*Concept from Chapter 13*

I appreciated reading about the concept of, "Smile and the world smiles with you"- because with first hand experience, I find this concept to be very true. No matter what kind of day I've had, I always try to keep a smile on my face and smile at strangers passing by me. And because of it, people naturally gravitate to me and I have positive outcomes in life. "Studies show that smiling people are perceived by others as more positive on a variety of measures, including optimism, sincerity, intelligence and kindness." (Trenholm. P. 390) With the many challenges we all face in a day, there is no reason not to have respect for others and common curiosity. Whether it be holding the door open for someone, giving a seat to an elderly or simply smiling at someone that is frowning. Therefore I found this experimental study research to be interesting, because the researchers tested the effect smiling has on others. "By showing this nonverbal behavior of smiling, it wide-reaches the effects on helping behavior, the study gives hints on how to get people to like you and be more generous toward you; its by one way is simply to smile." (Trenholm. P. 391) =)

*Moral dilemmas that face ethnographers*

First off, when I think of moral dilemmas, in general it means to decide on either A or B options; to morally choose an action wisely. As far as ethnographers, they research observe others and use different approaches such as, covert role, overt role, take field notes, informant or presupposition less research. Every situation they're in, they choose which form of research to use and it may effect their results. "Ethnographers want to understand how members of other cultures interpret their world. To do so, ethnographers immerse themselves in a culture in an effort to see it through the eyes of its members." (Trenholm. P. 379) Depending on the case I was given to resolve and to observe, depending on the location and the person; I'd prepare as much information and knowledge that I knew before hand. I'd use the Imformant Method, because people like when someone shows interests within their hobby or culture their apart of. And I feel like I'm a great interviewer and I'd be able to get answers that I wouldn't be able to get by just sitting down and not talking to an individual. People naturally like to be shown their interesting and knowledgeable; therefore I'd get more in sight and information with someone one on one.

*Research Method in Table 13.3, I found most interesting*

The Performance Research method in table 13.3 was most interesting to me; mainly because last semester I took a Performance Ethno. Class and I learned how to analyze performances. We also performed the performances in front of the class and acted out as different characters and as ourselves as well. Performance Researchers focus on, "Analyzing the social and/or aesthetic meanings of performances. Sometimes they write about performances they have observed; at other times they uncover the meanings of texts by actually performing them." (Trenholm. P. 375) If I were to study some aspects of deception, my research question would be; "How does an interviewee perform in front of an interviewer to indicate they are the best candidate for the position." I'd choose to use Performance Research to answer the question; mainly because it's consisted of stepping in the shoes of the other person and seeing their prospective. Also, the interviewer has been in the interviewee's shoes at one point in their career, therefore they can give the person the benefit of the doubt. And make their best decision using indicators and can discover the uncover meanings of texts and read between the lines.

*Concept from Chapter 8*

Communication is used in several different ways, depending on the location and the situation. For example, the way you speak to your best friend, you wouldn't use the same lingo communication with your boss at work. Individuals are taught to switch up their tone, depending on who they're communicating to. " There are unique types of communications, or communication genres, that occur in organizations. Business letter, memoranda, meetings, interviews, and so on, are widely recognized genres in American business." (Trenholm. P. 217) The term "genre", are rules of discourse in which the way we should or should not communicate. If we communicate the wrong way, it may be a red flag and once we're stuck in these negative bias, its hard if not possible to change the person's mind. I recently read an article on yahoo, in which was titled, "Don't Be a Victim of Interview Bias", I found it very helpful because it pointed out ways of how to act and to communicate to the employer. I enjoy reading professional helpful articles, because the way we communicate can be the only thing in our way; from landing the job. I'd suggest, over preparing for an important school/work meeting or even an interview; because the more prepared you are, the less nervous you are and naturally your "genre" will shine through positively.

*Marshall McLuhan's Theory*

Yes, I definitely agree with Marshall McLuhan, that the format is just as important as the content. It affects the viewers and how they think during a segment. The messages are geared to catch our attention to a certain product or stir us in the way they want the viewer to go. I've worked within the media before and know how commercials are made. There are what is called " a teaser". For instance, with TV news, they show a clip of what seems to be of importance and that viewers must watch. And the "teaser" clip is shown at the end of the TV news hour, so they had the viewer to watch all the way through for a 10 second clip that isn't of urgency or as importance like they edited it out to be. Each media medium has it's own way of drawing in a viewer. According to to McLuhan's theory, "each medium has its own logic, and each affects how we experience the world." (Trenholm. P. 307) For example, in radio, they may have a contest and tell the listener to wait for a certain song to play within the hour; therefore they have the listeners listening to the radio station for that whole hour and have the contest at the end of the hour. Television can be thought as a "Cool Medium", because of the ability to visually capture the viewers attention with a powerful visual clip and it leaves you on the edge of the seat wanting to watch the full clip.

