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Post-Marxist Criticism of WTWTA

Post-marxist viewpoint reveals the sexual, racial, class, and ethnic divisions of the society, doing away with the Marxist perspective which focuses on class analysis only. Post-marxist viewpoint also takes into account the importance of mini-narratives in history. Let us now view WTWA through the post-marxist thought.

Age does matter inside Max’s household: there’s this adult-child hierarchy in the family. Max, being the youngest in his family, has given him a free access to a relentless  show of not being heard or not being given attention. From the beginning, it was shown in the movie how his teenage sister ignored him a couple of times. Also, putting his anger issues out of the frame, we can see that Max’s young age was used by his mother to say that his business is not as important as hers. Max only wanted to play with his sister and mother, but they didn’t seem to mind because they have other things to do, things that are more important than a little child’s game.

In his alternate reality, Max was in a totally different situation. In the island, he was the only western male, which gave him the privileges the wild things didn’t have. Such privileges were:

Being crowned as King/Leader

Being heard

Being followed

Of course, his age did not change, he was also still a child in the eyes of the wild things, but he looked differently, acted differently, or should we say, better. His race and gender gave him the privileges, thus the wild things who needed to be “tamed” became the oppressed.

Lastly, another manifestation of oppression was when Judith was always thought of as a “downer”. She even described herself as one. She was perceived as a bummer to the whole group just because she was an emotional woman. At times, they ignore what she says because of their preconceived notion of her. She was also denied equal opportunity to be heard because her mini-narratives were different from the meta-narrative of the whole group.

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Post-Colonial Criticism of WTWTA

Post-colonial criticism analyzes texts thru the effects of colonization. One of the main concepts of post-colonialism is “hybridity”. Let us now look at WTWTA thru this lens.

We can see the similarities of Max’s adventure with colonization, especially in connection with the White Man’s Burden and Manifest Destiny. We can take Max’s world as the western colonizers, and take the wild things as the natives who have culture unknown to Max. In the movie, the wild things, just like how any other native villagers are portrayed, were in chaos and uncivilized. Then, just as how all colonizers discover a potential colony, there came Max from his long journey in the seas. Max is totally different from the creatures in the island. He came and told the creatures how “great” he was, and how he can bring order to the wild things. He imposed to the wild things that he has “power”, resulting to him being crowned as their King.

In the scene where the wild things wanted him to solve every problem they had, they told Max that he cannot be upset with the wild things. It shows the White Man’s Burden where Max, the white man, has the responsibility to put everything in order because he is greater.

In the process of being their King, Max also taught the wild things his culture. He taught them how to build a fort, and how to have fun by playing with dirt clogs. However, Max can't completely erase their culture from them. This is why Carol, in the process of building the fort, input his ideas for the fort. He also disagreed with Max when he wanted to make a secret hole just for himself. When playing with dirt clogs, the wild things also resulted to playing it with violence. Though Max inculcated upon the wild things his own idea of culture, the wild things cannot totally accept it, resulting to hybridity.

Analyzing this movie through the lens of post-colonialism may be odd for some because they think that this is a children’s movie. But if you look at it closely, adults may really learn a lesson or two from it.

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Post-Structural Criticism of WTWTA

Generally, post-structuralism was formed as a critique to structuralism. It views culture as inseparable from meaning. For post-structuralists, it is necessary to study both the object itself, and the systems of knowledge which were coordinated to produce the object. In its general practices, it is important to note that for post-structural criticism to succeed, one must take the author’s intended meaning as secondary to his own interpretation of the text. Multiple perspectives are important, even if they conflict with one another. Also, it is important to remember that this lense wants to do away with labels, avoids binaries, and encourages discourse.

Max’s discourses shape his reality. Inside his home, Max lack power and authority. He isn’t given much of a chance to have discourse with his mother or sister. This pattern has shaped Max’s reality where he is inferior from everyone. In order for Max to be free from being fed up with the structures’ set rules and norms, Max created an alternate world where he can escape from his home, has a chance in discourse, and can attain power. In his created reality, he produced alternative characters, the “wild things”, whom he can be superior to.

Social structures in the movie shifted when Max switched realities. As aforementioned, the structure in his original home is a structure he disliked. He felt like everything he does is wrong. He was labeled “out of control.” But in his alternate reality, structures are totally different. He was labeled “King”, and everybody listened to what he said. Suddenly, his ideas were more important than anyone else’s. This is how progressing and regressing social structures were seen in the movie.

Multiple perspectives should be given due credit because there is no singularity of meaning when reading a text. Sendak’s original story was intended for children, while Jonze’s movie was intended for adults. Jonze wants the movie’s audience to realize how jealousy, anger, stubbornness, and other characteristics have creeped to people’s lives. The director’s intention is different of the author’s, and so is the audience’s. Some people felt disappointed as the movie did not exactly reflect the book, while others understood and agreed with the director. Other people might have also read the movie different from how we read it. That is the beauty of post-structuralism.

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Where The Wild Things Are Through the “Post” Lenses

The movie and the storyline of Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are reminds us not only of our inner childish characters, but of what we have become as adults

Reminiscent of Maurice Sendak’s original children’s story with the same title, the movie revolves around a child named Max. Max is a temperamental child constantly seeking attention from his mother. The destruction of his igloo, the knowledge that the sun will die in the future, and a rejection from his mother led to the night Max became “out of control” as his mother would say. Max ran and ran like the fox he pretends to be, until he finds the boat that will lead him to where the wild things are. With an agitated and confused mind, Max set out on an adventure. He sailed indefinitely until he reached an island where he met the wild things. From being declared as their king to being ousted as their king, Max felt how his mother felt when she was dealing with his anger issues. With these realizations, Max decided to leave the island and go back to his mother where, surprisingly when he came back, his dinner was still hot and his mother was still waiting for him.

The storyline of this movie gets out of the norms of storytelling. The movie does not lead the audience to question how and why Max found his way to the island. In addition, the narrative also goes away without explaining what the creatures are. Hence, one can say that the movie itself has an unconventional narrative. However, because of this, we can have fun in analyzing the film through different lenses, and give it different readings.

See Where The Wild Things Are through these lenses!

Post-Structural Criticism

Post-Colonial Criticism

Post-Marxist Criticism

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PWD: Persons Who are Disempowered (Part II)

Christine: Walking Through Her Limelight

She walked like a Miss Universe—that is how Ma’am Christine was before an incident happened to her.

It was April 30, 2007. Ma’am Christine was cleaning a dusty storage room in their house. There, she organized the piles of paper she acquired from her students. Ma’am Christine was a professor at University of La Salette in Santiago City, Isabela. She was supposed to go to her class after organizing the papers, but soon after she went out of the door of the storage room, she collapsed. She was not able to make it to her class that day. She had stroke. It was April 30, a day before the birthday of her husband Aries.

