In every society nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful tools that a person can use to interpret the message that is being delivered. Even though verbal communication is fairly straightforward, nonverbal communication allows others to sense the true emotions of the person that is expressing them. For example even though a person may say that they are not irritated, their usage of voice may display otherwise. Nonverbal communication not only reveals hidden messages, but it also complements, substitutes, and exaggerates verbal communication. It was 8:00 a.m. on April 9, 1999 and I was saying goodbye to my parents at the San Francisco Airport. While I was walking away from my parent’s gate I remembered the study for my Interpersonal Communication class, and decided that the airport was a perfect place to observe nonverbal behavior. I sat myself near the entrance of a gate so I could clearly focus on personal space and voice behaviors while people stood in line to board their plane. This location allowed me to observe some very distinct behaviors, and I was amazed at the many different ways people express their emotions and the many people that weren’t aware of these expressions. After I observed four different boarding lines, I soon realized how impatient our society reacts to situations. As soon as the airline attendants announced the boarding for a certain flight, it seemed as if everybody rushed to the...
Chang-Rae Lee’s Native Speaker expresses prominent themes of language and racial identity. Chang-Rae Lee focuses on the struggles that Asian Americans have to face and endure in American society. He illustrates and shows readers throughout the novel of what it really means to be native of America; that true nativity of a person does not simply entail the fact that they are from a certain place, but rather, the fluency of a language verifies one’s defense of where they are native. What is meant by possessing nativity of America would be one’s citizenship and legality of the country. Native Speaker suggests that if one looks different or has the slightest indication that one should have an accent, they will be viewed not as a native of America, but instead as an alien, outsider, and the like. Therefore, Asian Americans and other immigrants feel the need to mask their true identity and imitate the native language as an attempt to fit into the mold that makes up what people would define how a native of America is like. Throughout the novel, Henry Park attempts to mask his Korean accent in hopes to blend in as an American native. Chang-Rae Lee suggests that a person who appears to have an accent is automatically marked as someone who is not native to America. Language directly reveals where a person is native of and people can immediately identify one as an alien, immigrant, or simply, one who is not American. Asian Americans as well as other immigrants feel the need to try and hide their cultural identity in order to be deemed as a native of America in the eyes of others. Since one’s language gives away the place where one is native to, immigrants feel the need to attempt to mask their accents in hopes that they sound fluent ...
Growing up as a first generation Chinese-American, I felt as if I was stranded in the void between two worlds, isolated and alone. At school, I hid my Chinese self and tried to be more ‘American’ in order to fit in. At home, I then carefully tucked away my American half and acted the dutiful Chinese son to please my parents. If Chinese and American were two planets, I was a vagabond flitting back and forth between them, unsettled and insecure, never quite belonging in either one.
Heewon Chang expertly uses ethos to propel her argument that most people cannot be defined by a single culture. In the introductory section of her essay she adopts the pronoun “I” when describing her intentions for the essay. She effectively communicates to her audience that she relates to this topic on a personal level when she writes in the first person. She states, “In this essay I attempt to probe into the assumptions of the cultural border rhetoric and assess the underpinning view of culture” (94). After the introduction of the essay she quickly reverts to the third person to show that while she relates to the subject, she also remains a professional scholar. She quotes and paraphrases several intellectuals on the subject of borderlands including D.E. Foley, Associate
Nonverbal behavior is channeled by norms and most of us abide by them without being aware of them. Physical appearance, gesture and body movement, face and eye behavior, vocal behavior, personal space, touch, scent/smell, and time are all forms of nonverbal communication behavior. Norms differ amongst various cultures, ethnic, and geographic groups. There are endless ways and forms to violate nonverbal norms, and by doing so can lead to a barrier in communication, which are problematic to distinguish.
