Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Heinrichs pp 38-77
Pretend you had to tell the story of your first college party to mother (or grandmother, or aunt), and then to your best friend from high school. How would you tell it differently to those two audience? (Note: this doesn't work if your mother is your best friend. In that case, pick some authority-figure) How would you establish yourself as decorous and virtuous for those two different audiences? In other words, how would you show that you match your audience's expectations (decorum) and their values (virtues)? Consider Heinrich's examples and try to apply them to these two audiences.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I would tell the story differently to my mother than to my best friend. For my mother I would tell her the vague story about the party because usually my mother likes to control how I to dress and how I should act. The story will be told to my mother in a way that my mother expects me to act. Because my mother knows me so well, I believe that I have established myself as decorous because I am polite and behave appropriately. I am a responsible person who share some of the same values as my mother, for instance we both have high expectation for our work ethics. As for my best friend on the other hand, she knows the type of person I am and what I regard as beneficial and desirable. I would show that I match my audience’s expectations and their values because my friends are usually people in my life that have a positive impact on me and we hold similar virtues. I feel that for my friend, my tone of voice will be different because I feel more comfortable talking to her knowing she will not judge me. It is always easier to talk to a peer that is going through the same situations you are going through. My mother on the other hand, I will feel hesitant to tell her some things because she holds such high expectations of me and I have respect for her. In one of Heinrich’s examples his daughter uses the Eddie Haskell Ploy, this switching sides technique seems like I can try to use this with my mom and help me increase my virtue with her by making it seem like I am sacrificing on my part. As for my best friend, I would try to use character reference, and get her to do the bragging for me.
To my mom I would give the basic overview, leaving out many of the details she would disapprove of. Maybe I would incorporate the 'Eddie Haskell Ploy' Heinrichs talks about on pg 64, using it to make myself appear responsible and cause her to worry less. Whether or not what I told her the truth wouldn't matter so much as making her believe I am capable of taking care of myself in such situations. What I would tell my best friend would probably be completely different details, since appealing to her and her interests as an audience would be different. She would also find many of the details humorous, whereas my mom would be better off not knowing. To my best friend I wouldn't have to worry about censoring the events, since we share similar decorums and values in this aspect.
I would definitely tell the story differently based on what is suitable for the particular audience. I would tell my mother what she would probably expect me to tell her, that I went to a party, hung out with some friends for awhile. I could also tell her about the conversations I had with my friends depending on if they were appropriate for her to know. I would not spend much time telling this particular story nor would I tell it with much detail to my mother or any another authority figure who have high expectations of me. I would be more comfortable telling my friends the story simply because I know they would not judge me, and also because they could probably relate. I would use the opinion switch tool with my mom letting her know that I understand her side as well. And she could also know that I would act responsibly in such a situation.
In order to appear virtuous to my mother, I would talk about how the appalling things that were going on at that party. I would describe how shocked I was that there were people drinking and girls scandalously clad. Then I would describe how I was different. I didn't take part in these activities. I was there to mingle and be friendly, but left early to go home to watch a movie with a friend.
To appear virtuous when describing the situation to my best friend, I would talk about the impressive people who were at the party, the connections that were made, and the guys who flirted with me. I'd talk about how much fun we had, crazy things that were happening, and entertaining comments about what we did.
The perception of virtuous is definitely different between the two audiences.
To my grandmother I would say that I attended a 'party' with friends, but I'm sure she would assume it was a birthday party and not a college party. Needless to say I'd leave out details of keg stands, binge drinking, and hangovers- after all my grandmother would not really understand or support my actions. With my grandmother I would use sympathy in presenting my story, because by sharing her mood I would eliminate dangerous details. To my best friend I would be totally honest about everything I did, what's there to hide if someone's your age and shares the same "values?" (if I can even say that about drinking).
Post a Comment