Listening Distractions Essay Example for Free

Listening Distractions Essay Distractions are the divided attention of an individual or group from the chosen object of attention, onto the source of distraction. Distractions are caused by: the lack of ability to pay attention; lack of interest in the object of attention; or the great intensity, novelty or alertness of something other than the object of attention. Distractions come from both external sources and internal sources. â€Å"Art of Public Speaking† by Stephen E Lucas In this assignment I will focus on five listening distractions and effective ways to combat them. In order to become an effective speaker, it should be known that success comes from being an effective listener. By understanding barriers to listening the speaker can eliminate or reduce distraction prior to delivery of the speech. Some distractors are listed below. 1.Noise: Intrapersonal, Semantic and Situational a.Intrapersonal; this comes from a listener’s internal dialog, daydreaming, or focusing on their internal thoughts â€Å"day dreaming†. By listening to their internal speech, the listener will lose concentration on the speaker and miss points and topics of the speech. b.Semantic; these are words or phrases used by the speaker that my trigger a process of thought out of line with what the speaker intended. These â€Å"trigger† words are based on several different aspects of the audience’s make-up, from gender to ethnical or country of origin and religion. c.Situational; this is the physical noise distraction that may come from the design of the lecture hall, an open door or window that allows outside noise to enter, or the rustling noises associated with the audience, i.e. cell phones, coughing, side bar conversation. 2.Speaker Perception a.This is the perception the audience makes in reference to the speaker, how the speaker presents themselves, does the speaker use filler words such as, â€Å"umh† or â€Å"you know†. Does the speaker utilize a slow methodical pattern which bores the audience, calling into question the speaker’s intellect? 3.Self-Perceptions and Personal Biases a.Comprises anything that is a barrier to understanding the speaker’s message an includes egocentrism, Ethnocentrism, and dogmatism I. Egocentrism focuses on the self-centeredness and may limit the listener because of the feeling â€Å"this doesn’t pertain to me†, â€Å"I’ve already heard this message†, or â€Å" I am too important to be listening to someone like that† II.Ethnocentrism is based on the perception of because we don’t share a creed, color, or back ground, the speaker cannot understand the message from â€Å"my† point of view. Likewise the speaker focuses, or centers their speech in a manner that is ethnically limiting. III.Dogmatism the problem of holding opinions without questioning the validity or ethical value. Unquestioned opinions can lead to defensiveness or the attitude of, â€Å"I know it all† This behavior can cause the listener to take offense to the message the speaker is conveying. 4.Physical discomfort caused by poor seating, temperature, or length of the speech without break for restroom or smoke breaks. 5.Lack of interest the speaker has lost focus, changed topic without smooth transition, and maintains a monotone which in-turn shifts the listener’s attention. May also be due to the speaker’s lack of interest in the topic resulting in poor public speaking techniques. The key to contending with these distractions are to practice the speech, become comfortable with the topic, know how long the speech will last, film the practice session and identify personal traits that may cause distraction. Have someone listen to the speech to identify patterns or behaviors that may be offensive or controversial. Understand the message, what is the purpose of the speech; focus on the transition of thoughts and ideas to ensure a smooth process. Avoid monotone voice patterns unless it is an essential part of the delivery. Have fun with the topic, the speech and the audience. Before speaking conduct a walkthrough of the lecture hall, identify distractors and eliminate them or strategize how to overcome them. Bottom line, be prepared.