*Friendships made from cyberspace*

The good ol' Internet-I was introduced to the Internet with web instant message and chat rooms through AOL at the age of 12 years old. Yes, that sounds very young for a child to be on the Internet, I wasn't aware of the effects of online chat. Although, I used common sense and never gave my personal information out to strangers. Connections were made with male and female friends, we were "pen pals". It was very exciting to be able to chat with someone from a different background then mine and also from another country. It was only a click away, to chat with someone over sea's and share common interests with them. It allowed me to know them inter- personally, before jumping to conclusions and pre-judging them from the outer appearance. This is what makes face to face relationships different, we see the person and have bias about them and they may interfere with getting to know the person more. Whereas with communicating online, we can hide behind the computer and have that disconnection between the other person. "We can hide in the back of a classroom or make ourselves unobtrusive in a committee meeting, but when we communicate face to face with one other person, we cannot hide." (Treholm. P. 141) With face to face communication, there is no hiding the face expressions or the non verbal body language. Therefore, that's the main difference with online relationships and face to face interaction.

*Concept from Chapter 7*

In Chapter 7, there is the concept, "Hidden Agenda's". "A hidden agenda is a personal goal that lies below the surface and that can get in the way of the group performance." (Trenholm. P. 189) Which is why interviews are so important, such as job interviews, the companies try to feel out the candidate. Both interviewer and interviewee are trying to feel out one another, to see if it will fulfill their needs. Which is also why references are so important or knowing someone within the company, because this has more of the creditability affect. Because at the end of the day, you never know someones hidden agenda and what their motives really are. It can waste both parties involved time and the company money on training a new person and having them just quit a couple months later. This definitely takes a toll on the group members performance and may cause a snow ball effect, with other members wanting to quit as well. I've been a Marketing Coordinator in the past and have noticed such behaviors. And during the weekly training I held, I pointed out the bad behaviors from those that had a hidden agenda and that the company would not tolerate behavior such as that.

* Steve Duck's Filters*

In Steve Duck's Filtering Theory, he talks about, how we use a series of filters to judge how close to others we want to become. As for me, I do in fact filter out potential partners, maybe a little too much. Within time, is when you start to get a feel for a person and get more information from them, to decide to move on with them or not. Being a busy college student and a worker, time can be my worst enemy, when it comes to putting time aside for potential partner. So what I do is filter them out from basic foundations and what is really important to me, in which I'd like the other person to have as well. I like to think I live a balanced life and if someone seems to be out balanced in a certain aspect of their life such as; drinking too much, going clubbing too much or a gym rat is unattractive. Also, having a negative attitude, being a cussing sailor or being disrespectful is no good in my book. Duck's four filters, sociological or incidental, preinteraction, interaction and cognitive cues definitely made sense to me. For sociological, I do believe the location of each person can take a toll on the relationship after awhile. This one time, I tried to keep in touch with someone all the way in a different country, as he was traveling for work and it got to be too much, and it felt like just pen pals. Although I think long distance is possible, it just depends on the two people and what they are looking for. As far as preinteraction, everyone has their own preference and what their attracted to, it may be because, the person reminds us of a hot ex, a movie star or maybe even our dad's. (I read somewhere, where if girls have good relationships with their dad's, they seek for that in their mate, same goes for guy's seeking a girl like their mother) Interaction and cognitive cues were interesting as well. I have the type of personality where I feel comfortable with most people, although, sharing my heart with someone can be nerve racking, because of possibly being heart broken. And if someone give you that feeling and shares deep connections such as beliefs and values; then of course I'd consider them and throw the other cue's out the window.

*Rigid Complementarity, Competive Symmetry, Submissive Symmetry*

Rigid complementarity, Competitive Symmetry, Submissive Symmetry; there definitions are real interesting to read and yet there are truth in all three definitions. I've played in both roles before, as the dominant or non-dominant person. From experience, I've found Rigid Complementarity to be the most difficult to change. In one of my first relationships, the guy was super sweet and would bend over backwards for me. Although it was cute during the honeymoon stage, it began to get annoying after awhile. And I began to give him tasks to take on and take charge, although he failed at simple tasks and couldn't take the leader role. So therefore, I resented him and ran away from him. The most damaging would be Competitive Symmetry, I haven't experienced being in a relationship like this one. Although I can imagine all the fighting and trying to have the upper hand would get annoying. I'm sure I've been on dates with people like this before, although it seemed to be too much ego in one relationship, so it didn't last so long. As far as Submissive Symmetry, because I'm a leader type overall, I haven't experienced this before. I would get annoyed fast and decide on a location or a place to eat. I'm independent, so I'd do my own thing whether the person was going or not. The most damaging to the self- esteem, or at least mine would be, Rigid Complementarity; because I have a high hope for someone that they can take charge and follow through with their plans. Although, after time, its like trail and error, and I'm just disappointed and bummed all my time spent on trying to "change" the person's role, doesn't work.

