William Shakespeare s King Lear Essay - 2246 Words

King Lear is another of one of the classic tragic plays written by Shakespeare, and it explores the relationships between the royal families, including the family of the titular protagonist King Lear. He’s the King of England and a father to three daughters, but whether he acts like the king or a father Lear is arrogant and prideful. Eventually after Lear is forced to go through many brutal circumstances he makes painful discoveries about his daughter’s views on him and how he has affected his family. The Elizabethan era had put a lot of emphasis on the importance of family and to always honor, love and obey the parents. In modern times family relationships are still heavily regarded as one of the most important things in life. One of the lessons this play teaches is the importance of family relationships and how much they can affect an entire family unit. Shakespeare demonstrates this lesson by creating a parallel structure between the Lear and Gloucester family and f ocusing on their interactions with their family members to show how a family, including a royal family can easily fall apart. As the play opens up with King Lear deciding that he is going to retire as King, so he splits up his kingdom for his three daughters but only if they all told him how much they loved him. Many of Shakespeare’s plays take place during Renaissance England and it was a very patriarchal society where relationship between a parent and their children â€Å"was based on the fifth commandment†Show MoreRelatedWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear1564 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Shakespeare is universally known for his literary output both in poetry and drama. Whether through his laugh-invoking comedies or his heart-wrenching tragedies, Shakespeare’s plays have changed the course of literature. Many of his plays about love are widely praised by all, but Shakespeare s King Lear differs from the rest due to its definition of love. King Lear serves as an battleground between deception and compassion, between flattery and honesty. Rather than focusing on romantic loveRead MoreWill iam Shakespeare s King Lear1550 Words   |  7 PagesINTRODUCTION: By facilitating the growth of evil within William Shakespeare’s King Lear, it is evident that the tragedy’s protagonist, King Lear can be held accountable for his own victimization and ultimate downfall. The most notable aspects of this self-induced victimization include Lear’s own lack of practical wisdom and divergence from the natural order, combined with the neglect of kingship, that enables Lear as a tragic hero to create the conceptual framework in which the ulterior motives ofRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear3086 Words   |  13 PagesJerion Young Ms. Woods English IV 4 March 2015 King Lear William Shakespeare uses several literary elements in his writing, elements which are especially apparent in his play, King Lear. Shakespeare uses excellent creativity and description when writing this tragedy. â€Å"Neither has Shakespeare placed in the mouth of any other character in this play such fatalistic expressions as may be found in King Lear and occasionally elsewhere†(A.C. 2003). The way King Lear talks in this play is very evil compared toRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear1611 Words   |  7 Pagesexperience life-changing events that jeopardize our sense of identity and make us question how we value ourselves. Our perception of our worth can change with what we learn through our existence, much like the characters in the play King Lear by William Shakespeare. Adversity and hardship are inevitable when characters are unable to connect themselves within their own identity or find a loss of self at some point in their role. The self-awareness, an essential a spect of their role, of many ofRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear1320 Words   |  6 Pagesothers. Having strong communication skills allows one to better understand the situation at hand. Proper communication is essential to working out problems because of this reason. In the play King Lear by William Shakespeare, Lear communicating with his daughters, Gloucester communicating with his sons, and Lear communicating with Kent are all examples of failure of communication, which later lead to consequences and hardships that the characters must face. Without proper communication, people willRead MoreBlindness By William Shakespeare s King Lear2212 Words   |  9 PagesMaysoun Deeb Mr. A. T. Lebar EN4UN-04 13 July 2015 King Lear Blindness by definition, according to dictionaries, is â€Å"unable to see and lacking the sense of sight† by which King Lear, the classic tragic play written by William Shakespeare, illustrated the concept of blindness amongst his characters as the leading theme. King Lear and Gloucester were the characters that have been conflicted by this â€Å"blindness† that may or may not change their personalities in the very end of the play. Gloucester becomesRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear1546 Words   |  7 PagesTwo Sides to Every Person There are two sides to every story; that of the protagonist and that of the antagonist. As shown in the Shakespearean play King Lear, there is very little difference between the two. Edmund, who appears to be a villain, is more than meets the eye. His evil is a rebellion against the social order that denies him legitimacy. His villainy does not come from innate cruelty but from misdirected desire for familial love. His remorse in the end displays his humanity and blindnessRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear1510 Words   |  7 PagesShakespeare’s King Lear deals with tragic human relationship like the other tragedies of the author, but this story was written in social aspect and raises the doubtful point on legitimacy of some political systems. In this play, various characters form multi-layered kconflict relations. Thus, the story is being propelled towards tragedy due to numerous inner and outer conflicts of each character. However, as it is brought into being a charact er, Edgar in the end of the story, it implies new beginningRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear1470 Words   |  6 Pagesduring the Elizabethan era, making it relatable to all audiences, especially the modern audience, leaving room for multiple perspectives and understanding of the play. Shakespeare’s play ‘King Lear’, depicts the main protagonist’s ‘gradual descent into madness’ as a result of the forces of evil acting in the play for Lear has, to an extent, have sinned though it can’t outweigh that he has been sinned against. This is confirmed through Lear’s injudiciousness to see through his two eldest daughter’s internalRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s King Lear 1306 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"All...shall taste the wages of their virtue...the cup of their deservings. (5.3.317-320)† King Lear is frequently regarded as one of Shakespeare’s masterpieces, and its tragic scope touches almost all facets of the human condition: from the familial tensions between parents and children to the immoral desires of power, from the follies of pride to the false projections of glory. However, one theme rings true throughout the play, and that very theme is boundless suffering, accentuated by the gruesome

Midsummer Night’s Dream The Power of Love - 1260 Words

Love is a powerful emotion, capable of turning reasonable people into fools. Out of love, ridiculous emotions arise, like jealousy and desperation. Love can shield us from the truth, narrowing a perspective to solely what the lover wants to see. Though beautiful and inspiring when requited, a love unreturned can be devastating and maddening. In his play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare comically explores the flaws and suffering of lovers. Four young Athenians: Demetrius, Lysander, Hermia, and Helena, are confronted by love’s challenge, one that becomes increasingly difficult with the interference of the fairy world. Through specific word choice and word order, a struggle between lovers is revealed throughout†¦show more content†¦The list of actions she wants Demetrius to do to her is demeaning to her as a female. She wants the man she is in love with so much, that she is willing to settle for any kind of relationship, even if it is unhealthy or abusive. Also, the image of a spaniel belittles Helena as a person. By equating to herself to a dog, Helena is saying that she does not see herself as any better than a four-legged creature begging for scraps. The image gives all the power to the man, making him the â€Å"owner† of the female. Helena insists on this male dominance, a dominance against which other female roles, such as Hermia and Titania rebel. Furthering her irrationality, Helena changes the connotation of usually negative words, like mischief and wrongs, and through the illusion designed by her love, she positively associates the words with a man wooing a woman. The state of being in love, for Helena, not only makes her irrational and foolish, but it exaggerates her inferiority as a female, an inferiority already established by the culture of the society as well. Her actions enhance the stereotype and assumption that women are needy, dependent, and below men on the social scale. Seeing the love-struck Helena, some fairies in the woods try to resolve the conflict of unrequited love. Though their intentions are good, the fairies’ intervention causes chaos and more conflict amongst the four lovers. The duke ofShow MoreRelatedWeathering the Storms of True Love1159 Words   |  5 Pages Sitting on a porch swing with ones true love hugging and kissing as the moon smiles down upon them, seems like the perfect situation for true love. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Shakespeare presents the truth about true love in his comical tragedy A Midsummer Nights Dream. Lysander clearly stated loves situation when he told Hermia the course of true love never did run smooth (Griffiths 94). In some ways Lysanders declaration becomes the plays structuralRead More William Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream Essay935 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream A Midsummer Night’s Dream could have easily been a light-hearted, whimsical comedy. Complete with a magic forest and a kingdom of fairies, it is an iconic setting for amorous escapades and scenes of lovers. But Shakespeare’s writing is never so shallow; through this romantic comedy, Shakespeare postulates an extremely cynical view of love. A Midsummer Night’s Dream becomes a commentary on the mystery of love, and lovers in general emerge shamedRead MoreEssay on Human Nature in Hamlet and a Midsummer Nights Dream1314 Words   |  6 Pagespeople to love, then destroy, then love again that which they value the most.† –Unknown. Countless authors have tried to display love as human nature, but no author does this better than the famous playwright, William Shakespeare. In both Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare exhibits how love can control a person. To understand how love controls a person, one must understand that human nature is the sum of qualities and traits shared by all humans. All humans have exhibit love in oneRead MoreManipulating The Supernatural : William Shakespeare s Othello And A Midsummer Night s Dream883 Words   |  4 Pagesgenerate more recognition for his plays. Throughout Shakespeare s plays, Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, he appeals to the audience by relating to their human nature. One of the major observations of human nature that Shakespeare likely made and incorporated into his plays is the human desire to be drawn toward the seemingly supernatural and unknown. In the first of the two plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello sets a stage consisting of two dimensions: a typical perception of late fifteenthRead MoreA Midsummer Nights Dream Essay1482 Words   |  6 PagesA Midsummer Night’s Dream: by William Shakespeare William Shakespeare was born in April 1564. He had married at the age of eighteen to a twenty-six year old woman named Anne Hathaway in 1582. He had a daughter named Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, his only son, died at age eleven. Shakespeare died in April 1616. Despite the fact that Shakespeare wrote some thirty-seven plays, owned part of his theatrical company, acted in plays, and retired a relatively wealthy man in the cityRead MoreLiterary Love Essay968 Words   |  4 PagesLove - possibly the most powerful four-letter word known to man. A feeling and emotion so strong that it makes it nearly impossible to put its meaning into words. However, it is also one of the most explored subjects in the world of literature. Whether in a comedy or a tragedy, the theme of love is very often expressed. This theme can be expressed in many different ways, for example, positively causing everyone to live happily ever after in a fairytale type of world, negatively being t he causeRead More The Theme of Love in A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare662 Words   |  3 PagesThe Theme of Love in A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare    When love is in attendance it brings care, faith, affection and intimacy. This is proved true in the spectacular play A Midsummer Nights Dream written by William Shakespeare. This play displays the facts about lust, hatred, jealousy and their roles in something powerfully desirable. It is entitled love. Love is present everywhere, in every form, in every condition and even when one least expects it.       