She lost her consciousness. The night had already passed yet she was still unconscious. While Ma’am Christine was at the Intensive Care Unit, Aries was crying outside the hospital at the day of his birthday. Days had passed yet she remained unconscious. It was only after seven days that she gained back her consciousness. She woke up at the seventh day after the incident but she was not able to speak. All that her family could hear were inaudible sounds. She was then moved to a private room. Visitors come and go for Ma’am Christine. They were her students, co-workers, family, and friends. She was wearing a hospital gown and several tubes had been attached to her body--that was the face she had shown to them. After 23 days, she was able to go home with her wheelchair.

Day after day, she was recovering. She could speak again clearly. With her wheelchair, she could take a bath all by herself again. On the latter, she could stand from her wheelchair. Afterwards, she could make one step but she would fall on the ground. With the assistance of other people, she was trying to add another step day by day until she could finally walk by herself again—with her cane. It has been 10 years now since she had stroke.

“Dati normal na normal kang naglalakad, ngayon it’s not anymore like that,” Ma’am Christine said in her interview. The right side of her body is still paralyzed. Her right leg is still dysfunctional that’s why she can not walk normally just like how other people do. Her right hand is disabled that’s why she can not write legibly. Sometimes, her face becomes distorted as she speaks. “Marami kang gustong gawin pero ‘di mo na magawa. Just like, for example, yung pag-akyat lang ng hagdanan ‘di mo na magawa. Gusto mong mamasyal ‘di mo magawa...Yung pagtuturo, hindi ka na nagtuturo for 10 years. Yun ang passion mo, yun ang buhay mo.” Because she regards teaching as her life, then losing her job also feels like the end of life for her.

It is sad for Christine. Before, she was asking God as she cries, “Bakit ako pa?” She felt like she lost the limelight. “Ngayon ‘pag wala ka na sa limelight, katulad ng mga stars, ganun din, wala ka na din,” she continued.

The weight of her struggle is manifested in the way she feels towards things and most especially in her social interactions and relationships. She felt excluded from the social circle. “Noong active pa lang tayo, marami kang nakakahalubilo. Yung social life ko, yung mga taong nakapaligid sa akin, hindi na ganoon kadami. Mga taong nakapaligid sa’yo dati, they are not there anymore”, she said.

She claims, “Maraming dumadalaw sa’yo because they have business. What kind of relationship are they giving me? ‘Kaya ka lang pala lumalapit sa akin, kasi may kailangan ka.” “Hindi lang dapat dahil sa function ng isang tao kung bakit ka o paano makikitungo kundi dahil gusto mo. Business lang ang tingin nila sayo. That is not a good human relationship. Akala mo dinadalaw ka, yun pala business lang. Akala mo they are trying to help, tapos makikita mo nagpropromote ng business nila”, she added.

She lost her limelight because of her condition. She feels that she is not accepted. She feels unimportant. She feels so much different from the person she was before the incident. “I feel sad, there is depression. Pero sa tagal ng panahon, napag aralan ko na to fight this depression”, she said.

Things are not like before anymore. A lot has changed in Christine’s life even the simple things. “As a college professor, kailangan natin ng professional growth. Gusto kong bumalik sa pag-aaral, pero kinakailangan pa ng lakas pa ng loob. Yung paglalakad mo noon, pang Ms. Universe, ngayon hindi na...siyempre ‘pag tinitingnan ka nila, mahihiya ka na. Kasi yung mga tao normal maglakad tapos ‘pag nakita ka, ikaw yung kakaiba. Yun ang aking mundo eeh. Kakaiba na talaga ang paglakad ko...hindi na katulad ng dati. Tapos hindi mo na maayos ang buhok mo, dati naman, ayos na ayos.” Even if it is only in her way of walking presenting herself, there is already a feeling of exclusion from the “normal.”

In this fight of Ma’am Christine, she has learned to face the everyday struggles of depression and the judging eyes of the society through praying and the support of her family. This faith and emotional support stood as her primary coping mechanism. Though the process is gradual and uneasy, it slowly gave her back her limelight. Her daily life might not be as similar as before but she is living her life as if she is not handicapped. She believes that one’s significance in a society and in life shouldn’t be judged based on the physical appearance of a person but rather on how she thinks and what’s in that person. Go beyond the physical because there is always more to a person.

Mang Larry and Ma’am Christine are living testaments of how labeling as simple as “pilay” and “disabled” can affect not just one’s notion of self but of one’s entire life. ###

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PWD: Persons Who are Disempowered (Part I)

Our current system of beliefs is sculpted through the long history of our country. Our country was not safe from colonization which disrupted not only our communities, but also our culture. The native culture we have earlier was imbedded by a foreign one. Many conformed with the imposed foreign culture, while only some firmly held what we had in the past. We cannot blame many of our ancestors to leave behind (or in some cases, mix) the culture we had because they were forced, of course, through repression. However, because of this, we were dichotomized: the majority and the minority.

Nowadays, our society is a society constructed by the majority. From politics to beauty standards, our society conforms with what is the status quo, with what the majority believes in. In a society “marinated” this kind of culture, we tend to disregard the minorities. We do not listen to the weaker voices in our peripheries and only fix our eyes with what the society thinks as right or wrong, beautiful or ugly. Now, we have a society that only has a place to the normal fully-functional, and status-quo-conforming people.

The minorities consist of sectors in our society not usually heard and often disregarded. We always see them walking on the streets, we see them in school, we see them all around. However, most of us turns a blind eye and walks away like they are non-existent.

In this narrative, the researchers would like to present the life and stories of those incapacitated by different instances, and thoroughly severed by harsh judgments by societies. We will delve deep into the lives of the peoples with disability--peoples with disempowerment.

Larry: Walking thru the Difficulties of Life with One Leg and A Strong Heart

From mines, pipes, and tunnels to shampoo, canned goods, and lutong ulam. This is the story of a person with a heart to serve, a mind to intellectualize, but lacks a strong leg to walk properly--and the latter has become his only identity.

Mr. Larry Castro Gangpao is a mining engineer who went through a life-changing accident. He graduated from Saint Louis University and worked on different parts of the country. He has worked from Surigao to Cotabato, and then to Baguio. He has roamed around the Philippines for work, he used to travel a lot, and he used to have two working legs until he got into a situation that changed his life.

One fateful night, during his shift, the unexpected happened. While working on the tunnel they just dug up, a careless driver of a construction loader, decided to jump out of the vehicle when it malfunctioned. The loader continued to roll down the tunnel towards the spot where Manong Larry and his co-workers were walking on. Manong Larry noticed this, he shouted and told his co-workers to run. While running towards safe grounds, he made a mistake of turning around and checking where exactly the loader is. The loader, then, hit a parked military jeep which caused it to slow down for a while. The vehicle hit the tunnel’s high pressure air and water pipes next. Unfortunately for Manong Larry, he was next to a connecting pipe. The said pipe fell and collapsed on his right leg. Manong Larry didn't even noticed it at first due to the adrenaline rush. He just noticed it when he tried to get up and continue running and he realized he couldn't. Despite the incident, he remained calm and kept his self and thoughts together. When the loader was closing in on him, he decided to hide in the canal they built to let water flow. While hiding in the canal, he said to himself “O Lord, kayo na bahala sa akin.” Moments later, he saw the wheels of the loader pass by him. He literally inches away from death. That’s when he realized that he was still alive.

