1. For the Filipino-Filipino encounter, I chose a language barrier between different locals. A young adult does a mano po to an older individual, a tradition done mostly by people from Luzon, while the other simply greets in his mother tongue with a wave. The elderly makes a comment that the one who does mano po seems more respectful than the other, which is then responded with an added “po” to his language and opening up that he comes from another province that does not practice it. This shows inquiry and action forms of overcoming this since he committed to making a change in his vocabulary, as well as opened up a dialogue by explaining himself.
2. The Filipino-Foreigner exchange was pretty similar, but the barrier is the difference in concepts of time. I included an article by Brian Tan for Medium Magazine behind them that talks about the history of Filipino Time, as it explains why our first colonizers, the Spanish named us that. Our tardiness must be eradicated, but has been very much embedded in our system, thus we see a foreigner, most likely coming from a country that values timeliness, was left frustrated after waiting for an office party to begin over an hour later than expected. His colleague then explains to him why, a dialogue form of overcoming the barrier and a reflection on her part as well, and since this is a norm, the man will have to position himself and put this practice into action for next time.
I made a collage of things that Filipino are generally known for locally, but also internationally. Dividing it into culture and media/entertainment, which may also overlap. In the culture section, I included a child welcoming her mother back home, since the Philippines is known for its high emigration rate of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). The same can be said about housekeepers, seamen, and nurses, with the country being the top exporter of the latter around the globe (Caulin, 2018). Thus, people cannot talk about healthcare providers, specifically nurses, without mentioning Filipinos.
Another is our love and passion for basketball, despite being vertically challenged as a people in general, and our fondness of karaoke, which explains our inclination to music and link to being very talented singers. We’re also big on food, taking pride in our local dishes and delicacies, as well as social beings, and finally, seen in a Saturday Night Live sketch is our devotion to our religion as a predominantly Catholic population, taking it with us anywhere in the world. All the media representations I have discussed so far are things I agree with, but we cannot go on without addressing the colorism and racism that has been so ingrained in our culture.
Also included are actors doing blackface as they played indigenous characters, which only perpetuates our colonial mindsets. Although Filipinos aren’t blatantly and violently racist toward individuals of darker complexion compared to Western institutions, our beauty standards of fair skinned and “mixed” women and men seem inconsistent with the pride that we express for our people, originally tan and brown-skinned.
Finally, I included more known names in the international scene, who are very open about their Filipino heritage and are happily spreading their culture, such as the leading man in the 1997 Whitney-Houston produced Cinderella movie, Paolo Montalbán, new Blue’s Clues host Joshua Dela Cruz, America’s Best Dance Crew legends Jabbawockeez, and stand-up comedian Jo Koy. However, I also cannot look past Filipino nods in a negative way, such as Captain Raymond Holt (played by Andre Braugher) comparing star Detective Jake Peralta’s locker with a Philippine dumpsite in the hit sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, among the many belittling of Filipino housemaids, caretakers, and health providers in other shows.
Ultimately, the representation of the Philippines and its people in the media has been accurately portrayed, especially in shows that have Filipinos in the writing or production staff. However, there are still some negative stereotypes that put down many blue-collar workers and health workers who we are grateful for the sacrifices they’ve made for their families everyday, as well as the poverty problems in the country. As Hollywood, one of the biggest influencers of media globally, has been taking a step in a more diverse and inclusive direction, I am hoping for more Filipino representation and I’m glad that we’re on our way there.
We had a lot of rain this winter, more than what we’re used to. It brought water back to our waterfalls and flowers back to our hills. Southern California is covered in wildflowers. (taniainnature)
Bien, the film’s main character, finds himself crushing hard on his co-worker Kacey and his colleague suggests he ask her out. Although doubtful, he quietly asks for signs to guide his decision to push through with it. He wakes up before his 6:03 am alarm, already fulfilling the first sign but convinces himself it is purely coincidental. Lacey (1998) calls associations of signs to their meanings as paradigms, and the latter is symbolic because numbers are learned culturally. Next, the strawberry-flavored yogurt handed to him is indexical, since the image of the fruit is on the packaging, then all the traffic lights on his way to work turning green (symbolic), while a car with a dog in the backseat driving past him is an iconic paradigm.
Dumbfounded by all the signs, he challenges more outlandish ones, like animals in his parking spot. Lo and behold, he spots a horse drawn carriage (iconic) and an elephant image on a truck (indexical). On his way to the office, he asks for and surely gets a clown in the elevator (iconic) and finally, he sees “Date Tayo” (symbolic) printed on the bow of Kacey’s fedora. The camera then pans out to reveal that those words were the company’s name and that the signs were everywhere all along. Signs must have context for meaning to be attached to them. Since people from other backgrounds or locations can have different denotations and connotations to the signifier and signified, interpretations may coincide or vary.
