Essay questions:

1. Diagram the Shannon and Weaver communication model, labeling all of the parts, and then alter it to include Wiener's concept of feedback. Briefly explain each element in the model and discuss how the addition of feedback changes it.
2. What is one "bit" of information and what determines the number of bits of information in a message, according to Shannon & Weaver's information theory? Illustrate with an example and evaluate the practical usefulness of this way of measuring information.
3. Explain and give an example of the relationship between noise and redundancy in Shannon and Weaver's information theory. Discuss the practical implications of these concepts.
4. Using examples, explain and discuss the practical implications of channel capacity, information overload, and information underload.
5. Diagram and explain the concepts of positive and negative feedback, using your own example of each.
6. Sometimes "one thing leads to another" and a friendly argument escalates into a fight. How does Wiener's cybernetic theory explain this? Discuss the practical implications of this explanation.
7. Do information theory and cybernetics primarily emphasize a transmission or a ritual view of communication? Explain your answer.
8. What is the "proper meaning superstition" according to Richards? How does the proper meaning superstition cause problems in communication?
9. Using an example, explain the difference between signs and symbols according to Richards' theory of meaning.
10. Draw the semantic triangle in Richards' theory of meaning and label the parts. Using an example, show how this diagram can be used to explain why the use of emotive words often causes communication problems.
11. How do shared experiences (or "comparison fields") facilitate understanding according to Richards? Apply this to an example in which you either understood or failed to understand another person's words. How does the concept of comparison fields help to explain this situation? What are its practical implications?
12. State and explain the four remedies for misunderstanding proposed by Richards. Do these remedies seem to be based more on a transmission or a ritual model of communication?
13. The three core principles of symbolic interactionism are meaning, language, and thought. Apply these principles to explain how the meaning of something (a person, place, object, etc.) for you has evolved through symbolic interaction.
14. Using an example, discuss the developmental process a person goes through as he or she evolves a self according to symbolic interactionism.
15. Discuss the differences between the "I" and the "me". How are the forces of your "I" and your "me" balanced to allow you to develop as an individual?
16. What is the "generalized other" in symbolic interactionist theory? How does this concept explain the "Cipher in the Snow" example discussed in the textbook?
17. One concept related to symbolic interactionism is "self-fulfilling prophecy." Using an example of your own, explain this concept and show how it can be applied in practice.
18. Griffin contrasts Pearce and Cronen's social constructionism versus the information-transmission model of communication. How similar is this to Carey's ritual versus transmission distinction?
19. According to CMM theory, there is a series of contexts relevant to every speech act. Provide an example of a speech act, then discuss how it can be understood in terms of each context emphasized by Pearce and Cronen. Which context is most important in your particular example? Why?
20. In your own words, define coordination, coherence, and mystery according to CMM theory. Using a television show, movie, or "real life" situation, give examples of these three concepts and show how the three concepts are related to each other.
21. As different individuals with different logics of meaning and action interact, problems often result. Using an example, show how CMM theory can be applied to analyze a practical communication problem.
22. Comparing information theory to CMM theory, discuss one standard by which each might be considered a better theory than the other (that is, one standard by which information theory is better than CMM, and one different standard by which CMM is better than information theory. You may use any of the scientific or humanistic standards we have discussed. Explain each of the two standards you are using and why each of the two theories is relatively strong or weak on each standard.

This page was last updated: December 30, 1998