Read MoreAnalysis Of Midsummer Night s Dream 1251 Words   |  6 Pages Midsummer Night’s Dream is a perfect example of just how deceit can tear people apart. When trying to force a situation into something/ a situation you wish it to be you can end up putting yourself in quite the compromising position. It is a good story on the struggles of true love, parents wills, and fighting for what one believes in, with just a hint a magical alure to it and a slight pull of betrayal to make things even more interesting. In the end though, just as almost every other love storyRead MoreSimilarities Between Hamlet And A Midsummer Nights Dream1324 Words   |  6 Pagesand A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is the concept of a play within a play. This concept helps create suspension because both plays critically involve the topic death, but they also shed light unto Shakespeare as a poet because it plays with the idea of meta-theatre. Another similarity between the two plays is that they include a message regarding absurd love. â€Å"Pyramus and Thisbe† focuses on two doomed lovers in a comical way, whereas â€Å"The Mousetrap† in Hamlet doesn’t address the concept of love directlyRead MoreA Midsummer Night s Dream1094 Words   |  5 PagesJeana Jago Theater History J. Robideau October,1st 2015 A Midsummer Night’s Dream In a Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare story about romantic desire. Theseus and Hippolyta, are about to be married; both of them are wonderful figures from classical mythology. (Greek Mythology) Theseus is a great warrior, a kinsman of Hercules; Hippolyta is an Amazon warrior-woman, defeated in battle by Theseus. (Theseus and Hippolyta) He was longing for the wedding day, and this is what opens the play and closing

Persuasive Communication Theory Free Essays

Persuasive Communication Theory in Social Psychology: A Historical Perspective Icek Ajzen University of Massachusetts – Amherst From M. J. Manfredo (Ed) (1992). We will write a custom essay sample on Persuasive Communication Theory or any similar topic only for you Order Now Influencing Human Behavior: Theory and Applications in Recreation and Tourism (pp 1– 27). Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing. Persuasive Communication Theory Page 1 Few subjects in social psychology have attracted as much interest and attention as persuasive communication. One of the first topics to be systematically investigated, persuasion has been the focus of intense research efforts throughout much of social psychology’s brief scientific history. Untold experiments have been conducted to unravel the intricate web of factors that appear to play a role in determining the effectiveness of a persuasive message. These attempts have revealed a degree of complexity that seems to defy explanation and that poses serious obstacles to theory construction. However, recent years have seen considerable progress at the theoretical level and a resurgence of empirical work has done much to invigorate the field and provide a better understanding of the fundamental psychological processes underlying persuasion. To appreciate the significance of these developments we must compare the emerging ideas and research findings with those from earlier efforts. The present chapter is designed to provide the required historical perspective. Since it aims to review developments in our understanding of the persuasion process, emphasis is placed on ideas and theories rather than on methodological or practical concerns; empirical research findings are summarized only in broad outline when needed to make a point of theoretical significance. The solution of problems created by recreation and tourism often involves persuasion in one form or another. As the chapters in the second part of this book illustrate, recreationists must be persuaded to observe rules of safety, to avoid conflicts with other visitors, and to keep their impact on the environment to a minimum. Although social psychologists have rarely tested their ideas in the context of recreation and tourism, the findings and conclusions discussed below have obvious implications for any attempt to influence beliefs, attitudes, and behavior in this domain. THE NATURE OF PERSUASION Persuasive communication involves the use of verbal messages to influence attitudes and behavior. Although the context of persuasion must necessarily be considered, the verbal message, designed to sway the hearts and minds of the receivers, is at the core of persuasive communication. Through a process of reasoning, the message exerts its influence by force of the arguments it contains. As we shall see below, this emphasis on reasoning sets persuasive communication apart from other social influence strategies. Structure of a Message As a general rule, a message consists of three parts: An advocated position, a set of general arguments in support of the advocated position, and specific factual evidence designed to bolster the general arguments (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1981). The advocated position may be a stand on a particular issue (e. g. , support for a tax increase) or a recommended action (e. g. , donating blood). The general arguments will typically supply reasons for adopting the advocated position, and justification for the arguments is provided in the form of factual evidence. Consider the question of instituting a senior comprehensive examination for undergraduate college students. Petty and Cacioppo (1986, pp. 54-59) published some examples of general arguments and supportive evidence they have used in their research program. Among the major arguments contained in Petty and Cacioppo’s messages were the claims that instituting a comprehensive exam raises students’ grade point averages and leads to improvement in the quality of undergraduate teaching. The factual evidence in support of the first argument was formulated as follows (pp. 4-55): The National Scholarship Achievement Board recently revealed the results of a five-year study conducted on the effectiveness of comprehensive exams at Duke University. The results of the study showed that since the comprehensive exam has been introduced at Duke, the grade point average of undergraduates has increased by 31%. At comparable schools without the exams, grades increased by only 8% over the sam e period. The prospect of a comprehensive exam clearly seems to be effective in challenging students to work harder and faculty to teach more effectively. It is likely that the benefits observed at Duke University could also Persuasive Communication Theory Page 2 be observed at other universities that adopt the exam policy. If accepted as valid, the factual evidence should result in acceptance of the argument that instituting a senior comprehensive exam will raise grade point averages, and acceptance of the argument in turn should increase the likelihood that receivers will endorse the position in favor of instituting a comprehensive exam, as advocated in the message. There is, of course, no assurance that receivers of a message will in fact accept the arguments and evidence it contains. On the contrary, identifying the factors and conditions that produce acceptance of information contained in a message is the major purpose of persuasion theory and research. Alternative Influence Strategies In order to develop a better understanding of the nature of persuasion, it is instructive to contrast persuasion with a few alternative influence strategies. The review offered here is far from exhaustive but it will help highlight some critical aspects of persuasive communication. Coercive Persuasion People can be induced to behave in a prescribed way by offering a sizable reward for compliance or by threatening severe punishment for noncompliance. This strategy of change can be very effective in producing the desired behavior, but its effectiveness is contingent on supervision (French and Raven, 1959) and has few lasting effects on beliefs or attitudes. Enduring attitude change by means of coercion is more likely in the context of total institutions, such as prisons, mental hospitals, or prisoner-of-war camps. Situations of this kind enable control over many aspects of an individual’s life for an extended period of time. Even here, however, enduring attitude change is difficult to obtain and often fades after release from the institution (see Schein, 1961). Hypnosis and Subliminal Perception Instead of trying to overcome resistance to change by force of coercion, one can attempt to circumvent conscious opposition by means of hypnosis or presentation of subliminal messages. Posthypnotic induction can be used to instruct individuals upon awakening to engage in specified behaviors or to hold new attitudes (e. . , Rosenberg, 1956). There is, however, some question as to whether hypnosis actually represents an altered state of consciousness that can be used to circumvent people’s usual resistance to manipulation of their beliefs and actions (cf. Barber, 1965; Wagstaff, 1981). Use of subliminal perception to bring about change is similarly problematic. Its effectiveness depends on the presentation of information at an intensity level too low for conscious perception, yet high enough for it to enter unconscious or subconscious awareness. Clearly, such a fine balance demands careful calibration and, given individual differences in perceptual acuity, may not be achievable in a mass communication context. In any event, even when subliminal perception can be demonstrated, its effects on attitudes and behavior tend to be of rather small magnitude (cf. Erdelyi, 1974). Conditioning and Affect Transfer Another way of trying to avoid resistance to change involves the use of conditioning procedures. It has been argued that attitudes can be changed by means of classical conditioning (e. . , Staats and Staats, 1958) and that behavior can be influenced through the systematic use of reinforcements in an instrumental conditional paradigm (e. g. , Krasner, 1958). Since the advantage of conditioning in comparison to direct persuasion rests on the assumed ability of conditioning to operate without awareness of the influence attempt, the extent to which individuals submitted to conditioning form hypotheses about systematic associations created in the conditioning paradigm is of crucial importance. Contrary to earlier claims, it now appears that there is no convincing evidence that adult human beings can be conditioned without awareness (cf. Brewer, 1974). An idea related to classical conditioning has emerged in the recent marketing literature where it has been proposed (Batra and Ray, 1986; Mitchell and Olson, 1981) that positive or negative affect elicited by one stimulus (the advertising) can transfer automatically to an associated stimulus (the advertised brand). This Persuasive Communication Theory Page 3 ffect transfer, however, is assumed to occur only when individuals have no other, more informed basis, for evaluating the brand in question (Shimp, 1981). Moreover, given the results of research on conditioning in human beings, it can be assumed that affect transfer, if it occurs at all, occurs only in the presence of awareness of the contingencies involved. Subterfuge obvious heuristic in a persuasion context has to do with the communicator’s credibility. The posi tion advocated in a message may be accepted