The Chinese Literati Painting Tradition :: Art History Papers

The Chinese Literati Painting Tradition One can not help but marvel at the beauty of the Chinese landscapes, the vast space, the intricacies, the imaginative structures, the subtle colorations. To a western eye they are beautiful but to the Chinese they are far more. The paintings embody or portray all aspects of Tao. The caligraphy and imagery in each painting take on spiritual significance. The artist-scholar can spend years searching for understanding in each work. This understanding he seeks is not just of the scene he sees but of universal structure and himself within it. In turn, his discoveries surface in his brushwork, composition, and the spirit of his mountains, trees, water, and sky. It is no wonder, that the cannon for Chinese art remained among the literati painters over so many centuries. Through painting, one could reach a further understanding of Tao or rather repossess his ancestors knowledge of Tao. The Tao, with its associated notions of oneness of "spirit and matter," the external flux of all things, the resolution of opposites, and the significance of the nonexhistant, was the cornerstone on which Chinese based theirpainting and their theories of painting It is the search for understanding that drives the artist-scholar to paint. Shen Chou, an artist from the Ming Dynasty tells of his new found knowledge and cleansed mind which he has reached through only experiencing nature. His words are translated from the calligraphy in Night Vigil (above, center). Through mental abstinence and by sitting alone by the light of the flickering candle long into the night, I must pursue both the [outer] principals of things and the wondorous [inner] workings of the mind. By using this method for self-cultivation and responding to things, I shall posess understanding. The Literati were generaly of the beurocracy. They were well mannered in Confucian traditions, well educated, and well off. They were first scholars before they were painters. In fact painting was generally concidered an outlet for scholars. Scholar-painters were greatly respected, their work was part of high culture. The great artist-scholars wrote at length, advising techniques for painting and calligraphy. They formed different schools of thinking across China. Their names and spirits were remembered through vast literature and in the paintings themselves. Every succeeding generation of artist scholars rekindled the spirit of their ancsestors through their own works of art and literature. And so it continued until the fall of Dynastic China. Unfortunately though, literati remains difficult for Westerners to fully comprehend and appreciate.

Community College Essay

After graduating high school a lot of people do not know what their next step in life will be. Some struggle between deciding to go straight into the workforce, joining the military, or continuing their education by going to college. The average person chooses college as their next step. A common issue about going to college is whether to go to a two-year college/community college or straight into a four-year university. I think community college is the smarter and better choice. People fail to realize that going to community college helps you save thousands of dollars. Not only that, but students with undecided majors better find their way while saving money at community colleges. They are very flexible and can provide students with a better transition from high school while benefiting from their smaller class sizes and campuses. As we all know, community college is cheaper to attend than a four-year university. Four-year universities cost thousands of dollars while attending a community college would cost less than half of that. For instance, the average cost of attendance at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is roughly 5,000 dollars per year for a freshman, compared to the cost of attendance at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) which is about 25,000 dollars a year for freshmen. The cost of attending VCU is fives times as much as attending NOVA where in retrospect the same material is being covered. To break it down, tuition and fees at VCU amount to about 12,000 dollars. One credit costs about 300 dollars while at NOVA a credit costs 150 dollars. Room and board would be 9,000 dollars at VCU, while going to NOVA in most cases you would not have to pay to live at home if you are a freshman. Books would still be around the same price because books in college are expensive regardless. Other expenses would vary depending on what a student would need. Looking back on it the cost of going to a community college saves you a tremendous amount of money and would be worth it in the long run. Growing up people would talk about community college as if it were basically the thirteenth grade. In a sense would not that benefit a student more? Classes at four-year universities can sometimes be overwhelming, having hundreds of students in one lecture class. With classes getting hard from the transition of high school to college, would not a student want smaller class sizes? It only seems reasonable. By having smaller class sizes a student would naturally be able to learn better than in a class full of 300 people. Lecture classes can be long, tiring, and filled with millions of questions. In bigger classes some communication issues might occur and information might not always get to a student depending on their seating. Also the professors might not always get to a question that a student may have which can get very frustrating. Having smaller class sizes, everything is right there in front of a student. The professor is there for easier access to questions, class discussions would be more beneficial and easier to get involved with, and a person would get to know their classmates more. Smaller class sizes would help students gain a better learning experience. Many people go into college undecided on what they want their major to be. Studies prove that 50% of students who declared their majors change them after their first year according to Dr. Firtz Grupe of mymajors. com. Some students even change their majors up to three times throughout college. Going to community college can help a student find out their major while saving money. When a student changes majors there are always some complications. Some classes that were needed for their previous major have nothing to do with the current major that they just switched to. The money that was paid for those credits is, for the most part, wasted. That can be very taxing on a student’s financial income. If these problems occurred to a student who was attending a four-year college they would have wasted thousands of dollars compared to if a student changed majors at a community college. Even though money is lost in both cases, the amount of money lost at a community college is far more manageable than losing thousands of dollars at a four-year college. Think about it this way, would you rather lose 100 dollars or 10,000? Community college is a great way for students with undecided majors to discover what they want to do while not losing as much money and time. Classes at community colleges are very flexible and can help students manage their classes around other things. People who attend community colleges sometimes seek jobs while in school. One thing that could be very frustrating for a student would be having class at a time that conflicts with a work schedule. That could be a problem if a student at a four-year university had a job because not as much night classes are offered at four-year colleges. Community colleges have better options in that case. A student working a regular 9-5 schedule would find problems trying to go to school after work. At community college classes could easily be taken after work with more night classes being offered at a community college. Students can go to work then school or vice versa, go to school in the morning then work some time after without any hardships. Having flexible classes are always a benefit because they provide more options and having options are always a good thing. Community colleges provide an easier transition from the laid back high school environment to the stressful college life. As Liz Addison says, it helps students begin. High school classes are easier compared to classes in college. Grading wise and tests, quizzes, etc. Community college can help ease a student into the college atmosphere. That classes are not that much easier than that of a community college but not as hard either. It is a step up from high school in terms of difficulty and helps to better transition students into the university world. Less stress is involved and things are more manageable. Some people argue many things about community colleges. The main thing often associated with community college is commuting . People say that commuting to community college cost so much money in regards to gas. Community colleges are in your community and most of the times have ways to get you to and from school. They are called community colleges for a reason. All the money that a student would save from not going to a four-year college would cover the cost of gas easily. Also most community colleges have operating bus systems and car pooling is always an option. Another thing people try to argue about going to a community college is that a person will not gain a true college experience. Some people go through life and do not experience many things like never being on a plane, not having a dog, or even never going to a football game. That experience is not something that a student would need to have to become successful in life. The rewards of getting to where you want to be in life are far greater than not getting a full college experience. In the long run you will make up for the experiences you have missed by gaining better ones. Going to a two-year college first before transferring to a four-year university pays off in the long run. People either do not know the benefits or are two proud to attend a community college. Money is saved, the learning experience is better, the transition from high school is easier and community colleges help undeclared majors find their majors. Seems like the smart way to go.

