Chopin Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor by Li Yundi

Chopin Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor (cello version)

Chopin Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor

Chopin Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor (violin by Sarah Chang)

Chopin Nocturne 20. C sharp minor (violin version)

Chopin Nocturne No. 20 C sharp minor

COM 250 / Wk. #3 Discussion: Hegemony of Perspectives

   Our textbook authors argues that in our society, some specific views of reality dominate our discourse. One example of these perspective is the dominant perception that everyone can move up in society through hard work and education. We all love to listen to those "rags to rich" narrative. President Obama and President Clinton have demonstrated this upward mobility narrative. Yet, the divide between the top 2% and the bottom 98% persists. Why did some perspective such as upward mobility persist in spite of the reality that most of lower middle class stuck in the mud for decades? 

COM 210 / Wk. #3 Discussion: What Is Frame? How Does Our Storytelling and Journalism Use Frame to Make Narratives to Perpetuate Some Myths?

   We are destined to use frame to view and interpret human affairs. Journalists use frames to report what's happening in our society. Have you realized that sometimes journalists might have adopted a skewed frame to project a reality to which you strongly disagree? 

COM 250 / Wk. #3 Discussion: How Did Our Social Institutions Take Advantage of Our Imperfect Perception System?

     How did our mass media images and political rhetoric utilize our imperfect perception systems, such as selective exposure, blind spot, stereotyping, labeling, prejudice, self-serving attribution biases, and fundamental attribution errors to perpetuate some wrong ideas and consciousness?

COM 250 / Wk. #3 Discussion: How Does Stereotype Lose Its Innocence?

Everyday we are overwhelmed with too much sensory stimulus. We choose to focus our attention on the most representative part of the information. With this, we form our cognitive representation (or cognitive map). Over time, this cognitive representation was condensed and solidified into stereotype to help us flip through the information quickly everyday without the burden of examining each detail. It seems that stereotype has been an innocent tool for us to get a grip on the ever changing world. Yet, stereotype has a very negative connotation right now in the U.S.. Stereotype has lost its innocence. How come that stereotype  become a nasty thing?    

COM 250 / Wk. #3 Discussion: How Does "Violation of Expectation" Play a Role in Our Perception?

  Cite a moment that "violation of expectation" threw you off balance and eventually changed your cognition matrix (or mindset, or cognitive map). Have you realized that the media, especially the television commercials and viral video, have utilized this device to gain our attention and recognition?