Analyzing Talk Among Friends Essay Example for Free

Analyzing Talk Among Friends Essay In the preceding example, the utterance Ahma git me Ð ° gig! was interpreted differently by the participants in the interaction. So the question to be asked about Ahma git me Ð ° gig! is, what does it mean (how did the listeners arrive at their understandings), and what particular features of language and/or social situation signal that meaning? To arrive at an understanding of what the utterance meant, interpretations are not constructed solely from the speakers perspective but are also gathered from the participants who heard the utterance. Later, others may be asked to listen to Ð ° recording and share their understandings of the utterance(s). Then, the analysts task is to make an in-depth study of the selected instances of verbal interaction, observe whether or not actors understand each other, elicit participants interpretations of what goes on, and then (Ð °) deduce the social assumptions that speakers must have in order to act as they do, and (b) determine empirically how linguistic signs communicate in the interpretation process ( Gumperz 1982: 35). In the analysis of the example noted here, for instance, Gumperz was able to show that most white speakers did not seem to understand the utterance other than as Ð ° lapse into dialect or saw the switch to Black English as Ð ° rejection of whites and the speaker addressing himself only to other black students. Black students, however, explained the students remark as an attempt to justify himself by appealing to others in the group, Іm just playing the game as we blacks must do if we are to get along in Ð ° white world, while also identifying Ð ° particular rhythm in the utterance that led them to their interpretation. Thus, features of language carry social meaning that plays Ð ° significant role in interpreting what speakers mean (see Gumperz 1982: 29-37 for Ð ° detailed explanation of this example and its interpretation). While this example should make any interpreter wonder how they are interpreting meaning of speakers who differ in some way, such as region of the country, age, ethnicity, gender, my point here is about the analysis of natural language and how discourse analysts determine what speakers mean and how language conveys elements of meaning. Using these methods to analyze interpreted discourse is Ð ° way of understanding how the participants in an interpreted interaction understand each other at the time. Gumperz proposed that Ð ° theory of discourse must take into account both the linguistic and socio-cultural knowledge that an interlocutor must have to maintain involvement in an interaction, Accounting for such knowledge demonstrates two things: (1) meanings are jointly constructed between speakers as they talk, and (2) conversations contain internal evidence of their outcomes, that is, the ways in which participants share, partially share, or do not share, mutual conventions for meaning and how they succeed in achieving their communicative ends. Tannen reached Ð ° similar conclusion. She called such linguistic and social knowledge conventions by which meaning is communicated in social interaction (1984: 151). In Conversational Style: Analyzing Talk Among Friends, Tannen (1984) analyzed two and Ð ° half hours of conversation over Ð ° Thanksgiving dinner. She defined and discussed features of conversational involvement, such as topic, pacing (how relatively fast or slow one spoke), narrative strategies (in what order events are told, how speakers made their point, etc.), and expressive paralinguistic (intonation, pitch, and others), which together pattern in different ways the speech of different participants. For three of the speakers, these features combined in acceptable ways of having Ð ° conversation, but three other speakers experienced the same conversation as unusual and their participation faltered. When speakers share conventions for signaling meaning, they can be said to share Ð ° conversational style ( Tannen 1984). Tannens approach to studying discourse, modeled after Gumperz, is characterized by (1) recording naturally occurring conversations; (2) identifying segments in which communication may seem to flounder or be troublesome; (3) looking for patterned differences in signaling meaning that could account for trouble; (4) playing the recording, or segment of it, back to participants to elicit their spontaneous interpretations and reactions, and also, perhaps later, eliciting their responses to the researchers interpretations; and (5) playing segments of the interaction for other members of the cultural groups represented by the speakers to discern patterns of interpretation. Tannens study suggests that within an interpreted interaction speakers who do not share Ð ° common language also have conversational styles that they do not necessarily share with the interpreter. For example, Tannen (1994) has demonstrated that Ð ° discourse approach to gender and language, following in the tradition of Gumperz, can be understood by looking for differences in the way women and men signal meaning in conversation. This has great implications for interpreters: what happens when interpreter’s do not share Ð ° conversational style with one or both speakers? Many interpreters are women who interpret for men. Do they understand male strategies for asking questions or giving information? Do men understand female strategies? As her research demonstrates, the notion of cross-cultural encompasses more than just speakers of different languages or from different countries; it includes speakers from the same country of different class, region, age, and even gender ( Tannen 1985: 2o3). Gumperzs analysis of brief utterances located within Ð ° social scene and Tannens analysis of Ð ° single extended interaction via the same analytical and interpretive framework provide Ð ° rigorous methodology for analyzing conversational interactions, including interpreted conversations. Their emphasis on soliciting participant reactions and interpretations, along with close transcription of contextualization cues in language, provides Ð ° framework for going beyond Ð ° mere structural description of an interpreted encounter to an intense scrutiny of turn-taking as experienced by the participants, including phenomena such as simultaneous turn-taking.

