I asked this question to begin my essay about voting, as a common definition of being civic is voting. However, after going through this unit, I’d argue that being civic involves so much more than just voting.
For one, I think being civic involves being aware, as I think each one of the civic speeches encompassed what it means to be civic. When I say aware, I don’t necessarily mean being aware of certain issues so that you can do something about them (although that is a part of being aware), but rather being aware of who you are and what your role is in society and to different people. For example, the speech given by a student about Nike involved him making the audience aware of the various commonplaces that Nike uses to sell their products. As a result, we were able to become more aware of why Nike appeals to us as consumers in society, which then allows us to be more informed about our own decisions. Different speeches used similar lenses to help raise our awareness – the propaganda speech allowed us to be aware of government’s appeals to us as citizens, the lion speech made us aware of the university’s appeals to us as students, and the white ribbon speech made us aware of an issue that affects us as humans.
This unit has lead me to conclude that “the civic” is anything that pertains to a community or larger society. “Being civic” involves being aware of what your role in a community is, and understanding the power behind that role. People can all occupy roles like consumer, citizen, voter, human, and it’s their job to fit into that role so that the entire community can prosper.
Comments