Background and History
With the advent of WWII, the idea of effectively communicating ideas to the masses moved to the forefront of research in the United States. Wilbur Schramm, considered by many to be the founder of communications as a field of study, served as the director of the Office of Facts and Figures and the Office of War Information in Washington, D.C. in the early forties. It was during these years, that he formed his vision of communication study (Rogers, 1994). Later, he would found the first doctoral program in communications.
While Schramm clearly founded communication studies, Claude E. Shannon proved to be the key theorist, conceptualizing the theory in the late 1940s that remains central to communication study today. Published, with Warren Weaver, as A Mathematical Theory of Communication (1948), Shannon's theory was born out of his research at Bell Labs. "Shannon's initial goal was simple: to improve the transmission of information over a telegraph or telephone line affected by electrical interference, or noise. The best solution, he decided, was not to improve transmission lines but to package information more efficiently" (Horgan, 1990).
Shannon defined his problem simply: "to reproduce at a given point in an exact or approximate way a message selected at another point (Mattelart & Mattelart, 1998). With this problem in mind, Shannon developed the linear model of communication, based
"on a chain of constituent elements: the source of information which produces a message, the encoder or transmitter, which transfers the message into signals allowing transmission, the channel, which is the means to send the signals, the decoder or receiver, which reconstructs the message from the signals, and the...
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Whether it is in terms of communication for effective instruction, or theory to enhance technological processes, the communication theory that was developed in the 1940s has had an immeasurable impact on all forms of communication today, both human and non-human.
References
Heinich, R., Molenda, M., Russell, J., & Smaldino, S. (1996). Instructional Media and Technologies for Learning. Columbus: Prentice Hall.
Horgan, John (June 1990). "Claude E. Shannon: Unicyclist, Juggler, and Father of Information Theory." IEEE Information Theory Society Newsletter.
______ (April 1992). "Claude E. Shannon." IEEE Spectrum. pp. 72- 75.
Mattelart, A. & Mattelart, M. (1998). Theories of Communication: A Short Introduction. London: Sage Publications.
Rogers, Everett M. (1994). A History of Communication Study: A Biographical Approach. New York: The Free Press.
Reagan became president when the country was experiencing economic troubles; mainly inflation was at 13 percent and the unemployment rate climbing. Reagan developed a relief act and policies that became known as Reaganomics. Marc Cornman states “that there was no positive to the policies unless you were rich.” Interesting perspective, meaning that the policies covered lowering income and capital gains taxes, encouraging businesses to do business in the United States hoping to boost spending and in turn the economy. Mr. Cornman remembers more negatives, “Unemployment and the first recession, he raised taxes and eliminated deductions but continued to lower taxes for the wealthy.” He also recollects that President Reagan fired thousands of air traffic controllers for going on strike and that Reagan implied that unions were no longer needed this harming the economy even more. He feels ...
The autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, first published in 1789, is the first example of a slave narrative. Unlike most of the class, I took it upon myself to read the entire story of Equiano’s Travels, abridged and edited by Paul Edwards. In that version, as in the version represented in The Norton Anthology American Literature Shorter Fifth Edition, the journey of Olaudah Equiano is expressed in his own words, from his own point of view. That makes this writing a truly unique piece of literature. It is not only the first slave narrative but also one of the only ones written pre-civil war by a former slave, and someone seized from Africa. These facts give the writing a unique feel, for it is the words of a man that was born a free man, raised to be a ruler of his tribe, kidnapped and made into a slave as a young child, and then journeying through life to become once again free as a mature adult. Equiano experienced almost all parts of a slave’s existence. He was a slave throughout Africa, England, and the New World.
“Such a tendency has the slave trade to debauch men’s minds, and harden them to every feeling of humanity” (Equiano 1013). The fact that Equiano could separate the institution of slavery from the white slave owners and focus on the main problem shows that he is a rational intelligent writer. Equiano became a strong supporter of the abolitionist movement which led to the writing of this work. He truly believed that no man should have authority over another man and once he bought his own freedom he continued to pursue this for others as
In comparison to other slaves that are discussed over time, Olaudah Equiano truly does lead an ‘interesting’ life. While his time as a slave was very poor there are certainly other slaves that he mentions that received far more damaging treatment than he did. In turn this inspires him to fight for the abolishment of slavery. By pointing out both negative and positive events that occurred, the treatment he received from all of his masters, the impact that religion had on his life and how abolishing slavery could benefit the future of everyone as a whole; Equiano develops a compelling argument that does help aid the battle against slavery. For Olaudah Equiano’s life journey expressed an array of cruelties that came with living the life of an
Equiano’s first major event marked in his life was when he and his sister were kidnapped from their country with the kidnapper’s intent of selling them as slaves. This was not an uncommon event for the children knew to be on the lookout for a “kidnapper, that might come upon us; for they sometimes took those opportunities of our parents' absence to attack and carry off as many as they could seize” (Equiano 128). Equiano and the populace of his country all lived with the fear of a child being taken from their home to never find their friends and family ever again. The kidnappings that occurred in Africa were wrong and noth...
