Entry 3: Nonverbal cues I've seen

 

Enter a lecture hall or a classroom, the usual scene of groups huddling together, some alone, in the different areas of the room is the first to be seen. Once the lesson starts, the mind starts to pick up on little actions around you. People can be twirling their pens, crossing their legs, playing with their hair, glancing at their watches and so on.

People themselves may not notice since such actions can be done unconsciously, being used to calm themselves down. These are some common examples of what we can notice students doing. Twirling of pens and physical actions , are called adapters, a form of Kinesics (study of body movement). Glancing at the watches or looking around are of Oculesics (study of nonverbal cues associated with eyes). There are other types of nonverbal cues as well, be it for a speech or normal conversation between people, but let's stick to the nonverbal cues of students.

Since the exam weeks are approaching, be it for mid-terms, final year projects or even a whole pile of quizzes the next day, do nonverbal cues have a certain pattern or group?

First off, there is what we may call the well-prepared ones. These may be the people you usually see working on their work, revising everyday. Nonverbal cues on the start of the exams may be that they are just as usual. Walking calmly, going straight to the classrooms (for some), and who knows, they may be the ones that are comforting those who are panicking. From these, one can infer that they revise work regularly so as not to have any troubles with their studies.

The second group may be those who make preparations just for the exams. The nonverbal cues should be noticeable (though they may be exaggerated). Dark 'panda eyes', shorter temper fuse, heavier bag than usual for the notes and textbooks. If one visits the library during such times, one may see a fully packed study room even. During these times, it can be seen that they are set on concentrating on preparations. It may be a good idea to keep any invitation for fun and games at bay for the time being.

From all the studying, either one keeps up with the hectic schedules, or they may end up leaving it to fate. This is hard to know until the time for the exams. And to tell the truth, I have not seen any cues for such, unless cartoons count. All I can say to students having exams is: Good Luck!

These are the nonverbal cues I usually see, and there is the possibility that I misinterpret them as well. But, that is what makes people-watching fun. You get to imagine what all those nonverbal cues mean. Maybe when you have the time, try paying attention to your surroundings, who knows what interesting nonverbal cues you can notice.

Entry 2: DELL Laptop Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ijH3cRJ1BY

Just on Wednesday, I saw this television ad on TvMobile on bus 154 on the way to school. It is the latest Dell Laptop commercial, which is a clip of workers in a futuristic factory, working on producing the new laptops, along with the edited version of the song 'Lollipop' by Chordettes in 1958 (which I only found out after some searching)

I remembered this commercial when I had my COM101 lecture on Thursday, which is on Perception (the process by which we make sense of the world around us. The things we learn or see around us are stimuli, a form of information to our brain. Before we interpret what we have seen, we go through the process of Selection (How we select information in our environment for processing.

This ad makes use of Novel stimuli (which is originality), that is one factor of Selection. After all, there are not much ads that make use of the type of scene we may see from the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". And of course, the jingle they played is very catchy and hard to forget. This interesting way of compilation is what made me pay attention to the ad.

At first I had misinterpreted the advertisement as a sweets promotion, since the very first word to register in me was 'Lollipop' at the start of the commercial. This type of perceptual error (mistake) has also been talked about in the lecture. The exact term used is "Figure and Ground", whereby one perceives a message only by focusing on a specific factor, regardless of any additional information. Naturally some people may be able to understand straightaway that it is an advertisement for Dell since they may be more perceptive.

All in all, this ad captures my attention, and in my opinion, though it may not influence me to get a laptop since I do not need one, it is definitely an interesting commercial.

Entry 1: 'Be as One' national Security Ad

I came across this printed advertisement in this week's edition of Weekend Today, while its telecasted sibling had been appearing since a while back. I believe one would have seen either types of this advertisement.

Being a printed advertisement, it is a form of linear model, where the message is sent to the audience, the public, in a one-way communication. Concerning the straightforward message itself, with it being to be careful for our individual and country's well-being, using the linear model is more suitable than the interactive (two-way communication) or the transactional model (process of mutual influence & simultaneous exchange).

As to why I feel the linear model is the most suitable, I'll tell you now. All three types of models usually make use of the psychological perspective in communication, with which an individual understands the given message due to similar mindsets. There is no serious worry for miscommunication happening, since the words of the sentences have a relatively fixed meaning in this context. 'Vigilant', to be alert, and 'Resilient', recover readily from shock. These two words are ways for us to stand against 'Terrorism'. This advertisement shows clearly what our National Security hope for us to keep in mind. Interactive and transactional models requires communication between two groups of people (sender and receiver), which is not as suitable for an advertisement.

Another matter that caught my eye, though it may be just my personal interpretation, is which I feel that there is another perspective at work in this ad. From the sentence 'Be as One', I see a cultural studies perspective. This perspective looks beneath the surface for any underlying messages, if any is present. For me, this underlying message seems to be for us Singaporeans to stand together, regardless of race, language or religion. After all, our government has always place great emphasis on racial harmony for years. This message had been broadcasted through other national educational programmes, advertisements, specially mentioned in the 'National Day Rally', through Racial Harmony Day and for this advertisement, through the photos where different races are smiling together.

All in all, this advertisement brought its message across to me. Of which my interpretation is to be prepared for any danger, and most importantly, cherish the friendships I have with my friends, regardless of their race and religion.

Greetings

Hi. Siling here
This is my COM101 blog and whoever comes across this, I just like to say 'Thanks for dropping by.' ('',)