9.10 part 1: Discourse analysis of shaggy dog stories

At the beginning of class I read over the list of who has turned in their NIH certificate - just so you knew I got them.  Training certificates are due by the beginning of next class.  If you have problems with the site - send me an email and we can work it out.

I will be writing feedback for Blog 1sometime between now and next class.  Meanwhile, you will be working on Blog 2 (group analysis of the shaggy dog stories) for your next post, due at the beginning of class 9.17.

Discourse.  After talking about blogs & the NIH certificates, we had a discussion about discourse.  The simple definition is language and use - which seems simple enough, but once we start thinking about the elements or components which shape how we use language -it gets pretty interesting.  In quick succession you identified 4 key features relevant to language in use:

the forms language takes

the identities, beliefs, values, everyday experiences of people who write/speak/enact it

the identities etc of people who make meanings (interpret/hear/read) it

the contexts (places) which surround and influence how language is used

 

Discourse analysis looks at these features: forms/users/audience/context - looks for relationships among them, uses those relationships to identify patterns => and then poses theories about how language "works" in terms of those theories, patterns and correlations. 

 

I pointed out that all of you are experts at discourse analysis - you make personal (local) theories about what it means when language is used in certain ways all the time.  You identify who will make a likely friend (and who to avoid), which teachers will teach their courses in ways that work for you, what people are interested in or "good" at = all by analyzing the ways they talk. It is not only what they say - but how they say it that you take in and analyze to come to your conclusions.

 

So you already know how to do discourse analysis - in an automatic, half conscious kind of way.  What we will do in this class is learn to identify the steps.  We will apply the language of analysis - naming, categorizing, looking for patterns & testing relationships & theories - to discourse.

General impressions of shaggy dog stories.
Before we did a formal analysis of a particular shaggy dog story (the florist friars story) we made a list of some general observations.  These were our "impressions" (the discourse analysis we did automatically - without naming, categorizing and formally writing out patterns).  Our list looked like this:
Features/impressions of what these joke/stories do

1. Joke (punchline) based on word play

• Used homonyms or rhymes
• Slight rearrangement to make nonsense meanings (words that sound the same)

2.   Readers need cultural knowledge to get the punchline

3. First part of the joke is an elaborate set up = to provide rationale for the punchline

 

Next, we did a detailed analysis of one joke, and this is the list of features we came up with.  An important thing to notice here is that we got the "big" features with our general impressions BUT that we got much more detail, and more ideas through a close, careful analysis where we named and counted things, and wrote them down. 

 

 

 

Features of Florist Friar joke

1.formal language

2. history – gives background for story => sets the scene

3. Words from the punchline appear early in the text

4. elements of the punch line are both put forward & held back

5. lots of storytelling details that are off the point

6. characterization for all characters (hugh = tough, why friars need money etc)

7. audience needs cultural knowledge to get the joke

8. Named character is Scottish – which sets up a meaning about?

9. language starts out with one meaning – takes a twist

10. goes in a direction you don’t expect

11. beginning, middle, end – flow => like story = well developed

12. rule of 3 plot development – similar to fary tales

13. Punchline has nothing to do with the story itself= the joke makes you construct a meaning that is ridiculous

14. characters talk to each other

 

This is a GREAT list - and it gave you a good place to start for the group work assignment.

 

I asked you to:

 

Group work:  Write a list of features of what makes a shaggy dog story a shaggy dog story.

To do this, you will need to:

1. Analyze all the jokes
2. Identify (name & list) their features
3. State which features all 4 jokes have in common.

 

This work set you up for your group blog post (Blog 3).

For this assignment you will do the following.

 

Blog 2:  (group post discussing your findings about the essential features of shaggy dog stories).  Post your analysis (the names of the features in the four jokes), the essential features, and the variants. 

With your group, be prepared to present your findings regarding the essential features and variants of shaggy dog stories at the beginning of next class.

 

The discussion of discourse communities will be posted at 9.10 Part 2 (I'm still working on it), along with your assignments for next class.

 

The assigned reading, the ethnography about football coaches, will be sent to your kean email this afternoon.