A Clockwork Orange Essay -- A Clockwork Orange Essays

A Clockwork Orange We are first introduced to Alex (Malcolm McDowell) in the company of his posse, strangely sipping drugged milk in a freakish bar with anatomically indiscrete manikins serving as tittie-taps and tables. The ensuing scenes flash from Alex and his three droogs brutally beating an old man to a violent rape scene to a semi-chaotic gang-brawl. The story is of Alex and his love of the old ultra-violence, his act of murder, his betrayal and imprisonment, and his cure (twice). Adapted from Anthony Burgess’ 1962 novel, A Clockwork Orange is in part a response to psychological behaviorism and the age of classical conditioning. While in prison, Alex is selected for a special treatment that will cure him of his impulses to rape and brutalize. The treatment is in fact a simple conditioning process—Alex’s eyes are propped open and his body restrained so that he must watch a series of graphic images while experiencing an injection induced illness. The illness becomes his conditioned response to brutality, rape, and, accidentally, his much beloved Beethoven’s 9th symphony....

Narcissism and Generation Essay

My generation, also known as Generation Y, is defined as a technology based generation. We have grown up surrounded with all sorts of technologies that make our lives easier. In some ways this has been beneficial to us. It has enabled us to get information about something at the touch of a button or keep us from getting sick. In other ways it has caused us to grow up lazy and wanting to do the least amount of work as possible. Many adults believe that Generation Y feels entitled to certain privileges and that most luxuries are necessities. According to Jean Twenge, author of Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled — and More Miserable Than Ever Before, â€Å"Teens feel entitled and are coddled, disrespectful, narcissistic and impatient†. I agree with this because many people my age are very self-centered. see more:does technology make us lazy The main thing that defines Generation Y is our technology based upbringing. We have grown up with televisions , microwaves, dishwashers, and other gadgets that entertain us or make our lives easier. We are so consumed with technology that issues such as â€Å"nomophbia† or â€Å"no mobile-phone phobia,† (Vicky Kung, CNN) and other psychological problems have recently been discovered when Generation Y was separated from technology. As one of the examples of excess attachment to technology, researcher, Michael Carr-Gregg, stated that â€Å"Many of my clients go to bed with their mobile phones while sleeping just like how one will have the teddy bear in the old days.† This just goes to show how attached Generation Y is to technology. There are two main characteristics that Generation Y have: they are feelings of entitlement and the belief that luxuries are necessities. We believe that having a television, hair dryer, coffee maker and other such amenities are necessities when staying in a hotel, while our parents consider them luxuries. This is because we have never been without these utilities and have grown up in homes that use them every day. The other characteristic that Generation Y has is that we feel entitlement to certain privileges due to the fact that technology has made life easier for us and we haven’t had to work as hard for the things that we want compared to our parents. Generation Y thinks that because we know more about the current day and age (basically technology) that we should be entitled to greater or equal benefits to that of our superiors. As far as â€Å"fitting into the mold† I believe that in certain aspects I do fit into Generation Y and in others I do not. I fit into Generation Y when it comes to technology and being â€Å"tech savvy†. I understand how many computers and other such technological appliances work because I have grown up around them. I don’t â€Å"fit the mold† when it comes to the psychological issues of technology such as nomophobia. I have never been super attached to a phone or other technology based appliance. One thing that has helped me not become so attached is that I don’t have internet on my phone. This helps because I interact more with people and I don’t have the temptation to check my Facebook all the time. I don’t fit the mold with the feelings of entitlement because my parents have taught me to respect my elders and that just because I may know a little bit more about technology than they do doesn’t mean that they aren’t smart or that their advice is worthless. Other characteristics that I do fit the mold in are thinking that luxuries are necessities. Growing up, I always had a dishwasher, microwave, computer, television and other necessities that my parents consider the comfortable luxuries of life. In conclusion Generation Y is a technology based generation because that is what we have grown up with and evolved with. Generation Y has also grown up thinking that luxuries are necessities because we have never been without them. Many of us also have feelings of entitlement because technology has made life easier for us and we haven’t had to work as hard as our parents did growing up. I believe that I personally fit the mold in some areas and don’t in others because of the generation and technology age that I have grown up in and the way that I was raised. Works Cited ————————————————- Armour, Stephanie. â€Å"Generation Y: They’ve arrived at work with a new attitude.† USA Today. USA Today, 06 November 2005. Web. 17 Sep 2012. <http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2005-11-06-gen-y_x.htm>. ————————————————- ————————————————- Chang, Katherine. â€Å"What Defines Our Generation?.† Inside Beat. Inside Beat, 29 September 2010. Web. 17 Sep 2012. <http://www.inside-beat.com/film/what-defines-our-generation-1.2349047>. ————————————————- ————————————————- Kung, Vicky. â€Å"Rise of ‘nomophobia’: More people fear loss of mobile contact.† CNN. CNN, 07 March 2012. Web. 17 Sep 2012. <http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/06/tech/mobile/nomophobia-mobile-addiction/?hpt=hp_c3>. ————————————————- ————————————————- Twenge, Jean. Generation Me: Why Today’s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled -and More Miserable Than Ever Before. New York City: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2006. 279. Web.