if the message comes from a highly credible source but rejected if the source is perceived to lack credibility. When using this rule of thumb, receivers accept or reject the advocated position or action without considering the merits of the arguments contained in the message. Conclusions Whereas the strategies discussed thus far all in one way or another try to prevent or neutralize awareness of, and thus resistance to, the influence attempt, the strategies considered here subtly manipulate the situation in order to promote a psychological state that leads people voluntarily to engage in the desired behavior. The foot-in-the-door technique (Freedman and Fraser, 1966) and other sales ploys are good examples of this approach. When using the footin-the-door technique, a small request SQ acceded to by most individuals SQ is followed by a much larger request. Due presumably to the commitment produced by agreeing to the small request, conformity with the large request tends to increase. An alternative strategy involves first confronting a person with an unreasonably large request and then appearing to compromise by offering compliance with a smaller request. In a highly readable book, Cialdini (1988) describes a number of ways in which subterfuge of this kind can be employed to elicit behaviors that might otherwise not be performed. Subterfuge strategies take advantage of people’s various needs to reciprocate any favor received, to be liked by others, to be consistent, and so forth. Compliance is secured without the benefit of discussing the merits or costs of the requested action. Heuristics We have noted that change by means of persuasive communication is based on a careful deliberation of the pros and cons associated with an advocated position or ction. We shall see in subsequent sections, however, that receivers of a message sometimes make judgments about the advocated position without going through an elaborate reasoning process. Instead, they may rely on heuristics or rules of thumb to arrive at a conclusion (cf. Chaiken, 1980, 1987). The most Our discussion shows that social influence can operate in a variety of ways and th at various strategies are available to take advantage of the different possibilities. Nevertheless, persuasive communication occupies a unique position in the matrix of social influence. Of all the available strategies it is the only one that appeals to reason, attempting to bring about change and compliance by convincing the individual of the validity or legitimacy of the advocated position. This tactic can be much more difficult than, say, coercion, but it also has important advantages. Besides being more compatible with democratic and humanistic values, persuasive communication can produce profound and lasting change, a goal not easily attained by other means. THE PERSUASION CONTEXT No message appears in a vacuum. At a minimum, we can usually identify the source of a message: an editor of a newspaper editorial, a lawyer pleading a client’s case before a jury, or a movie star asking for donations to a charity. The communicator’s identity, however, is only one of the many factors that constitute the context of persuasive communication. Classical analysis (Lasswell, 1948) has divided communication into several distinct aspects that can be summarized as who says what, how, and to whom. More formally these aspects are known as source, message, channel, and receiver factors; together, they constitute the context of 1 persuasion. Source Factors Source factors are observed or inferred characteristics of the communicator. They include biological attributes such as age, race, height, and sex; behavioral features such as Persuasive Communication Theory Page 4 facial expressions, mannerisms, hand and body movements, and the way the communicator is dressed; social properties such as income, power, and social status; and personality traits such as self-confidence and extraversion. The most frequently studied source factors, however, are the communicator’s credibility and attractiveness. Credibility refers to the perceived expertise and trustworthiness of the communicator. In other words, does the communicator have the knowledge to provide an informed opinion on the issue in question and, if so, can he or she be trusted to present all relevant information in an unbiased fashion? As noted earlier, persuasion is generally assumed to increase with credibility. It has similarly been proposed that the amount of change is influenced by the attractiveness or likability of the source, whether attractiveness is defined in terms of physical features or psychological and behavioral characteristics. Receiver Factors On the opposite end of the communication context, parallel to source factors, are characteristics of the receiver or audience to whom the message is addressed. These characteristics include the receivers’ personality traits, sex, social status, intelligence, involvement, and so forth. Any attribute of the audience, or combination of attributes, may provide a context that contributes to the effectiveness of the message. Channel Factors The context of the message is also defined by the means used to communicate it. Information can be communicated face-to-face, in writing, or by way of an audio tape or video tape. Note that although it is possible to hold the content of the message (the general arguments and factual evidence) constant across channels, different modes of communication will often vary in terms of some of the context factors. For instance, the audience obtains more information about physical and behavioral characteristics of the source from face-to-face or video messages than when the information is presented in written or oral form. Thus, it may be difficult in some instances to determine whether differences in persuasion are due to variations in the communication channel or to associated contextual differences that may confound the observed effect. Message Factors Potential confounding of a more serious kind can occur in the case of message factors because variations message features are often accompanied by differences in content. Message factors concern the ways in which information is communicated to the audience. Among the factors that have been considered are the order in which arguments are presented, one- versus twosided presentations, and emotional versus nonemotional appeals (e. g. , humorous messages or messages that arouse fear versus neutral messages). To see why variations in message characteristics are often confounded with differences in message content, consider the case of one- versus two-sided communications. Clearly, to present both sides of an issue, an effective message must contain information and arguments not contained in a message that supports only the advocated position. In a twosided message, the communicator mentions arguments that could be used to support the opposite side and then proceeds to refute those arguments. In addition, of course, the communicator also discusses the arguments in favor of the position advocated in the message. Only this part is the same as or similar to the one-sided message. In the case of emotional versus neutral appeals, problems of confounding occur because humorous or fear-arousing communications generally contain information and arguments specifically designed to generate these emotions. It is thus difficult to separate the effects of fear or humor from the effects due to differences in the information contained in humorous versus nonhumorous messages or in high- versus lowfear messages. Situational Factors The persuasion context contains several situational variables that do not fit easily into the traditional framework of source, message, channel, and receiver factors. Among these situational variables are distraction and forewarning. Distraction can be the result of environmental noise, or it can be internal as when a person is preoccupied with other concerns. Forewarning refers to the availability Persuasive Communication Theory Page 5 of information before exposure to the message, which warns the receiver either that an influence attempt is imminent or that the communicator is planning to advocate a certain position. In either case, forewarning may prepare receivers to rally their defenses against the forthcoming message. The Hovland Tradition Scientific work on persuasive communication began in earnest during World War II in an attempt to determine the effects of war-time propaganda (Hovland, Lumsdaine, and Sheffield, 1949). This was followed by a period of intensive experimental research at Yale University in the 1950s under the direction of Carl Hovland (Hovland, Janis, and Kelley, 1953; Sherif and Hovland, 1961). Although it was extremely prolific and highly influential, the program of research initiated by the Hovland group produced very few generalizable conclusions. By the late 1960s, disappointment with this approach had become widespread (see Eagly and Himmelfarb, 1974; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). In this section we review the major lines of work in the Hovland tradition and consider some of the reasons for its failure. Theoretical Orientation The empirical work of the Hovland group was guided by a loose theoretical analysis based on learning principles, and by a conceptual framework that incorporated context variables (source, message, channel, and receiver factors), target variables (immediate attitude change, retention, behavior change), and mediating processes (attention, comprehension, and acceptance) (see McGuire, 1969, 1985). Very briefly, the theoretical analysis assumed that attitude change involves learning a new response to a given stimulus (the attitude object). Exposure to a persuasive message suggests the new response (the advocated position) and provides an opportunity to practice the response. The various contextual factors were assumed to facilitate learning by reinforcing and firmly embedding the new response in the receiver’s response hierarchy. Empirical Research The conceptual framework of context, target, and mediating variables served to organize thinking about the persuasion process. However, much of the empirical research in the Hovland tradition dealt primarily with the impact of contextual factors. Thus, in the 1950s and 1960s, hundreds of studies were conducted to examine the effects of source credibility and attractiveness; receiver intelligence, self-esteem, and involvement; fear appeals and order of presentation; distraction and forewarning; and a multitude of other contextual variables (see McGuire, 1985 for a recent review). Little attention was devoted to the dependent variable that serves as the target of the communication, although persistence of change over time was an early concern (see Cook and Flay, 1978). Of the mediating variables, only attention and comprehension were directly assessed. Thus, many studies contained a recall or recognition test to measure the degree to which the message was â€Å"received† (McGuire, 1968), that is, the degree to which the message was attended to and comprehended. Generally speaking, the purpose of the test was to make sure that reception did not vary across conditions of the experiment, and that whatever effects were observed could not be attributed to differences in reception. In other words, the goal was usually to rid the experiment of the mediating effect of reception, rather than to study reception in its own right. Note also that the conceptual framework had little to say about the content of persuasive communication and what its role in the persuasion process might be. Message content was treated largely as a given, while the questions addressed had to do with the effects of contextual factors on the amount of change produced by the message in question. We shall see below that this approach to the study of persuasive communication was one of the major reasons for the failure of the Hovland tradition. Effects of source factors. One of the first lines of research initiated by the Hovland group dealt with the effects of communicator credibility (Hovland and Weiss, 1951), and innumerable studies since have manipulated this variable. Of all the contextual factors studied in the Hovland tradition, variations in source credibility have produced the most consistent findings. By and large, communicators high in expertise and trustworthiness tend to be more persuasive than communicators with low standing on these factors. However, even here, some Persuasive Communication Theory Page 6 