COMMUNICATION 316
Take Home Final Exam
DUE in my mailbox by 5:00 p.m. Friday May 11

• You may use any books or notes, but DO NOT discuss issues with classmates.
• Read questions carefully, and answer all parts of the questions you select.
• Answer a total of two questions, one from each section below.
• You can take as much time as you want, but if you spend less than two hours total on the exam, you are probably not addressing the issues adequately, and if you spend more than five hours total you are probably over-doing it!!

1. On May 1, class was shortened due to the protest rally. Analyze the events of this protest utilizing at least two of the following authors/theorists that we read and discussed: Ober, Habermas, Fraser, Ewen. Focus primarily on the communication and other processes involved, not on the issues that were on the agenda of the protestors (to the degree that you can separate the processes and the issues). Explore how the authors you choose can help explain the processes, how the processes illustrate or contradict concepts presented by the authors, and how the processes lived up to, or failed to live up to, ideals outlined by the authors.

 2. Near the end of Chapter 2 of his book, Ewen argues that "public relations cannot be understood simply as an array of value-free techniques. . . .The rise and consequences of public relations . . . must also be placed in relation to the motives, the assumptions, and the history of power" (p. 33. emphasis added). Explain what he means by this, (i.e. what were the historical conditions of the rise of public relations in terms of power; how did they relate to earlier conditions, what have been the consequences of P.R.; etc.). Support your argument using evidence from Ewen and from authors we read and discussed earlier in the term.

PART II (50%): CHOOSE ONE QUESTION
1. Ewen argues that "in the pivotal years of the late 1940s. . . Bernays evinced two dramatically dissimilar perspectives on the tasks faced by public relations specialists" and goes on to state that "the ambiguities of his perspective. . .have [also] marked the history of public relations throughout the twentieth century" (p. 400). (a) Explain what this dichotomy in Bernays's thinking was, according to Ewen. (b) Illustrate how the same dichotomy has played out in the history of PR, giving specific examples from the text to represent each of the historical shifts.

2. Ewen examines Lippmann's argument that a symbol "is 'like a strategic railroad center where many roads converge regardless of their ultimate origin or ultimate destination'" (p. 155). (a) Explain what Lippmann meant --what was his concept of symbols? (b) Find, present and explain at least five examples of the use of symbols in PR that are consistent with Lippmann's view. At least two of the examples should be from Ewen's historical account of PR, but you may also describe & explain others that you have found on your own.

3. In chapter 9 Ewen notes that during "the 1920s, public relations specialists described their profession as a "two-way street" (p. 186). (a) What is meant by this? (b) What do survey research/polling have to do with this concept? (c) How does public opinion as measured by polls differ from the classical, enlightenment formulation of public opinion? (d) Do polls themselves serve as tools for shaping/manipulating public opinion, or do they just measure it? Explain.

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