Chinese-Americans authors Amy Tan and Gish Jen have both grappled with the idea of mixed identity in America. For them, a generational problem develops over time, and cultural displacement occurs as family lines expand. While this is not the problem in and of itself, indeed, it is natural for current culture to gain foothold over distant culture, it serves as the backdrop for the disorientation that occurs between generations. In their novels, Tan and Jen pinpoint the cause of this unbalance in the active dismissal of Chinese mothers by their Chinese-American children.
In Chang-rae Lee's first story, Native Speaker, the protagonist is jolted by the loss of life of his child and the following departure of his wife into intensification of an ongoing identification turmoil. The book's leading metaphor, judged in Henry Park's career as a spy, skilfully elucidates the immigrant's posture as a vigilant outsider in United States culture. However, Henry's dual lifestyle additionally numbers mostly in his evenly representative endeavours to choose for himself what type of individual he is actually. Being a kid of immigrant mom and dad, Henry is, in Pierre Bourdieu's helpful terms, endowed with a bifurcated “habitus”, a couple of models of culturally triggered predispositions. By novel's conclusion, Henry has accomplished an implicit decision of his dilemma, mainly by determining particular of his very own familiar styles of idea and conduct as ethnic inheritances from his immigrant Korean mother and father, then rejecting all of them.
Since I have worked in a bar as a cashier and as security, I have been sexually harassed by men countless times. They grab me and tell me that they want me. I have had multiple different men tell me that I should make babies with them because they are taller than me and it would be a good investment for the NBA. Even though I tower over most women at 6 foot 3, I still have to worry about sexual harassment and sexual assault. Women are constantly told that we need to be on guard, stay away from dark alleys, keep our drinks in our hands at all times, and carry pepper spray to protect ourselves. When women report sexual assault, they are callously interviewed by police who ask what they were wearing or if they had too much to drink. We are being taught to not be raped instead of teaching men not to
Sexual harassment and sexual assault is nothing new to the modern world. Though the aspect of sexual assault and harassment has existed since the dawn of time. Cavemen would club their selected mate and have their way with them. It wasn’t until the early 1980s that it became more pronounced as immoral and derogatory. Though some may say that certain acts, gestures, jokes, songs, or even quote do not fall under anything worth mentioning, it all boils down to who is present and how the offended perceives it. Bystanders may just see it and not think anything of it, or they will find it extremely offensive.
was not pleasing their number one mass merchandise customer by having poor operating performances. With the company having frequent stock outs Buy 4 Less can’t provide their customers with the products they want which results in less sales. Customer service is a huge part of any business industry and if a company has poor customer service than that company is hard to deal with and business will decrease. Happy Chips, Inc. also had high prices, high prices makes the demand for their product to go down which means once again that sales will
There are a variety of nonverbal communications to taken into account. A few examples of these are, facial expressions, paralinguistic, gestures, proxemics, body language and posture, haptics, eye gaze and appearance (Wood, 2012). On any given day we both send and receive nonverbal communication cues to those around us whether intentional on unintentional.
example: when you talk to someone that is hard of hearing and you ask them to do
Burgoon, J. K. Buller, D. B. and Woodall W. G. (1989). Nonverbal Communication: The Unspoken Dialogue. New York: Harper & Row.
Hall, J. (2012). Nonverbal cues and communications.Encyclopedia of Social Psychology Education. Thousand Oaks. CA: SAGE, 2007 626-628. Retrieved November 2, 2013 from SAGE online.
To truly understand multicultural literature, one must first try to understand the cultural background of the author. In the case of this piece, we are examining the Chinese culture and Jen’s experiences which shaped her writing. Gish Jen is a second-generation American. Her parents immigrated separately in the 1940’s. Her mother came to America to go to graduate school and her father came as part of the war efforts during World War II. With the rise of Communism in China, both were forced to remain here and ended up building a life together and raising their 5 children as Americans. Because they came in the second of three “waves” of Chinese Immigration, their reasons for coming and the process of assimilating into the American way of life was very different than other Chinese immigrants.
Richmond, V & McCroskey, J 2011. Nonverbal Behavior in Interpersonal Relations. 7th ed. Allyn & Bacon.