The piece of evidence which best demonstrates my ability to achieve the second learning

objective of the communication discipline at Bryant University, to employ communication

theories, perspectives, principles and concepts, is the fifth discussion prompt written for my
Senior Seminar in Communication Theory course. As the course requirements and the nature of
these discussion prompts were explained in the previous essay regarding the first learning
objective, this discussion prompt follows the same format, written with a summary of the
chapter, followed by an application of a specific idea or ideas from the chapter on a larger scale,
while including multiple discussion provoking questions in the discussion prompt, as well as at
the end of it. The purpose of this discussion prompt was the same as all of the others, in that it
was then used to participate in the class discussion of the chapter and topic.
The discussion prompt which I have chosen to demonstrate my ability to achieve the
second learning objective was written in response to the fifth chapter in the textbook, which is
titled, Interpersonal Communication. This chapter discussed the different definitions for
interpersonal communication, as well as four theories which are essential in understanding
interpersonal communication and the relationships that develop as a result of these experiences
of interpersonal communication. As such, in writing the discussion prompt for this chapter, the
summary effectively reflects upon these different definitions for interpersonal communication
and the ideas presented by the four theories central to understanding interpersonal
communication. In doing so, this discussion prompt demonstrates my ability to achieve the
second learning objective of the communication discipline, to employ communication theories,
perspectives, principles and concepts. The main goals of this learning objective, to explain,
synthesize and apply communication theories, perspectives, principles and concepts were also
achieved in the discussion prompt. First, the summary of the chapter provided in the first

paragraph of the discussion prompt effectively demonstrates my ability to explain, then, in

combining the use of Politeness Theory and the two dimensions to the concept of face, it
demonstrates my ability to synthesize, and finally, the rest of the discussion prompt demonstrates
my ability to apply communication theories, perspectives, principles and concepts. This is done
by applying the synthesis of Politeness Theory and the two dimensions to the concept of face to
the show, Shameless, on the ShowTime network. Since the book indicated that it is difficult to
achieve both positive and negative face simultaneously, this application dives into the nature of
the characters in the show, while deeply questioning the achievement of both positive and
negative face. For this specific discussion prompt, the application I had used was later used to
facilitate a discussion that lasted for a majority of the class period. While many of my classmates
had never heard of or seen the show, the presentation of my application and discussion questions
led to a debate applying the characteristics and actions of characters in the show to people in real
life. Since the nature of the discussion prompts and discussion-oriented course were to facilitate
the explanation and application of communication theories, perspectives, principles and
concepts, this specific discussion prompt effectively demonstrates my ability to do so. However,
the discussion prompt also included a synthesis of a communication theory and concepts,
effectively demonstrating my ability to achieve all of the main goals of the second learning
objective.