Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Touro Communication Club Notes - #113 –April 21, 2010 Tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com
Seven Quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.
US black civil rights leader & clergyman (1929 - 1968)
Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it.
Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
Segregation is the adultery of an illicit intercourse between injustice and immorality
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
The Touro Communication Club
2 pm - Wednesday, April 21, 2010– Room 223
The “I Have a Dream” Speech of Martin Luther King Jr.
We are introducing the Critical Listening Institute with this Club session. We listen but we don’t consciously practice our listening skills. For this first session, we will listen to the famous speech to discover how MLK constructs his message, the images he uses and how he uses repetition to make his point. We’ll also observe how his vocal cadences enhance his message. (We’ll do Ravel’s “Bolero” next)
Logical Fallacy of the Week #4: “Appeal to Fear”

Thus far we have looked at three logical fallacies – Ad Hominum, Straw Man, Argumentum ad Populum – each of which are designed to steer an audience’s thinking toward a negative feeling about a person or an issue. This week we have another popular negative fallacy, Appeal to Fear.”

As Professor Gary Sheinfeld often says in our Communication Club meetings, “We are trapped by language.” The language the speaker chooses to frame his/her argument governs the impact of the message on the audience.

If the speaker uses words that resonate with gloom and doom, a veiled threat or conjures images of danger, then the listener needs to be awake to the underlying message which is costumed with direct or indirect negative rhetoric.

A particularly effective use of the Appeal to Fear has been the Republican party’s current campaign against President Obama, both the person and his policies. The goal is to discredit everything about Obama for the purpose of winning the 2010 Midterm election and eventually the 2012 Presidential election. Here are some of hundreds of examples:

· The Birthers who continue to challenge his Hawaiian birth certificate.

· The phrase, “Let’s Take Our Country Back!” is another fearful warning against the Armageddon and the end of the world.

· A third rhetorical Appeal to Fear is the oft-stated danger that America is speeding toward “Socialism” with Obama’s policies.

There are many, many rhetorical opportunities with an Appeal to Fear. As a standard part of their literary tool bag, writers use language consciously to shape a character or a situation. Advertisers are also master linguistic technicians. But it is the politicians for whom rhetorical manipulation is manna from heaven.

Strategy: Listen closely to the words of the writer, the advertiser and the politician. Even teachers and parents - and song lyricists. Notice if a repetition of a certain negative category of word repeats itself. If you hear such a thread, you know the speaker is trying to manipulate you – consciously or unconsciously – to persuade you to behave or believe in a certain way.

