I have an essay due in a communication/speech class. This is not a speech! I am having a terribly hard time understanding what my professor wants. I also need a relevant topic. I will include much of the information he gives, I can include more if needed. He did give two example papers. TIA!!
The title of the essay is "Right is Left, Left is Right"
Here is the information he gives:
"This is an essay that focuses on issues of verbal communication and the difficulties people experience when the language being used is not clear and accurate because of the changing nature of our perceptions of verbal communication."
"The assignment has three sections. Read all three before beginning to work on the assignment. You do not have to use an example from what is presented in the three sections of illustrations; you can choose any use of the language that exemplifies the dichotomy and juxtiposition inherent in the notion of RLLR. "
"Your assignment is to write a research essay based on what we've been reading and discussing. Select an issue, a concept (or two or three related concepts). You can look to the example above and note two different issues: one is the issue related to murder and execution; second is the issue of right-to-life and abortion, capital punishment, and euthanasia--how can a person be for one of the three and still be an advocate of right-to-life, for example. You can look to the dichotomy in such concepts as terrorists and freedom-fighters, and insurgents, whether in the conflict between Palestine and Israel or internally in Iraq. You can consider that the New York Times or Newsweek are voices for providing information while Al Jezeera is a voice for Islamic propaganda. You might find it interesting to relative impacts of uniforms in high schools vs. dress codes vs. no guidelines at all.
Embracing what you've learned about Perception, Language and Verbal Communication, and Nonverbal Communication, explain the communication dilemmas such notions as "newspeak" and "being politically correct" and "right is left and left is right" and "but things are different today" create for us in everyday communication about topics and issues that impact our lives and our world. "
Here is one of the examples:
"On 3 September 2003, Paul Hill was executed for a crime he committed in 1994. (He was the 57th person executed in Florida since capital punishment was again authorized). He was accused and convicted of murdering Dr. John Britton, a general practitioner who performed abortions; Hill was also convicted of murdering Britton's associate/body guard and of attempting to murder Mrs. Britton.
Hill believed that abortion is murder, and he argued that by killing Dr. Britton, he was saving lives. Hill claimed to be a right-to-life advocate.
The state of Florida called what Hill did "murder." He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death -- to be executed. The punishment for what he did, the taking of another person's life, was that he was to have his life taken, under Florida's statutes enforcing capital punishment. Thus, Hill was executed by the state of Florida. The state, and society, took Hill's life just as he had taken the life of Dr. Britton and his associate.
Do the labels really mean what we think they mean? When a man kills another man, the taking of a life is murder. However, when the state kills a man, taking that life is an execution. What's the difference? Is this a different kind of right is left and left is right? "
Hi Cortney,
If these are the only instructions given by the prof, s/he really did not do a good job of making them clear. Ironic, since this is a class about communication problems.
When you get convoluted instructions like these, it is good to paste them into a word doc and put spaces between them so they become a list. Ask yourself, what the heck am I supposed to do? and scan for the answer. In this case, you'll find that the prof wants a thoughtful discussion of values that SEEM TO BE IN CONFLICT WITH ONE ANOTHER, creating a sort of paradox or "catch-22."
Oh! I just noticed that you said the prof gave more instructions than just these, so maybe I was wrong to criticize!
Anyway, choose an issue -- maybe gun control, homosexual marriage, or stem cell research -- and make a list of all the "values" involved in both perspectives about the issue.
Choose your issue, make a list of values, and use a good article database to find articles about those issues. Have fun with it, because this is a cool, philosophical exploration!
I'm going to do it on organic vs. inorganic foods
A great topic, since the way you have phrased it highlights the linguistic problems involved. There is of course no such thing as "inorganic" food. When "organic" is taken in the meaning that makes it the opposite of "inorganic," then all of our food is, by definition, organic.
This is actually a very good assignment, as it will force you to perform high level critical thinking. I hope you'll post your draft here once you have one.
