Freedom Writer
Watch the rest of “Freedom Writers” and answer the following question:
Perception Discussion Question:
Pick any scene/character and use symbolic interactionism OR The Perception Process to describe one character’s perception of another. Be specific, analyze the concept/theories and use your lectures/text to back-up your claims. I want to see that you understand the theory you are applying.
ONCE AGAIN – DON’T FORGET! This seems like a question you could answer whether you take this course or not with simple terms. But, the point of it is to apply what was learned from the lecture & textbook. So, be sure to incorporate that learning into your answer and CITE IT!
Example:
“I drew a picture of a mother and a daughter talking about how each of their days. I feel this is interpersonal communication because, according to the lecture, one of the purposes of interpersonal communication is to acquire information. In this example, the mother and daughter are acquiring information from one another. Directly after that slide I came upon this discussion question. However, later in the lecture, I learned that we are all senders and receivers during an interaction. To add context to my picture, let’s pretend that the daughter is staring out the window as her mother is talking about her day. She would potentially be sending a message to her mother that she is not paying attention. At the same time the daughter is receiving a message from her mother (O’Connell, Interpersonal Communication Lecture).
Bibliography
O’Connell, Laura. “Lesson 1: The Interpersonal Communication Process.” Accessed: December 26, 2020.
Sample Solution
In the movie “Freedom Writers,” one scene I find particularly interesting involves the characters Eva and Erin. Eva is a Hispanic student from an immigrant family living in Long Beach, California and her perception of Erin, a white teacher from New York, is reflected through symbolic interactionism. Symbolism is often used to create meaning for objects, people or events through symbols that represent something deeper than their literal definition (Creswell & Oakes 2018). In this case, Eva sees Erin as an example of privilege and power due to her whiteness and socioeconomic class.
Through the Perception Process theory proposed by psychologist Edward Tolman (1948), it can be further analyzed why Eva has these perceptions towards Erin. According to Tolman’s theory, when perceiving any object or person there are three components: stimulus input – what we physically see/hear; cognitive processes – what we think about it; and behavior output – how we react (Cherry 2019). As seen in the movie when Eva first meets Erin she notices her different physical characteristics such as skin coloring which sets them apart but also represents certain social hierarchies within society that give some people more power over others (stimulus input). From here based on past experiences with other similarly privileged individuals together with cultural contexts presented in media sources such as television shows demonstrating similar scenarios (cognitive process),Eva begins to develop negative emotions towards her teacher while also experiencing feelings of envy because they come from two different worlds with very distinct perspectives on life(behavior output).
Overall, both theories have been used effectively in analyzing why one character’s perception of another was so intense. Through symbolic interactionism we can say that Eva saw herself as weaker compared to Erin because she had less power due to being a minority whereas The Perception Process explains how those feelings were formed when interacting with Erik based on prior experiences. This type of analysis demonstrates how powerful understanding psychological theories can be when applied practically into our everyday lives or even movies!
Hi, Welcome to Compliant Papers.