A Note to Communicators:
Critical Listening: Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Rhetoric
Listening is a rare commodity in communication. To paraphrase Mark Twain’s comment about the weather, “Everybody talks about listening, but no one does anything about it.” We don’t know the difference between hearing and listening. We fake listen in class and with our loved ones. Virtually all of the Critical Thinking efforts focus on writing and reading, rarely on speaking and listening. Who talks about Critical Listening?
Our Communication colleague, Jason Carvell, mentioned that when he was in high school in Pittsburgh, they had a mandatory Critical Listening session for students. Major documents were read aloud and then discussed. Today we are plagiarizing Carvell’s experience and adapting it to Touro’s purposes.
Therefore this week we are launching a new forum for the Communication Club – the Critical Listening Institute. The first piece we will exam is Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech, presented in 1963. In future Critical Listening sessions we will focus on a piece of music, a painting and sculpture (listening with our eyes), etc.
In this session we are only going to listen to King’s speech, although videos are available. To eliminate the distractions of our dominant sense, we will discover how difficult serious listening is.
After we listen to the speech, then we are going to have
· Some general discussion about the speech,
· The occasion,
· The audience,
· How the speech is constructed and
· Its use of rhetorical devices.
All of King’s techniques are in service of his message
And in the second half of his speech he was speaking extemporaneously. (In college, King received a C+ in public speaking.)
The occasion is one of the critical elements in analyzing the effectiveness of the speech.
· August 28, 1968
· in Washington, D.C.
· On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial overlooking the reflecting pool with the Washington obelisk at the other end,
· “The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”
· 200,000 people
· In the midst of the Vietnam War
· Richard Nixon is President
Here are four of the rhetorical devices used to increase the impact of his words.
  • Allusions – implicit or explicit reference of another event or work; may be paraphrased.
o The Old Testament: Psalm 30.5; Amos 5.4; Isaiah 40.4-5
o The Emancipation Proclamation
o Shakespeare’s play “Richard III”
o “Inalienable rights”
  • Repetition of phrases
o “I have a dream’ 9 times’
o “Now is the time”
o “Free at last”
o “Let freedom ring:” – 8 times
o “Free at last”
· Analogies to money
o “insufficient funds”
o “cash a check”
o “a promissory note”
o “a bad check
· Metaphors
o “the flames of withering injustice” “the drug of gradualism
o “chains of discrimination”
o “the vast ocean of material prosperity”
o “The long night of captivity
The speech is so rich with literary language too many to examine here. Some English or Speech teacher could easily use the speech to count the number of rhetorical devices in it.
We haven’t even examined the structure and progression of the ideas of King’s speech that suddenly shifts in tone in the second half of the speech. The two repeated phrases increase in number (“I have a dream,” and “Let freedom ring.”)
An anecdote tells the story that Mahalia Jackson, the famed gospel singer, shouted during the speech, “Tell about the dream, Martin.” This may account for the sudden change that made the exhortation to action soar rhetorically
Although we don’t get the vocal impact of King’s delivery in reading the text, we can tell how certain phrases are to be paced. In the video of the speech, King uses at least two times an unusual technique of attaching the first phrase of the following sentence to the preceding sentence. So “I have a dream” seems attached to the sentence that ends “content of their character.”
For me, this kind of academic deconstruction is lots of fun. By doing an autopsy or deconstruction of the speech (or poem or literary work), the listener can quickly understand how the speaker (or artist) manipulates the language to create his/her effect.
But maybe this kind of microanalysis is boring for some. You would prefer to be washed over with beautiful emotive language and become enthralled (read: persuaded) without knowing why.
Your choice.
UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:
April 28. 2010 - “Freedom”- We have grown up in America believing that freedom is precious. We believe we are not bound by the limits of other countries. The American Dream is to be able to achieve anything you want. Should everything be “laissez-faire”? Are there any limits on that freedom? Can we yell “Fire!” in a theatre? What kind of government should exist in a “free” society? We should have another enjoyable exchange this week!
May 5, 2010 – “The Seven Heavenly Virtues” Last October, we had a spirited discussion about “The Seven Deadly Sins.” This week we turn to the Seven Heavenly Virtues: Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Justice, Temperance, Prudence Originating with the Greeks and codified by the Roman Catholic Church in the Dark Ages, these seven virtues are designed to teach positive lessons about behavior in an unruly world. We’ll explore as many as time allows.”
