Chapter 5

In Chapter five, Jonathon Culler questions the thoughts and ideas of Freud, Saussure, and Durkheim. He does not understand why these three men think behavior is based off of individual actions. His search is for a system that explains why there are signs and why there are semiotics and meanings to what we do. He figures that there must be a society that interprets signs. Unlike the three men previously mentioned, Culler focuses on society, rather than the individual. He states that individuals are not the creators of society and and you need a society for individuals to exist ("to learn how to speak a language and to learn what signs mean").

We learn that individuals come from a society from a book called Ideology and Utopia, by Karl Mannheim.  In the portion of the book included in this chapter, we know that Mannheim focuses on society as a whole. He relays the importance of thinking "further what other men have thought before". This means that it is impossible to think as an individual. This theory came from a French sociologist Emile Durkheim. Durkheim claimed that there is a "complex relationship between individuals and society: individuals are in society and society is in individuals." This means that we may have our own individual thoughts, but our thoughts come from society. This is known as individualism. Individualism is a term created by Alexis de Tocqueville i his book Democracy in America. He claimed that American society has a egalitarian nature because we forget about our social institution and tend to focus on individualism.

After adopting some of these ideas, Culler criticizes Saussure, Freud, and Durkheim for praising individualism and its benefits of making communication successful with the ability to create unique ideas within individuals. Culler argues that this "self-made" non-societal image is an illusion because society is what teaches individuals what signs and language mean. Individuals may enlighten themselves with new ideas, but these ideas come from society. Social institution is what truly makes a person distinctive.

Chapter 2

Chapter two defines language as "a system of signs that express ideas." To study these signs, people use semiotics. Semiology is "a science that studies the life of signs within a society." Semiotics are the rules that govern signs and shows what would constitute them. The author, Ferdinand de Saussure, was a little bit confusing in this chapter, but basically he described a sign as a combination of a concept and a sound-image. Saussure calls a sign "the idea of a sensory part defines an idea as a whole". This means that a sign is something that represents an object, event, feeling, etc. In Saussure's example, arbor stands for the word tree. Because people may be confused and ambiguous about the definition of a sign, Saussure created three new concepts: sign, signified, and signifier. He decided to keep the word sign, and replace the word concept with signified and the word sound-image with signifier. The sign is the whole and the signified and signifier are the parts that oppose each other. These three concepts are different, which is what defines them and makes them unique.

The chapter then goes into a miniature biography of Saussure and says that he was a Swiss linguist and was one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century. He founded the science of signs (semiology) and suggested how signs work. Saussure thought that language, speech, and speaking were different. He said language or langue was a social institution, language and speech could never be classified but are social and individual, and speaking or parole was something done by an individual. At first I did not understand how speaking was an individual activity, but now i understand that it is something only one person can do on their own (formulate their own thoughts and say them). Since speaking requires two people, one person thinks of something and then says it (sound-image) and the idea is transferred to the other person's brain that they are speaking to. Then, Saussure stresses the importance of recognizing the difference between a signifier and a signified. Signs in this world, and the language we communicate with, is constantly changing. The meanings of words change to what society uses them as.

To end the chapter, the terms signifier and signified are closely analyzed. These words are closely related, but at the same time are complete opposites. The importance of these words is in their differences. For example, this is why we can tell the difference between light and dark. We know when we look out the window and our eyes squint due to the the sun rays that it is not dark outside. This means that we configure things in our lives based on the differences of other things and ideas. Saussure's ideas about signs can relate to facial expressions, body language, and fashion as well.

My advertisement was of a toilet seat and it was connected in between two wheelchair wheels. Above the contraption is a sign that reads, "Drunk behind ONE WHEEL could land you in between ANOTHER TWO." The concept, or signified, is to not drink and drive. The signifier is the toilet seat made into a wheel chair. This picture goes to show that if you perform a stupid action such as drinking while driving, then you will result to look like a stupid person (like having to roll around on a toilet seat).

Chapter 9

Metaphor is the main topic of this chapter. A metaphor is a "device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish - a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language." Metaphors are used in language, thought, and action. Another concept that plays an important role in the way we think is metonymy. Metaphor is based on analogy and similarity (one thing in terms of another), while metonymy is based upon association. This is when something is called a different term that is very similar. For example, "crown" and "royalty" are two words that could be replaced with each other because they have similar meanings. When people speak of England, or any event in past history with a king or queen, people refer to the power as the "crown". Another example are the words "Washington D.C." and "government". People often simultaneously use these words because Washington D.C. is where the President of the United States lives and it is the capital of this country. Also, the Supreme Court justices meet there, as well as other very important politicians that determine the fate of our country. Synecdoche is a form of metonymy and it means that a part is used to stand for the whole (or vice versa). Synecdoches are useful as part of our thinking, but are not as strong as metonymy. (Likewise, similes are not as strong as metaphors). Even though metaphors are used everyday, not very many people realize the importance of them.

