Bormann’s Symbolic Convergence Theory involves sharing group fantasies that create symbolic convergence. It is essentially a method by which rhetorical criticism that is applicable to the media, small groups and other group settings. The dramatizing message aspect of this theory, which involves imaginative language by a group member describing past, future or outside events is seen in the film Patton. In a scene where Patton addresses soldiers, he describes the importance of being masculine and exclaims that as soldiers they are going to murder the enemy. He uses a lot of vulgar language up until 56 seconds in this movie clip, which demonstrate his passion and dramatization of messages. Patton

The functional perspective involves an approach that describes and predicts task-group performance when four communication functions are fulfilled. This involves the analysis of the problem, goal setting, identification of alternatives and evaluation of positive and negative characteristics. In the film, Runaway Jury, two people manipulate a court trial in order to benefit victims that were affected in a gun shooting. One of these people is actually working in jury duty and therefore maintains a personal relationship with other people in the jury. However, the gun manufacturers team attempts to find a way to manipulate the jury, and do so by figuring out their personal information, and utilize that in order to place bribes and intimidation on them so that they can vote in favor of them. In this film, the goal of the lawyer who is representing the gun manufacturers company is to make sure that they win the trial, he accomplishes this by investigating the personal lives of the jurors and making sure they make the decision he wants. However, he did not take into account that one of the jurors would also be attempting to manipulate the system. In the trailer I attached, the first 30 seconds demonstrate the process that this lawyer goes through in making sure he does not fail. Runaway Jury

Hirokawa and Gouran define functional perspective as what communication much accomplish for jointly made decisions to be wise. In order for a group to make a decision they must meet four requirements: problem analysis, goal setting, identification of alternatives, and evaluation of positive and negative characteristics of each alternative. When thinking about the functional perspective one situation came to mind. My junior volleyball season was one of the worst that Wake Forest had ever seen. We got a new coach after the season was over and our new coach wanted to talk immediately to the team about this very obvious problem. Obviously the team needed a change and quick improvement so we had to figure out what exactly the problem was. Once we identified the problem as a team we met every single day to discuss how we would accomplish our goal of making it to the NCAA tournament. We talked about all the different ways we could accomplish our goal; which teams we played were most important, what our record had to be after preseason and halfway through the season in order to make our goal. Once this was discussed we had to decide if we were willing to face the negative characteristics such as longer practices, more demanding workouts, and frequent team meals and meetings with our coaches. We all decided together that the positives outweighed the negatives and would do whatever it took to make the 2013 season better than the year before; and we made that happen!

Symbolic Convergence Theory is centered around the belief that the members of a group create discussions of their fantasies in order to relate form a unified group. Because fantasies are idyllic and creative by nature, the sharing of such dreams among group members allow the individuals to shed their singularity and connect in myriad new ways over stories and aspirations. Ice-breaker exercises on the first day of classes or internship programs implement the Symbolic Convergence Theory by asking each group member to take a turn standing at the front of the room, stating their name, age, hometown, and what they want to be ‘when they grow up.’ Often times the final fun fact (in this case the recitation of an actual career aspiration) is the key which unlocks the connectivity in the group, and other members can either appreciate or actually share the career aspiration of the person whose turn it is.

In the functional perspective on group decision making, Hirokawa and Gouran use an approach that emphasizes the need for four key functions (analysis of the problem, goal setting, identification of alternatives, evaluation of positive and negative characteristics) to be fulfilled in order to achieve a positive group outcome. In my opinion, goal setting is arguably the most crucial step in this process. From my own personal experience playing soccer in high school, I always found that my team found the most success when we established concrete goals for the season both individually, and as a collective unit. When making decisions about who to put in and who to take out, my coach would always circle back to our team goals in order to make the final call. For example, if we were playing a team that had a very strong offense, we would organize our team in a way that revolved around having a solid defense. Setting goals helped us to realize and understand what we areas we needed to focus on, and which aspects of our group we needed to improve on in order to find success.

Symbolic convergence means when words combine to make a fantasy come true for people. The example that I found was from the sitcom scrubs. In this the two friends are having an argument. When one of them brings up the show Sanford and Sons they both go to the theme song. The cue is mentioning of the song and both go to this fantasy. As they have this shared experience that is triggered by the mentioning of the word this triggers them to past memories of the show. This is a shared experience from the past for them and is shared from past experiences. I have found in real life experiences happen between friends that I have spent a lot of time with. The simplest phrases or situations can remind us of past situations and set off fits of emotions that are not related to the current situation.