contradictory evidence has been reported. Source credibility does not always increase the amount of change, and in some situations it can even have a negative effect (cf. McGuire, 1985, p. 263). Other source characteristics are generally found to have no simple or easily predictable effects on persuasion. The communicator’s attractiveness, education, intelligence, social status, and so on can serve as cues for inferring expertise and can thus affect persuasion. However, these indirect effects do not appear to be strong enough to produce consistent results across different investigations. Effects of receiver factors. Age, gender, intelligence, self-esteem and other individual differences among receivers are rarely found to have strong effects on persuasion, and the results of different investigations are often inconsistent. Moreover, receiver factors are found to interact in complex ways with each other and with additional factors such as the complexity of the message, the type of arguments used, the credibility of the communicator, and so on. Effects of channel factors. A rather discouraging picture also emerged with respect to the effects of the medium of communication. While visual messages tend to be better liked and attended to than spoken or written messages, recall is sometimes better for written material, and adding pictures to print can be distracting (see McGuire, 1985, p. 283). In light of these contradictory effects, it is hardly surprising that empirical research on channel factors has produced largely inconsistent results. Effects of message factors. Some of the most complex patterns of findings are associated with message factors such as emotional versus nonemotional appeals, message style, and ordering of message content. With respect to the latter, consider for example whether one should state the message’s basic position at the outset or at the end. Stating it at the beginning may have the advantage of clarity, making the source appear more trustworthy, and of attracting the attention of receivers sympathetic to the advocated position. It can also have the disadvantage, however, of lowering interest and antagonizing receivers initially opposed to the advocated position (McGuire, 1985). Other message factors can have equally complicated effects. To illustrate, consider the degree to which the message arouses fear or concern. Contrary to expectations, initial research (Janis and Feshbach, 1953) showed a low-fear message to be more effective than a high-fear message in producing compliance with recommended dental practices. Later research, however, has often found the opposite effect, and many investigations have reported no differences between high- and low-fear messages (for reviews, see Boster and Mongeau, 1985 and Higbee, 1969). Similarly inconsistent findings have emerged with respect to the effects of humor in persuasive communication (see Markiewicz, 1974). Retrospective In light of largely inconsistent research findings concerning the effects of contextual variables, many investigators became discouraged with the Hovland approach. Thus, after editing a book on attitude change in 1974, Himmelfarb and Eagly reached the following pessimistic conclusions: After several decades of research, there are few simple and direct empirical generalizations that can be made concerning how to change attitudes. In fact, one of the most salient features of recent research is the great number of studies demonstrating that the empirical generalizations of earlier research are not general, but contingent on conditions not originally apparent. (Himmelfarb and Eagly, 1974, p. 94. ) In fact, the complexity of the persuasion process noted by Himmelfarb and Eagly in their reference to contingencies has been a favorite explanation for the failure of the Hovland approach. This explanation holds that persuasion is influenced by so many different factors interacting with each other that only complicated, multidimensional research strategies can cope with the complexities. However, when investigators have studied higher-order interactions, no clear or replicable patterns have emerged. Indeed, there is serious doubt that the search for complicated interactions can ever be a viable strategy (cf. Cronbach, 1975; Nisbett, 1977). The role of the receiver. Besides failing to advance our understanding of the persuasion process, the complexity explanation had the Persuasive Communication Theory Page 7 unfortunate effect of hiding the basic shortcomings of the Hovland tradition and thus delaying the search for alternatives. As is usually the case, realizing where this approach went wrong is much easier in retrospect than it was at the time. Perhaps without meaning to, the Hovland group cast the receiver in a rather passive role whose task was to â€Å"learn† the information and recommended position presented in a message. Attention and comprehension would assure that the information was absorbed, and persuasion would thus follow automatically. This view of the receiver stands in clear contradiction to much that is known about information processing. People are far from passive receivers of information. Instead, they usually act on the information that is available, integrating it (Anderson, 1971), constructing interpretations of their own (Neisser, 1976), and going in many ways beyond the information given (Bruner, 1957). This is just as true in the domain of attitudes as it is in other areas of information processing. For example, research on impression formation has shown that people draw far-ranging inferences about the attributes of another person on the basis of very limited information (Asch, 1946; Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Wiggins, 1973). Such inferences are often said to rely on â€Å"implicit theories of personality† (Schneider, 1973) which might suggest, among other things, that if a person is said to be hostile, he is also likely to be rash, aggressive, and inconsiderate. Several other lines of research demonstrate more directly the potential importance of inference processes in persuasive communication. Thus it has been shown that a persuasive communication designed to produce a change in one belief will also lead to changes in other, related, beliefs (McGuire, 1960a; Wyer and Goldberg, 1970). It is even possible to produce change by merely making people aware of inconsistencies among their beliefs or values (McGuire, 1960b; Rokeach, 1971) in a process McGuire has termed the â€Å"Socratic† effect: After reviewing their beliefs, people tend to change some of them in the direction of increased logical consistency. In short, there is every reason to expect that receivers exposed to a persuasive communication may engage in an active process of deliberation that involves reviewing the information presented, accepting some rguments, rejecting others, and drawing inferences about issues addressed that go beyond what was mentioned in the original message. The image of the passive learner fostered in the Hovland tradition is thus highly misleading, and misses the most important aspect of persuasive communication: the receiver’s capacity for reasoning and for being swayed by the merits of a well-presented argument. Persuasion by the Peripheral Route The passive-learne r view of the receiver implicit in the Hovland approach quite naturally led to a focus on the persuasion context. If the communicator’s task is to make sure that receivers learn and absorb the contents of the message, concern turns to a search for conditions that facilitate attention to the message and comprehension of its arguments, with a concomitant lessening of interest in what the receiver does with the information that is received. Ironically, recent theory and research have established the potential importance of contextual factors, at least under certain wellspecified conditions. Once we realize what these conditions are, we can begin to understand the reasons for the inconsistent findings of research conducted within the Hovland paradigm. In the previous section we emphasized the active role of the receiver who may engage in an elaborate process of reasoning about the merits of the arguments presented in the message. This view assumes, first, that receivers are in fact sufficiently motivated to exert the required cognitive effort and, second, that they have the ability to carefully process the incoming information. It now appears that contextual factors influence persuasion only when one or both of these conditions are not met (Chaiken, 1980; Petty and Cacioppo, 1981, 1986). Motivation to process the message and elaborate on it is largely a matter of the receiver’s involvement. Different aspects of the self may be activated in a given situation, depending largely on the issue addressed, and as a result, different kinds of involvement can be generated. Specifically, the message may create involvement by dealing with receivers’ enduring values, with receivers’ ability to obtain desirable outcomes or avoid undesirable outcomes, or with the impression receivers make on others Persuasive Communication Theory Page 8 (Johnson and Eagly, 1989). However, when the message has few implications for enduring values, for important outcomes, or for selfpresentation, it produces little motivation to carefully deliberate its contents. Ability to process a message is related to factors internal to the receiver as well as to external factors. Among the internal factors are familiarity with the issues and cognitive ability and intelligence, factors that tend to increase capacity for information processing; and preoccupation with other matters and lack of time, which tend to reduce the ability to elaborate. External factors that increase the ability to process include message repetition and clarity of presentation, while external distraction and use of complicated language can reduce processing ability. Some of the contextual factors studied by the Hovland group can come into play when internal or external factors lower the receiver’s ability to process the information presented in the message. Empirical Research When ability and motivation to process the message are low, receivers can use peripheral cues (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986) or cognitive heuristics (Chaiken, 1980) to form their opinions. Chaiken assumed that receivers of a message, even if they are not very greatly involved, nevertheless are motivated to hold a â€Å"correct† view on the issue. Since, under conditions of low motivation and ability, receivers are either incapable or unwilling to deal with the merits of the advocated position, they look for contextual or peripheral cues that might provide a basis for forming an opinion. Perhaps the most powerful such cue is the communicator’s credibility, and it may be argued that this is the reason for the relatively consistent findings associated with communicator credibility. The heuristic strategy might in this case involve the following line of reasoning: â€Å"If this expert on the matter says so, it must be right. † This heuristic appears quite reasonable in that it accepts the position advocated by a credible source, even if one has not carefully scrutinized the arguments presented. Receivers can also use the source’s attractiveness, or factors related to the message such as the number of arguments it contains, as peripheral cues. Thus, a message coming from a iked source might be viewed as more trustworthy, and one that contains many arguments (even if specious) might be seen as more reliable than a message that contains few arguments. Note, however, that these rules of thumb are far less convincing as a rational basis for accepting or rejecting an advocated position, and it is perhaps for this reason that factors of this kind often fail to have strong or consistent effects on persuasion. In any event, relying on heuristics obviates th e need for careful message processing, and at the same time provides a basis for adoption of a position on the issue. Recent empirical research tends to support this view of the peripheral route to persuasion, although some complications have recently been noted (Johnson and Eagly, in press). Since excellent reviews are available elsewhere (Chaiken, 1987; Petty and Cacioppo, 1986), we limit our discussion here to an example concerning the effects of source characteristics. Recall that communicator attractiveness was one of the source characteristics studied in the Hovland paradigm that did not have a clear and consistent effect on persuasion. If treated as a