Feggi's respond (11/23)

Ethic can be a complicated topic to understand. For me, the major cause of unethical behavior is culture. I come from Indonesia, where we have different culture from the United States’, especially dealing with behavior. I think one of the problems is not because we are unaware of ethical behavior, but maybe we learn things differently. It is hard to understand one’s desires, when we feel we don’t need it. For example, I had planned to work with one company for an internship this fall, but I never worked there because of a major problem. I am an international student, so I cannot get paid when I work outside Seattle University. However, this company forced me to work with them, and promised me with good money. I told them again, I could not work for them, and they forced me and told me they will pay me “under table”. Obviously, it is unethical behavior, but why they still have it on their mind?


Furthermore, I do not agree that our generation has less sensitivity. I think it depends on each person. I personally try my best to behave and make everybody happy. However, sometimes my behavior can make other confuse, and it back to culture. Culture is difficult to understand because we learned it since we still a kid. Unconsciously, we already have that mindset about some things. I think the only way to understand more about ethics is to learn more about it. Learn from our mistakes, and others’ experience. Try to understand one and another.


Other than culture, media plays a major role in ethical point of view. Nowadays, almost everybody have Facebook, and we can make our profile a private page. However, some major company can still open our page freely without us knowing it. We already discussed this in class, and I think it is a bit unethical. Facebook is like our profile. We put our pictures, information, hobbies, status relationship, siblings, school, and much more. I make my page private so other people who I don’t know cannot open my page; yet some random company can open and check it out. That is why; I think our media plays a major role in changing our ethical behavior.

Feggi's questions (11/16 - 11/18)

1. Chapter 8 was really interesting because it talks about interpersonal communication, which we do everyday. Everyday we communicate and interact with other people. The authors specifically talk about persuasion of interpersonal communication. And the second dimension of persuasive interpersonal communication, which is relationship, really attracts my attention. Back in spring 2009, I took one communication class that taught me about interpersonal communication, and it focused on our relationship with others. I had one terrible experience abour relationship with a supervisor. As a newcomer in an organization, people tend do see and treat you differently. I barely communicated this with my supervisor. I came to the office and did my own stuff, while the supervisor did her own thing. Because there was lack of communication, it impacted my performance in the office. In my opinio, it happened because I didn't feel included in their daily activities in the office (discussion, lunch, jokes); therefore, I felt alone. What do you think about interpersonal relationships? Why we need to build a great relationship with each other? And why do bad relationship have such an impact versus good one?

2. The authors also talked about culture and diversity in chapter 8. Culture is a compex thing for us to learn. Every country has different culture, and even a single country can consist of different. Since I am an international student, I can relate to different culture difference very easily. The culture's differences from Indonesia and United States are a lot. There were so many things that I had to learn and understand when I first came to Seattle. The way people talk, greet, eat, ask questions were different from my culture. One example that stuck to me is interaction in the classroom. In Indonesia, if a teacher does not ask question, we cannot talk in class. But here participation is important. Therefore, it was kind of hard for me to adapt to this new situation. Have you ever been in a situation, where it is different from your culture? And how did you adapt or handle the situation? Please explain.

3.Guys, do you ever judge people only by their appearance? I think almost everybody will say YES we have! And I think we do this a lot. When we judge people from their clothes, cars, house, and other belongings, it is known as Artifactual communication (Woodward and Denton p.189). This is included in nonverbal characteristic of persuasion. I do judge people a lot from their appearance. We tend to treat people who dreeses nice, nicer. I agree with the authors that Artifactual communication can be one of our tools to persuade people. When I want to apply for a job, I tend to wear my best clothes. I want to look nice and be polite, in order to build my credibility. Therefore, through my attire, people can judge and see me differently. Have you ever had a bad experience with judging people? And do you think Artifactual communication plays a major role in persuasion?

Feggi's exercise consumption and persuasion.

The place that I choose for this particular assignment is Urban Outfitters, where is located in Downtown Seattle. First of all, Urban Outfitters is a place that sells funky fashion and household products. They sell vintage, bohemian, retro apparel, and so much more. The targeted audiences are both female and male between 18-30 years old. We can find almost everything in the store, from dressess, shoes, t-shirts, sweaters, jackets, vests, men's clothes, accessories, and furniture.

My understanding about consumption is related to our need. We need to consume food to recharge our energy, grow, and stay healthy. We also need to change our appearance so many times. Based on myself, I donate my clothes to charity every three months, so buying clothes is something that I need; it is just like primary things in my life. We, as a consumer, never feel satisfy with things we already have.

I personally shopped a lot in Urban Outfitters, and I know my friends did the same thing too. We find that Urban Outfitters is different from any other shops in Seattle. They have their own 'things' that attracts our attention. I realize the price is higher than the other stores but we get a good quality, and that is really important. Most of the people try to keep up with fashion trends, and I think Urban Outfitters have good fashion models. There are several persuasive appeals that Urban Outfitters have, which attract people to come and visit their shops:

1. When we enter the shop, most of the time there is a sale person that greet us, and ask "how are you?" So, it is a good way to welcome shoppers.

