M1. Mini Paper Choose ONE of the topics below to write your Mini Paper assignment. You are expected to answer the question(s) posed by the paper topic as well as apply concepts you learned about the...

M1. Mini Paper

Choose ONE of the topics below to write your Mini Paper assignment.

You are expected to answer the question(s) posed by the paper topic as well as apply concepts you learned about the subject from readings / discussion. It is important that you JUSTIFY and EXPLAIN your answers. Remember, you are “teaching” me something or attempting to convince me about your point of view. Your job is to make the connections for me.


Format of mini-papers
While the paper topics are different there are some requirements that apply to all papers:

• Use 12 point font, Times New Roman, 1 inch margins, Double spaced


• Avoid excessive “spacing” or “indentations”


• It must be minimum three pages, maximum four pages


• Grammar and spell check required


• Logical flow and structure of argument


• Submit as .pdf or .docx

Topic #1In your own words, describe your personal definition of communication. Make sure that you explain why you feel this way. In doing so, however, keep in mind that your professor makes a big issue of communication and control/power. Is he correct about this? Do you see communication as something more or something less than participants’ efforts to control the communication contexts in which they find themselves?

Topic #2Your text offers a definition of culture. Take its individual parts and explain how they manifest themselves in your everyday life. Be sure to include specific examples. Here it is expressed in those individual parts:

• Culture is the world made meaningful.


• It is socially constructed and maintained through communication.


• It limits as well as liberates us;


• It differentiates as well as unites us.


• It defines our realities and thereby shapes the ways we think, feel, and act.