peripheral cue used only when processing motivation or ability is low, more consistent findings tend to emerge. Attractiveness of the source has been varied by attributing the message to famous versus unknown individuals (Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann, 1983) or to a likable versus an unlikable person (Chaiken, 1980). The investigators also manipulated the degree of involvement and found, as expected, that communicator attractiveness has a significantly greater effect on persuasion under low than under high involvement. Conclusions Work on the peripheral route to persuasion suggests that the source, message, channel, and receiver factors studied in the Hovland tradition can indeed influence the effectiveness of a message, but that this is likely to be the case only under conditions of low motivation or low ability to process the message. Such conditions can be obtained in the psychological laboratory that ensures some degree of attention by a captive audience even if the receivers have little interest in the topic or lack the ability to process the information presented (Hovland, 1959). In more naturalistic field settings, receivers who Persuasive Communication Theory Page 9 lack the motivation or ability to process a message can usually leave the situation, while those who remain and are exposed to the message will tend to be sufficiently involved and able to process the information it contains. Persuasion by the peripheral route is clearly an inappropriate model for many realistic situations, and it is often inapplicable even in the artificial context of the laboratory. REASONING AND PERSUASION Even when it works, there is something distinctly unsatisfactory in the demonstration of change via the peripheral route, because the change brought about does not represent persuasion as we usually think of it. We noted at the beginning that it is the process of reasoning, the evaluation of the merits of arguments in favor and opposed to the advocated position, that is at the heart of persuasive communication. Persuasion involves more than simply oing along with an expressed point of view because of the presence of some peripheral cue; it requires that the advocated position be accepted only after careful scrutiny of the message and after application of whatever other information the receiver can bring to bear. Moreover, change produced by the peripheral route is generally of little practical significance. Petty and Cacioppo (1986) noted that peripheral attitude change tends to be shortlived, tends to be susceptible to counterpropaganda (McGuire, 1964), and tends to have little effect on actual behavior. Clearly then, from both a theoretical and a practical point of view it would be to our advantage to focus less on the context of persuasion and more on the central processes that occur when a person is exposed to a message. Persuasion by the Central Route In the remainder of this chapter we examine persuasion that occurs when the receiver of a message is sufficiently able and motivated to give at least some scrutiny to the contents of the communication and to evaluate the merits of the arguments it contains. This has been termed the central route to persuasion (Petty and Cacioppo, 1981) and the deliberations receivers perform are known as systematic information processing (Chaiken, 1980). Instead of asking what makes a given message more effective, we must now ask how to construct an effective message. That is, what arguments, when systematically processed via the central route, will have the greatest impact on the receiver’s attitudes and behavior? Before we can review what is known about this question, however, we must consider the role of the receiver in greater detail. The Elaboration Likelihood Model. The peripheral route to persuasion discussed earlier is one of two tracks a receiver can take in Petty and Cacioppo’s (1981, 1986) elaboration likelihood model (ELM). The second track is persuasion via the central route. According to the ELM, central route persuasion depends on and is determined by the degree to which receivers elaborate on the information presented in the message. Briefly, during exposure to a persuasive communication, receivers are assumed to generate arguments of their own, either in support of the advocated position (pro arguments) or opposed to it (con arguments). These cognitive responses determine the direction and degree of change in attitudes and behavior. Increased motivation and ability to process the information in the message is, according to the model, associated with an increase in the number of cognitive responses (pro and con arguments) generated. To the extent that the number of arguments generated on the pro side exceeds the number of arguments on the con side, the receiver will change in the advocated direction. When elaboration leads to the production of more con than pro arguments, however, either no change or a â€Å"boomerang effect† (change in the opposite direction) may occur. From the communicator’s point of view, therefore, motivation and ability to elaborate on message content is a two-edged sword. If, on balance, the thoughts generated by the receiver favor the advocated position, then the central route to persuasion works to the communicator’s advantage. On the other hand, if the receiver’s cognitive responses consist predominantly of counterarguments, then elaboration on message content can be quite detrimental to the communicator’s purpose. A number of studies, summarized in Petty and Cacioppo (1986), have examined the role of cognitive responses in the persuasion process. In these studies, cognitive responses are elicited Persuasive Communication Theory Page 10 in a free-response format following exposure to the message. The thoughts listed by the receivers are coded as either in favor or opposed to the advocated position, and the number of responses of each type is determined. Results, by and large, support the idea that the production of cognitive responses increases with motivation and ability to elaborate. Moreover, it is also found that changes in attitudes and behavior are consistent with the pattern of cognitive responses that are generated: a balance of thoughts in favor of the advocated position tends to be associated with change in the desired direction. 2 Yielding and Impact. Consideration of cognitive responses generated by receivers in the course of exposure to the message is, however, not sufficient to account for observed changes in attitudes and behavior. For change to occur in the central mode, some of the receiver’s fundamental beliefs and values must undergo modification. Elaboration on the message may in fact lead to changes in cognitive structure, but evidence for the production of pro- or counter-arguments does not, in itself, assure that such changes have indeed taken place. Work on the elaboration likelihood model has focused primarily on cognitive responses to the message and has not dealt directly with changes in cognitive structure. The ideas discussed below are based on other recent work concerning persuasive communication via the central route (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975, 1981). According to Fishbein and Ajzen, a message can bring about changes in a receiver’s cognitive structure in one of two ways. First, in a process termed yielding, acceptance of arguments presented in the message can produce changes in corresponding beliefs held by the receiver. Consider, for example, a pregnant smoker who initially is not aware that cigarette smoking can adversely affect the health of her unborn baby. This woman is now exposed to a message containing an argument and supportive evidence that establish the link between smoking and adverse health effects on the fetus. To the extent that the argument is accepted, it produces yielding in the sense that the woman’s cognitive structure now contains a new belief that corresponds directly to the argument in question. That is, she now believes, as stated in the message, that smoking may have ill effects on her unborn baby. Changes in a receiver’s primary beliefs, however, can extend far beyond the information directly contained in the message. Such changes that go beyond the information given are termed impact effects. To illustrate, the pregnant woman exposed to the message that smoking can have detrimental health effects on her fetus may infer that she would feel guilty if she did not stop smoking and that her doctor would want her to quit, even though neither argument was explicit in the message. It is also possible, however, for her to draw inferences that would work against the aims of the communicator. For example, the woman may unexpectedly form the belief that quitting would be even worse than continued smoking because it would result in overeating. These impact effects can, of course, play a major role in the woman’s decision to quit or not to quit smoking. Evidence for the importance of considering yielding as well as impact effects can be found in a study on drinking reported in Ajzen and Fishbein (1980, pp. 218-242). Persuasive Argumentation The challenge facing a communicator trying to produce change via the central route is to create a message that will originate favorable responses, produce yielding to its arguments, and generate impact effects in accordance with the advocated change. Arguments contained in a message can be considered effective to the extent that they influence the receiver’s cognitive structure. The essential question, therefore, is what makes an argument effective. In light of the fact that rhetoricians have written about argumentation for over 2,000 years, it is surprising how little empirical knowledge is available about the relative effectiveness of different types of arguments (McGuire, 1985). An analysis of this problem reveals at least three important aspects of an argument’s effectiveness: novelty, strength, and relevance. Below we discuss each of these aspects in turn. Argument Novelty Persuasive Communication Theory Page 11 An argument contained in a message may well be accepted (i. e. , believed to be true), but if the receiver already held the belief in question before exposure to the message, no change in belief structure would result (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1981). To be effective therefore, an argument contained in a message must not be part of the receiver’s initial belief system. Some empirical evidence for this proposition can be found in research on group decision making (Vinokur and Burnstein, 1974). In the course of group discussions, members who offer novel arguments in support of a given decision alternative are found to be more influential than members who raise points that are well known to the rest of the group. Argument Strength Besides being novel, an argument must also be strong if it is to sway the receiver to adopt the advocated position. A strong argument is one that tends to produce agreement (positive thoughts) and does not encourage generation of many counterarguments (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986). Although it is not clear what makes a strong argument, its strength or weakness can be empirically established. Earlier in this chapter we gave an illustrative example of a persuasive argument taken from Petty and Cacioppo’s (1986) research program. The argument asserted that instituting a senior comprehensive examination would raise grade point averages (see p. xx). This argument and the associated evidence make a strong case for the advocated position. Compare this to the following argument, also designed to generate support for a comprehensive exam. The National Scholarship Achievement Board recently revealed the results of a study they conducted on the effectiveness of comprehensive exams at Duke University. One major finding was that student anxiety had increased by 31%. At comparable schools without the exam, anxiety increased by only 8%. The Board reasoned that anxiety over the exams, or fear of failure, would motivate students to study more in their courses while they were taking them. It is likely that this increase in anxiety observed at Duke University would also be observed and be of benefit at other universities that adopt the exam policy (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986, p. 57). Although this argument is quite similar in structure to the strong argument presented earlier, it appears to present a much weaker case. In fact, this argument is typically found to generate many