DIFFICULTIES

“Anong maiproprovide ko sa pamilya ko with my present condition?” --Mang Larry

Physical pain is no match with psychological pain. The feeling of not being enough is worse than having a cut in your hand. The pain seems to last forever. Mang Larry does not have a lot of issues with his handicapped leg and the accident he has been in. His issues are mostly with what comes after that.

“Nung una hindi ko pa matanggap e. Ganun pala yung effect na hindi mo matanggap na disabled ka...pag ganun e mainit ang ulo mo...madali kang mapikon...sa katagalan, yun natanggap ko na rin, okay na,” he said. What affects him is not the fact that he is disabled, but the reality that he cannot do already the usual things he used to do. “Insecurity...dahil hindi mo na nagagawa yung dati mong ginagawa e, na-iinsecure ka sa sarili mo. Hindi na ako nakakapaglaro ng basketball. Hindi ko na mapractice yung profession ko,” he continues.

He also said that the greatest difficulty he has faced is the financial difficulties that come with providing for the needs of his family. He is a breadwinner and a father of five girls. When he lost his job, their family struggled financially. Even when he is faced with this difficulty in life, he can still say, “Lumalaban ako para mabigay ko ang mga pangangailangan nila (his family).”

Also, his family supports him a lot and he claims that respect is the best thing that they are giving him. He said, “Ang support hindi lang naman yung pinansyal diba, ang importante doon yung moral support...pinaka-importante yung respeto.”

JOB HINDRANCES

Mang Larry saw a light at the end of the tunnel. In the midst of his struggles in his situation, he still aimed hard to pursue his profession. He cannot let go of his passion just because of a disability so he tried applying for jobs. “Nagkaroon ako ng lakas ng loob, sinubukan ko mag-apply…”, he said. Unfortunately, this society only has a place for the “normal,” fully-functional, and continuously productive people. Mang Larry’s applications were not accepted in the numerous jobs he applied for just because of his disability. “...kasali ako sa tatlo [na napili] e. Nagkaroon ako ng frustration dahil sa physical condition ko. Kung sana normal ako baka andun ako...e... sabi nung nag-interview sa akin...sa physical condition...baka sila pa ang mamroblema sa akin pag nandun ako. Nagkaroon ako ng frustration”, he continued. Instead of receiving understanding, acceptance, and support from the society, the only thing he got was judgment, discrimination and frustration. “Sayang, nakuha na nga sana ako eh...dahil lang sa physical condition.” They do not see and acknowledge his passion and heart for his profession, all they can see is what he does not have. What this capitalistic society is after is only manpower, service, and labor and not the skills and heart for service. After all of these hindrances in the working industry, Mang Larry is firm and resilient on his belief that “Yung disability hindi naman dahilan para hindi ka na magtrabaho.”

DISCRIMINATION

Being a person with disability, Manong Larry faced different types of discrimination. One case he cannot forget is the discrimination he got from his neighbors. He heard his neighbors calling him names like “pilay”. Manong Larry let this pass from the opening of his ear leaving the other ear.

“Maririnig mo, sasabihan ka ng pilay... okay lang naman sakin ‘yun,” he said.

But in a while, we heard him saying that although it is okay for him, it is also hard for him to accept these judgments from them. He added that he does not want any harm and does not want to fight with his neighbors. One factor why is that one of his neighbors is actually a relative of his wife.

However, Manong Larry does not forget his cheerful eye-wide smile. He said, “Napilay ako dahil sa trabaho. Napilay ako hindi sa kalokohan. Mas grabe kasi ang discrimination kapag napilay ka dahil sa kalokohan. At least ako, hindi.”

CULTURE OF SILENCE

At first, he felt really bad and insecure about their situation. He doesn’t go out of their home because it would only make him feel worse about himself. “Yung ayaw mo lumabas kasi ma-didiscriminate ka...hindi ako sanay.” He also got really resentful over not having opportunities to practice his profession of being a mining engineer anymore. Presently, he said that he has learned to accept it. Everything has become normalized to him. He doesn’t care anymore what others say and think of him. He learned to adjust to his situation. He learned to settle. He learned to accept his fate. He learned to not say a word anymore. He said, “Nung una hindi ko pa matanggap e. Ganun pala yung effect na hindi mo matanggap na disabled ka...sa katagalan, yun natanggap ko na rin, okay na.” And this is what we call the Culture of Silence.

According to Freire, a Culture of Silence is where “oppressed people become so powerless that they do not even talk about their oppression. If they reach this stage of oppression, it creates a culture wherein it is forbidden to even mention the injustices that are being committed. The oppressed are silenced. They have no voice and no will...at this stage, the oppressed actually believe that they are “naturally inferior” to the ruling class. They are taught by oppressors that their inferiority is normal and a fact of life.” (Freire 1921, 3)

Despite the difficulties and struggles that he is facing, despite being deprived of jobs and of being treated as a normal part of the society, still, Mang Larry with all his heart and strength has the power to say, “Lumalaban ako.”

To be continued...

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Within the Margins: A Day in the Life of the (Dis)Abled

Policarpio S. Nimer, 62 years old, typically starts his day at 7AM, earlier than his colleagues. He makes his way to the jeepney terminal, quite slower than the people around him. He sits at the seat nearest the entrance of the jeepney as the other passengers make room for him. He arrives at Porta Vaga Mall at 8AM, and there he opens their organization’s stall, the Northern Luzon Association for the Disabled (NLAD).

NLAD’s stall is a congested, humid, and cluttered workplace for persons with disabilities. Their workstations contain one electric sewing machine for each worker, a pile of clothes, and different types of thread. Policarpio has been a member of this organization since 1997. NLAD, since its foundation, has helped PWDs learn livelihood skills, and provided them a source of income during their training. From furniture-making, NLAD shifted to tailoring. Policarpio, along with Dionisia and Carlo, man the stall today.

You might’ve encountered several PWDs in your day-to-day lives. Have you ever thought about how they live their lives? Have you ever thought about how they view the world? Or all you thought about was how you viewed them?

For the PWDs at NLAD, the organization has been their saving grace. “Malaki ang pasasalamat ko sa NLAD, dahil dito lang ako kumukuha ng kinabubuhayan naming,” says Policarpio. However, they want the government to not only glance at them, but to truly see them.