Meanings of the Spanish Word Papel

The Spanish word papel is a cognate of the English word paper and often has the same meaning. Papel also has an important and frequently used meaning not associated with the English word, that of a role, such as in a play or job. Papel With Meanings Related to Paper When referring to paper, papel can refer to paper in general or to a single sheet or piece, although hoja de papel can also refer to a sheet: Una bola de papel puede ser un buen juguete para tu gato. (A wad of paper can be a good toy for your cat.)Las dimensiones de un papel A4 son 297 mm x 210 mm. (The dimensions of an A4 sheet of paper are 297 millimeters by 210 millimeters.)Aunque de inicio no lo creas, una hoja de papel simple puede soportar un peso significativo. (Although at first you may not believe it, a single sheet of paper can support a significant weight.)El papel de arroz se usa en la cocina asià ¡tica. (Rice paper is used in Asian cooking.)El papel se ha convertido en uno de los productos emblemà ©ticos de nuestra cultura. (Paper has become one of the products characteristic of our culture.)Ayer yo necesitaba un papel para anotar algo. (Yesterday I needed a sheet of paper in order to write something down.) Papel in singular or plural can refer to documents of various kinds: No necesito un papel para confirmar que estamos juntos. (I dont need a document to prove that were together.)Me dijeron que necesito firmar algà ºn papel de prà ©stamo. (They told me I need to sign some loan document.)Si no tiene papeles de estadà ­a legal y es arrestado, tiene derecho a guardar silencio y pedir un abogado. (If you dont have residence documents and are arrested, you have the right to remain silent and ask for a lawyer.) Papel Referring to Roles Papel frequently refers to an acting role: La modelo venezolana es conocida por su papel de Rosita. (The Venezuelan model is known for her role as Rosita.)Hollywood sà ³lo tiene un papel para los actores à ¡rabes. (Hollywood has only one role for Arab actors.)Alejandro tenà ­a un papel pequeà ±o en una escena en la pelà ­cula. (Alejandro had a small role in one scene in the film.) More broadly, papel can refer to almost any kind of role, for both people and things: La universidad tiene un papel importante porque forma valores. (The university has an important role because it forms values.)La iglesia tuvo un papel crucial en la Europa medieval. The church had a crucial role in medieval Europe.Los cientà ­ficos desempeà ±arà ­an un papel central en este proceso de reforma ambiental. Scientists played a central role in this process of environmental reform.La Cà ¡mara siempre entendià ³ que el presidente tiene un rol importante en estos asuntos. (The House always understood that the president has an important role in these matters.) Papel in Phrases Among the phrases and idioms that use the word papel are these: asumir el papel — to assume the rolehacer el papel, interpretar el papel — to play the rolepapel blanco, papel en blanco — blank sheet (can be used figuratively)papel cuchà © — glossy paperpapel de aluminio, papel de estaà ±o, papel de plata — aluminum foil (the latter two literally refer to tin and silver foil but are nevertheless sometimes used to refer to aluminum foil)papel de embalar — wrapping paper (such as for a gift)papel higià ©nico — toilet paper, bath tissuepapel moneda — paper moneypapel perià ³dico — newsprintpapel picado  Ã¢â‚¬â€ a type of decorative perforated paper popular in Mexico as a decorationpapel pintado — wallpaperperder los papeles — to lose self-controlsobre el papel — in theory, on papertomar un papel — to take a roletrozo de papel — piece of paper Etymology of Papel Like the English word paper, papel comes from the Latin papyrus, which came from the Greek papyros, referring to a plant from which paper was once made. The meaning of papel as a role comes from the roll of paper that actors roles once were written on. (Despite the different spelling, the English role also comes from that usage.) The Spanish rol is often used synonymously for that meaning. Key Takeaways Papel is often synonymous with the English paper and can be used for different kinds of paper and documents.Papel also can refer to various kinds roles played by people or objects.