counterarguments. Clearly, in order to create an effective message, it is in the communicator’s interest to select strong arguments and avoid including arguments that tend to elicit negative thoughts about the advocated position. Argument Relevance Related to the question of an argument’s strength is its relevance to the advocated position. An argument may be strong in the sense that it generates few counterarguments and many pro arguments, but if it addresses an issue that is not directly relevant to the advocated position, it may fail to produce the desired effect. This point is often not sufficiently appreciated. Suppose a communicator would like to convince students to attend an anti-apartheid demonstration in Washington, D. C. , and thus exposes the students to a persuasive message against apartheid in South Africa. Although the arguments contained in the message may be strong in the sense that they are believable and generate few counterarguments, the message may not be very effective as a means of inducing students to go to Washington. To make the message more relevant in terms of this goal, one would have to include strong arguments that deal more directly with the advantages of attending the planned demonstration. A relevant argument, then, is one that changes those primary beliefs of the receiver that are directly related to the target of the influence attempt, that is, to the attitude or behavior the communicator wishes to affect. Different target variables are based on different primary beliefs, and an effective message must be tailored to fit the target in question. General discussions of different target variables and their respective foundations of primary beliefs can be found in Fishbein and Ajzen (1975, 1981) and in Fishbein and Manfredo (Chapter xx, this volume). It is beyond the scope of this chapter to provide an in-depth review. Briefly, Fishbein and Ajzen distinguish Persuasive Communication Theory Page 12 among beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviors as possible targets of a persuasive communication. To effect a change in any one of these target variables, the message arguments must be directed at the primary beliefs that provide the basis for the target in question. The first step in the construction of a message, therefore, requires a decision about the relevant primary beliefs, a process that cannot be left to intuition but must be guided by a model of the target’s determinants. Social psychologists have discussed a variety of approaches to understanding beliefs and attitudes and their relations to behavior, but perhaps the most popular models can be found within the framework of the theory of reasoned action (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980) and its recent extension, the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1985, 1988). The discussion below considers each target variable in turn; however, a full understanding of the process is gained only by considering the relations among the different variables. Changing behavior. According to the theory of reasoned action, many behaviors of interest to social psychologists are under volitional control and, hence, are in an immediate sense determined by the intention to perform the behavior in question. A successful persuasive communication designed to change a certain behavior must therefore contain arguments that will bring about a change in the antecedent intention. The theory of planned behavior oes beyond the question of intended action, taking into account the possibility that the behavior of interest may not be completely under volitional control. To be successful, the message may have to provide information that will enable the receiver to gain volitional control and overcome potential obstacles to performance of the behavior. A review of evidence in suppo rt of these propositions can be found in Ajzen (1988). Changing intentions. The antecedents of behavioral intentions are, according to the theory of reasoned action, the person’s attitude toward the behavior and his or her subjective norm. The attitude toward the behavior refers to the evaluation of the behavior as desirable or undesirable, and the subjective norm is the perceived social pressure to perform or not to perform the behavior in question. The theory of planned behavior again adds to this model a consideration of volitional control. When issues of control arise, intentions are influenced not only by attitudes and subjective norms but also by perceived behavioral control (Ajzen and Madden, 1986; Schifter and Ajzen, 1985). A persuasive communication designed to influence intentions (and thus also behavior) can be directed at one or more of the intention’s three determinants: attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Changing attitudes. We arrive at the level of primary beliefs as we consider the determinants of a person’s attitudes. According to the theory of reasoned action, attitudes are a function of salient beliefs about the attitude object (a person, group, institution, behavior or other event). Each salient belief links the object to an attribute or to an outcome in the case of a behavior. The attitude is determined by the strength of these beliefs and by the evaluations associated with the attributes (Fishbein, 1963; Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Beliefs about the attitude object that are salient prior to presentation of the message can be elicited in a free-response format. The message is then constructed such that it will either change some of the existing beliefs, either in their strength or their evaluations, or introduce new beliefs into the belief system. Changing beliefs. To change a specific belief on an issue, the persuasive communication has to address some of the information on which the belief is based. Several probabilistic models that link prior information to a given belief have been proposed and validated (McGuire, 1960b; Wyer and Goldberg, 1970; for a review see Slovic, Fischhoff, and Lichtenstein, 1977). These models suggest that the information introduced by the persuasive communication must be information from which the belief in question can be probabilistically inferred. Conclusions The focus in recent years on the central route to persuasion holds great promise for a better understanding of persuasive communication. This route deals with the essence of the persuasion process, with changes in the fundamental beliefs on which the receivers’ attitudes and actions are based. Although much remains to be done, social psychologists have gained considerable insight into some of the cognitive processes that are at work during and Persuasive Communication Theory Page 13 after exposure to a persuasive communication, and into the practical aspects of constructing an effective message. SUMMARY This chapter provided a brief historical perspective on persuasive communication theory in social psychology. No attempt was made to discuss all theoretical developments in detail as this task would require a book in itself. Instead, the focus was on a few dominant lines of theoretical development, from the beginnings of scientific research on persuasion in the 1940s to the present day. The work initiated by Hovland and his associates tended to view the receivers of a persuasive communication as passively learning the information presented and then changing their beliefs and attitudes accordingly. This view led to a concern with contextual factors, and virtual neglect of the contents of the communication and its processing by the receiver. Few generalizable conclusions emerged from the research guided by this approach, and by the late 1960s the failure of the Hovland approach was widely acknowledged. Progress was recorded when attention turned from contextual or peripheral factors to persuasion via the central route. Contextual factors were found to be important only under conditions of low involvement or low ability to process the message. It was discovered, however, as a general rule, that receivers of a message are far from passive, engaging in an active process of analyzing and elaborating on the information presented. It became clear that the effects of a persuasive communication could not be understood unless careful attention was given to these cognitive processes. Theoretical and empirical developments of the past two decades have enabled us to consider receivers’ cognitive responses during exposure to a message, yielding to the arguments contained in the message, and the message’s impact on other beliefs not explicitly mentioned. These developments have also resulted in a much closer examination of the contents of persuasive communications, with an eye toward selecting arguments that will have the maximum effect on the target of the influence attempt. 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Developments in Foreign Films Essay Example For Students

Developments in Foreign Films Essay Because most movies are shot with English dialogue, Unfortunately, this means that the artistic views, interesting ideas and different techniques that are displayed by foreign filmmakers often go unnoticed by their English speaking peers. This essay aims to highlight the important developments, movements and influences present in historic French and Russian cinema. In order to give a broad overview of the industries as a whole, this essay pinpoints eight chosen films, two representing each topic, one Russian, one French. It is the aim to give a short background of each film, followed by examples of how the film is relevant to its topic and backed up by citations and references from both literature and the internet. While each topic paragraph will clearly identify its main French and Russian film before going into detail; however, some supplementary films will be included in certain topics for deeper comparison purposes. The first topic â€Å"Early Developmentsâ€Å" will provide an informative look at the major film movement of the French New Wave and the important artistic development of the Soviet Montage Theory. There will be a discussion of one representative film from each movement. It will be argued that while Russian filmmakers were developing theories to standardise the art, the French were pushing boundaries and trying to break the standards of film. However, these opposing views to film production and the ways in which they were carried out carry many similarities which will also be demonstrated. Relation to Countrys Culture will aim to show the respective position of film within each country and how film can influence and be influenced by its nations culture. There will be an example of each nations reaction to popular, home-produced films. There will be a study of the box office figures for each country, which will be related to the countrys size and number of cinemas, for both domestic and Hollywood productions, in order to numerically represent the popularity of cinema in each country. Next, Acknowledgement and Success Abroad will explore both France and Russias ability to have their films hold a place on the international film stage. There will be an examination of a particularly successful French and a particularly successful Russian film in attempts to learn more about their success worldwide and what caused it. In this section, there will also be a look at the presence of French and Russian actors, actresses and directors in the international market. The final topic â€Å"Modern Changes in Filmâ€Å" will first of all provide a separate overview of modern topics and techniques that are apparent in domestically produced French and Russian films. There will be a study of a representative film for each country. There will then be a comparative discussion of modern eccentricities that are seen in both modern French and Russian films. There will also be a short view of the importance and availability of modern, digital technology such as CGI in domestic French and Russian cinema. 