Post 1
Out of the three readings, I ended up reading “Sex, Lies and Conversation,” by Deborah Tannen and “The Lowest Animal,” by Mark Twain. At first, they seemed to be two completely different topics. After reading both, I realized they are remarkably similar and different at the same time. Twain writes about the relationship between humans and animals, and Tannen writes about men and women. In both readings, both authors support their topic and make their points vividly clear.
Twain comes off as kind of negative and opinionated, whereas Tannen comes off softer and neutral. They were both highly informative. They make their point in two different ways, but the point is made with a lot of support on both ends. Twain’s article is very one-sided talking about humans in a negative manner. For example, Twain said, “Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity (these are strictly confined to man); he invented them.” On the other hand, Tannen does not seem to choose sides when she talks about both men and women which really shows when she ends her article saying, “In these times of resurgent ethnic conflicts, the world desperately needs cross-cultural understanding.” It seems like Twain is informing people of his opinion and why he is right, and Tannen is just trying to inform people without being biased. Twain wrote about how we have are degrading, and that we have hit rock bottom. On the other hand, Tannen wrote about how people need to start accepting each other for who we are, and that we need to start understanding people better. They are both interesting and effective writers.
Post 2
After reading “Sex Lies and Conversation” by Deborah Tannen and “The Lowest Animal” by Mark Twain, I realized that both writers and the articles share a similarity of interest. However, they both had different styles with their own tones and topics. The contrast that was noticeable was Deborah Tannen narrating and Mark Twain’s in which he just started his reading. “Sex Lies and Conversation” was more of an educational tool but with an amusing and funny tone, whereas “The Lowest Animal” only told one part of the story and was more opinionated. Another difference that was shared was the different approaches they took with their tones and expression that were shared with each article. Tannen spoke more of a comparison with the behavioral characteristics between man and woman and their marriage. Twain kept his readings straight to the point and often seen as being very blunt with his words.
As the articles are written, Mark Twain choose to approach his readers with a point of view within the first few sentences in the first paragraph. Deborah Tannen decided to spread her words throughout the body of her paragraphs, leaving the readers to read more and stay engaged in the article. Twain’s description can also be taken as directive and derogatory, yet Tannen’s description is described as socialization and communicating and the lack of this is what causes the issues. “The Lowest Animal” shared the comparison of humans to animals and the behavioral characteristics between the two. Both articles had a comparison of humans and a contrast in the studies and beliefs that were taken.
Post 3
I read both articles “The Lowest Animal” by Mark Twain and “Sex, Lies, and Conversation” by Deborah Tannen. Each author took a psychological approach in determining the differences and problems in certain human behaviors. Yet Tanner and Twain took a different approach on whether these problems were solvable.
Twain’s outlook was nihilistic, and dark whereas Tanner had an optimistic outlook. Tanner felt like there was a solution to mend the communication barriers between males and females, while Twain indicated that the problems of humanity lie within themselves and are not solvable.
Throughout Twain’s article he exemplifies mankind’s indecency, vulgarity, obscenity and cruelty with prior historical events. He states that mankind is greedy, maniacal, and uncivilized in comparison to what is normally defined as a lower animal. He suggests that man is the lowest animal of all and animals themselves should be defined as higher. Twain’s article suggests that animals are more civilized and sophisticated than man could ever be. He stated that man has descended on the hierarchical scale. He suggests that animals only kill other animals for the purpose of survival while man kills for the sake of pride, self-indulgence, revenge and a multitude of other reasons.
Alternatively, Tanner highlights that the systematic differences in childhood socialization between boys and girls makes for a cross-cultural communication barrier between men and women. She implies that this barrier is the reasoning behind the failures to effective communication, yet there is a solution. Her solution is acceptance and understanding.