May 12. 2010 -“Distractions” We are bombarded with some 2 billion stimuli each day. Until recently, people seem to be able to juggle the external “noise” and the internal “noise.” But recently many of us are on stimulus overload. We cannot concentrate. We cannot focus. Our minds wander. We are glued to our BlackBerrys wherever we are. We seem to be reduced to Pavlovian dogs responding to stimuli that we cannot or choose not to control. We seem to have become a nation of ADD people. Lots of opinions here. Perhaps even a case or two of denial?
What about one of these topics?
“Rodney King: ‘Why Can’t We Get Along?”
“Repetition”
“Meaning”
“Why Does History Repeat Itself?”
“Heroism”
“Concentration”
“Coping with Adversity”
Student Poetry showcase
“Empathy”
“Connecting the Dots”
Role play of cynical people
“Cold Calling in Sales
“He’s Just Not That into You”
“Money”
“Criticizing”
And dozens of others!
Compare the notice of the session with what really happened!
What happened on Wednesday, April 7, 2010
“Jokefest
In response to a member request to have more comedy, we will ask everyone to bring at least 3 jokes to try out on the audience. We’ll open with one joke after another. After several rounds, then we’ll stop our laughing and ask ourselves what have we heard, why did some jokes work and others did not, what have the jokes communicated, what kinds of jokes are offensive, etc. At least we should have a good time, yukking at ourselves.
One newcomer, Michael, an instructor from DMX, saw the Jokefest sign and thought he’d see what this stuff was about. He made significant contributions during the discussion. Old timers included Jean Missial, Lorinda Moore, Gary Sheinfeld, Charles Mason, Richard Green, Warren Kunz, Ronald Johnson, Pamela Sheppard and Hal Wicke
Since Michael and Jean were the first ones in the room, each shared a joke. Those jokes generated a continuing discussion about the subject of humor, what’s funny, what’s offensive and the question of “political corrected ness”
:
Michael’s comment, “People choose to be offended,” created a lot of disagreement. He cited himself as the object of many possible jokes and said that he was not offended if he were the target of any of those jokes. He argued that there were no “bad” words; they were just air moving about.
Later in the discussion, he allowed that he might be a little offended at jokes about people who were helpless.
Other comments:
· Jokes at defenseless people showed disrespect.
· The issue of intention.
· Humor changes over time.
· Use common sense
· A comparison of humor across cultures – what do different cultures laugh at?
· What generates laughter?
· A nervous reaction.
· Someone’s misfortune.
· Sudden reversal – a unexpected cognitive shift
· The unexpectedness of humor - is culture specific
· Gary – “We are trapped in language”
· Gary - “I can tell Jewish jokes because I’m Jewish”
· Lorinda raised to hand to speak and Charles Mason began to speak – everyone laughed
· Offensive jokes were not in public favor until Lenny Bruce, a 60’s comedian broke the profanity language barrier, followed by Richard Pry and his heirs like Chris Rock.
· We are all still quite “Victorian” in our split attitudes toward impolite jokes.
· After Lenny Bruce was arrested.
· The raunchiness of: the movies “Animal House” was specified approved by Richard Pryor as not extremely offensive.
· In a joke, the structure remains the same, but the subject changes.
· Several jokes – Lorinda, Gary
· Gary read a joke which progressed from English to German as a German diplomat insisted that German replace English as the language of diplomacy. Gary sounded like Hitler at the punch line.
· Doublespeak – Gary demonstrated his specialty based on the work of Al Kelly, the world’s foremost authority.
· Use a metaphor to make a point.
· The “N” word – the “B” word – some were uncomfortable, others were not.
· For some, both are fighting words.
· It’s ok for some if a friend uses the word; for others, neither is acceptable.
· When someone says something offensive, you can separate the joke from the content.
· Which term is acceptable?
· Black, African-American, Negro?
· Disability – cripple, physically challenged, differently abled.
· Fat jokes
· Jokes require a familiarity with the context of the joke.
A post session discussion generated ideas about how to increase attendance to these worth-while sessions. Lots of ideas were offered, including an imaginative one of “bribing” the students. No conclusions were arrived at. So the status quo remains.
---
We always have a great time exploring these issues. So often our daily life never focuses on these Communication issues. If you have something you want us to discuss please let us know and we’ll add it to the list.
Next time bring a friend. The Communication Club is always an open discussion, limited only by time. Everyone gets a chance to speak. All opinions are welcome. Here is an opportunity for students to challenge professors’ views outside the class without any homework or assignments. You just have to show up and listen and talk if you want.