2. Earlier Developments French New Wave and Soviet Montage Theory 2.1 French New Wave French New Wave cinema is a blanket term used to describe a prominent group of French filmmakers that were active in the late 1950s and 1960s. They were well known for their self-conscious rejection of classical cinematic form, experiments with editing, unique visual style, their unprecedented methods of expression and work around social and political upheavals. Following World War I, France was left in a poor financial state that affected many economic areas, including the countrys film industry, which reverted to a dependence on narrative and classical cinema that was evident in the years before the war. This sparked rebellion in critics circles. The development of the New Wave is often attributed to Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, and Jacques Rivette, who began as film critics at the influential French magazine Cahiers du Cinema. The magazine was not happy with the prospect of falling back on the timeworn methods of classical cinema, instead wanting to move forward and develop their art. Truffaut, Godard, Rohmer, Chabrol and Rivette five French filmmakers who, despite evident differences manifest in the more than one hundred films they have completed in the last twenty years, nevertheless share a basic attitude towards the art of film which unites them as a group and separates them from the majority of their predecess ors   (Monaco 1976, preface). Together in their critique, they developed La politique des auteurs, referred to as the Auteur Theory by American film critic Andrew Sarris. This theory was a set of concepts centred around the belief that the primary input into a films creation should come from the director alone, and the end product should be a reflection of the directors artistic vision. Relating to this, the New Wave directors used film not just to tell a story but also to explore and discover the world around them and try to gain a better understanding of its structure. Another point of interest the New Wave directors incorporated into their work was La CamÃÆ' ©ra-Stylo  , which was an idea put forward by writer and filmmaker Alexandre Astruc. He claimed that film had the power to become a means of writing just as flexible and subtle as written language.   New Wave directors strived to see Astrucs idea realized and turn film into a language unto itself. These ideas, combined with others, were at the heart of the French New Wave. It was further developed through a lack of money that caused directors to have to produce low-budget films, and in doing so, were forced to examine the art form itself in order to give their films depth without having money to spend on exotic locations or large productions. Directors used new techniques and visual styles, as well as unusual subject matter, to ensure the art form was not prevented from moving forward due to a lack of state money. 2.2 Soviet Montage Theory Sergei Eisensteins theory of montage was developed in the 1920s. Eisenstein had previous experience working in theatre, where he conducted a series of experimental plays that bombarded the audience with various different attractions in attempts to guide their thinking a certain way. After realising the physical constraints of the theatre, he turned his attention to developing montage for cinema. He first documented his theory in his 1931 essay ËÅ"A Dialectic Approach to Film Form. Eisensteins first four methods of montage consist of using film montage to build a story where each new scene directly relates to the one that came before it. His fifth method, intellectual montage, was not one of building bricks, but of objects in collision, producing an explosion that would arouse the viewer  (Taylor et al, 2000) 2.3 Comparisons of Films A  Bout de Souffle is a 1960 French film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It presents the story of a petty criminal who, after stealing a car, shoots a policeman and is forced to run from the police. He hides with his girlfriend, who at first is unaware he is a wanted man, but soon finds out and turns him over to the police. The Battleship Potemkin (1925) is a Russian silent film directed by Sergei Eisenstein. It depicts the true story of the mutiny that occurred aboard the Russian ship Potemkin in 1905, when the crew rebelled against their Tsarist officers. A Bout de Souffle was Godards first feature length film, and is one of the inaugural films of the French New Wave movement. The entire film was recorded on handheld camera with very little lighting; Godard had decided to produce the film in the style of a documentary and there was also little money to afford expensive equipment. It was shot on location in Paris. It has also been stated that a great part of the film was improvised on the spot by Godard, who would write lines of dialogue on set, before having a few brief rehearsals on scenes involved, and filming them. The Works of Tyler Perry and Spike Lee Essay4.2 Russian War and Peace is Sergei Bondarchuks 1969 adaptation of the novel of the same name by Leo Tolstoy. This film is widely regarded as an epic of cinematic art. It was produced over a seven-year period. The battle scenes in this film are of epic proportion; one goes on for over an hour. Bondarchuk borrowed many objects from museums around Russia to be used as props, which gave a great authenticity to the film. It is estimated that it cost over an estimated $100 million, and, to this date, is still one of the most expensive films ever made. (Metallic 2011). War and Peace is widely regarded as a testament to Russian cinema. It received the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1969. CONCLUSION THE GOOD AND THE BAD 4.3 Actors and Actresses in America In recent times, the amount of French and Russian actors looking English-speaking roles in American films has increased. It can be argued that this is the case because English-speaking films have a bigger target audience than their foreign counterparts. There are approximately 107 countries in the world where English is spoken by a majority. It is far more likely for a talented French or Russian actor to receive fame and recognition on a large scale if they are awarded roles in English-speaking films. Marion Cotillard is a French actress who is currently enjoying success on the international stage. After winning an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2007, Cotillards fame has continued to rise in Hollywood. She has recently starred in a string of commercially successful, big budget American films such as Public Enemies and Inception, and is currently filming Contagion alongside Hollywood favorites Matt Damon and Kate Winslet. In contrast, currently, there is a distinct lack of Russian presence in American cinema. In the 1920s, when the Russian Empire was replaced by the Soviet state, the United States was shaken by the first wave of Russian immigration. However, during the 1970s and 1980s a strange situation occurred when non-Russians were hired to play Russian roles in films. When it was spoken, the language was spoken badly. This has begun to change over the last thirty or forty years. This is because several Russian born actors began to keep residence in Hollywood. A lot of Russian actors are severely limited in Hollywood. This is mostly due to the language barrier. Their accent does them no favors either (Russian Actors). They are usually given small roles as extra or sinister characters. 4.4 Directors A notable Russian directors is Timur Bekmambetov. He has directed such films as Night Watch (2004) and its sequel Day Watch (2006). He continued on to direct one of Hollywoods biggest films of 2008; Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy, was an immediate success. It earned $80 million at the international box office in its first day of release. The film went on to earn more than $51 million in America alone (Gusyatinsky 2008). Due to its Russian director, Wanted was also popular in Russia, and was the most popular Universal Pictures release of 2008. Although his success is large, Timur Bekmambetov is one of very few Russian directors to make it big in America. 5. Modern Changes in Film 5.1 French French box office attendance was subjected to a steady decline during the 80s. However, in 2001, the French box office saw its highest numbers in 20 years (Temple and Witt, 2004: 263). While this can be attributed to the popularity of big-budget American cinema available to the younger, widely English-speaking generation, there is also evidence of rising popularity of home-grown films. Le Fabuleux Destin dAmelie Poulain (better known by its English title, Amelie) is a 2001 French romantic comedy directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. It tells the story of a shy waitress, played by Audrey Tautou, who embarks on a journey of self-fulfillment by helping others, while still being unable to conquer her own confidence issues. It is a simple tale of Amelies life and eventual success with love that is presented whimsically, with a distinct feeling of simplicity and spirit. It received a significant amount of recognition from European and American audiences. The film itself was nominated for five Ac ademy Awards, including Best Art Direction and Best Original Screenplay. At home in France, Amelie won four Cesar Awards, including Best Film and Best Music. differences from New Wave, success abroad, etc. 5.2 Russian Ostrov (2006) is a biographical film that tells the story of a fictional 20th century Eastern Orthodox monk. The films protagonist, Anatoly, is captured on a ship by Nazis and forced to shoot his friend in order to save his own life. He is rescued by Eastern Orthodox monks, and joins their monastery. Years later, Anatoly has discovered he has the gifts of clairvoyance and healing. People visit him for cures and advice, and although his life is now devoted to helping others, he is still consumed by the guilt of killing his friend. One day, a man visits with his daughter who is possessed by a demon. Anatoly exorcises the demon before finding out the man is, in fact, the friend Anatoly believed he had killed. The man forgives Anatoly as he had save his daughter. This story is drastically different to the war epics that Russian film is traditionally known for. 5.3 Wider Acceptance of Eccentricities It can be observed that in both modern French and modern Russian cinema, there has been a wider departure from the traditional content and topic of films, to more widely accepted films with unusual content. Le Fabuleux Destin dAmelie Poulain is a whimsical tale of a young woman living in France. The films is narrated in a very fast-paced manner, that symbolizes the main characters playful outlook on life. It is humourous and optimistic in its script that deals with love. The film is dominated with sepia tones and bright greens; a colourful palette to reflect the characters colourful outlook on life, while still reflecting the Paris of the time the film is set in. The spiritual and easy tale is not one that was meant to be taken too seriously. This film provided the French cinema-going public with an eccentric fairy tale to lose themselves in. This is the last sentence, followed by a blank line. 5.4 Digital Developments This is the first sentence. There is no blank line before it. This is the last sentence, followed by a blank line. 6. Conclusions From the careful study of French and Russian cinematic history and a detailed look at a number of representative films, a number of conclusions can be drawn from this essay. Firstly, both France and Russia experienced separate periods of important development of film production methods. Frances New Wave movement sought to challenge the boundaries of classical film through rebellion and disregard of traditional film techniques and styles. Russias Soviet Montage Theory was developed to give order to the technique of montage so it could be utilized properly in films. At first glance, and through deeper analysis, there are obvious opposing differences in each movement as the Russians attempted to standardise the art form of film while the French tried to free it from tradition. However, there are also subtle similarities in the movements, particularly in the common use of certain production techniques such as cuts, only used in styliscally different ways. Bibliography: Ebert, R. (2009) La Belle Noiseuse film 2011, available: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090412/REVIEWS08/904129997/1023 . Gusyatinsky, Yevgeny (2008) Timur B, available: http://rbth.ru/articles/2008/07/28/bekmambetov.html Monaco, J. (1976) The New Wave, Oxford University Press. Metallic (2004) War and Peace 2011, available: http://www.epinions.com/review/mvie_mu-1023094/content_129942589060 . Neupert, R. J. (2007) A History of the French New Wave Cinema, University of Wisconsin Press. (2005) Russian Actors, available: http://russianamericanbusiness.org/web_CURRENT/articles/8/1/Hollywoods-Russian-Roots . Taylor, R., Wood, N., Graffy, J., Iordanova, D. (2000) The BFI Companion to Eastern European and Russian Cinema, London.

