Sawyer Ohman

9/4/23

CMM110-A

Journal #2

Passage #1 (PG #8, Para #3)

I found this passage to be confusing but after a second read I enjoyed the explanation that was given even though it was contradictory to my natural idea. My definition of a sign was based on stop signs and billboards. But those objects aren’t signs at all, they are symbols. Images of beaches and coronas or performers in a circus, they are symbols which represent something unique in its own way. These symbols do not mean the same thing to everyone however. Different cultures represent parts of everyday life using different symbols. 

Passage #2 (PG#12, Para #1)

I found that I could agree strongly with this passage. Whether you know a person or not, whatever interaction you may have with that person subconsciously you recognize who they are and what they mean to you. If a friend were to pass you by on the street you might find yourself being more inclined to wave or say hello. If a stranger walked past you, you might not make any notice of them at all. Communication is incredibly scenario based and every interaction is different from one person to the next. 

QCQ:

“All Communication contains both a content level and a relational level (PG #12, para #1).”

When a person communicates with another not only are they trying to convey a message, but the way one communicates may vary based on the relationship the “sender” has with the “receiver.” If for example you walk past a classmate in the halls you might give them a fist bump or a high five as a form of salutations. However in a similar situation if you walk past your professor in the halls you may simply try to avoid eye contact. Relationships we can maintain and grow through communicating but they do not necessarily stay the same forever. Sometimes people grow apart or to the contrary become closer and in some cases form an intimate relationship. This will change the way that you interact with this person and how you communicate with them will change as well. As I myself have grown older I have grown much closer with my Nana, we talk about everything. I fill her in on everything I do at school and all my adventures that my friends and I get into. But I communicate with her very differently than I do with my friends. I hug her and we always make some food for me to bring back to my family but that is never something my friends and I would spend our time doing together. She is also much older of course so she tells me about the past and what things used to be like where I grew up. 

How could we make communication with new people easier and less stressful in our society today? What would have to change about the way we communicate with each other now that would make it easier to get to know a new person?