Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Communication Criticism

by: Sillars, Malcolm O.; Gronbeck, Bruce E.

Communication Criticism

by: Sillars, Malcolm O.; Gronbeck, Bruce E.

ISBN 13:
9781577661719
ISBN 10:
1577661710
Format: Paperback
Copyright: 11/01/2000
Publisher: Waveland Pr Inc

Rent

Sorry, this item is currently unavailable.

Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.

Extend or Purchase Your Rental at Any Time

Need to keep your rental past your due date? At any time before your due date you can extend or purchase your rental through your account.

Preface

Part I: Contemporary Communication Criticism

(56)

Communication Criticism Today

(20)

What Is Communication Criticism?

(6)

Critics Write Argumentative Essays

(1)

Critics Approach Critical Analysis in a Variety of Ways

(1)

Critics Seek to Describe, Interpret, and Evaluate

(1)

Critics Analyze Texts

(3)

Critics Relate Their Messages to Other People

(1)

Communication Criticism: Past and Present

(7)

The Civic-Liberal Practice of Criticism

(2)

The Epistemological View of Criticism

(2)

The Critical-Cultural View of Criticism

(2)

Pluralism and the Standards of Good Criticism

(2)

Endnotes

(3)

Analyzing Texts

(18)

Textualization

(4)

Analysis

(2)

Interpretation

(3)

Judgment

(5)

Language Norms

(2)

Consistency

(1)

Generic Appropriateness

(1)

Coherence

(1)

Pointing Ahead

(1)

Endnotes

(1)

Nobel Prize Speech

(3)

William Faulkner

Writing Critical Essays

(16)

Constructing an Argument for a Critical Claim

(3)

Finding a Critical Claim

(1)

Making an Argument

(1)

The ``So What?'' Question

(1)

The Structuring of a Critical Paper

(5)

The Traditional Form

(1)

Delaying the Critical Claim

(1)

Explaining the Critical Approach

(1)

Identifying the Contribution to Theory

(1)

Adapting to the Audience

(2)

Providing Clarification of Technical Concepts

(1)

Providing Clarification of Work-Context Relationships

(1)

Understanding the Writer's Role as Communicator

(2)

Your Argument

(1)

References to Yourself

(1)

Sexist Language

(1)

Some General Advice on Writing

(4)

Paragraphs

(1)

Transitions

(1)

Comparison

(1)

Avoid Tentativeness

(1)

Cut Unnecessary Words

(1)

Footnoting

(2)

Part II The Rhetorical Tradition

(82)

Accurate Interpretation: Verifying Representation and Interpretation

(24)

What Is Accurate Interpretation?

(6)

The Accurate Interpretation Critic

(3)

Accurate Interpretation as Ethics

(1)

The (Non)-Neutrality of Accurate Interpretation

(2)

Assumptions of Accurate Interpretation

(2)

Human Beings Are Essentially Reasonable

(1)

Reality Is External to Humans

(1)

The Best Interpretation of Reality Is Systematic

(1)

There Can Be a Clear Separation of Fact and Opinion

(1)

Standards of Accurate Interpretation

(8)

Being Truthful

(2)

Communicating Information

(1)

Maintaining Objectivity

(2)

Treating Others Fairly

(1)

Supporting Freedom

(1)

Accepting Responsibility

(1)

Problems with Accurate Interpretation

(2)

Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics

(3)

Readings in Accurate Interpretation Criticism

(2)

Formal Criticism: The Aesthetic Worth of a Message

(28)

Assumptions of Formal Criticism

(4)

Human Beings Are Essentially Reasonable

(1)

Properties Are Inherent in Works, Not Ascribed by Readers

(1)

Artistic Merit Is the Aim of Formal Criticism

(1)

Form Subsumes Content

(1)

Principles of Formal Criticism

(15)

Theme

(4)

Structure

(2)

Characters

(2)

Style

(5)

Spectacle and Song

103

(2)

Problems with Formal Criticism

105

(3)

Readings in Formal Criticism

108

(1)

Endnotes

109

(2)

Neoclassical Criticism: Communication as Persuasion

111

(28)

Assumptions of Neoclassical Criticism

112

(7)

Humans are Essentially Reasonable

112

(1)

Neoclassical Criticism Is Concerned with Audience Response

113

(3)

Texts Are Judged by the Arguments They Make

116

(3)

Neoclassical Analysis

119

(13)

What Are the Issues?

