Essay, Research Paper: Narrative Paradigm In Communication

1. To search for narrative paradigm of communication on the Internet I used two sites. For
both searches I use the keywords: narrative paradigm. The first site I tried was
www.askjeeves.com. This site proved not to be helpful in this particular search. It was not
helpful because it did not have information about narrative paradigm of communication. Instead,
the results were based on narrative paradigm in literature. The second site I tried was
www.lycos.com. Under the heading Web Sites I found the first result to be very useful. The
address is: http://www.ic.arizona.edu/~comm300/mary/group/narrativepara/sld001.htm. The site
is apparently from Arizona University. The site is mainly an outline of a professor’s notes on the
subject of narrative paradigm in the form of a slide show. I believe this is a good source because
it is from a University and a professor. There is nothing bias in the material and it is all facts.
As I mentioned before this site is mainly an outline of a professor’s notes on the subject of
narrative paradigm. The information is presented in the form of slides. Each slide dealing with a
new topic of narrative paradigm. The first slide taught me about people as homo-narrans.
Basically meaning that people experience life as a series of narratives with beginning, middles, and
endings. The third slide gives the meaning of narrative paradigm. The author defines it as a
structure that provides us with a comprehensive explanation of symbolic meaning. I learned on
the fourth slide that no type of communication is purely descriptive or didactic. Each form
overlaps with the other. The fifth slide shows the difference between rational world paradigms
and narrative paradigms. Each slide deals with narrative paradigms in one way or another. I
believe this is a good way to learn the information solidly.

2. I looked up www.sonicnet.com. This site deals with the music industry. It offers news
articles, reviews of music, video directory, downloads, contests, and much more. Any type of
genre you are looking for is listed and there is easy access to the music of each genre. The site
takes advantage of the many technological advances. First one is able to download music right
off the Internet, which is relatively new. Second the site features streaming audio (radio) which
has just been introduced in the last two or three years. A person is able to listen to the same radio
station that someone else is listening too 3000 miles away. Also you can watch music videos of
your favorite artist right on you computer screen. Personally my favorite part of this site is the
news articles. No other site compares to sonicnet.com with the information it has based on the
music industry. Lastly advertising commercials are featured in a little box. This is not a new
thing, however the commercial subject is. No longer do the commercials just deal with Internet
sites or computer software. Now they deal with food, cars, and companies


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