GRE

[Maitrayee]

                    Issue Essay:  The way a message is delivered is often more important than the message itself.

                             Message is a part of our communication. Ever since the time man has understood the necessity to communicate, man has developed different modes of communication. But is the communication more important or the way in which it is delivered is more important? The topic states that the mode of delivery of the message exceeds the importance of the message itself. I readily agree to this claim. In order to prove my stand, I will take resort to certain examples.

                  In the very first place, we may consider the ancient Egyptian script of Hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics was made of pictures. the ancient Egyptians may have communicated among themselves very small bits of information like going for hunting or doing the agriculture. The message is trivial in nature but the way it is expressed, that is, by pictures drawn with great effort is much more important. Pictorial writing has a lot more impact  than just writing ordinary script. It also gives us a clear idea of the society, their customs and rituals.

                   Next we can consider modern day telephones or mobiles. They are now a part and parcel of our daily lives. We just cannot think ourselves without them. Sending text messages is very much popular. It is always not possible to talk to our dear ones but passing the information by texts are a lot more helpful as it does not disturb the busy person on the other side. But texts can sometimes create misunderstandings among us. This is because text messages carry only the information but not emotions and sentiments with it. Any message that may be quite normal but wrong placement of words can lead to an altogether different meaning. What I had sent as a question may be interpreted as an abuse by my friend. So the way of delivery of the text messages is really important in order to save our relationships.

              Again we can consider a telephone call. Say a person X has to invite person Y on her daughter's birthday but for some reasons, X does not like the presence of Y. Again X is bound by some immutable constraints that Y has to be invited. So X calls up Y and invites Y, however using a tone which is not at all amiable. Y feels bad and so he silently rejects the invitation. Thus in this example, the mode of delivery of the message, that is, the tone with which X has talked with Y is primarily responsible for the cancellation of invitation by Y. Here the way of X's speech supersedes the importance of the message (invitation) itself.

            Thus to conclude, it can be said that the way of delivering the information is much important than the information itself. The way of delivery actually expresses the human mind, its likes and dislikes. Thus one must always be careful in how the message is delivered to the other person in order to avoid misunderstandings that may stand as a thorn in the relationship in future. So it is rightly said that "actions speak louder than words".