2. The atmosphere inside the shop are LIFE and relax. The lightning is just perfect; the paint is a natural earth color (light brown or creme). They also have flowers and paints hanging on the wall, and these prompts make a great combination to the atmosphere around the room.

3. All the mannequins in the stores are perfectly made. The sale people mix and match them with their products so that they look attractive, and make people want to buy. I think the mannequins work really well, and most of the time, I want to wear something similar with the mannequins because they all look really cool.

4. All the sales items for female are located on the 1st floor together with men clothes. I think it is a good strategy; so that people will go downstairs, and go around the entire store. Sometimes, I went to see the sales item, and I ended up bought something for my boyfriend.

In conclusion , I think those points are all the things that support Urban Outfitters to be so successful. They have bond to their target audience, and they know how to engage with us. Therefore, I recommend the store to everybody who loves vintage, and we can find almost everything we want there.

Oct.31 09 - Questions based on The Psychology of Rhetorical Images by Charles A. Hill

The Psychology of Rhetorical Images by Charles A. Hill was really interesting. I enjoyed reading it, and learned so many things from it. However, I have several things that still bugging my mind.

1. Images are one of many keys in advertising. Images are used to attract people's attention. We see advertising everywhere, and most of the time we do not realize that we are being persuaded by those images. For example, I take bus everywhere, and nowadays, buses have images on every side. There are images inside and outside of every bus. Most of the advertisings are photos or images with little texts on it. However, even though there isn't any text to explain the advertisements, it attracts our attentions. How could this happen? How do images can attract our attention and persuade us? Is is because of our emotion, which allows us to react, relate, and respond to it?

2. I agree that images are important keys to attract audience; however, I still believe text should be included in every image. There is no need to have a very long explanation, but I think we need to put up a catchy phrase which can make the image understandable and interesting to the audience. For me, without text, people can have different interpretations about the images, and most of the time they misinterpret the true meaning behind the image. When we use an image to attract audience, we want to make sure that they get the right interpretation of the image. That is why using text (key messages) can prevent a false interpretation. In The Psychology of Rhetorical Images, Hill write, "Based on the interested scholar . . . people respond to visuals in much the same way as they respond to verbal arguments" (27). What are the differences between images and verbal argument? From my point of view argument or verbal is poweful than visuals because people hear it directly from the author, as a result there will not be wrong interpretations. So, what do you think about this?

3. Moreover, in the text, Hill also emphasizes about Presence, which "refers to the extent to which an object or concept is foremost in the conciousness of the audience members" (28). I think that all images need to fill with a presence to make it real and believeable to the audience. With this Presence I believe the image will be easier to persuade and transfom audience's way of thinking. So, what do you think the factors of Presence are?

Respond week 3.

QUESTION: where do you think the effectivity of an image or a message exists?-- On the way we perceive a message (whether it pertains to us as an individual) or solely the way the message is constructed regardless of whether it affects us or not?

I think the way an image or a message exists is depend on two points Venus talked about. The way the message or image is constructed play a role on how we see the meaning of the whole article. Based on Burke, symbols is a select, reflect, and deflect. In what I understand is that the image or a message that we select can construct the whole meaning of itself, which known as synechdoche. It can attract people’s attention with their persona; for example, today in class we saw a really powerful picture of Napalm’s accident. The selection of images was really great and powerful. Without any text or message, we can see the meaning and guess what happened in the situation. If the author used another image, maybe we will not get the same meaning or feeling from the picture. In that only picture, we can see fear, tears, loss, sad, torn, and many other sad feelings. The placing and the size of the image are really strategic. The author locate the image at the very up of the website; therefore, when we open the website, we can directly see the image before read the article. The size of the image is also quite big; therefore, it really catches audience’s attention. So, how the image constructed effect on how the audience perceive their own meaning.
Moreover, other than how the image is constructed, the relationship between the audience and the image also take part on how we perceive the meaning. Based on our rhetorical characteristics that “Social knowledge in relation to visual imagery is “activated by/related to the present.”’ We cannot drag people to understand or believe the same meaning as we want. I believe, when we saw the Napalm’s accident, everyone had their own interpretation on how they see the situation. It is because we directly relate ourselves with the situation we had in the past. For example, I came from Jakarta, Indonesia, where all the demonstration, terrorism, and natural disaster often happened. When I saw the picture, I immediately remember of my home country and the people. I remember how my country felt a really great impact from the tsunami in 2004. So many people cry for their family deaths. I believe no one in the class saw the picture like I saw it.
Overall, I do believe that the way the image or message is constructed play major role in how we perceive the meaning. However, most of the time, we have different meanings based on our experiences.