“Mula nang nagtrabaho ako sa NLAD, wala man lang akong naramdaman na tulong ng gobyerno sa’min eh, sa mga disabled… Sa ating mga opisyal ng gobyerno, kung meron mang pondo ng mga disabled… dapat ‘yung pondo na para sa disabled, ibigay na lang nila sa individual para ipambili ng gamot nila, ipambili ng mga kailangan nila,” Policarpio said. Policarpio has orthopaedic disability. He uses crutches to walk.  

Carlo Gambo, 27 years old, also hopes for the government to pay attention to PWDs’ special needs. “Sana mabigyan kami ng gobyerno ng pambili gamot at sariling makina,” Carlo said. Carlo’s right side of torso and face are impaired.

PWDs also experience bullying and discrimination from people. Policarpio went through bullying when he was little. Dionisia, on the other hand, is not fond of going outside and socializing. “Hindi ako lumalabas masyado, kasi nahihiya ako,” said Dionisia Kias in Ilocano. Dionisia doesn’t know her condition, as she didn’t go through diagnosis since she was a child. “Hindi [nagpacheck-up]. Malayo kasi sa Itogon [‘yung ospital]. Eh taga-roon kami.”

The three of them had one thing in common: they all think there’s nothing they can do about their disabilities. Dionisia even thinks that her disability was part of God’s plan. “Hindi naman [nahihirapan]. Kung ‘yun talaga ang plano ng Diyos para sa akin, ayun talaga. Okay na ‘ko dun. Syempre hindi mo na mababago. Tapos na.” she said, teary-eyed.

What we have observed during our integration is that they recognize the government’s and society’s shortcomings with regards to PWDs. Yet, as much as possible, they try to be optimistic about their unfortunate situation. They try to live normal lives, just like we all do. We can all learn a thing or two from them. They do not let their frailties stop them from living their lives. Despite their positive thinking, let us not forget that PWDs require special attention, not only from NGOs like NLAD, but from the public sector.

Next time you encounter a PWD in the jeepney, in the mall, or simply pass by them in the streets, try asking yourself, “How do they live their lives? Do they deserve the treatment they get? What can I do for them?”

Watch this video!

A Day in the Life of the (Dis)Abled

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The Narrative Paradigm

What are the main principles/points of Narrative Paradigm?

Narrative Paradigm, by Walter Fisher, suggests that all humans are storytellers. Compared to a Rational-world Paradigm, which relies on a more scientific and philosophical approach, Narrative Paradigm relies on a story’s fidelity and coherence to say that it is rational. Coherence, in its basic sense, is the organization and consistency of the elements in the story. Fidelity, on the other hand, means faithfulness or truthfulness of the story to the audience. 

How is Narrative Paradigm different from Constructive Paradigm? 

Delia’s Constructivism suggests that people interpret messages based on their personal constructs. Personal constructs are our own templates or lenses on how we communicate. However, in Narrative Paradigm, paradigm means a common way, lens, or framework to view events. The Narrative Paradigm lens views people as narrators of their stories. Therefore, Constructivism relies on your personal constructs to communicate, while communicating within the Narrative Paradigm relies on your story’s coherence and fidelity.

Using Narrative Paradigm, discuss/create a short article on “The Philippines at Present.”

The Philippines at Present

Before Duterte’s reign, we feared the criminals--the thieves, the hold uppers, the rapists. We relied on the police forces “to serve and protect.” Nowadays, what we fear are these men-in-uniforms holding their guns, with their badges on their chests. Robbery and other crimes are not the trend anymore, rather drug abuse and alleged “nanlaban” drug users. Criminality is now replaced with human rights violations. 

In a year of Duterte’s governance, he already exceeded Marcos’ (and other administration’s) astounding number of extrajudicial killings. As of August 2017, over 12, 000 cases of EJKs have been reported by the Commission on Human Rights. Oplan Tokhang ravages the urban poor, even the youth, while it spares the compradors and their colleagues. Kian de los Santos, Carl Arnaiz, and Reynaldo “Kulot” de Guzman were “just collateral damages” of this War on Drugs. If safety, for Duterte, means children fearing the streets or even their homes, then Philippines is surely the safest place to be. 

It’s not fun in the Philippines anymore. 

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Activity Challenge

As a challenge, we were tasked to post a comment on the page that we analyzed. This is the result of the challenge.

Our comment (Rhetorical)

Top comment on the post (Expressive)

Our rhetorical comment only engaged one netizen to reply, and 7 netizens to react. While the top comment which we labeled as expressive engaged 17 replies and 244 reactions. This proves our analysis that netizens prefer Expressive MDL over Rhetorical.

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People vs. The Stars: An Analysis of People’s Top 40 Comments on Faeldon and Trillanes News Report

I. Drug Smuggling vs. Unethical Conduct: Why We Chose This Story

With numerous accusations at hand, Faeldon chose to pull the ethical complaint string.

My partner and I chose to analyze the comments about this story written by Rappler. Why? Because the topic itself is controversial enough to get people’s attention. The story also gained 499 reactions and 143 comments as of September 25, at 3:55 PM.

Rappler has been following this story for quite a while now. Senator Antonio Trillanes IV accused in a speech the former Bureau of Customs Chief Nicanor Faeldon as one of the persons involved in the smuggling of the 6.4 billion peso worth shabu. Senator Trillanes expounded that it is Faeldon’s fault why the smuggled shabu made it to the country. He also said that Mr. Paolo Duterte, the President’s son, is one of the key players of this smuggling.

However, Faeldon fired back at Trillanes by filing an ethics complaint. Faeldon claimed that the senator is lying, and should be suspended, or even expelled, from his service.

People were commenting non-stop on this news report posted on the Rappler Facebok page. People were also divided on whose side to take. There were varying opinions about Faeldon and Trillanes, but the interesting thing is the comments could only be classified in either Expressive or Conventional.

I. Methodology

We examined the top 40 comments in the said post using the Message Design Logic (MDL) by Barbara O’Keefe. The Message Design Logic Theory claims that individuals have their own fundamental premises in reasoning about communication.

MDL has three different types: Expressive, Conventional, and Rhetorical.

We analyzed the comments in the Rappler news report based on their content, and form. Content, for us, means what the person’s goal is. Is the goal to express, to inquire, or to persuade? Form, on the other hand, means the person’s choice of words in his/her comment. Some words may be inappropriate for this particular social media platform.

With this criteria, the classification results are as follows.