Reference
Lacey, Nick. (1998) “Semiotics.” Image and Representation: Key Concepts in Media Studies. New York: St. Martin’s Press, Inc., pp.56-75.
The video that I made showcased a person who has an excessive need of showing off her travels amidst a pandemic, which was largely met with criticism. She then exploits the situation by creating an infamous apology video, popularized by “canceled” influencers after getting caught saying or doing questionable and offensive things, instead of holding herself accountable. It was completely unnecessary and was created to garner more attention to herself, which is very much a very kulang sa pansin type of Filipino communicative behavior. Although this girl came from a culture of high-context communication, what she did was made famous by low-context communication culture of the West, most likely due to her internalized colonial mentality. Creating stories and addressing it directly was something low-context, as she showcased her ignorance and insensitivity toward other people.
Sociologist Stuart Hall lists reflective approach as one of the three concepts in using language—or in this case, images—to represent context or meaning. Here, nuance can lie in an object, person’s idea or experience, or an event and the language or photos used mirror this already existing meaning. However, my selfies are only two-dimensional and do not reflect who I am as a person, complete with my personality, attitudes, beliefs, and even something concrete as my height. A self-taken photo usually only showcases what one considers their best angle, what makes them subjectively look “good” to oneself and maybe potentially others if they plan to publicly post it and these are techniques I use in taking selfies as well.
If I decide to go barefaced or put on makeup, if I’m wearing something a bit more formal or casual, how the lighting in the place looks, the aesthetic appeal of my background, and which is my “best” side are some of the many factors I take into consideration when taking a selfie. And putting in all this effort all for a still image that doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of my whole being seems very superficial. It only serves as a visual of my face from a strategically positioned distance and doesn’t fully describe or depict me.
The meme I made is a play on the “Ight Imma Head Out” Spongebob meme (among all the countless reaction pictures and videos derived from the popular Nickelodeon kids’ show), which originated from Twitter and has also been widely used on other social media platforms. It humors the Filipino people’s love of Christmas season and how we enthusiastically begin our celebrations and countdowns as soon as the “-ber” months start, specifically on the 1st of September. I edited in some lights, a holiday wreath, and a parol, some common Christmas decorations with a touch of Filipino spirit. I also honored local singer/songwriter Jose Marie Chan, known for his delightful Christmas albums we hear on television, malls, restaurants, and many other establishments.
Filipinos have had the identity of being very happy and jolly people, seen to be smiling in times of calamities and other hardships. Strother (2013) points out that the Philippines has the third largest population of Catholics in the world, just behind Brazil and Mexico. Our dominant religious affiliation and general joyous personalities as people greatly explain our passionate approach toward this holiday, serving as both our identity expression and performance, as well as our positioning in society.
Additional Reference
Strother, J. (2013, March 6). Power of the Catholic Church slipping in the Philippines. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2013/0306/Power-of-the-Catholic-Church-slipping-in-Philippines
The diagram above has a photo of me surrounded by different labels I’ve been called ever since the day I learned how to walk. Some of them are factual, referring to things such as my place of birth, Bacolod (Bacoleña, small town girl), the institutes I attend/ed in high school and college like St. Scholastica’s Academy (former Kulasa), College of Charleston (ex CofC Cougar), and University of the Philippines (current Iska ng Bayan), my social and familial relationships (friend, unica hija), and even my looks and personality (vertically challenged, extrovert). A few were gathered over the years from my extracurriculars and skills (swimmer, driver, frustrated dancer), interests (traveler, avid latin and rap music fan), and personal principles (she/her, feminist, BIPOC advocate). I identify with everything mentioned, just because I have a strong basis and source of those labels. I’m also at a point in my life where I’m pretty self-aware of my traits and appreciate myself wholly.
However, I do not identify with being called jack-of-all-trades, a figure of speech usually followed by ‘a master at none.’ Albeit a compliment, I did embrace and carry this label with me growing up and it ingrained a belief in me that I cannot hone any of my skills enough to mastery level. I hope to find and develop my sole niche and passion someday, so I can be happy and focus on dedicating my life to it. Another is ethnically ambiguous, which I got a lot while studying abroad, with many people mistaking me as someone of Latino descent or another Asian ethnic group. It never really sat well with me and along with all the staring and scrutiny trying to piece together what race I am, it just gave off the impression of racial microaggression to me.
