Communication: The Good and the Bad

Here is one of my pieces on some of the readings from last semester.

Deborah Tannen, in her 1990 article “Sex, Lies, and Conversation,” which appeared in, The Washington Post, exposes the linguistic differences in relationships between females and males. Tannen, who was born in Brooklyn, in 1945, who teaches at Georgetown University, who has written and edited several books about the issues of communicating within the different sections of culture, class, gender, and ethnicities, discusses the dissimilarities of the communication in female and male relationships. Stephanie Ericsson, in her 1993 exposé “The Ways We Lie,” which first appeared in the January 1993 issue of The Utne Reader, explains ten ways in which humans may have the tendency to lie. Ericsson, who was born in San Francisco, in 1953, who has been a screenwriter, and an advertising copywriter, has published numerous biographical books, claims individuals may have the inclination to falsify information in certain circumstances. Eric Schlosser, in his 2001 excerpt “Walt and Ray: Your Trusted Friends,” from his book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All American Meal, proposes Walt Disney and Ray Kroc deceive the parents to make money. Schlosser, who was born in New York City, in 1959, who received a bachelor’s degree in American history from Princeton University and who went on to study history at Oxford University, and who was an award-winning investigative journalist, insists Disney and Kroc used children as a main audience to advertise their products in order to succeed. Each of these texts share common elements. The three writers attack communication within relationships, and the tendency to sell a product or a lie to benefit oneself. The authors all strike at the preferences some of the population lean toward with lying, and selling a product or a lie to benefit oneself.
“Sex, Lies, and Conversation,” is the text that best fits the criterion above, by Tannen expressing her thoughts on the phonetic contrasts between females and males in relationships. Tannen writes about different communicating techniques among men and women. When discussing the “stare straight ahead” body language of men while listening, Tannen states, “Women perceive such responses as belittling and unsupportive.” She has a good attitude throughout the article, giving subtle hints of jokes and sarcasm and stating a very strong opinion. Tannen’s thoughts of the “linguistic battle of the sexes” in the article “Sex, Lies, and Conversation,” is somewhat of a serious topic that needs to be dealt with as well as a joking matter. She has very strong thoughts and studies to back her opinions on communication amid females and males in relationships.
Ericsson, in “The Ways We Lie,” argues ten ways of lying or being deceitful to another human, which places this text in the second position of fitting the criterion above. Ericsson organizes her thoughts about lying in this article by listing the different ways entities have the ability to be dishonest. “We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize, we avoid confrontation, we spare people’s feelings,” declares Ericsson after admitting her own lies in this article. Ericsson exposes the lies that can be so feasible to tell, the words that are so easily spoken to avoid harmful situations can be an obstacle in relationships.
Schlosser, in “Walt and Ray: Your Trusted Friends,” demands that producers have the tendency to deceive the consumer in order to gain a higher respect, and social status in the community. In, “Your Trusted Friends,” Schlosser makes a point to quote Disney, who said, “it’s the law of the universe that the strong shall survive and the weak must fall by the way, and I don’t give a damn what idealistic plan is cooked up, nothing can change that.” This statement is an example of the way Disney plans to succeed no matter what. Schlosser explains the many ways Disney and Kroc delude in situations in means to thrive.
The three texts are examples of communication within relationships and the tendency to sell a product or a lie to benefit oneself. “Sex, Lies, and Conversation” is the text that best meets this criterion, by showing different communication kinks in relationships between women and men. The text that meets the criterion second best is “The Ways We Lie,” through explaining the different types of lying. The text that fits the criterion the least best is “Walt and Ray: Your Trusted Friends,” although the text does a good job at fitting the criterion the text does not clearly state the thesis of the excerpt. There are many ways in which individuals have the ability to trick and mislead the community.