howtowrite3e

DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Deborah Tannen is a professor in the linguistics department at Georgetown University, and her book You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation (2001) was on best-seller lists for years. She has also written about the ways people talk at work, with friends and siblings, and in the press, politics, academics, and law. This rhetorical analysis, adapted from Tannen’s book You’re Wearing That? Understanding Mothers and Daughters in Conversation (2006), is also a sociolinguistic analysis, or discourse analysis — a study of the ways language is used and how conversation structures relationships. This adapted essay first appeared in the Washington Post in 2006.

Reading the Genre

Question

1. In addition to rhetorical analysis, this essay offers a discourse analysis — a study of language use. How does Tannen present the evidence (the specific discourse) that she will analyze? How do you think she chose this evidence —these examples of discourse? (See Chapter 21, “Critical Thinking” and Chapter 41, “Annotating Sources”.)

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2. Think about Tannen’s categories for analysis — such as “yardsticks,” “technique,” and topics like the “Big Three.” How do these categories allow her to analyze what is said, how it is said, and how people deal with what is said? (See Chapter 25, “Strategies”.)

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3. How does Tannen address the danger of stereotypes in this essay? How does this essay consider race, class, and gender differences? Identify parts of this essay where Tannen considers individuality. (See Chapter 33, “Inclusive and Culturally Sensitive Style”.)

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4. This essay has many quotes. Closely review how Tannen handles these quotations. What kinds of signal words does she use to introduce and summarize quotes? How does her language add meaning to the quotes? (See Chapter 44, “Incorporating Sources into Your Work”.)

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5. WRITING: Do some fieldwork. Sit at a busy table in a cafeteria, restaurant, or food court, and observe what is said and how. Take detailed notes, keeping your subjects anonymous or — if you’re in doubt of your ability to do that — get permission from everyone you observe. Using your notes, make observations about how the people you observed interacted, based on what they said and how they said it. How do people talk about food? How do families interact? How do food workers relate to customers? (See Chapter 39, “Doing Field Research”.)