1. What rhetorical exigence spurred the writing of the commentary?
The commentary written by the Philippine College of Physicians president, Dr. Mario Panaligan, was meant to shed light on the intense distress the medical front liners in Manila faced during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. As the primary providers of healthcare and members of its system, he expressed that they felt extremely overwhelmed with the rising number of patients. Add in some anxiety and worry as they turn into patients themselves from exposure in the line of duty. Backed by other Philippine medical groups, he outlined seven main problems.
Hospitals are getting short staffed, unable to find cases and cope with the sheer amount of isolation and emergency care with rooms at full capacity. Contact tracing and quarantine mandate failures and inefficiencies should be looked into, as well as security for individuals who take public transportation to get to where they need to be. Safety in the workplace goes hand-in-hand with public compliance to protect others and oneself being a concern, along with social amelioration for those who need it the most. All these issues coalesce to make up the exigence of the letter, leading the rhetor to ask that Manila be placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) once again.
2. Who is the rhetorical audience? What are the characteristics of this rhetorical audience?
This letter was addressed to Philippine President, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, thus making him the main rhetorical audience. Moreover, the concern was able to reach him through his main COVID-19 National Taskforce (NTF) implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and the Secretary of Department of Health (DOH) Francisco Duque III. With the request that the city be placed under ECQ, this commentary will also involve the authorities in charge of approving and implementing these quarantine laws and mandates.
Later calling for social amelioration, the rhetor also mentioned local government units (LGUs) and essential Philippine departments such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for help. They all make up the governing body and are in charge of important decision-making for the Filipino people, thus making them an appropriate audience for this rhetorical situation.
3. What are the constraints to the post’s rhetorical effectiveness?
The rhetor immediately attempted to appeal to the ethos by plastering the medical group’s name and logo on different parts of the paper. He then opened the letter by implicitly displaying rhetorical alignment by talking about the healthcare workers which includes him. He brings up the recent local developments with regards to the pandemic such as the cases and hospital closures in Manila, which can be constrained if the writer and the audience do not have the same level of knowledge on the subject. He then appeals to the pathos, mentioning the health workers’ mental and emotional discomfort and distress at the time. The timing of writing this letter, the middle of a crisis, is another constraint.
As the rhetor talks about the various issues in the healthcare system they’d like to address, he constructed aspirational identities throughout the speech by focusing on the welfare of not only patients, but just the people in general, as anyone can catch this disease from human droplets. As he goes down the list, he also provides suggestions and explains his reasons for each, which can be a constraint on the beliefs, motives, or overall mindset of the audience.
4. Does the number of likes/shares/retweets make the commentary or post more credible? If so, in what way? If not, why do you say so?
In the case of this letter, no amount of retweeting, liking, and sharing can make it more credible than it already is. From the get-go it has appealed to the audience’s ethos or the perceiver’s attitude toward the information source by using the Philippine College of Physicians’ official letterhead. It contained their logo, board members, chapters, address and contact information as well. It was also closed by the writer’s complete name, licensure, company position, along with the affiliate societies and groups backing them up, such as the Philippines’ Medical Association, Pediatric Society, Heart Association, Society for Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, College of Chest Physicians, and others. He also employed a few rhetorical strategies while enumerating and describing the different problems the ECQ will address, a concrete way to demonstrate an ethical appeal. People might give their two cents on particular segments of this commentary and some constraints may be on the way, but the overall credibility of the source and the numerous ways he showed it will remain.
5. If the article was published only in offline media (newspapers, magazines etc.), would its persuasive quality change? How and why?
Since the letter is addressed to the general governing body, specifically the President himself, the authorities, LGUs, and certain Philippine departments, I believe publishing it in offline media first before it gets to the intended audience or at the same time might change the perception of the government officials and department heads with regards to its effectiveness and persuasive quality. It loses its confidentiality and exclusivity, and there is a possibility that the principal recipients might deem the letter insincere, knowing the outside audience will try to intervene or express different opinions and demands.
Additional Reference
Mele, K. (n.d.). Rhetorical Situation, Exigence, and Kairos. Roger Williams University Open Publishing. Retrieved from https://rwu.pressbooks.pub/wtng225/chapter/exigence-and-rhetorical-situation/.
ACTIVITY 2 (Module 2): Through the President’s Address
Back in March during the commencement of strict COVID-19 lockdowns, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sat down to address the nation, giving updates on the pandemic in an effort to console the people. His 22-minute speech definitely had a rhetorical situation as he immediately went straight to the exigence and mentioned the problem we were facing, as well as a breakdown of his plans to handle the crisis. His delivery and speech content were very fitting for the audience, which was the Filipino population as a whole, and practiced different rhetorical strategies throughout various portions of the address.
