"Dare We Say 'I'?" by Ruth Behar

In the article “Dare We Say ‘I’?” by Ruth Behar, the author is interested in a new tendency in scholarly writing, personal stories. Thru this, the author is trying to show the reader that personal stories in academic writing are not selfish stories, but they are stories that unravel new cultural mysteries or create a deep connection between past historical events and recent movements.

This article’s study is based on previous writing experiences from different authors and how these additions of personal stories in these books have shown new aspects of cultural history. Some of the books used in the observation of the article are “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf, “I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala” by Rigoberta Menchu, and “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men” by James Agee among others. The author used these well-known and respected books to show how their author’s personal testimonies have affected views of various social problems talked about in these books.

The author learns from this study that personal experiences are helpful in clarifying certain cultural misconstructions, but they do not entirely solve the problem that papers should be written only theoretically without any kind of personal writing. The author expects that the reader should respond to this article with a clearer understanding of how personal writing can be included in scholarly papers and how this writing can influence narrow-minded, cultural views. The author also explains that there is a limit between including personal experiences that create a connection to a social problem and creating these personal experiences into an autobiography.

I agree with the author’s position in this argument. Personal writing can help influence cultural views and expose different aspects of a past event thus helping the audience have a clearer understanding of these past events and influence their views on the matter. This kind of writing will help in the next assignment by creating a connection between a personal experience I’ve had and my topic and explain to the audience why I have an interest in the topic. 

Presentation Rubric

1) Effective Length of Presentation
2) Preparation of Speaker
3) Volume/Clarity of Speaker
4) Quality Content of Presentation

"Every Presentation Ever: Communication FAIL" by Habitudes for Communicators

The video “Every Presentation Ever: Communication FAIL” by Habitudes for Communicators focuses on common mistakes that most people fall into when presenting material to an audience. The authors of this video intended to show its audience the mistakes people do as presenters when they probably think those mistakes go unaware.

The video does not specify of study or researched done for this video but the content gives the idea that the authors have some experience with communication. By the author’s examples and real-life mistakes displayed in the video, the audience can deduce that their experience and other people’s experience have given them enough information to come to the video’s ideas and concepts. No limitations are seen in the video, the ideas and structures are well developed and the organization’s website at the end of the video gives credibility to the authors.

The authors of this video want the audience to be aware of the common mistakes that are made when trying to communicate with others whether in a presentation or through writing. Also, a major concept of the video is to be prepared. To avoid awkward moments in a presentation, the presenter must be prepared and familiarized with the material to keep audience engaged and make presentation interesting. The power point should only be a support in case the presenter forgets something. Also, the structure of the video has to be adequate and relatable to the presenter’s idea. If the structure of the presentation does not reflect the content (ideas) of the presentation then the presenter will fail to communicate its point to the audience.

I agree with the authors’ point of view. Many presenters are unaware of their obvious gestures when they are not familiar with their material. This unpreparedness creates a wall and blocks any kind of communication between the audience and the presenter. In order to communicate effectively in the documentary, every aspect of the presentation has to be connected and have a purpose that helps explain the ideas of the video. If we fail to create a connection of ideas to the visuals in the video, then we fail to communicate.