Communications Paper
The purpose of this assignment is to analyze an extended conversation in which multiple, competing identity goals can be found in the talk. This conversation involved four main participants, namely, the mother (Candace), the father (Caleb), the stepfather (Jason), and child (Parker). A video recording of this conversation is available at14 year old Parker stands up for his rights. Cops say he is free to go with his dad, instead of mom (Links to an external site.)
and a transcript of this conversation is available here 14+year+old+stands+up+for+his+rights+and+informed+choice+to+live+with+his+dad.doc. When you read the transcript, pay particular attention to how the child Parker’s refusal to get out of the car creates several communicative dilemmas for all the interactants, and how the interctants respond to and manage these dilemmas.
Basic Requirements
- First, choose to focus on one participant’s communicative dilemma between 2 identities they portrayed in this interaction. Name each identity and explain why these two identities are in tension with each other and how they pose a communicative dilemma for the person you chose to focus on in this interaction analysis paper. [Note: you need to provide a clear statement about what is the communicative dilemma faced by this participant in this conversation by pointing out these two identities in tension with each other and how they are tied to competing discourse practices]
- Identify and define at least 6 discourse practices that used by the participant to perform the 2 identities that are in tension with each other (3 discourse practices for each identity you labelled in the paper assignment Part 1).
- Reflect on the communicative dilemma this participant faces due to these two identities being in tension and discuss how well the speaker managed the dilemma using discourse practices. Drawing upon the rhetorical and cultural perspectives from this class (Note: you are also expected to explain these two perspectives in your paper), you can discuss whether the discourse practices used by this speaker are effective and/or appropriate in managing this communicative dilemma s/he faced in this context.
Note: Course concepts should be bolded in the text. (You should define and explain communicative dilemma, rhetorical & cultural perspectives, plus 6 discourse practices in your paper). When you define the concept, you need to either quote or paraphrase from the reading or lecture material, citing it properly according to APA standards. The paper should be 5-6 double-spaced pages (plus a reference list on a final separate page in APA format).
Organizing your paper
1. Introduction: (0.5-1 page) Define communicative dilemma. A brief introduction of the video recording you watched. Identify the participant you’re going to focus on in this paper, then point out the communicative dilemma s/he faced during this conversation. Also include a thesis statement that shows your claim about how 2 identities (both of them desirable for this participant in this context) in tension create a communicative dilemma for this participant. Your thesis statement needs to be in bold and italics to make it clearly visible.
2. Connecting discourse practices to identities: (3-4 pages) This is the section where you do your discourse analysis. You can start by list the first identity (out of the 2 identities in tension) as a subtitle and then identify discourse practices from the transcript and connect them with this specific identity. Then do the same for your analysis of the second identity. Your analysis should include 2-3 short data excerpts from the transcript (about 10 lines max each).
- Before each data excerpt, include an introductory sentence that states “in the below transcript we will see how _____uses _____ as a discursive practice to do _____. If necessary, then provide any prior context about what was just said to help the reader understand the context surrounding your analyzed transcript. This should be no more than 2-3 sentences.
- Before each data excerpt, include an introductory sentence that states “in the below transcript we will see how _____uses _____ as a discursive practice to do _____. If necessary, then provide any prior context about what was just said to help the reader understand the context surrounding your analyzed transcript. This should be no more than 2-3 sentences.
- Transcript: you can copy and paste from the transcript provided by the instructor, using the original line numbers. Use single-spaced format and indent the transcript to clearly mark it from your analysis.
- After each transcript: Do your analysis and develop your analytical claim about identity work. In your analysis, you name the discourse practice and discuss what identity work is being accomplished by the participant’s use of this discursive practice (s). Remember, you are focusing on practices that best show the identity you’re talking about in this section.
- At the end of this section, write one paragraph to summarize the analysis you did in this section by stating the discourse practices used by this participant to do 2 identities; then make your argument about these 2 identities being in tension with each other (as shown through discourse practices) and how they created a communicative dilemma for this participant.
3. Reflection: (0.5-1 pages) First explain the rhetorical and cultural perspectives, then reflect on the communicative dilemma this participant faces due to these two identities being in tension and discuss how well the speaker managed the dilemma using discourse practices. You can also reflect on other discourse practices that you think might be more effective and/or appropriate for the participant in this conversation to manage this dilemma.
Extra Help
Check out this Interaction Analysis Paper workshop.pptx to help you write a strong paper. If you have further questions, feel free to email me at [email protected].
After You Write Your Paper
Use this checklist to check what you have written against the expectations of this assignment.
- Make sure the paper is organized as a coherent essay with an introduction, body, and conclusion.
- Put your thesis statement in bold and italics.
- Use and define at least 6 discourse practices, along with communicative dilemma, rhetorical and cultural perspectives.
- When referencing or quoting definitions given in class, use the following citation: (Xiong, 2018 Summer, Online lecture).
- When referencing or quoting definitions given in the textbook, use the following citation: (Tracy & Robles, 2013). Use page numbers when quoting from the book. Put direct quotes in “quotes”.
- Use data excerpts (chunks of transcript) to show the discourse practices you discuss in the paper.
- As you use excerpts to discuss the discourse practices, explain how the discourse practice (as it appeared in your data excerpt) constructs the identity you claim it does.
- Draw evidence from multiple moments in the talk–in other words, don’t only use utterances found on the same page of the transcript and no others.
- Make sure your paper is at least 5 pages of writing, but no more than 6 pages, with 1-inch margins and a reasonable 12-point font (i.e. Times New Roman).
- Include a reference page at the end of the paper in proper APA format–include at least the textbook and any outside sources you use (but you are not required to use outside sources).
- Proofread your paper carefully before turning it in.
General Expectations
- The paper should be 5-6 pages (including data excerpts). You should aim for about 4-5 pages of your own writing, and the rest of the space will be taken up by segments of the transcript shown as data excerpts in your paper.
- Include a separate page of references.
- Complete your own work. Any paper plagiarized will be graded “0” and you will be referred to the academic misconduct committee.
- Each paper will be evaluated on the detail, reasonableness, and insight of the analysis (the primary criteria) and the quality of the paper’s writing (a secondary criterion).