Chapter 4

This chapter included information about the antithetical meanings of words. Overall, I thought the beginning of the chapter was kind of confusing because it started out with many quotations. This was definitely the least interesting chapter out of the book that we have had to read so far. Also, the author, Sigmund Freud, did not make it clear what a Traumdeutung is. Continuing with the language theme, antithetical meanings of words means that there are several words that have two meanings, one which is the direct opposite of the other.

The chapter goes on to give a short biography of Sigmund Freud. Freud is "considered the father of psychoanalytic theory" and was a very profound thinker in the nineteenth and twentieth century. He was the man to come up with the Iceberg Theory. This theory states that there are three levels of consciousness (which can be represented by an iceberg). The tip of the iceberg that is visible represents consciousness, the small portion below the sea that we are able to view represents preconsciousness (material that we are not aware of but we can bring to consciousness), and the rest of the iceberg represents the unconscious (the darkness that portrays what we are unaware of). The unconscious makes up ninety percent and is the material that is not accessible to us, but is nevertheless in our minds. Freud stresses the importance of the unconscious because it shapes our behavior. We do what we do because of a "power" within us that we can not control (the unknown).

Freud also introduced the idea that there are three unconscious forces operating in the human psyche: the id (lust and desire), the superego (conscience and guilt), and the ego (mediates between the two other forces). In his book, Freud writes about dreams with ideas being opposite of each other, and he forms a reaction formation, or a defense mechanism. This simply means that we express a feeling based off of the opposite feeling that we have. An example is when junior high boys and girls pick on each other and make fun of each other just because they secretly have crushes on each other. Freud was also interested in the ideas of sexual content of symbols which is called a phallic symbol (symbol of the penis). This chapter explains that even though people may say something, it could just be a reaction formula, when really they think the exact opposite (which is why body language is very important to read and understand).

Chapter 3

This chapter is very thought provoking because it raises the idea that a word can mean whatever you want it to mean. However, in order to communicate with a society, a word has to mean the same thing or be used in the same context so that everyone can understand what each other is saying. This is already complicated in the English language because there are so many words that are the same but have different definitions or meanings. For example, the word ate can be used as the past tense of the verb eat, but it sounds the exact same as the number eight. Another example is the word read. Read can be used as a present tense or past tense form (whichever is in the correct format in the sentence). When looking at a dictionary, there are various words that have several meanings. Dictionaries are constantly updated every year because new words or meanings are formed. Some definitions have more important meanings than others. Two words that have changed meaning throughout history are wicked and tweet. Wicked used to mean that something was very cruel and unjust. Now it means the complete opposite (cool or exciting). Tweet used to be a type of onomatopoeia for a sound that a bird would make. Now it is a verb used for updating your status on the social networking website Twitter. A recent word that has become very popular is a grenade. This word was used on the show Jersey Shore to describe a very ugly person. Over a few weeks, this word has become overly used and nationally known. Another really popular word is creeper. This word is used a lot to describe someone who is really weird and likes to stare at people or stalk people. The meanings of words are always going to be changing. Words that used to be popular such as "groovy" and "far out" are not used anymore and even though they were slang, they were probably written in a dictionary at one time. This just goes to show that society is always communicating to keep the culture alive.

Chapter 1

Words and communication are used in our everyday lives. By the age of four, children are able to speak and after a few years later, they are able to form complete sentences. This chapter states that language is a system of grammar, as well as a human behavior that can be analyzed according to theories of interaction, play, and games. At first I was confused how language could be a system of human behavior, but now I understand that this statement basically means that the way things are said can portray someone's behavior. This chapter also talks about how language is like a game played with phonemes (a fixed number of pieces). Phonemes are "the basic units of sounds by which morphemes, words, and sentences are represented." In the English language, there are a total of forty-five phoneme pieces. They are broken down into consonants, vowels, stresses, pitches, etc.. This is very interesting to me because I never thought of language like this before and I never knew there were only a certain number of these different phoneme in our language. The author, Peter Farb, states that children are usually able to speak recognizable words around one year of age. That is amazing to think that infants or toddlers, who are not very knowledgeable, can learn how to speak and understand words, while adults have to take years of classes and studying in order to learn a different language. Once children learn the basic words of the English language, they are able to form sentences.