Symbolic Convergence

Symbolic convergence, a theory presented by Bormann, emphasizes the idea of group cohesiveness and consciousness as a result of private symbol worlds coming together. One way that this is achieved is through dramatization, which can be understood as imaginative language by a member of the group relating to events occurring somewhere else or at a different time, intended to bring the group members together in one way or another. This concept of dramatization is clearly exemplified in the movie “Remember the Titans”, when Coach Boone (Denzel Washington) brings the team to Gettysburg. In this clip (beginning at 1:32), Coach Boone uses the analogy of the violence at the battle at Gettysburg and the current state of the team to illustrate the need for the team to put aside their differences and the hate in their hearts to come together as a cohesive unit. Coach Boone stresses the idea that “we too will be destroyed” if the players don’t show respect for one another, and solidifies the analogy by stating that the soldiers at Gettysburg were “fighting the same fight that we’re still fighting amongst ourselves”. He uses this analogy as a form of dramatization to show his players exactly what steps need to be taken in order to become a true team and avoid failure, otherwise known as achieving symbolic convergence.

Remember The Titans – Gettysburg

Bormann’s Symbolic Convergence Theory says that two or more private symbol words incline toward each other, come more closely together, or even overlap; group consciousness, cohesiveness. This theory is based on the idea that members in one group have to discuss fantasies in order to become a cohesive group. According to Griffin fantasies are creative and imaginative sharedinterpretations of events that fulfill a group’s psychological or rhetorical needs, they can include events from a group member’s past or even events that are planned for the future.For example I sit together with my Spanish study group, after hours of studying I change the topic and talk to my group members about my Spring break vacation that I am about to book. Which leads to a fantasy chain reaction, which is a positive and energetic response to the initial fantasy (my vacation). After talking about my vacation, a lot of my friends add that they have to prepare for their vacations and need to go shopping etc. The atmosphere in our study group has changed; from serious to energetic. A fantasy chain reaction has happened. Now other fantasies emerge about dream vacations, past vacations, beach themed parties, the weather and many more. A cohesive group has been established.

Group decision making has a very prominent role in our lives. Currently we are often involved in group projects or trying to make decisions with our friends. Also this will become more important as we go on in our lives while dealing with groups in our professional lives. The example I found interesting from this chapter was reflective thinking. Which as defined is the idea that rational trumps hunches or intuition. The example I used is from the move 12 Angry Room. In this scene the jury is discussing a murder case. One juror starts to make the argument based on the race of the defendant. You see the other jurors start to not listen to him and ignoring him. You see that they are practicing reflective thinking and the argument made at the end is pointed out by the other juror to look at the facts and not base a decision off a feeling about a certain group of people. The group respects and listens to the rational argument instead of the one based on a mans personal feelings Reflective Thinking

Bormann’s Symbolic Convergence Theory attempts to explain how a group of people develops group consciousness and a common identity. Dramatizing is a main characteristic of the Symbolic Convergence Theory and it describes how group members tend to use “imaginative language such as pun or other wordplay, double entendre, figure of speech…. or other creative expression of ideas” to describe events that happened in the past or that could possibly happen in the future. This often leads to group members responding eagerly by adding on to the dramatizing with their own personal stories and narratives. The use of dramatizing messages allows members to create a special bond and develop symbolic convergence. The group then moves from thinking in terms of “I” to “us.” I think the “Dead Poets Society” movie is successful at demonstrating how dramatizing can create group consciousness and a common identity. In the “Dead Poets Society” movie we see a group of students inspired by Mr. Keating, their English teacher, to re-start the school’s poetry club called the Dead Poets Society. The group of students start meeting in a cave off the school groups and begin sharing poetry and their beliefs. We see them slowly becoming more comfortable with each other and as the movie continues there are many instances of dramatizing occurring between the group as they recall their past meetings and plan their future ones. Mr. Keating urged his students to fight the status quo, which ended up getting him fired. The final scene of the movie shows the members of the Dead Poets Society coming together against conformity while shouting “O Captain! My Captain!” to Mr. Keating as he left the classroom. This final scene demonstrates symbolic convergence and the “heightened group cohesiveness-members attracted to each other and sticking together through thick and thin” (252) described by Bormann.

Final Scene Dead Poets Society