Griffin, E., Ledbetter, A., & Sparks, G. (2015). A first look at communication theory. New York:
In 1745, Olaudah Equiano was born in a small village in Isseke,Nigeria. His father was one of the chiefs in the village. At age eleven Equiano and his sister were kidnapped by two men and a woman never to see his home or parents again. After being kidnapped he was hiked across part of Africa untill he arrived at the coast where he was loaded onto a slave ship. While crossing the Atlantic to Barbados onboard the slave ship he and his countrymen were subject to horrors you could hardly imagine. Equiano tells about the horrors and torture slaves face not only on the slave ship but also on plantations and many other aspects of a slave's life. Equiano experienced almost all parts of a slave's existence. He was a slave throughout Africa, England, and the New World. Equiano is bought and sold several times. Religion also played a huge role in Equiano's life and I think that it helped him get through some really hard times. He is bought by a British Naval officer and serves in the British Navy during the Seven Years' War. He is then sold to Robert King where he begins trading goods between islands and eventually makes enough money to buy his freedom. Equiano tells of the joy he feels when he becomes a free man. The rest of his life is devoted to helping slaves and to the cause of abolishing slavery.
Equiano constantly sought out to purchase his freedom. When his master Robert King finally permitted him to raise enough money, he was overjoyed, “[He would] become . . . [his] own master” (105). At one point Equiano got into a fight with a black slave, and the slave’s master wanted to flog Equiano for beating his property, even though the slave hit Equiano first. Afterwards, Equiano met a free black man who was accused of being a slave and threatened with kidnapping. This shows that white men always had power over black men regardless if the black men was property or not. As a result, Equiano soon came to learn “there was little or no law for a free negro” (107). On another occasion Equiano was on a boat that wrecked on the coast of the Bahamas because of a strong current. During this tragic event, some of the white people started to drink their lives away, and none of them helped the others or themselves: “not one of the white men did anything to preserve their lives” (Equiano 114). It was up to Equiano to save them, and if he had not, the white men would have died. However, Equiano did not get the recognition like a white person would. To summarize, this goes to show that blacks were still not equivalent to whites no matter if free or
Olaudah Equiano was not an American born slave. He was born and raised well into his childhood in Africa with his family. His slave narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustav Vassa, the African, published in New York in 1791 however, had a lasting impact on America as it described the inhumane treatment of Africans being sold into slavery (Baym 1: 687). Equiano’s initial concept of freedom stemmed from his childhood of which he speaks very fondly, describing his homeland as a “nation of dancers, musicians and poets,” a...
"The Life of Olaudah Equiano” is a captivating story in which Equiano, the author, reflects on his life from becoming a slave to a freeman during the 19th century. Through his experiences and writing, Equiano paints a vivid picture of the atrocities and cruelties of European slavery. Ultimately through his narrative, Equiano intends to persuade his audience, the British government, to abolish the Atlantic slave trade as well as alert them of the harsh treatment of slaves. He successfully accomplishes his goal by subtly making arguments through the use of character, action, and setting.
In Equiano 's personal slave narrative, The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Equiano uses distinguishing first person pronouns, thought provoking rhetorical questions, and eye-opening, harsh diction to flip the idea that the African people act backwards and barbaric. Equiano does so by demonstrating his personal exceptionalism through his literacy to show that truly the white people remain backwards and barbaric because of their hypocrisy. The contradiction of the perceptions of white and African people that Equiano demonstrates in his slave narrative shows that the savagery of African people is a misconception. The misconception of the perceptions of the African people makes the reader fully grasp the need to abolish
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In the autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano. Born in 1745, Equiano describes his life of being an native african, who was kidnapped from his homeland in the Eboe at the age eleven and was partaken in the African slave trade. Equiano encountered many facets of life during his journey around the world that no one could have expected. He was then able to regained his freedom unlike most of the victims of the slave trade. Equiano Olaudah considered himself “a particular favorite of heaven” and having good fortune regardless of the challenges and the suffering he faced while serving as a slave. Olaudah's good fortune is shown when
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