Part A
Journal Assignment Comp 120
Be sure to use MLA format and double space. Choose
only one
of the questions below, discuss in detail and be sure to provide examples to support your views. You are not limited to the suggestions listed below; you may write about any concept from Module 4 that you can relate with personal experiences. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Suggestions for Third Journal Entry
1. In what ways would you alter your personal appearance if you were trying to look friendlier? Smarter? More liberal? Wealthier? What aspects of personal appearance convey those messages?
2. Touch is a form of nonverbal communication that is highly affected by social and cultural rules. What are some of the rules of touch that you perceive? Are you comfortable with touch or do you consider yourself a touch avoider? Explain and give examples.
3. How mindful of you about the way you dress, wear your hair, or do your makeup? What messages are you intentionally sending? To what extent do the people in your group receive your message accurately?
4. Why do you suppose people tend to overestimate how good they are at listening? How good are you at active listening? How might you improve your listening skills?
5. What is the difference between interrupting and competitive interrupting? Why do people engage in competitive interrupting? Can you think of a time you engaged in competitive interrupting? What was the context of this situation and why did you choose this form of communication?
Part B
Nonverbal communication is the behaviors and characteristics that convey meaning without the use of words. Many times we think of body language when we think of nonverbal communication, but in this module, we learn that it is much more complex and there are 10 channels of nonverbal communication. We infer a lot about people, not just by their body language, but by what they wear, where they sit in a meeting or in a classroom, the tone of voice they use, the amount of eye contact they give or do not give, and by many other nonverbal factors. After reviewing chapter 6 and your lecture notes in Module 4, consider the 10 channels of nonverbal communication and how culture might influence meaning in each of these channels.
The Prompt
What meaning does space convey? When someone has a larger house, a larger office, or a larger seat on an
airplane, what conclusions do you make about that person? How do you feel when someone keeps you
waiting? Touch and eye contact are important forms of nonverbal communication, what are your cultural norms in this area? How might someone from a collectivist, high context culture view these forms of nonverbal
communication differently than you?
Part C
Read the section in your textbook discussing the various ways culture impacts our memory on p. 282-285 and refer back to it for the following questions:
(Note: the textbook and e-book pages do not line up. While in the e-book, the actual page numbers will be indicated on the right hand on the screen within the text of the chapters)
1. Summarize two examples from the above section of the textbook of how culture impacts memory.
2. What memory processes do you think are universal and not impacted by cultural differences? Would you describe the overall process of forming memory as “universal” across cultures? Why or why not?
3. Research a current event in
your assigned country (
an event that is not COVID-19). Please include the link to a news article about this event and summarize it here.
4. Using what you researched, discuss how being from that country/culture might impact the experience and memory of that particular event. Be sure to link your answer back to the readings from the textbook.
Response Post (due Sunday, February 8, by 11:59 PM):
Note – the response post format is a little different this week!
1. Refer to the current event your classmate discussed in their Main Post. How might someone from
your assigned country experience hearing about/remember this event differently?
2. COVID-19 was a global pandemic, affecting everyone differently. Briefly discuss how the pandemic directly impacted
your assigned country. How may someone from your assigned country remember the pandemic differently in the future?