A couple of days ago, my dad, brother, and I went to see Valkyrie (good movie, by the way). When we got to the movie house, it was too early, and we 'accidentally walked into' (because I would never movie hop) the theater that was playing Seven Pounds (another good movie). I had seen the movie before with friends so I was able to recognize which part the movie was at and the context it was in. However, my dad and brother did not. By the time, we left the theater to go to our movie, my brother made a comment, saying that he thought the movie wasn't great at all from the part that he saw.
So of course, being the nerd I am, thought about our English class. I know Hayakawa said that it was necessary to have context, but just how much context is enough? I know that someone can't know the 'entire' situation, but how much is adequate to make someone understand what you want them to?
Mary Quien
2 comments:
I find it safe to say that the amount of context one needs is dependent upon the source being studied. A movie (in most cases) is somewhat of a story, right? You'd need the whole package (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, denouement) to fully get the jist of the production.
In things such as television episodes, which are shorter and less complex, less of a context would be needed to understand the situation presented.
Don't you also think that some background on the topic presented is needed? If you turned on the television and caught a glimpse of the presidential debates, you'd be clueless if you did not have a previous base of knowledge about taxing, abortion, etc.. (I can relate.) Not even an explanation of what each candidate had already said would have been sufficient. This makes sense, right?
(Sam Maliha)
I agree completely with Sam. To understand a lengthy story or movie completely, you probably need to be provided with as much context as possible, or else you will find yourself lacking direction. However, with shorter articles or TV programs, you may not need as much context to follow along.
I also agree with Sam's suggestion that oftentimes background on a certain topic is required to understand a film or piece of literature. This sort of "background" is the existing part of our intensional maps that we have gathered from prior experiences. As we come across or experience more "territories" or situations, the context(s) we are provided with become incorporated into our intensional maps and thus serve as "background" for future experiences.
(Janet Lee)
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