6. Discourse Analysis
Is an attempt to interpret what the writer
or speaker intended to say.
It focuses on naturally spoken language
as found in conversations, interviews,
commentaries and speeches
Its aim is to make explicit what normally
gets taken for granted; it is also to show
what talking accomplishes in people’s
lives and in society at large
7. Discourse Analysis Example
Mother: Are they your shoes in the
family room?
Daughter: Yes (continues to text her
friend)
Is the mother really just asking a
question?
Is the mother’s question ambiguous?
Has the daughter chosen to take
advantage of the ambiguity of her
mother’s question?
8. Discourse Analysis
Read page 29 and 30 – highlight or
take notes
Stop before Meaning and the Mock
Turtle
9. Discourse types
Four types of discourse:
◦ argument – the writer / speaker is
attempting to convince an audience that
his or her opinion is correct, typically by
using logic and appealing to the
audience’s sense of reason
◦ narration - to tell a story, often in order to
make the audience feel differently about a
certain topic
10. Discourse types
◦ description - usually used to help the
audience visualise people and places, but
it can also put the audience in a particular
mood or create a certain type of
atmosphere
◦ exposition - inform the audience about a
particular topic
12. What are Discourse Devices?
Discourse devices – examples:
◦ ambiguity – word possibly has more than
one meaning
◦ malapropisms – using an incorrect word
in place of one that is similar in
pronunciation
◦ discourse particles – filler words used to
give the speaker time to think without
losing their turn in the conversation
◦ italics – can provide emphasis
14. Mock Turtle Analysis
What type of discourse is Mock
Turtle?
What tells us it is a conversation?
Who are the characters?
Who is the intended audience?
What is the context (background)?
What is the overall meaning?
What is the style of the language?
15. Mock Turtle Analysis
What is the structure? (full sentences,
paragraphs, dot points)
Word choice - do the words make
sense?
What would be the author’s intended
purpose to use nonsense words?
What impact does it have on Alice?
16. 1) List 3 discourse
devices
2) Identify 2
questions to
ask when
analysing a
discourse
3) Name 1
learning
strategy you
used today
Notas do Editor
The Gryphon and the Mock Turtle are the first inhabitants of Wonderland that Alice can comfortably relate to, but she finds she cannot escape the nonsense logic that dominates their behavior. The Gryphon and Mock Turtle speak directly and have peaceable manners. They become the closest thing to friends that Alice has encountered thus far on her travels. The Gryphon chuckles at the Queen and deflates her authority by explaining that she never actually goes through with the executions she orders. Alice finds comfort in the fact that her two new companions are able to step back and critically observe the unusual aspects of Wonderland. Additionally, the Gryphon and Mock Turtle have had lives that at least bear some resemblance to Alice’s. The description of sea school reminds Alice of her own education, even though the subjects studied there are puns on the type of studies Alice might have pursued in school. However, the Gryphon and Mock Turtle inevitably begin speaking nonsense. Alice finds herself at an impasse when they fail to address the question about what happens when the lessons “lessen” to nothing. Though she has found creatures she feels comfortable with, she cannot understand them no matter how hard she tries.