A broad definition was given t... free essay sample

A broad definition was given to sustainable development by Brundtland report which states sustainable development as progress in attaining needs of todays generation without conceding the needs of forthcoming generation(Hopwood, Mellor et al. 2005) this report was published during the year 1987 by the WCED as our common future. The main objectives of this report are (Lawn 2005)†¢ Refreshment of growth,†¢ Change in growth quality,†¢ Meeting the requirements of employment, food, liveliness, water and hygiene,†¢ Safeguarding a maintainable population level†¢ Resource based improvisation and preservation†¢ Reorientation of technology for management of risk†¢ Integration both environment and management in key decision makings of the projectTo attain sustainability three important pillars are to be considered they are social, economic and environment sustainability all these factors to be treated in equal harmony to attain sustainability (Jackson, Marks e t al. 1997)SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH:Sustainable economic development is the growth in economy satisfying human requirements with minimal usage of resources thereby protecting reserves for upcoming generations. We will write a custom essay sample on A broad definition was given t or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Economy always functions with the ecology and it is impossible to separate economy from ecology which provides the production factor that contributes to growth of economy. Sustainable economy growth will manage these factors in such a way that these resources will not deplete and will be remain for next generations (Bithas and Christofakis 2006)Economic development depends on output the higher the output the larger the growth. Out put of a certain product is generally measure by using GDP at fixed price such that variation in prices will not affect GDP (Santagata 2002)Sustainable economic growth means maintaining a certain growth rate without disturbing or creating other economic problems. Growth periods are indicated by demand rise such as increase in consumer expenditure this demand should be on par with sustainable growth to increase output otherwise rise in demand will lead to rise in price (MacNeill 1989)Excessive sustainable economic development can lead to (Jackson and Senker 2011):1) Inflation of products and services2) Difficulties in trading3) Shortage of labor4) Inflation of wages5) High creditsLittle or negative growth can lead to (Barbier and Markandya 1989):1) Deflation of goods2) Surpluses of labor3) Unemployment4) Burden of debts5) deflation of house pricesAdvantages of Growth(Arrow, Bolin et al. 1995):1) Enhanced GDP per Capita:Rise in income increases wages and profits which in turn increase GDP per capita 2) More public and merit goods:Growing economy can increase tax revenue and more allocation of goods to public revenue such as roads, buildings, lights etc.3) More employment:Requirement of labor increases with growth thereby increasing employmentDisadvantages(MacNeill 1989):1) Negative Outcomes:As production increases negative outcomes such as pollution with respect to increased exhaustion of natural resources such as fossil energies2) Widened income gap:As economically growth increases gap between income also increases this leads to one g roup getting extra benefits while the other groups getting less benefits Conclusion(Castaneda 1999): Although sustainable economic growth is an important concept there are some disadvantages which should be considered while implementing sustainability

The crucible context essay Essays

The crucible context essay Essays The crucible context essay Paper The crucible context essay Paper The Crucible is a play, written in America during the 1950s, by Arthur Miller. It is based on the true events that happened in the American town of Salem in the 1600s. Many Women and some men were arrested, trialled and imprisoned for alleged witchcraft. Twenty were hanged. However it is also influenced by other events that occurred before and during Arthur Millers life. For example the anti communist movement that is now known as McCarthyism. The period Miller wrote the crucible was the 1950s this was a time when new beginnings were happening in the USA and most people at that time were in search of the American dream. As James Truslow Adams describes it in his book entitled The Epic of America (1931) That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement. . It was the time when the cold war was threatening to get serious and break out into full scale war. The cold war was the conflict between the two super powers of the world; the communist Soviet Union and the capitalist United States. In 1953 the year of the plays first performance the Korean War had just come to an end, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) exploded its first hydrogen bomb and Joseph Stalin died. This all sparked an American movement now known as McCarthyism which loomed over and dominated American society throughout the 1950s. McCarthyism is the term that describes a period of intense anti-Communist suspicion initiated by Senator Joseph McCarthy however to began before he was ever involved. This period is also referred to as the Second Red Scare, McCarthyism later took on a more general meaning, not necessarily referring to the conduct of Joseph McCarthy alone. Everyone was being accused of dealings with communism in fact people were punished for doing anything that was considered un-american including Arthur Miller who was asked to give the names of people he knew who were believed to be communists but he refused, consequently he was fined and sentenced to prison, but he did not serve his sentence as it was dropped on appeal. He reflects his being asked to name names in his play the crucible in the scene where Abigail is asked to name witches in the town but unlike Miller she consents to save herself and falsely accuses various women in Salem of her crimes of witchcraft. The period the play is set in is the 1600s. The Puritans were the leading religion of the time it was formed in England. The puritans strongly believed in the separation from the Roman Catholic Church and its traditions, the movement away from the Episcopacy (the government of the Church by a hierarchy of bishops) towards a Reformed Protestant Church and theology, simplified forms of worship, an emphasis on personal interpretation of the Bible and harbored a deep dislike for church ritual, robes, music and idolatry. Their aim was to cleanse people from the remnants of Roman Catholicism, cleanse and convert them to Puritanism. A modern day equivalent of the Puritans would be the Quakers or the Amish. People began emigrating from England to Massachusetts in the 1620s with the intention of creating models of puritan life and theocracy, a religious institution. Salem originally settled in 1629 and was completely built from scratch in the wilderness. The frequent problem with this was viscous, fatal attacks from the Native Americans who were clearly there first. The community was run by a pioneering spirit. Their way of life was hard work and they abided by strict religious observance. This was a new world for all and the only way of life they ever knew. At the stage of the settlers in the crucible we find a small town in turmoil with itself. There are those within the town with a compelling temptation to rebel and break free from conformity and those who are desperately still trying to enforce the towns harsh rules because they are afraid of the unknown. Witchcraft, the exercise or invocation of alleged supernatural powers to control people or events, practices typically involve sorcery or magic, with the usual intention of harm. In early modern European history there was a mass witch scare; people lived in constant paranoid fear of supernatural activity meaning witchcraft. This terror was injected into people by the church. Christian theology portrayed witches as the servants of satan, who was indecently evil in carnation, witches were the ones responsible for attacking the upright godly and seducing the feeble, in fact they were scapegoats for everything bad that ever happened. So in order to rid themselves of these vermin, similarly to a person killing an innocent spider for the irrational fear of it, people would organise witch hunts with the intention of riding a town or village of all its filth meaning witches. Subsequently witch hunts were very popular from the 1400s to the mid seventeenth century. When a said witch was discovered it often resulted in public hysteria on a large scale. The alleged witch would then be trialled and imprisoned or put to death. Hence the strict, religion crazed Puritan settlers took this custom along with them from England to poison their new land, America. Thus when a group of young women were found cavorting naked around a fire and drinking frog juice it is not astounding that the conclusion of witchcraft was reached by the puritan authorities. Witchcraft to the puritans is the broad term given to anything that threatens to appose their perfect society. The girls behaviour was wild and out of control and if this attitude spread around Salem it would break the power of those in command e. g. reverend Paris. The witchcraft trials were a time when no one was above suspicion and so it became everyman for himself. Every person was desperately trying to save themselves from the noose and they soon discovered that they had to do to achieve this was repent and direct the blame at someone else. All that was needed to convict a witch was a witness that claimed that an apparition of the witch (that only they could see) demonically attacked them. This was always enough evidence to link the defendant with having an elicit affair with the devil. Those that testified obviously saw nothing. People began to use the trials for personal gain, land disputes were settled by one party accusing the other of witchery consequently they would be taken away and hanged and that was the end of that. Many had to testify against their neighbours with no choice if they wanted to save themselves from conviction. The Crucible isnt entirely historically accurate Miller admits in his notes to the play that he used dramatic license and fictionalised in order to make the play feasible, for example Abigail was in reality only twelve not sixteen it would not have been acceptable or appropriate for John Proctor to have a sexual affair with a twelve year old girl. However with a couple of exceptions the facts in the play are correct. In the middle of such a difficult time in American history Arthur Miller was able to make a subtle attack on McCarthyism (which was causing him and the rest of the nation so much strife) with his manuscript The Crucible about a parallel situation that happened over 200 years before. The Crucible even after such a long time still has modern day relevance. We can compare the play to the current affairs happening in the twenty first century as Miller did with McCarthyism. The witch scare in Salem is similar to the problem we face today with terrorism. Public terror is ensued by terrorist attacks just it was with rumours of witchcraft. However this modern day threat is far more real. There are still real people who call themselves witches in the 21st century and there are places around the world where witch hunts still take place. To incarcerate or kill someone for being a witch in 2007 would no longer be permitted because it would be seen as prejudice, just as it would be wrong to imprison a person for being black. If I were to stage a play of The Crucible this year I would use realism, but not for the visual, spatial or aural aspects. I would have the set minimalist and use emotive colours with props, of which there would be few. The cast would be dressed basically in brownish colours to reflect the peoples Puritanism culture. The props and furniture would be far apart from each other and the actors should use as much of the space as they can when performing. Id have the actors use modern day accents to imply modern day relevance. All this should be so, so that the audience can use their imaginations to create their own interpretations. Similarly to imagining the story when reading a book. The Crucible is a tragedy. It tells us that people were ignorantly cruel at that time. And that humanity is fallible when it comes down to doing what is morally righteous or saving itself from pain and hurt.