Chapter 2/ Quiz 2

vague language

The listener or reader is not able to picture the situation. A word or group of words is vague when its meaning is blurry, unclear and hazy. -"indecent" and "obscene" are vague

What is the best way to determine if words are excessively emotive?

Replace them with neutral words and re-evaluate the information

Evidence meaning

the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid

Which of the following is not one of the five criteria used to evaluate definitions?

A good definition uses metaphoric language

Referring to Stages of Knowing, individuals in the Garden of Eden refers to seeing the world as?

Black and white

Stage one: Garden of eden

Individuals in the Garden of Eden stage tend to see the world as black and white, right or wrong. There is no gray area for these people. Similar to the biblical Garden of Eden, they are told what to think and do by people perceived as authorities. These individuals of authority begin as our parents—we do as we are told by our parents. Soon, however, we gain new experiences as we grow in life and are not satisfied with these authorities and what they believe. When an individual begins to question the authority figures, it is time for them to leave this stage.

Pragmatic meaning

The last element that contributes to the art of language is the pragmatic meaning-- which involves the person who is speaking and the situation in which the word is spoken. The correct interpretation or meaning of the sentence depends on what is actually taking place in the situation. Pragmatic meaning is also called situational meaning. This can be the way different pragmatic contexts, such as the persons who are speaking and the situations, will affect the meanings of the words.

Directive Language is the language that is used to guide or influence actions?

True

Stage two: Anything goes

When the individual rejects the authoritarian structure of Stage One, they tend to reject the strict ideals of their first authority figures and begin to believe that anything goes for them—hence the "Anything Goes" Stage. The reasoning of this stage is if authorities are not dependable and no one can trust their expertise, then no one point of view is better than any other. In philosophy this is known as relativism—the truth is relative to any individual or situation and there is no standard we can use to decide which beliefs actually make sense (Chaffee, 2008). In other words, all beliefs are of equal value and there is no way to determine whether one belief is better than another. Culture also influences relativism. An example of relativism is the custom of the Japanese to take off their shoes before entering the house. However, in Mexico this is not a custom and they rarely take off their shoes. There is nothing that tells us which belief is right or wrong. In the long run, the "Anything Goes" level of thinking does not work because "deep down" we know that some beliefs are better than others. Stage Two is better in some respects than Stage One; however, to become a critical thinker, you must progress to Stage Three.

Emotive language

used to provoke an emotional response

five criteria used to evaluate definitions

- A good definition is not too broad - A good definition should state the essential characteristics of the term being defined - A good definition is not circular - A good definition avoids obscure and metaphoric language - A good defintion avoids emotive language

Syntactic meaning

Another component of language is the syntactic meaning of the word—this defines its relation to other words in a sentence. Syntactic relationships extend among all the words of a sentence that are or will be spoken or written. The syntactic meaning defines three relationships among words: Content: words that express the major message of the sentence, Description: words that elaborate or modify the major message of the sentence, and Connection: words that join the major message of the sentence.

Saying "Dearly Beloved..." is an example of which type of language?

Ceremonial Language

We often describe a trait in ourselves more favorably than the same trait in another person. This is an example of what type of language?

Emotive

Immanual Kant agreed with both the Rationalist and the Empiricists?

False

Which function of language best expresses whether a statement is true or false?

Informative Language

Which of the following best expresses the dictionary definition of a word?

Semantic Meaning

Denotation (Semantic) meaning

The semantic meaning of a word expresses the relationship between a language event, such as speaking and writing and a non language event, such as feeling, object or idea.The semantic meaning of a word is also called the denotative meaning -it expresses the general properties of the word, and these properties determine how the word is used. To discover the general properties you begin by examining your own knowledge of the of the meaning and use of words. You can also research different definitions of the word.

informative language

These sentences have a truth value; meaning that the sentences are either true or false. An example of this is:" Abortion is not legal in Virginia" and" Barack Obama is the President of the United States."

Ceremonial language

This is language that is used in formal circumstances. For instance, saying "Dearly Beloved... " in a marriage ceremony is an example of ceremonial language. Another example is saying 'Amen" at the end of a prayer.

Directive language

This is language that is used to guide or influence actions-such as a command or request. Any type of command would fall under this category, such as "Close the door" and "Please write an initial post by Monday." This is where nonverbal language can be useful especially hand gestures.

Expressive language

This language conveys attitude and feelings. It is used to produce an emotional reaction from the listener or reader. Examples of this would be any religious readings and types of writing that use emotional language. Poetry and literature are good examples of expressive language.

Connotation (Perceptual) meaning

To understand the total meaning of a word, you must include its perceptual or connotative meaning—this expresses the relationship between a language event and what the individual hears when the word is spoken. Based on previous experiences and past associations, we each elicit from words unique and personal thoughts and feelings. Perceptual meaning will also include an individual's positive and negative responses to a word.

Shaking one's head "yes" or "no" is an example of nonverbal communication?

True

Stage three: Thinking critically

When people achieve this level of understanding, they find that some viewpoints are better than others—not because authorities say they are, but because there is reasonable evidence to support the viewpoints. People in this stage are more open-minded towards others viewpoints and ideas, especially ones that disagree with theirs. They recognize that there are many different opinions and they will accept others' perspectives. While critical thinkers are open to new ideas, they also dedicate themselves to definite points of view and continue researching to support their ideas. Critical thinkers realize that evaluating evidence before making decisions is essential—and always remain open to many perspectives and viewpoints