The article ‘Cooking 101’ criticized the lack of skills and simplified recopies published by most food companies for the end consumers. The author claims that ‘culinary illiteracy’ is the main problem of the modern culinary industry and ordinary Americans.
The author attacks food companies and states that they are responsible for poor and inadequate vocabulary popularized through mass media. Using the four dimensions of attributions, it is possible to say that the author tends to shift from specific substantive issues to broad relational concerns (e.g., power, self-esteem, trust) and to the ground rules under which the research is conducted (i.e., violations of expectations concerning interruptions, taboo topics, aggressive tactics, etc.). The author is specific and objective, explaining his point of view and ideas.
Further, due to the abstract and elusive nature of relationship issues, relationship struggles are generally played out through the proliferation of specific ideas which appear to involve minor and insignificant matters. For instance, the author involves such issues as fashion, training, and home economy. He shifts responsibility from an individual to food companies popularizing inadequate and even false culinary terms. In addition to the individual communicative moves, there are system properties present in these articles, including variety and specificity. Attributions result from the fact that individual moves are used in complex combinations (Wood, 2003).
In the columnist response, the author opposes Sagon’s views and ideas, stating that lack of knowledge and vocabulary does not “make one a lesser cook.” Using implicit personality theory, it is possible to say that the author to terms is only paying less attention to data and facts addressed by Sagon. Extensive strategizing by the parties probably disrupts topic continuity further, as the columnist ignores preceding messages in order to carry out his own internal plans of argument.
Such plans consist of internalized replies that the columnist wishes to express or interactive “scripts,” such as a sequence of leading questions that indirectly leads to the author’s claim. To this extent, the arguments are incompatible and are apt to appear chaotic. He states: “knowing the proper culinary terms doesn’t matter in the real world of the home cook” (A Columnist’s Response 2006). One may generally assume that if a specific content conflict frequently recurs and with increasing intensity, the issue left unresolved is a relationship issue. The columnist’s response vividly portrays that a person focuses on internal factors paying no attention to external sources.
The response addresses the topic from a personal standpoint shared by the author but does not take into account social context and real-life situations. Personal expectations operate as constraints and. Include “people’s dispositions, social skills, and past experiences” (Knapp and Vangelisti 2004, p. 84). This example shows that people develop ideas that contain relevant social knowledge about various aspects of situations.
Knowledge of these issues is structured along horizontal and vertical dimensions. Knapp and Vangelisti (2004) propose that the dimension of natural categories contains three basic classes: superordinate, basic, and subordinate, which are hierarchically organized according to levels of abstractness and inclusiveness. The columnist addresses the issues taking into account personal experience and knowledge, neglecting external factors and a broad social picture. In this case, the selection of analysis concerns the degree of abstraction and inclusiveness. In the article, facts overlap with other categories, so, although they are concrete (Wood, 2003). The article and the response contain different information. Thus it is reasonable to expect that situational perceptions operate jointly to define various influence goals.
References
A Columnist’s Response to “Culinary Illiteracy“. (2006) Web.
Knapp, M.L. Vangelisti, A. (2004). Interpersonal Communication and Human Relationships. Allyn & Bacon; 5 edn.
Sagon, C. (2006). Cooking 101: Add 1 Cup of Simplicity. Washington Post Saturday; Page A01. Web.
Wood, J.T. (2003). Interpersonal Communications. Wadsworth Publishing.