It is crucial to understand language, so that a person is able to communicate. Communication is necessary for a society and culture to grow. The chapter ends after including the historical meaning of words. For example, the words honor, democracy, God, patriotism, and freedom all are connected with every individual's values and beliefs. The word freedom is linked with every American's history and personal beliefs. When I think of freedom, patriotism, and honor, I think of how our ancestors fought to secure this land so that we could live freely. Three other words that are very significant in our country's history are declaration, slavery, and confederacy. Declaration, or the Declaration of Independence, is very meaningful to our country because men risked their lives declaring their independence and signing this document to free themselves from England. Slavery and confederacy are two other important words because slavery was a huge problem in this country. After we fought for freedom, we denied other of their freedom. There was a war in our country between the northerners and the Confederacy due to this issue. The Confederacy is still a significant word today, because whenever someone says they are a Confederate, we know they are from the south. Strong words like these are able to trigger a person's thoughts and emotions. In my life, three words that play an important role are family, faith, and golf. Family and friends (who are considered family) are very important to me and are one of my highest priorities in life. Without people who are there to love and support you in all that you do, you will not be able to succeed. Faith is also very important to me. I am a practicing Catholic and without God by my side, life would be very difficult. Golf is another word that is important to me because golf is a big part of my life. I have been golfing since I could walk and it is a sport that my family plays together. Golf teaches you moral life lessons such as patience, perseverance, honesty, and teamwork. These are some of the reasons why language is such an important part of communication.

Chapter 20

This chapter relates fashion and the way people dress as a way of communication. Research shows that as babies, before their sexual identity is portrayed, they are characterized by their clothing. For example, females are usually dressed in pink or another soft color with flower or "girly" patterns. Males are generally dressed in blue, or have patterns that are related to male interests (baseballs, dinosaurs, etc.). Male and females portray their bodies differently in two types of gender scripts. Men use their bodies in a straightforward manner: they manipulate, grasp, and hold. Women convey their bodies as delicate and precious: they tend to caress objects and people. The way people dress is relevant to their sexual interdependence. If a person dresses in an immodest way, it signifies their suitability for sexual intercourse. The purpose of sexual attire is to attract attention from the two opposite sexes. These articles of clothing can be anything from a female's bra and high heels to a male's tie, jacket, and shoes.

Fashion is a form of collective behavior because it shows why people believe the way they do. Some people have worn the same type of dress for hundreds of years, because it shows their culture and what they stand for. For men and women, the seductive articles of clothing that they wear excites the opposite sex, which is imperative for the "survival of the species". Men's clothing involves a "hierarchy principle" that shows where men belong in the class system and women's clothing is designed based on a "seductive principle" so that women can be desired by men. Because women are being seen as sex objects, fashion makes them seem as if they are less important then men. Women dress to impress men and men dress so show who is wealthier and more proper. Fashion also involves obtaining the latest trends or accessories. This helps the economy, as well as a person's social status.

Chapter 25

This chapter claims that advertisers are responsible for portraying what a beautiful woman looks like. In order to do this, advertisers have to use the concept of the provocateur. A provocateur is an ideal image that arouses feeling or reaction. This image is most likely to show youth (no wrinkles), sexuality, and seduction. The provocateur is the female figure that women are compared to every day. This image defines what women wear and how they wear their hair. Many women are not accepted in our society because of their failure to adapt to the idealistic, yet unrealistically perfect image. As much as anyone tries to look like a perfect model, it will never happen. The provocateur is just a reminder of what a real woman will never look like. It is every woman's fantasy. Women are able to buy as many beauty products and they can, but they cannot buy long legs, unblemished skin, and perfect hair. Photographers and advertisers use cosmetics, airbrush tools, and photography to create this perfect image. Women succumb to this unrealistic image, because they believe that it is the only way to capture a man's heart. The provocateur image is just another way to portray women as sex objects. As much as this can hurt women, men do not seem to mind because it pleases them. Once again, fashion is used to make men more powerful.

