Communication Criticism: Developing Your Critical Powers

By Jodi R. Cohen

Designed specifically for noncommunication scholars, Communication Criticism is an informally written, practical guide about how to think, how to communicate effectively, and how to filter meaning out of the swarm of communication that seeks our attention daily. Undergraduates will learn how understanding the fundamental principles of communication helps them judge the potential effectiveness, effects, truths, and ethics of all types of communication from classical "soapbox speeches" to reading a magazine, talking to a boy/girlfriend, watching court proceedings, or watching the TV news. In a format similar to most public speaking courses, author Jodi R. Cohen introduces classical theories of rhetoric at the beginning of each chapter, then expands the discussion with contemporary postmodern theories, touching on concerns with aesthetics and cultural bias as well. Question-and-answer sections in each chapter and many specific, down-to-earth examples will attract and encourage students to harness the power of communication that shapes who we are, what we know, and what we do. A highly practical resource, Communication Criticism is the ideal for professionals in popular culture, media studies, mass communication, and film studies.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761906304
• ISBN13: 9780761906308
• Release Date: February 1998
• Publisher: Sage Publications
• Length: 235 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Clear, concise, understandable, creative and useful!

I am a student of Dr. Cohen's and found her book not only an excellent addendum to her lectures, but an asset to my everyday criticism of all sorts of communication. We're all critics, and we can not deny that. How we choose to criticize and develop our critical skills, however, is up to us, and it can be done! Whether a friend asks me what I think a particular movie or if a television advertisement sparks my interest, I am now better able to organize the ways I criticize. I can determine the effectiveness of the everyday communication I encounter and in turn can communicate more effectively myself! Dr. Cohen's useful and organized examples illustrate her ideas cleverly. As people who come in contact with all forms of communication on a regular basis, we can all benefit much from this book in its tactical and useful methods provided of HOW TO BE the critics we all are. No matter what your job or family role is, this book will help organize your values by way of figuring out WHY YOU LIKE WHAT YOU LIKE in the regular day-by-day forms of communication that try to reach you.