Book Summary On Presentation Of Self

Book Summary On Presentation Of Self Introduction The presentation of oneself is based on the observation of an individual through comparing the life of him and the other people. Because of that inspiration of determining the revolutions that are found in the society, the roles and relationships that are found can affect the value of an individual and the idea on how he can describe himself from other people. Due to the intensive curiosity of an individual in life and his environment, there are studies that stress out the possible explanation on how to describe the changes in the earnest way. Various sociological models and approaches were presented to show the connection of the man in his environment. The interaction of the people in the social life is presented by the Erving Goffman in his dramaturgical model that attempts to see the society in a lighter sense. The Key Ideas Erving Goffman prepared the key ideas behind the discussion on the values wherein the ideas in theorizing the social roles and relations that ar e present in the contemporary society. According to the book of Goffman, the individual performs a certain role, which varies according to their audience. Those individuals as actors have an intention in manipulating the role that they play for the purpose of managing others impressions of them. Usually, this occurs through the interaction of the individuals in their everyday life. Since the society presents the interactions that usually matters with the human social relations or group of life, there is a natural involvement of disciplines that goes right with the study of sociology including the economics, political science, and psychology because they all fall within the topic of human society. Goffman, presented the theory that suggests that individuals engage in a significant amount of expressive manipulation along several fronts. Goffman likened his ideas to a theatre because â€Å"individuals are, in essence, dramatic actors on a stage playing parts dictated by culture† and this is the goal of such a presentation is acceptance from the audience through manipulation. If the actor succeeds, then they will be viewed as they desired by the audience. Goffman argues that the key to this success is to control which information the audience has access to (Goffman, 1959). Unlike the sociological theories wherein the individuals are linked with the disciplines early states, Goffman’s dramaturgical model outlines the existence of the human’s perspective on the stages where as an actor he usually plays. Giddens (2009) suggests that front regions are situations where individuals act out formal roles, essentially when they are ‘on-stage’. Performances in front regions often require teamwork in order to be successful. Impression management also occurs in the front regions as the actor is trying to give the audience certain impressions of himself. Goffman suggests that â€Å"when an individual appears before others, he will have many m otives for trying to control the situation†. In contrast, back regions (of the stage) are where individuals or performance teams prepare themselves for their roles. Goffman implies that it is where teams discuss and rehearse their performance before they enter the front stage. Props can also be used to aid an actor in their performance and they are assembled in the back region. These props assist an actor in convincing the audience that their performance is true. For example, a waitress in a restaurant would use a notepad and paper to take an order, to help convince her audience (customers) that her performance is true. Goffman indicated that the two regions are connected by a â€Å"guarded passageway†. This stops public performances being shattered by an inadvertent look from an audience member. If an individual’s performance is weak, the audience will see through it. â€Å"The phenomenon of embarrassment is where the actor acts ineffectually or is unable to su stain their expected role. This leads to them being excluded from full participation in society, which demonstrates the importance of maintaining the appearance of being a competent social actor. The dramaturgical models value in theorizing social roles and relations in contemporary society is open to discussion. Goffman’s ideas are praised for having had a â€Å"profound influence† on sociology as a discipline. On his book, it clearly states that Goffman uses the dramaturgical metaphor as his contribution in the field of sociology. He acknowledges the most stimulating and thought-provoking contributions to sociology which made the sociologists today refer to his work, especially for examples on how to carry out micro sociological work.