*Concept I found most interesting in this week's reading*

In chapter 12, I found "Cultural identities are overlapping" to be most interesting. Because, we really are apart of many different cultures, not just nationality, but all the aspects that make up who we are. "We all belong to national, regional, class, ethnic, religious, professional, age and gender cultures. At various times, one or more of these identities may become crucial while the rest fade into the background." (Trenholm. P. 347) This is very true, say for example, if I'm at church on a Sunday morning, my spiritual side will come out more. Then if I'm at work, my professional side comes up and I'm all about work, focused, Then of course, when I'm with my ladies, my female role comes out more and we do what girls do best. Different situations bring out our layers of identities. This is why it takes multiple times of hanging out with someone, to really get to know them and see the different cultural sides of them. Therefore, each individual has something different to bring to the table, we've all had different experiences and paths. "This allows us to be unique individual rather then cultural clones." (Trenholm. P. 347) The way I see it, no single individual has the exact same finger prints. We're all very unique and are brought onto this earth for different purposes.

*Rationality Premise-Perfectiblity Premise and Mutability Premise*

Rationality premise, perfectibility premise and mutability premise. All three cover three different meanings and what they are all about. First off, Rationality premise is the belief that most people are capable of discovering the truth through logical analysis. I can see where this meaning is coming from, it kind of makes sense. Through careful thinking and really analyzing a situation, I believer it can be true that we can find the truth. Each one of us have a gut feeling and it normally stirs us in the right direction. With a clear mind and thoughtful thinking, it is possible. Secondly Perfectibility premise, humans are born into sin but we are capable of achieving goodness with effect and control. Again, I can see the point the meaning is trying to make. Such that, we are born into a world full of sins and it is up to us to fall into sin or not. Which isn't that easy, and it does take self-control and daily reminders to one's self to try to walk down a straight path. And with time and experience, we can learn from our mistakes. Thirdly, Mutability premise, is assumed that human behavior is shaped by environment factors and that the way to improve humans is to improve their physical and psychological circumstances. Yes, the environment we live in has a huge factor on how we live and the resources we live off of. For instance, here in the Silicon Valley, we are so blessed to have all the resources we have; not only to have basic living but we also have the jobs and great schools. Overall, our society as a whole we have our own social institutions. And United States have set social norms for us to up hold. We choose and set our paths, although lots of the factors have to do with what is thrown onto us and what is the right and wrong thing.

*"We are Creatures of our Culture"

To an extent, I do agree with Ruth Benedict statement, as us being "Creatures of our culture". If you think about it, we are born into a culture and cultural norms are pushed onto us. We learn about the ways of living and beliefs through the eyes of the people within our culture. The right and wrong, how to act and maybe even what kind of foods to eat. It is when we begin going to grade school, that we are exposed to more people other then just our own culture.
Then, we start to question our own beliefs and cultural norms. "Our cultural norms appear to be natural and right, and we can't imagine acting differently." (Trenholm. P. 344) It can be a sense of a culture shock, when we begin attending school in our early years and notice the other cultures of people. As for me, I grew up third generation Mexican-American. Therefore, my parents, parents are from Texas and Mexico. With a background of Mexican and American, I had two grounds to cover. Though at school, some Mexican children couldn't understand why I didn't speak Spanish and I told them, my parents choose not to teach us Spanish. "Cultures are templates for living, that have certain basic characteristics. Cultures are learned, shared, multifaceted, dynamic and overlapping." (Trenholm. P. 343) For me, I felt more comfortable with the "white" culture, because they accepted my non-speaking Spanish side. Yet, I wasn't fully like them, because of the color of my skin and darker features. I wasn't "white" enough, nor was I "Mexican" enough; that can be rough trying to discover that common ground as a child.
Overall, yes I believe our habits and beliefs are shaped by our culture. It is passed down from generation to generation. Our parents have their cultural norms and teach the kids they raise how to be the same like them. Like I mentioned, I am third generation Mexican-American and slowly the Mexican culture is fading away. It seems the later into the generation, the more open minded we are to other cultures and cultural traditions begin to fade. I believe, the more we learn and understand other cultures than our own; we can begin to break through the limits of our cultures.