119

(1)

What Is the Nature of the Audience?

120

(3)

What Is the Structure of the Message?

123

(1)

What Arguments Are Used in the Message?

124

(4)

What Values Are Developed in the Work?

128

(1)

What Ethos Is Developed in the Work?

128

(2)

What is the Verbal and Physical Style of the Work?

130

(2)

Organizing Neoclassical Criticism

132

(1)

Problems with Neoclassical Criticism

133

(4)

Readings in Neoclassical Criticism

137

(1)

Endnotes

137

(2)

Part III The Social Tradition

139

(44)

Semiotic Codes: Verbal, Visual, Acoustic, and Performed Texts

141

(24)

Assumptions of a Meaning-Centered Theory of Systems

142

(3)

Symbol Systems Are Both Outwardly and Inwardly Directed Social Structures

143

(1)

Symbols Embody People's Perceptions of and Reactions toward the World

143

(1)

Meanings Are Framed in Various Symbol Systems

143

(1)

Symbol Systems Are Both Public and Private

144

(1)

Meanings Are Never Completely Shared

144

(1)

Signs, Codes, and Human Communication

145

(4)

Signs

146

(2)

Codes and Communication Acts

148

(1)

Characteristics of Texts

149

(6)

Texts Are Sequences of Signs, Often from Several Codes, Understood in Coherent Groups

149

(2)

Texts Can Be Interpreted in Multiple Ways and on Multiple Levels

151

(2)

Works Can Be Sites of Struggle over Meaning

153

(2)

Types of Language-Centered Analyses

155

(5)

Communication Rules Analysis

155

(2)

Metaphor and Value Analysis

157

(1)

Semiotic-Structural Analysis

158

(1)

Emblematic Analysis

159

(1)

Performance Analysis

160

(1)

Problems with Semiotic Studies

160

(1)

Concluding Thoughts about Semiotics

161

(1)

Readings in Language-based Criticism

162

(1)

Endnotes

163

(2)

Social Criticism: Codes, Relationships, and Power

165

(18)

Assumptions about Relationships and Power

167

(8)

Society Is Comprised of Constructed Relationships

167

(1)

Social Critics Examine Various Dimensions of Relationships

168

(3)

Communication Critics Often Study Markers of Power

171

(4)

Symbolic Resources for Defining Social Relationships

175

(5)

Informational Superiority

175

(2)

Framing

177

(1)

Myth

178

(1)

Ideology

179

(1)

Performance

179

(1)

Linguistic Codes and Social Criticism: Summary and Prospect

180

(2)

Readings in Social Criticism

182

(1)

Endnotes

182

(1)

Part IV The Cultural Tradition

183

(98)

Value Analysis: Understanding Culture in Value Systems

185

(26)

Value Analysis as Cultural Criticism

185

(2)

Assumptions of Value Analysis

187

(4)

Humans Make Sense of the World by Identifying Values with It

188

(1)

All Texts Can Be Interpreted for Values

189

(1)

Values and Beliefs Are Linked Together in Cognitive Systems

190

(1)

Value Systems Define the Individual and the Culture

190

(1)

Methods of Value Analysis

191

(3)

What Words Are Used to Articulate Positive Values?

191

(1)

What Words Are Used to Articulate Negative Values?

192

(1)

What Values Are Implied in Belief Statements without Specific Value Terms?

193

(1)

What Concrete Values Can Be Identified?

193

(1)

What Values Are Implied by the Formal Elements Used?