He opened the speech with implicit displays of rhetorical alignment, presenting himself as the head of the government and later constructed aspirational identities twice advocating for the less fortunate in our country, as well as our farmers and fisherfolk. Imploring the citizens that we all look out for one another, he makes explicit appeals to common in-group membership, and finally, he avoids taking sides on the subject of government aid. Hearing the clear optimism in the Chief Executive’s voice, I was persuaded that we are being cared for by the government had I watched on the actual date it was delivered.
Video Reference
ABS-CBN News. (2020, March 30). President Duterte addresses the nation on COVID-19 (30 March 2020) | ABS-CBN News. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUZMn-r62y4
ACTIVITY 1 (Module 2): An Introduction to Rhetorical Situation
Coined by Lloyd Bitzer, a rhetorical situation is “the context in which speakers or writers create rhetorical discourse.” It is meant to motivate, impress, or modify the perspective of an audience and dependent on the interaction of three aspects: the exigence, the issue or problem with am urgency, audience, those prompted to make a fitting response and mediate change, and lastly, the constraints, elements that influence the exigence by restricting the rhetor’s actions and decisions. Constraints are further subdivided into two: artistic proofs, which are the ethos, pathos, and logos or the modes of persuasion; and inartistic proofs or factual and uncontrollable factors like witnesses, laws, and other forms of data.
The first clip is a news report on super typhoon Haiyan’s impact on Tacloban City, while the other is director Joel Lamangan speaking up before a rally. The differences between the two are the setting, the rhetor’s delivery, the specific audience, and the logos appealed by the newscast. The latter is the most significant for it provides hard facts to back up any claim. The similarities they share are the use of two modes of persuasion, ethos to establish credibility on their information, and pathos to stir emotion.
Additional References
Bitzer, L. F. (1968). The rhetorical situation. Philosophy and Rhetoric, 1, 1-14. Retrieved February 3, 2019, from http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~raha/309CWeb/Bitzer(1968).pdf
The origin of literacy traces back to five millennia ago when Mesopotamians needed to name individuals involved in transactions, as well as in keeping count of the exchanged livestock and goods. Represented by their shape, some impressions were too complex to just press on clay tablets that they had to be drawn directly using a cut reed (Clayton). Oral tradition, being the main method of communication within civilizations for centuries, is crucial in laying the foundation for modern reading and writing. Literacy is the sole reason for seeking an education today as it has changed the frontier of society in terms of communication in every field imaginable. Simply put, society would not be as technologically and intellectually advanced as it is today without this advancement.
2. black-and-white movies to colorized films
Louis Le Prince, a French inventor, directed the first motion-picture movie called Roundhay Garden in 1888 (Gourley, 2019). Many films have been released since, but in black-and-white because then, color was laborious and costly for many filmmakers. Early experiments with color by American company Paramount Pictures in 1917 led to today’s innovation in the film and movie industry (2018). By the 1950s, colorization of movies were mastered which led to its demand and popularity. These movies, no matter the color—or lack thereof—were successful in conveying their intended message and undoubtedly implying time. Currently, some directors still opt to produce black and white films for artistic purposes, but generally our current colorized movies are best able to indicate mood and temperature, as well as incite emotion from the audience watching.
3. telegraph to telephone
One of the first instruments in sending and receiving messages long distance is the telegraph invented by George Louis Lesage in 1774, which had a different wire for every letter of the alphabet. However, it wasn’t popularized until 1830 when Samuel Morse developed the Morse Code, allowing only one wire to interpret messages (Swafford, 2015). In 1876, less than 50 years later, Alexander Graham Bell created the telephone which significantly lessens exchange time between individuals which then becomes one of the most groundbreaking inventions in communication. While modern day telephones are no longer the most commonly used, the calling feature in current cellular and smartphones are derived from this device and has changed long distance communication in society.
4. radio to television
Mostly associated with broadcasts, advertisements, and music, radios allow communication with the use of radio waves. Invented by Italian Guglielmo Marconi in 1894, he was able to popularize wireless technology initially used by naval ships. With later developments, message broadcasting, commercials, programs, news, and dramas were featured but it wasn’t until the 1930 during the time of the Great Depression that it was most used because it was free of cost. However, by the early 1950s televisions became accessible to many and radio’s dominant Golden Age came to an end. Currently, radios and televisions are still widely used by individuals from all walks of life, but besides the use of auditory senses many enjoy the added visuals provided by the television medium for entertainment and in gaining information.