III. Presentation of Data

These are the top 40 comments, and their MDL Types:

1. Expressive 2. Expressive 3. Conventional 4. Conventional 5. Conventional 6. Conventional 7. Expressive 8. Expressive 9. Conventional 10. Expressive 11. Expressive 12. Expressive 13. Expressive 14. Conventional 15. Expressive 16. Expressive 17. Expressive 18. Expressive 19. Conventional 20. Expressive 21. Expressive 22. Conventional 23. Expressive 24. Conventional 25. Expressive 26. Expressive 27. Expressive 28. Conventional 29. Expressive 30. Expressive 31. Conventional 32. Expressive 33. Expressive 34. Expressive 35. Expressive 36. Conventional 37. Expressive 38. Expressive 39. Expressive 40. Expressive

Overall Tally:

Expressive - 28 Conventional - 12 Rhetorical - 0

III. Themes and Patterns

According to the Rappler’s mood meter of this news, 28% were happy, 17% were angry, 6% were inspired, 5% were amused and 44% were annoyed. However, most comments we have covered were on the annoyed and angry side. Most comments were the opposite of happy, inspired and amused.

Delving into the comments, we found three main patterns:

1. Comments against Faeldon saying that he is a liar and a corrupt official (10 comments were under this theme)

2. Questions for Faeldon: What is he hiding? How were the drugs smuggled? (9 comments were under this theme)

3. Speculations that Faeldon is protecting Dutert and vice versa (5 comments were under this theme)

These were the recurring patterns in the comments section. We analyzed these patterns to further understand the message design logic of the people who commented on this news report.

I. Analysis

In this kind of internet age, with people valuing democracy more than ever, the people are entitled with freedom of speech (and virtual speech, in this case). However, the internet as a virtual space does not reveal two sides and does not heighten the user’s knowledge. Therefore, we are not surprised that among the comments we have covered, there was no Rhetorical MDL.

Most people like or react on expressive comments only. They reinforce these comments by replying with another expressive comment. As we observed in the comments section, people did not care about rhetorical comments. This may be because the rhetorical comment is long, or because the rhetorical comment is against their belief.

Most netizens, especially in the Rappler page, choose what they want to read and what they want to believe. They disregard the fact that Rappler is a trusted national news website, which means it presents all sides of the story. With people considering Rappler news as biased (and some consider this fiction), most of their comments dwell on expressing how much they hate Rappler’s way of reportage. Many people also express how much they hate the situation in the Philippine politics.

Expressiveness is the trend when it comes to the comments section. If you try to post a rhetorical comment, people will shun it, not take time to read it, or worse, reply with an expressive comment that will offend your individuality.

It is a given that there is a dominant political power that dominates the Philippine netizens, which is the pro-government side. We can call the people biased, but seeing it on a wider view, it can be rooted to the lack of proper and quality education in our country. This results to unreceptive, close-minded netizens.

II. Our Task

Our task as communicators is to expose the people and persuade them to believe the truth by constructing rhetorical comments. We should also persuade them to be critical on choosing their news sources, and be critical on formulating their comments.

Click here to see how we did in the challenge 

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Suppose that you are at a dinner table with your family. Your mother asks you what you want for college. You hesitantly say that you want to take up Fine Arts. However, your father outright rejects your plan, and says you should take up a course from the Sciences. As a Filipino, you will typically obey what your father says. The reason in your head is that your father is supposed to be the head of the family and should be obeyed at all times. That is when critical tradition scholars butt in.  

Critical tradition primarily aims to criticize the existing power relationships inside the society. It believes that the society is composed of: (1) the oppressor; and (2) the oppressed. The scholars of this tradition believe that questioning this kind of societal relationship is natural.

Marxism as the foundation

Marxism, basically, believes that the economic struggle results to the existence of classes. Marxists believe that the existing oppression of the working class stimulates their innate spirit to fight; hence, the quote, “Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains!” (Marx & Engels 1848)

In the critical tradition, scholars take Marxism as its core, while changing, removing, or adding to the basic premises of Marxism itself (thus, Neomarxism). “Frankfurt School” is famous for its contribution to this tradition by putting to “test” the basic tenets of Marxism in the daily societal issues. In one case, Frankfurt School rejected the idea of “economic determinism” by Karl Marx, while accepting the way of “Marxist criticism” (Griffin 2012).

Going back…

In order to grasp this tradition, let’s take the situation earlier to the lens of this tradition.

In your familial communication situation, your father is above you and everyone else in the family. The person who appears to be above everyone has the power to control the flow of information. That person has a strong tendency to abuse his/her power to manipulate; hence, becomes the oppressor. In this case, your father becomes the oppressor, while you, and other family members, become the oppressed.  

As Marx & Engels said, it is innate for us to struggle (1848). You, as the oppressed, will naturally answer back, or question your father’s rejection. In the traditional Marxist lens, this will lead to contradiction, which is a quarrel between you and your father. The quarrel will eventually lead to a consensus or resolution with your father.

This is how critical tradition sees the world: when there exists oppression, there exists a struggle; and this struggle must result to a change of action.

So why not Critical Tradition?

If you want to use this tradition, you always have to be biased to the oppressed. Some scholars think that this tradition lacks objectivity, and deems it to be too political.

Standpoint Theory’s main goal is to explore different perspectives of minority sectors on a certain issue in the world. Take for example, women have different perspective on how they see the world, compared to how men see the world. Different standpoints of minorities (in terms of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation) results to difference of opinions, leading to contradictions between the minority and majority (Griffin 2012). With this, we can see the clear manifestation on how the Standpoint Theory is considered as a theory under the Critical Tradition.

On this research, we will use the Standpoint Theory to differ the standpoint of National Minorities to the standpoint of mining companies’ executives on the issue of the alleged Destructive Large Scale Mining.

Communities within the reach of mining operations is often affected in their daily lives. To voice out their opinions, communities tend to held lobbying, petitions and even pickets and protest actions. However, in most of the times, the executives of mining companies orders the execution for their actions through harassments, militarization and other fascist attacks (based on the standpoint of our national minorities.

This research will pinpoint the difference and context of these two groups and will eventually lead to how the national minorities decides to fight in this kind of oppression.

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Have you ever heard of the term “culture shock”? It’s what people say to describe the feeling of surprise when a person experiences, or gets immersed, in a culture that he/she’s not used to. Take for example, you might have been “culture shocked” when you entered college. If you came from a school that observed strict rules like wearing of uniforms, and a prescribed haircut, you might have been surprised when you entered college where everything you wear is basically up to you. This college culture is completely different than of your high school culture. This is what socio-cultural tradition is up to.

Socio-cultural tradition believes that there is no “either-or” when it comes to culture. Theorists under this tradition are sensitive to different kinds of people, and are open to the idea of diversity of culture. They want to erase the binary approach where, for example, there is only black and white, or only you and me.

How culture is formed

According to University of Chicago linguist Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Lee Whorf, reality is built by language. They want to debunk the idea that words or language merely reflect the reality. For Sapir and Whorf, the language of a certain group creates their perception of reality. This is called the social construction of reality.

