Spring Break Interview

I interviewed my friend Megan about her spring break. She was a great person to interview because she always shows expressions on her face. You can tell when she is happy, sad, or angry. She is “the revealer,” from Ekman and Friesen’s classification of facial expressions. She does not hold much back in her face.

            I started off by asking her how her spring break was overall and she had a very neutral face on and said that it was good and she shook her head at the same time. Then I asked her to tell me in great detail about her whole spring break. She got a smile on her face and her eyes got bigger, showing that she was excited. Her forehead scrunched upward too. Megan told me good things and bad. She did a lot of fun stuff with her friends and whenever she talked about that stuff her eyes got bigger, eyebrows arching up, and her mouth forming a smile. Megan is 21, so she told me how she went to this bar with her friends from her. She said that everyone was there from home and it was great. Then her smile left her face. She started talking about her friend Amanda who is in Ireland right now, studying abroad. Amanda is one of her best friends. Megan’s cheeks, nose, and mouth slanted downward and I could tell that she was upset. She was telling me how Amanda has been to all these places, Ireland, Amsterdam, Paris, etc. She said she was jealous because she wishes that she could do something like that. She had a very neutral face on, almost kind of sad because her eyebrows were drooping downward, along with her mouth. Megan also told me how she went to New York with her sister to see her dad. She did not go into much detail about that and had a very neutral face on, showing that she was not upset, happy, or sad. She showed that she was content with what she had said.  The part about her friend Amanda seemed to be the only down part about Megan’s spring break. Her facial expressions showed that she really enjoyed hanging out with all of her friends. 

Observing Nonverbal Communication

I noticed two students sitting in class talking. They were in an environment that was very familiar to them. They have been in that exact classroom plenty of times. The two girls each had claimed their territory by putting their bags and accessories on their desks. Their reaction to the environment seemed pleasurable because they both seemed happy and comfortable in the classroom. Nothing seemed too unfamiliar to them.

The two young girls did not seem to care too much about the privacy of their conversation because they were not talking quietly. They both seemed interested in the conversation because they were both leaning in and sitting comfortable (in a casual way, nothing awkward) The two girls kept eye contact but turned their head a few times to do something else, like take something out of their backpack or put their books on their desk. Although they were doing this, it did not interrupt their conversation.

The two girls used certain gestures such as head nods to show that they were paying attention to and agreed with what the other girl was saying. 

One girl was sitting in front of the other girl, but she was turned around so that they both were facing each other. Their facial expressions did not show much enthusiasm. They looked more content and relaxed as though the conversation did not excite them.

The girls were talking about a book that they had to read. The one girl said that she knew what happened in the end of the book because she looked it up. The other girls eyes got a little wider and she grew a little more into the conversation as soon as the other girl said that too her. It seemed as though she was a little shocked that the other girl did that. She said that she did not want to know the ending

The two girls were sharing their personal space with each other because they were sitting close, but not close enough that it looked uncomfortable. They never touched each other, but it did not seem like an instance where that should/would happen. Their paralanguage seemed consistent throughout the conversation.

Overall it was interesting to see a conversation between two girls that was just a normal everyday conversation, but you never really pay attention to them.