5. personal computers to laptop
Computers have been around since the 1800s by Charles Babbage, but were incredibly massive with a very basic language in its program. It wasn’t until the development of fourth generation computers in 1971 that the first bulky personal computers emerged with a single microprocessor circuit chip containing millions of transistors (Zimmermann, 2017). The laptop, a smaller version of this, was invented ten years later by Adam Osborne which eventually led to the development of the Internet in the 90s. The convenience and multifunctional use of these personal computers are very much benefited by the modern day individual, especially during online work and study.
II. Predict what communication and media would be like 50 years from now based on past and current trends in communication.
I believe that we are currently living in the future, as technology is at its most advanced with experts already using artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithms to track each individual’s digital use. These, along with facial, voice, and fingerprint recognition, social and digital media will be tailored to the user as much as it can. The level of communication with one another will also be limitless, which is already starting with the emergence of different video conferencing platforms and holograms.
However, a Netflix documentary I recently watched called The Social Dilemma showed that this analytic method is detrimental to our personal privacy as it will be nearly impossible in the future. With social media becoming ad factories now, we’re gradually being shaped to be products of mega corporations. Too much personalization can also lead to biased information presented in our timelines and can warp our attitudes toward social issues and cause further divide. Ultimately, digital media will continue to be what we make of it, as long as we, the users, are aware and responsible of what we read, click, share, and send.
References
Barnard, D. (2019, August 06). History of VR - Timeline of Events and Tech Development. Retrieved from https://virtualspeech.com/blog/history-of-vr
Clayton, E. (n.d.). Why did humans start writing? The British Library. Retrieved from https://www.bl.uk/history-of-writing/articles/why-did-humans-start-writing
flamingmoney66. (n.d.). Evolution of Radio Broadcasting. Open Text WSU. Retrieved 2020, from https://opentext.wsu.edu/com101/chapter/7-2-evolution-of-radio-broadcasting/
Foley, J. M. (2010, May 17). Oral tradition. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/oral-tradition
Gourley, P. (2019, October 25). What was the first movie ever made? History 101. Retrieved 2020, from https://www.history101.com/first-movie-ever-made-grab-popcorn-lets-find-out/
Jackson, K. (2018, July 25). A brief history of the smartphone. Retrieved from https://sciencenode.org/feature/How%20did%20smartphones%20evolve.php
NIMCJ. (2019, January 23). National Institute of Mass Communication & Journalism, Ahmedabad. Retrieved from https://www.nimcj.org/blog-detail/timeline-of-the-evolution-of-mass-media.html
Swafford, A. (2015, March 5). Communication Through Time: Telegraph vs. Telephone. Retrieved from https://hawksites.newpaltz.edu/dhm293/2015/03/05/communication-through-time-telegraph-vs-telephone/
When Did Movies Go From Black and White to Color? (2018, November 21). Sporcle Blog. Retrieved from https://www.sporcle.com/blog/2018/11/when-did-movies-go-from-black-and-white-to-color/
Zimmermann, K. A. (2017, September 7). History of Computers: A Brief Timeline. Live Science. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/20718-computer-history.html
Watching a video from almost a decade ago highlighting the rise of social media to becoming one of the most powerful instruments in human society is mind-blowing. My generation lived and grew along that transition, the development of big, bulky, and nonexistent devices to today’s sleek and smart gadgets. The statistics presented then almost seem insignificant compared to the audience size that these media rack up presently.
From print, radio, and vinyl record players our grandparents were accustomed to, the atari, walkman, and televisions of our parents, to our now laptops, tablets, and smartphones, all these media platforms are coming together to seamlessly distribute news and other content. This merge as a consequence of digitization is called convergent media. Note that it is not under the category of new media, simply because it enhances traditional media by interacting with different media forms such as mass, new, and digital media.
Currently, the biggest and most popular driver of convergent media is social media (Flew, 2008), a technology that serves as a public forum, as well as a platform for creatives, buyers and sellers, information dissemination, entertainment, and general communication. With the world quite literally in the palm of our hands, we can fuse something traditional like print media then sharing this news digitally with others through electronic mail, which is new media.
The rise of convergent media from traditional forms is comparable to the evolution of orality to literacy because just like communication, our methods of media are ever-changing. Both also happen simultaneously, with new types of communication (Ong, 1982) needing new literacies in the form of electronic and digital media. I believe that the current state of mass media is the future, being the most influential, entertaining, and accessible. With features such as voice, fingerprint, and facial recognition emerging, as well as heavy use of social media algorithms, technology will be more and more customized and tailored to every user as time progresses.
References
Flew, T. (2008, April 17). Media Convergence. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved November 2, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/media-convergence
Ong, W.J. (1982). Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the World.
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