Just take for example, the local news program flashed the latest currency conversions in your country. The dollar rate rose up in your country. An economist, and an ordinary man with a family member abroad saw the news. For the economist, it meant that your country’s economy is declining. However, for the ordinary man, it meant that the dollars sent by his family member can now be converted to a higher rate, which, he thinks, is in his favour. The meaning of this message differed for the two people, because of the language structure they use in their everyday lives. The economist has his language of economy, which the ordinary man didn’t have.

Symbolic Interactionism by George Herbert Mead believes that the way a person communicates to another person is based on the communicator’s perception of how his receiver will react. Mead introduced three (3) core principles: meaning, language, and thinking.

Mead says that “humans act toward people or things on the basis of the meanings they assign to those people or things.” Meanings, on the other hand, arise “out of the social interaction that people have with each other,” which means these meanings are created out of the language between the communicator and receiver. And lastly, “individual’s interpretation of symbols is modified by his or her own thought processes,” which is thinking.

This theory belongs in the socio-cultural tradition, because it recognizes that individuals differ in their perception of reality and meaning, based on the language system that these people use.

If I were to use this theory, I would like to study on the different perceptions and perspectives of the people on the life of the late Ferdinand Marcos. Many biographies have been written about him, however each of these biographies differ in content. He only live one life, yet people perceived him in different ways. The aim of this research is to find out what meanings did the writers of these biographies attached to Marcos, and how these meanings came to be by their own language system.

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Imagine yourself being catcalled. It is really a bad experience for both males and (mostly) females. However, are you curious on the difference of your experience to the experience of the others? Then phenomenological tradition is the right tradition for you.

Phenomenology started as a philosophy. It is the study of ones’ experience through the lens of someone who experienced similarly (Griffin 2012). Let’s go back to the catcalling. Using phenomenological tradition, you will interview and research people who experienced being catcalled. Because you experienced being catcalled too, using phenomenological tradition, you will use your experience to analyze your situation and the situation of others too.

However, looking at this logic, we can assume that your experience will be different from the experience of others.

According to David Woodruff Smith (2013) on his article, different people contributed to what is phenomenology now. Here are three of those people:

Edmund Husserl said that the reality is true only when it is experienced by yourself. For example, you experienced being catcalled and you felt angry. Therefore, the assumption that you will feel angry when you are catcalled is true because you experienced it by yourself.

Meanwhile, Martin Heidegger said that the truth should not be interpreted deeply, but should be experienced naturally. For example, for your experience of being catcalled to be considered true, you should not analyze it. The moment that someone catcalled you through whistling and “praising” is the truth because you experienced it naturally and not clouded by your own interpretation.

Lastly, Maurice Merleau Ponty pointed out that phenomenology is subjective because we have all different interpretation of phenomena/things. For example, your analysis on your experience being catcalled will be different on how others analyzed their experience.

If you are to use phenomenology, you should take note that phenomenological study, as pointed earlier, have the tendency of subjectivity because of individuals’ different interpretation. Therefore, in this case, there will be impartiality of data because the researcher might not write about his/her and other’s experience and only considers his/her own analysis.

Leslie Baxter and Barbara Montgomery co-authored and form the theory of Relational Dialectics (Griffin 2012). Relational Dialectics focuses on the “contradiction of close-knit relationships”. This theory falls under phenomenological tradition because most people, including the researchers, have experienced having a tight relationship with someone once in their life—it may be a girl/boyfriend, a best friend, a family member, etc.

The research will focus on the idea of criticism and self-criticism (CSC) of Anakbayan, a national democratic mass organization in the Philippines. Inside Anabayan, people tends to be close to each other especially if they have similar interests other than the principles of the organization. If some individuals who are close to each other began to quarrel among themselves, they will tend to be subjective to each other and will result to negative change of work dynamics. To counter negative and unproductive work dynamics, Anakbayan devised a way through CSC, which have different levels depending on the intensity of the contradiction between individuals.

The main objective of this research, using Relational Dialectics, is to pinpoint the role of CSC to stir the negative work dynamics of two contradicting forces (in this case, the individuals) into an objective one. Also, the goal of this research is to identify if CSC is an effective way of resolving contradictions and if it can be adopted by other organizations.

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People strive to uncover mysteries, to dig the tricks behind the magic, and to find how the gears work with every tick of the clock. In communication, theorists under this tradition strive to do the same – discover the truths and unravel the patterns behind the way an individual behaves inside the society. Those who follow this tradition seek to find a cause and effect relationship between an individual’s behaviour, and the things that influence these behaviours (variable). (West & Turner 2010) Scholars who adhere to this tradition believe that these truths and patterns can be uncovered through systematic and careful observations. (Griffin 2012) This is why the socio-psychological tradition is often associated with “science of communication”.

Society + Psychology = Socio-Psychological

The psychological aspect of this tradition looks at people as beings with their own unique set of traits, characteristics, and experiences, which causes them to act in a particular way. This tradition, however, does not focus on the individual himself, but on the individual as a part of the society, a part of a network of people, but still independent in their action.” (Littlejohn & Foss 2008)

The Power of Three

Three Branches under Socio-Psychological Tradition

1.       Behavioral – “How did you act in this communication situation?”

Theories under this branch focuses on what you say and what you do in relation to your psychological variables like your traits, the situational context, and “learning.” (Littlejohn & Foss 2010)

“Learning” is defined as how we learn behaviour by associating stimulus (situation which provokes you), and response (how you react to the situation). When your response is rewarded, you tend to repeat it.

Take for example, it’s the first day of school and you’re a transferee. You don’t know anyone inside the class. One of the students, let’s call her Shine, approached you and offered to sit with you inside the cafeteria (stimulus). You agreed (response) and enjoyed her company as you were eating lunch. The next day, both of you agreed to sit and eat lunch together (learning).

2.      Cognitive – “How did you process this information which caused you to behave this way?”

Cognitive theories believe that what you do in certain communication situations are fruits of the mental operations inside your mind, not just because of a mere stimulus response.

For example, both of you agreed to sit and eat lunch together again not just because you enjoyed each other’s company. It may be because after school hours, you went home and tried to weigh the pros and cons of eating with her again tomorrow. You realized that there are more pros (gain a new friend, and not look like a loser who eats alone) than cons (you may be limiting yourself to only one person other than meeting other people).

3.       Biological – “How did your brain function which caused you to behave this way?”

Researchers under biological theories believe that many of our behaviors are wired in our brain functions, genetics, and brain structure. They believe that our traits and way of thinking are inborn.

To take the aforementioned example, you may have chosen to sit and eat lunch with Shine again because a certain part of your brain, the behavioural activation system (BAS) is active. This part of your brain is very much associated with rewards, stimulates motivation, and brings out action.

So why not Socio-Psychological Tradition?

As much as you want to find out why you and Shine “clicked,” and predict what may happen next in your friendship, predictions under the socio-psychological may not always accurate. That is one of the criticisms of this tradition. It aims to seek an explanation and a “formula” on social relationships, however effects are always situational. Effects always depend on the context of the communication situation. Socio-psychological tradition has limited predictive power. (Craig 1999)

Another criticism is that this tradition believes in “linear causation.” (Craig 1999) It looks for cause and effect relationship, which other scholars think may be overly simplistic.