Hal Wicke
The Touro Communication Club Notes - #112 –April 14, 2010 Tourocommunicationclub.blogspot.com
Five Quotes about Jokes
A joke is a very serious thing.
Winston Churchill, British prime minister during World War II, noted author and essayist,
A poet in history is divine, but a poet in the next room is a joke.
Max Eastman, 20th century American writer
Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.
Will Rogers, 20th century American humorist and cowboy performer

The aim of a joke is not to degrade the human being, but to remind him that he is already degraded.
George Orwell, 20th century British writer

The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow.
H.G. Wells, 20th century British science fiction writer

The Touro Communication Club
2 pm - Wednesday, April 14, 2010– Room 223
“Jokefest
In response to a member request to have more comedy, we will ask everyone to bring at least 3 jokes to try out on the audience. We’ll open with one joke after another. After several rounds, then we’ll stop our laughing and ask ourselves what have we heard, why did some jokes work and others did not, what have the jokes communicated, what kinds of jokes are offensive, etc. At least we should have a good time, yukking at ourselves.
Logical Fallacy of the Week #3: “Argumentum ad Populum
Don’t be distracted by the Latin. It is likely that you experience this logical fallacy frequently. There are several manifestations of this “Argument to the People.” Politicians and advertisers are great consumers of this strategy because they want their audiences to buy their product.
One example would be the “Glittering Generality” – the use of language which has the most vague meaning – “The People,” “The Truth,” “”Loyalty,” etc. During a political campaign, opponents often try to outdo themselves by “draping themselves in the American flag.” Senator John McCain used his bus named “The Straight Talk Express” very effectively in several campaigns.
Another version of Argumentum ad Populum” is the “Bandwagon” tactic. “Everybody’s doing it,” “Don’t be left out,” “More people buy product X than any other,” Car manufacturers often use the tactic to persuade an audience to buy as do sneaker manufacturers and Apple with its IPad.
A third version has been called the “Snob Appeal” where the audience wants to believe it is the only – or at least one of the few – people who are invited to buy the product or participate in the activity. This is a frequent tactic of upscale car makes and the U.S. Marines.
The speaker who uses this kind of fallacy is either totally insensitive to or disdainful of the intellectual capability of his/her audience. This speaker believes that the target audience can be manipulated to buying into the validity of the speaker’s goal – either a patriotic slogan or wants to appeal to the most generalized perceptions about an idea.
A Note to Communicators:
Why Jokes?
This week we focus on the joke, at the request of Anna Indelicato. She felt that the topics the club was discussing were getting boring. So let’s laugh.
But what are we laughing at? Jokes are simple. They are tightly developed formulas with a 3-part structure with a setup, brief development and punch line. There are variations on the structure but most follow this pattern.
Now that we have had our funny bone tickled, let’s look at the subject of most jokes. Since a joke is usually poking fun at people’s behavior. This is always funny until you are the target of the joke. In our age of political correctness, it is no longer acceptable to laugh jokes about sex, race, ethnicity, gender, gender preference, physical attributes and stereotypes of all kinds, among other off-limit topics.
The strategy of the joke is typically to show that one party is superior to the other. Some call this the “derision’ theory” – we make fun (read: put down).
Empathy (again: read political correctness) for our fellow human being has had the side effect of taking the humor out of many things.
What’s left to laugh at? These come to mind;
  • People in high places (Presidents and celebrities frequent targets). They’re safe.
  • Any public action that appears to be wrong in the eyes of the jokester
  • Insults in choreographed “roasts” – the Alfred Smith Presidential Dinner in election years
We want to tear down people in high places to our level so we feel better about ourselves.
The humor in joke can be translated from words to physical humor – slapstick. Then we can easily move from physical humor like the pratfall to bodily humor – like flatulence or burps. This kind of humor is also not politically cored in “polite society.”
The irony of bathroom humor is that we still laugh despite an imposed pseudo-Victorian sensibility.
The odd thing about humor is that we have to understand the subject of the joke in order to laugh. Telling a joke successfully in a language you don’t know has a low success rate.
Not only must the audience understand the joke, the joke must be told with superb timing. If the jokester tells the joke poorly, everyone loses.
Finally, the humor of the joke sets up a distance between the jokester and his audience. We laugh AT the joke. We never laugh WITH the joke. By its very nature, humor creates a distance that can both be healthy or alienating.
So, the joke and humor are very serious business underneath the guffaw.
UPCOMING CONVERSATIONS:
April 21, 2010 - Introducing “The Critical Listening Institute”- We don’t practice our listening skills. For this first session, we will listen to Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and discover how he constructs his message, the images he uses and how he uses repetition to make his point. (We’ll do Revel’s “Bolero” next)
April 28. 2010 - “Freedom”- We have grown up in America believing that freedom is precious. We believe we are not bound by the limits of other countries. The American Dream is to be able to achieve anything you want. Should everything be “laissez-faire”? Are there any limits on that freedom? Can we yell “Fire!” in a theatre? What kind of government should exist in a “free” society? We should have another enjoyable exchange this week!

