and speaking as art forms
4. Elocutionary approach: designed elaborated system of instructions to improve speakers (non) verbal
presentation
Francis Bacon (1561-1626), identified four “idols” or distortions that get in the way of clear thinking. Rene
Descartes (1596-1650) and John Locke (1632-1704) mistrusted normal use of rhetoric. According to them,
truth can only be obtained through discourse that is grounded in an understand of human rationality. George
Campbell (1719-1796) combined these ideas of modern thinkers with the teachers of classical rhetoricians.
,Contemporary period: communication today
The are two approaches to the study of communication:
- Scientific method: a belief in controlled laboratory experimentation and careful, objective measurement.
- The rhetorical tradition: using the historical and critical methods of the humanities in their studies,
which are symbolic activity shapes public response to political and ethical issues, therefore rhetoric
remains a human discipline.
CHAPTER 2: DEFINITIONS, MODELS AND PERSPECTIVES
A product or phenomenon can have different kinds of definitions that can be correct (for example: a phone
can be a product to communicate, a design of a product or maintaining relationships).
- Definition: clarifies concepts by indicating their boundaries
- Objective processes of discovery: a single correct definition exists for everything
- Subjective process of construction: assume that most of the things we try to define are human
constructions
- Breadth: how broad or narrow we want our communication to be
- Intentionality: does the sender always consciously have to communicate in order to participate in the
communication?
- Sender-based: the person sending out information, either intentional or not, is the one communicating
- Receiver-based: the person observing or hearing information is the one communicator
- Spoken symbolic interaction: the way people create common meaning by using symbols (words) and
share that meaning with each other
- Nonverbal interaction: unspoken and often unintentional behaviour. Can be accompanied by verbal
communication to create a fully interdependent meaning
Communication sub-fields:
- Interpersonal communication: how people use the one-to-one interaction to build relationships
- Small group communication: how small collections of people can work together to discuss and solve a
problem
- Public communication: how speakers sway audiences
- Intercultural communication: how people from different cultures and values, understand and accept
each other
- Organisational communication: how communication plays out in business and industry settings
- Mass communication: how messages are broadcasted to large mass audiences (newspaper, tv, radio…)
Mediated interaction: messaging (e-mail, social media, WhatsApp) via indirect sources where individuals
can work together as well as co-group communication
MODELS
Theory vs. Theoretical model
- Theory: it may or may not be true but it can be tested to prove it
Theories propose an explanation of a process or situation, but commonly remain unproven and thus do not
truly represent reality.
- Theoretical Models: it is a representation of the process
Models describe a process or situation, which can be imaginary, assumed, but also reflecting reality. Models
can be used to explain or visualise theories. Models are representations, they cannot capture a process in its
entirety.
Ways in which theories are used and their metaphors
- Theories as nets: theories are nets to catch what we investigate and we make the web finer and finer
(using a theory to catch what is happening in the external world)
- Theories as lenses: the lens of a camera highlights what shapes our perception by focusing on specific
features (looking at the world through some theories)
- Theories as maps: theories are maps to guide us through unfamiliar territory
, Theoretical models
- What is a model? Abstract representation of a process, a description of its structure or function
- Why do we use them? To make sense of processes that are otherwise too complex to understand in their
entirety
- How do models help us understand issues? [use of models]
Explanatory - to explain the process (math and geometry)
Predictive - to test a process (forecasting and predicting)
Control function - how to modify/ control a process (traffic map)
- What are drawbacks of models?
Models make assumptions
Different ways to model a process
Models are incomplete by default
How to apply a model (or theory or idea)?
1. Introduce the model - explain its essence and why you chose this model
2. Name its components - list components (high level)
3. Explain and illustrate components - explain components and their relevancy to the case
4. Discuss drawbacks - discuss ways in which the model fails to explain the case
5. Conclusion - summarise result (no new information)
6. Final touch - references, spelling
Perspective: a coherent set of assumptions about the way a process operates
Four models of communication:
1. Psychological perspective: focuses on what happens inside the heads of communicators as they send
and receive messages [figure 1.2]
2. Social construction perspective: sees communication as a process where people, using tools provided
by their culture create collective representations [figure 2.2]
3. Pragmatic perspective: communication consists of a system of interlocking, interdependent “moves”
which become patterned over time. It focuses on “games” people play when they communicate
4. Critical/ cultural studies perspective: uncovering hidden power relations embodied in everyday
interactions
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