Expectancy Violations Theory by Judee Burgoon falls under the socio-psychological tradition. This theory believes that violations of expectations may arouse or distract recipients in a communication situation. This theory has three core concepts: Expectancy, Violation Valence, and Communicator Reward Valence.

Burgoon defines Expectancy as “what people predict will happen.” Violation Valence, on the other hand, is “the perceived positive or negative value assigned to a breach of expectations,” while Communicator Reward Valence is the “sum of positive and negative attributes brought to the encounter plus the potential to reward or punish in the future.” (Griffin 2012)

So, the question that this theory answers is “Should you communicate in a totally unexpected way?” This theory falls under the socio-psychological tradition because it seeks to find a cause and effect relationship between expectancy violations and how recipients react to, receive, and perceive those violations.

This theory is useful in analysing interactions and relationships between individuals. One interesting research to conduct is analysing the relationship of Lea (Alessandra de Rossi) and Tonyo (Empoy Marquez) in the movie Kita Kita released this year. This movie stirred controversy in Tonyo’s character, because of Tonyo’s endless attempts to find Lea’s soft spot, even after Lea’s repeated rejection. Using the Expectancy Violations Theory, we can analyse why, after all these communication interactions, Lea still ended up falling in love with Tonyo. The goal of this research is to uncover the factors that lead to their relationship development despite numerous expectancy violations. Answering these questions to their relationship, though fictional, will still be useful to communication scholars and alike, whose interest is finding character interaction patterns in Filipino movies.

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When you entered college, you may have been shocked by the number of organizations present inside the university. You can name the organizations from A to Z. You can never run out of choices. Once you joined an organization, you learn of the dynamics of the organization. You learn of the different systems inside, and of the characteristics of each member. You learn that each member influence one another, and in turn influences the organization as a whole. In Cybernetics, the tradition studies complex systems where each element interact and influence one another. This tradition views communication as a system of parts that shape and control the overall character and outcome of the system. (Littlejohn & Foss 2011) Systems, systems, systems

Systems, according to Littlejohn & Foss, are sets of interacting components that together form something more than the sum of the parts. This means that in a system, there are parts or elements in which we should take into consideration their relationships in order to understand the whole system. In your organization, for example, the relationship of your organization president to the organization vice president is vital in keeping a harmonious leadership over the whole organization. In understanding systems, we must remember that (Littlejohn & Foss 2011):

1.       A system is constrained by its independence on other parts, and this pattern of interdependence organizes the system itself.

2.      Systems take inputs from the environment, process them, and creates outputs that are put back into the environment.

3.       Systems monitor, regulate, and control their outputs in order to remain stable and achieve goals.

4.      Systems are embedded within one another such that one system is part of a larger system, forming a series of levels of increasing complexity.

5.       We can observe a large suprasystem, or take a narrower view by observing a smaller subsystem.

5 Variations in Cybernetic Tradition (Littlejohn & Foss 2011) 1.       Basic System Theory – this theory looks at systems as structures that can be analysed and observed from the outside.

2.      Cybernetics – this branch of system theory focuses on feedback loops and control processes, where it challenges the idea that one thing causes another. Instead, it suggests that things impact one another in a circular way which enables systems to maintain balance and create change.

3.       Information Theory - this theory quantifies the uncertainty in messages and calculates the amount of redundancy necessary to counteract the noise and achieve accurate flow of messages though a system. In other words, the goal message to be conveyed should be accurate with the message actually conveyed.

4.      General System Theory – this theory acknowledges that different fields are similar to one another because of shared system principles.

5.       Second-order Cybernetics – holds that the observer is always engaged with the system being observed. This perspective believes that you affect and are affected by a system whenever you observe it.

So why not Cybernetic Tradition?

Though this tradition is useful in understanding relationships, this tradition does not really help in understanding the individual differences among the parts of the system. This is where the next tradition comes in.

Paul Watzlawick’s Interactional View is one theory under the Cybernetic Tradition. Watzlawick is committed to studying interpersonal interactions as part of systems. He “care little about why a person acts in a certain way, but they have a great interest in how that behavior affects everyone in the group.” (Griffin 2012)

Watzlawick, particularly in his Interactional View, views families as systems wherein the behaviour of one person affects and is affected by the behaviour of another. He gave an example of a family where every member “seemed” fine, except for the youngest son who is an alcoholic and a drug addict. The members of the family may think that the only problem is the youngest son, however Watzlawick thinks that the problem is systematic – the way how the other family members approach the youngest son is also a problem, which will only be solved through “reframing” and with an outside perspective’s help.

Aside from families, we may use this theory in researching about other organizations, groups, or institutions. One I can think of is studying your local University Student Council as a system. For example, a scrutiny report from your local university publication will state one member of the council with the lowest evaluation score. Using the Interactional View, you can observe the interaction of the other student council members with the member who gained the lowest score. The goal of this study is to pinpoint systematic interactional difficulties within the University Student Council, and at the same time formulate or discover effective reframing strategies for an efficient council interactional system.

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Most of us experienced to be infatuated to another person. Going home from somewhere, you accidentally crossed paths. You also accidentally dropped whatever you are holding. You stopped to pick your belongings, your crush helped you in picking. After picking, you and crush’s eyes accidentally meet. Your crush handed your belongings and left a smile before leaving. You are in awe and your heart beats fast. A question lingers in your mind—what is the meaning of that smile? What does the smile signifies?

This is where semiotics kicks in.

Semiotics is “simply put...the study of signs” (West & Turner 2010). A letter M (drawn arc-like) with the color of yellow and paired with a red background signifies the fastfood chain Mcdonalds. The stoplight colors signifies if you stop, wait or go and drive. The three stars and the sun with eight rays signifies the flag of the country of the Philippines. Following this logic, semiotics simply helps us in defining signs if we have the same context or “language” as West & Turner (2010) have said—thus, if the people’s situation or context began to change, meaning also changes.

Take this as an example. You and your crush, in the past, have no interactions at all. If your crush smiles at you, generally, you and other people will interpret the smile as a friendly smile. However, if you and your crush begins to interact and you became close with one another for a given time frame, generally, you and other people will interpret the meaning of the smile differently.

To further delve and articulate the basics, David Chandler (2007) gave the differences of the pioneers who studied semiotics. We will tackle only three:

1. Ferdinand de Saussure, said that a “signifier” and a “signified” constitutes the sign. The signifier is the “word” itself, while the signified is the “mental” concept. Take for example, the smile of your crush. The word ‘smile’ itself is the signifier, while the smile as a facial expression is the signified. Combining these two will result into a sign which is the act of smiling.