What about one of these topics?
“Rodney King: ‘Why Can’t We Get Along?”
“Repetition”
“Meaning”
“The Seven Heavenly Virtues”
“Why Does History Repeat Itself?”
“Heroism”
“Concentration”
“Coping with Adversity”
“Distraction”
Student Poetry showcase
“Empathy”
“Connecting the Dots”
Role play of cynical people
“Cold Calling in Sales
“He’s Just Not That into You”
“Money”
And dozens of others!
Compare the notice of the session with what really happened!
What happened on Wednesday, April 7, 2010
““Current Events
It takes some effort to keep your head buried in the sand with what’s going on in the world. Just this past week - two landmark events -“Obamacare” passed and Russia and the U.S. agreed on a nuclear arms reduction. President Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan. We can focus on Albany, Washington, Chile, Iran’s nuclear progress, the continuing Arab-Israeli difficulties, the latest celebrity scandal, the Health Care aftermath, the jobs picture and people in the news such as the return of Tiger Woods. The current 24/7 news cycle drives the media to fill the air. It creates a frenzied, breathless indiscriminate pseudo importance to everything. For example, the National Enquirer may be one of the nominees for a Pulitzer Prize in reporting for its on-going story of the John Edwards domestic disaster. And he was the Democratic nominee for VP in 2004!
Our group today was full of familiar faces. They included Chui Hing Yau, Richard Green, Charles Mason, Drani Gabu, Markus Vayndorf, Jean Missial, Carlisle Yearwood, Pamela Sheppard, Michael Mattocks and Hal Wicke.
Hal put the following chart of Current Events on the board.
International
National
Local
People
Topics
Afganistan – Karzai’s outburst
Health care passage by 7 votes
Indian Point – to close?
Tiger Woods
The Race card – Steele & Obama
Iraqi election –Alawyi, Malaki
Weather – RI disaster area
Albany budget cuts
Wingnuts -
Beck, Limbaugh, Palin, Olberman
Supreme Court 5-4 Citizen’s United;
Stevens’ retirement
China – world’s lender;
Africa, South America
Govt expanded student loans
Soda sales tax & obesity
Obama’s reputation
Final Four
Duke 61 Butler 59
Russia –Venezuela
Subway bombing
Obama’s agenda – nuclear reduction; oil drilling
No Child left behind for colleges
Iran – nuclear bomb
Civility –
Biden epithet
Arab Israeli negotiations
Media impact –
TV - MTV
Chile earthquake
Climate change
Vatican scandal
Immigration
IPad
Tavis Smiley’s
Black Summits
Terrorist
The session opened with Richard Green’s asking about what is a terrorist. A variety of responses emerged.
· A terrorist is angry
· A terrorist seeks revenge
· A terrorist causes damage.
· Certain physical characteristics create a “terrorist” profile – fairly or unfairly
· Reaction to 9/11 created the terrorist profile.
· A terrorist has an ideology
· “Black Widows” of Chechnya
· KKK are terrorists
· CUNY Professor Jeffries’ “Ice People” and “Sun People”
The next topic meanders around President Obama and his reputation and Afghan President Karzai’s behavior toward the West.
· Karzai is biting the hand that feeds him
· Obama’s prestige rose briefly after the signing of the Health Care bill and then fell again.
· Drani’s anecdote about a 76-year-old friend who hated the health care bill until he had a kidney transplant recently.
Charles Mason wanted to know about people’s reaction to Tavis Smiley and his recent annual summit of black leaders.
· There were no legitimate leaders present with the possible except ion Cornel West.
· They all like to run their mouths.
What about the saggy pants? The passion about this topic carried until the end of the session
· Mason - The under-25 generation is a “lost generation.”
· This fashion statement started in prison
· People are bound by their language; language creates multiple realities.
· Like a Nazi uniform
· Glittering generalities – all emotionally based
· Saggy pants and leadership
· No symbiotic relationship between language and behavior
· Drani spoke about student organizations at Columbia where he now attends.
· What about a dress code?
· An assault on our value system.
· What about censorship?
The group broke up still emotionally attached to the saggy pants issue. Lots of heat but no light. I wonder if one should expect any level of enlightenment from these discussions.
---
We always have a great time exploring these issues. So often our daily life never focuses on these Communication issues. If you have something you want us to discuss please let us know and we’ll add it to the list.
Next time bring a friend. The Communication Club is always an open discussion, limited only by time. Everyone gets a chance to speak. All opinions are welcome. Here is an opportunity for students to challenge professors’ views outside the class without any homework or assignments. You just have to show up and listen and talk if you want.

Hal Wicke