194

(1)

Defining Value Systems

194

(1)

Touchstone American Value Systems

195

(5)

Puritan-Pioneer Value System

195

(1)

Enlightenment Value System

196

(1)

Progressive Value System

197

(1)

Transcendental Value System

197

(1)

Personal Success Value System

198

(1)

Collectivist Value System

199

(1)

Defining a Culture and Doing Value Analysis

200

(7)

What Is ``Culture''?

201

(1)

What Is the Emphasis of the Value System?

202

(1)

What Relationships Exist among the Values?

203

(1)

What Is the Relationship between Implied and Stated Values?

204

(1)

What Is the Relationship between Positive and Negative Values?

205

(1)

What Values Are Not Present in the Text that Might Be Expected?

206

(1)

Problems with Value Analysis

207

(1)

Readings in Value Analysis

208

(1)

Endnotes

209

(2)

Narrative Analysis: Reading Culture Through Stories

211

(26)

Assumptions of Narrative Analysis

212

(4)

Humans Make Sense of Their World by the Stories They Tell about It

212

(2)

Narrative Is a Pervasive and Vital Form of Interpretive Discourse

214

(1)

Stories Are Symbolic Actions That Create Social Reality

215

(1)

The Nature of Stories

216

(3)

Stories Are Linked to Experience

216

(1)

Stories Are Linked to Values

217

(1)

Types of Stories

217

(2)

Analyzing the Characteristics of Narrative

219

(10)

Theme

220

(2)

Structure

222

(2)

Characters

224

(1)

Peripeteia

225

(1)

Narrative Voice

226

(1)

Style

227

(2)

Dramatistic Analysis of Cultural Narratives

229

(4)

The Pentad

229

(2)

Ratios

231

(2)

Problems with Narrative Analysis

233

(1)

Readings in Narrative Analysis

234

(3)

Psychoanalytic Criticism: The Interaction of the Conscious and the Unconscious

237

(24)

Assumptions of Psychoanalytic Criticism

238

(9)

Human Thought and Behavior Are Products of the Interaction of the Conscious and Unconscious

238

(2)

The Conscious and the Unconscious Are Products of Childhood

240

(2)

There Is a Central Force behind the Unconscious

242

(1)

Human Behavior Is Both Personal and Social

242

(3)

The Centrality of the Dream Metaphor

245

(2)

Scope of Psychoanalytic Criticism

247

(2)

Tools of Psychoanalytic Criticism

249

(7)

Pleasure Versus Reality

249

(1)

Coding Mechanisms

250

(2)

Identity Themes

252

(1)

Oedipus Complex

253

(1)

Eros and Thanatos

254

(1)

Symbolism

255

(1)

Problems with the Psychoanalytical Approach

256

(2)

Readings in Psychoanalytic Criticism

258

(1)

Endnotes

259

(2)

Ideological Criticism: Critiquing Institutions and Empowering Social Groups

261

(20)

Assumptions of Ideological Critics

263

(4)

Studying a Culture's Meaning Systems Culminates in the Study of Ideology

263

(1)

Ideological Formations Reflect Power Relations

263

(1)

Members of a Society Usually Are Complicitous in Their Own Subjugation

264

(1)

To Study Ideology Is to Study Strategies of Subjugation

264

(2)

The Central Goal of Ideological Analysis Is Critique

266

(1)

Types of Ideological Criticism

267

(7)

Biography

267

(1)

Studies of Institutional Power

268

(2)

Commodification Studies

270

(1)

Studies of Structuration

271

(1)

Race-Class-Gender Studies

272

(2)

Doing Ideological Criticism

274

(2)

Ideological Criticism Is Always Theoretically Grounded

275

(1)

Other Approaches to Communication Criticism Become the Tools of Ideological Critics

275

(1)

Ideological Criticism Must Always Involve More Than Moral-Political Lecturing

276

(1)

Problems with Ideological Criticism

276

(2)

Readings in Ideological Criticism

278

(1)

Endnotes

279

(2)

Bibliography

281

(24)

Index

305

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Communication Criticism

Communication Criticism

9781577661719

1577661710

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review