This is different from the contemporary Saussurean model (which is only based from, but not said by, Saussure). Instead of the word itself, the solid “material” itself becomes the signifier. Let’s go back to the smile. Instead of the word ‘smile’, the signifier in the Saussurean model is the smile itself.

SAUSSURE’S IDEA OF SEMIOTICS:Signifier + Signified = Sign

2. Meanwhile, a scholar named Charles Peirce, made his own model for semiotics. Peirce’s model has three components for Semiotics. There is the (a) Interpretant, which is the “sense made of the sign,” the (b) Representamen is the “form” of the sign (“not necessarily material”), and the (c) Object being the sign itself. For example, the word “smile” is the Representamen. The idea of what smile is, is the Interpretant. The smile, which is the act or the facial expression itself, is the Object.

3. Roland Barthes, lastly, contributed to the idea of Saussure by adding the idea of connotation, or the second order of meaning. In Saussure’s idea, we can see that:

Signifier + Signified = Sign

Because Saussure considered only the word as the signified and not the material itself, meaning Saussure’s idea is like giving the dictionary meaning/denotation (the first order of meaning). Take for example, the word “smile”. The smile is a facial expression. This is the first order of meaning or the denotation. Barthes added to this and said that this might not be the only meaning of the word “smile”. The smile as a facial expression, may mean that someone who smiles is feeling happy. This is what Barthes mean in the second order meaning or the connotation.

Veering away from the proponents, Chandler also said that semiotics, according to Peirce, is divided into three main areas:

1. Syntactics – pertains to the “rules” governing a language; “grammar”

2. Semantics – pertains to the oneness of different words if combined to form a sentence; “sentence meaning”

3. Pragmatics – pertains on how a language works if used in a certain situation; “study of language used in context”

Subjectively, studying semiotics is fun but tiring. In doing research, using semiotics is like squeezing your brain out just to interpret a single thing. Try to imagine to do it with a whole text, considering that your interpretation should be and could be interpreted similarly by most people.

In using semiotics, you should consider that meanings are not concrete. It also depends on the context of other people. We have different ways of giving meanings and we have different meanings to different things. That is why some people become heartbroken. Some people mistook the smile given by their crush because people give a different meaning to the smile, while their crush has a different meaning on giving that smile. This is one thing to consider in using semiotics in your research, or just in giving meaning to things.

Genderlect Styles of Deborah Tannen focuses on the difference of the “dialect” and “conversational styles” between men and women (Griffin 2012). These difference often leads to “misunderstanding.” Genderlect styles fall under the semiotic tradition because even though men and women speak the same language, given that they are from the same linguistic group, men and women still misunderstand each other because men give different meanings to words and actions used in a conversation compared to women and vice versa.

The research will be about the segment Di Ba Teh at Kuya from the ABS-CBN morning show Umagang Kay Ganda (Bolok 2007). The segment is a debate between male and female hosts on a certain issue ranging from personal to national (ABS-CBN News 2017). Using the Genderlect Styles, the researcher/s will nitpick the “misunderstandings” and contradictions between the male and female hosts through their use of language on their opinion on a certain issue. Also, the researchers should be able to develop a model regarding the patterns of their conversation and where did they have the contradictions. The main objective is to identify the conversational styles of both male and females and how it affects the interaction between male and female.

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Nowadays, it is not a new sight that somebody from an insurance company will approach you inside a mall, asking if you have any credit card. Most people will ignore the insurance man, while few will try to entertain them. However, more than half of those who tried to entertain them will reject the offer given.

That leads us to question the effectivity of the approach used by the insurance man. The insurance man should devise a way to brand a new approach for their insurance company. That is when the rhetoric tradition enters.

Rhetoric, according to Craig (1999) cited by Dall’Agata (2015), is the art of persuasion. In other words, rhetoric can be your way for someone to believe you. It is your way to psychologically manipulate the reaction of the receiver (Dall’Agata 2015) through your way of communication (i.e. action, speech, etc.).

The rhetorician (the ones who use rhetoric), should be able think and plan, arrange his thoughts, pick the right words, memorize (optional), and perform/deliver (also optional) it to be able to persuade others (University of Arkansas n.d.).

Let’s go back to the insurance man. The insurance man should use rhetoric as a device for him to be able to persuade others to accept the offer. He should devise a way to somewhat manipulate your mind in accepting the offer through his own words and actions. However, the insurance/bank man should know the features of rhetorical tradition (Griffin 2012).

The difference between animals and humans is that humans have the ability to make speeches.

The way to address problems of politics is talking to the public.

The one who delivers the speech can influence the audience in believing him.

Effective leaders should be good and educated at public speaking.

Language has a power to affect the audience and make them act on a certain issue.

In the past, persuasion through speech is a thing for males only.

Besides this features, Robert Craig (1999) also identified the “social functions” of the rhetoric tradition:

Rhetoric permits receiver/listener’s for a trial and error of the things said by the sender/speaker.

Rhetoric can be a device to showcase individual ideas to a larger group.

Rhetoric defines who can be the leader and the speaker in a certain society.

Rhetoric requires proof and evidence in order to accommodate proper “decision-making.”

Rhetoric defines the status quo and shapes it. Therefore, it “accept or reject ideas through interaction.”

Rhetoric, as it shapes the status quo (including “values or belief”), can develop a community.

Knowing these features and functions can help the insurance man to devise new ways of persuasion. So if an insurance man used a new approach to you when you are at the mall, then he might have read about rhetoric or this blog post.

However, the insurance man and also the people approached by him should be wary of the downsides of rhetoric. Oftentimes, rhetoric is only used to just to persuade other people to agree, not considering that the ones using rhetoric might not be speaking the reality. Does the insurance man truly speaks about his offer? Or is he just persuading people to take the offer? Following this logic, should the customers be swayed with rhetoric? Or should the insurance man stop using rhetoric and just only speak of the truth?

These are questions one should consider when using rhetoric. However, we will leave the decision to you if you want to continue using the rhetoric tradition in your research.

Social Convergence Theory of Ernest Bormann talks about the “dramatization” of the “fantasies” of people of a certain group (Griffin 2012). Dramatization of the fantasies in Social Convergence Theory pertains to the events that happened in the past or that will happen in the future. Social Convergence Theory falls under the rhetorical tradition because the dramatization of a group’s fantasies are “enthusiastically being embraced by the members” of the group. The group believes and persuades themselves, being under the rhetorical tradition, of their dramatization of their fantasies than taking notice of what is in their present state.

The research will be about the difference of how a professional theater company and a community theatre group work in the creative process of doing a theatre production. Using Social Convergence Theory, the researcher will take note of how the collective perception in a certain national issue affects the creative process of the two groups. The researchers will also compare the differences of the two groups’ perception vis-a-vis the difference on their creative process. The main objective of this research is to contextualize the productions made by two different groups, given that they have different economic abilities and have different political perceptions.