Analysis Of The Adventures Of Pinocchio By Carlo Collodi

throughout in cold blood, was the connotation positive negative or neutral and if so why TERM DEFINITION Source of Definition(url) LITERARY EXAMPLE Source of Example (title and author of piece) 1 alliteration â€Å"Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to one another† â€Å"https://quizlet.com/302172/rhetorical-terms-flash-cards/† â€Å"Three grey geese in a green field grazing, Grey were the geese and green was the grazing.† Three Grey Geese by Mother Goose 2 allusion â€Å"A reference to a well-known person, place, or thing, from literature, history, etc.† â€Å"https://quizlet.com/302172/rhetorical-terms-flash-cards/† â€Å"I was surprised his nose was not growing like Pinocchio’s.† The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi 3 anadiplosis â€Å"The rhetorical repetition of one or several words; specifically, repetition of a word that ends one clause at the beginning of the next.† â€Å"https://mcl.as.uky.edu/glossary-rhetorical-terms† â€Å"The mountains look on Marathon – And Marathon looks on the sea†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The Isles of Greece by Lord Byron 4 anaphora â€Å"Repetition of a word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of two or more sentences in a row.† â€Å"https://quizlet.com/302172/rhetorical-terms-flash-cards/† â€Å"Five years have passed; Five summers, with the length of Five long winters! and again I hear these waters†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Tintern Abbey by William Wordsworth 5 antithesis â€Å"The presentation of two contrasting images. The ideas are balanced by word, phrase, clause, or paragraphs.†Show MoreRelatedPinocchio Essay1805 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction: Pinocchio is one of the most celebrated works in Italian literature. It was written by Carlo Lorenzi in 1883. Like many other writers in Italy at that time he wrote it under a pseudonym Carlo Collodi. Collodi himself was a firm believer in education and one of his main goals was to educate young people, at one point declaring. â€Å"Open a school, and you will close a prison†(Collodi in Person, p 141). His novel about Pinocchio continually portrays the virtues of education and the evilsRead MoreLiterary Criticism : The Free Encyclopedia 7351 Words   |  30 Pagescentury)[18] Parzival, by Wolfram von Eschenbach (early 13th century) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (late 14th century) Lazarillo de Tormes (1554)[19] 17th century[edit] Simplicius Simplicissimus, by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (1668) The Adventures of Telemachus, by Franà §ois Fà ©nelon (1699) 18th century[edit] The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, by Henry Fielding (1749)[20] Candide, by Voltaire (1759) The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, by Laurence Sterne (1759)[20] Emile