Youtube Videos

These videos on Youtube were both very informational and interesting. The video titled "Why a scared expression brings a survival advantage" describes the differences in facial expressions between fear and disgust. This study done in Toronto proved that if someone is scared, their eye brows will raise, causing their eyes to widen. The eye balls are likely to shift from side to side. The study also shows that if someone is disgusted, their nose will cringe and their eye brows will lower. The video uses a rat as an example. If there was a dead rat in the road, one would squint and wrinkle their nose if they saw a dead rat in the road, but if the rat was alive in one's bedroom, they would open their eyes, nose, and mouth wide. Students from the University of Toronto found research that disgust and fear "not only convey how you are feeling, but also alter your sensory relationship with the world around you". While experiencing fear, one would receive an increased air take, because while being scared it is natural to have a large gasp. These are all signs of how to differentiate disgust from fear.

The next video called, "FBI Agent Explains How to Spot Liars", explains how to tell if someone is lying or not. Bill Brown, a polygraph examiner and ex-FBI agent, interviewed five people and could tell whether they were lying based off of their facial expressions. Brown calls the eyes "the window to the soul because you can see right through them." If someone looks up to the right while answering a question, they are thinking of a story that never happened. This is also known as lying. If they look up to the left, they are trying to recall something that happened in the past. However, it is the opposite if you are a left-handed person. If someone shifts their eyes and then looks at the interviewer, they are lying because they are trying to see if the interview believes their fake story. If the interviewee is sitting comfortably, then they are most likely telling the truth. Liars show signs of rubbing their neck, tapping their fingers, looking at their watch, leaning back in their chair, sitting to the side, keeping their arms crossed, or tightly folding their hands in their lap. They may also put some kind of barrier between them and the person they are telling a lie to. Another way to tell if a person is dishonest is listening to their tone of voice. If they change the way they are talking to you and they change their volume, then that is an indication they are lying. These are all very great ways to act as a human polygraph and decipher whether people are telling lies or not. This shows why being able to read facial expressions or body gestures is very important in today's world.

Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen describes the importance of facial expressions. Facial expressions portray your attitude towards something in your affective state, or your emotions, such as fear, anger, enjoyment, sadness, disgust or any other mood you may be in. For example, a smile is an expression of happiness or enjoyment. Your cognitive activity can also be exemplified through facial expressions. If someone is yawning and is staring blankly across the room, you would assume this person is bored. Hostility, sociability, and shyness are three traits that can be shown through facial expressions that portray a person's temperament and personality. Someone who stars at the ground while surrounded by a few people may come off as shy. Facial expressions show a person's truthfulness, because your expression on your face during a situation reveals your true emotions and how you feel about what is going on. Psychopathy is another trait that includes information relevant to depression and many other less severe disorders, and the response to the treatment.

Facial expressions are also very important due to medical research that uses imaging technologies to show when specific mental processes are occurring (such as learning about coronary artery disease). Expressions are also important in education, because the teacher's expressions affect whether the students are learning or not, and the students' expressions show the teacher whether they are learning or not. For criminal justice, expressions portray a person's credibility. Everyone in the world uses facial expressions, and it is very important to understand what certain expressions mean.

Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen was about the use of nonverbal communication. It stated that our actions are more important than our speech. This makes sense because what we do (our actions) are closely tied with our feelings and emotions. We are bound to act truthfully in accordance with our thoughts, while speech can be falsified. Also, nonverbal communication is extremely important while dealing with the language barrier. People around the world may not be able to communicate using their voices, but they can with their body language. Nods, pointing, handshakes, hugs, etc. are all ways to show your feelings towards another person without verbally communicating.

There are three important dimensions in nonverbal communication that help people to express their feelings. The book, "50 Ways to Understand Communication", states that the first dimension requires little definition (liking or disliking). I don't really understand what this dimension means, because the book does not explain it clearly. My guess would be that you give off a first impression with your actions. This could be the way you look at someone or motion towards them. Obviously refusing to shake hands would be a negative action and would display the fact that the person refusing the handshake does not like the other person or has negative feelings towards them. A more relaxed, casual attitude makes this dimension important so that the other person can succumb to their true feelings through their actions. The second dimension is dominance. Dominance is the difference between a controlling and a submissive attitude. An example of this dimension would be if someone rolled their eyes or glared at you. These actions would portray their snobby reputation. Responsiveness is the third and final dimension of nonverbal communication. This would include the awareness of others actions and the responses to these actions.

Facial expressions, gestures, and body language are three ways of communicating these feelings. Commercials are a very popular way of advertising in today's world. Listening to a radio commercial is not nearly as convincing as watching a commercial on the television when you can see the actor or actresses facial expressions and gestures. Even if the T.V. was on mute, people would probably be more convinced to buy something than they would if they listened to a commercial on the radio. Nonverbal communication is very significant in today's society. People can say whatever they want to, but what they do is what is most important.