This summary includes all information given by the professor in both powerpoints and in-class notes. It is the basis you need to know to make sure you can apply this content on the exam. All 12 classes are included.
Blurb: a short description of a book, film, or other product written for promotional
purposes
→ aim?
→ target audience?
Brief notes
1) Categorisation:
a) Is this a text, an image or a mixture of the two?
b) What kind of text/image is this?
2) Interpretation:
a) What is the text ‘saying’?
b) How does this particular text produce meaning?
Lesson 2
Text / Discourse distinction
- terms sometimes used interchangeably → but subtle differences
- terms have different origins, histories and scales of reference:
Text:
→ ‘traditionally’
→ written communication
→ single artifact
→ used more in arts and humanities
Discourse:
→ spoken language
→ more extensive communication + whole pattern of thinking, knowing & behaving
→ used more in social sciences
➔ speech (or sound) & writing (or symbol) used to be considered different,
discrete systems
➔ modern communication (digital + multimodal) has created broader focus
◆ inter-connectedness / intertwined nature of speech and writing
increasingly recognized
,Takeaways chapter 1 HTAT
● idiolect → as a ‘set of linguistic fingerprints’ - your unique language habits or
expressions
● your personal language inventory → is larger than you think: you and your
direct environment are a resource for ongoing text analysis → allow yourself to
be intrigued by the language that surrounds you
Archiving
= storing texts of different types; capturing language and fixing it for study
→ foolproof text storage system more important for large-scale research
projects
HTAT chapter 3: sizing up the job
- setting your own agenda becomes more important as you progress through your
studies
- generic WH-question words can seem minor, but address more important issues
in text analysis
- caveat: some questions may be more useful than others, depending on the text
WHAT?
➔ what “happens” in a text is always of interest
➔ pointing to a text’s features is an important part of the way you structure your
analysis
➔ forms evidence for your interpretation
➔ from ‘what?’ to other ‘wh’ questions = moving from describing the contents to
considering which factors determine particular language choices
WHO?
➔ for speech (or other real-time interaction) we ask who the participants are and
what their relationships are to one another (as this affects eg: formality)
➔ written texts on the other hand contain characters rather than participants
◆ useful to conceive of communication in terms of “implied
communicators”
➔ writers (unconsciously or consciously create a narrative voice to address their
audience
➔ this voice makes assumptions about who the reader is
many ‘whos’
- a real writer
- an imaginary narrator
- a real reader
- an implied reader
, WHERE?
3 dimensions of where:
1) geography
→ public notices only make sense because they occur in a particular place
2) formality
→ if a US lawyer has to appear in court in front of a female judge he is married
to, he will still call her “your honor”
3) perspective
→ from what or whose point of view is the topic presented?
WHEN?
➔ time is also an important factor because of changes in language + attitudes
➔ older texts reveal a lot about the values of a previous era
HOW?
➔ how do the languages choices in a text:
◆ work individually
◆ connect with each other + build into a pattern
➔ interpretation required but no single right answer to question of how a text
works
◆ different readers see different things (cultural/personal
background/experience)
◆ meanings are not fixed
WHY?
➔ Why is the language as it is and not some other way?
➔ Did the writer intentionally want to evoke particular associations/ connotations
or is this an unfortunate coincidence?
➔ “why” question takes us beyond the text into sociocultural considerations -
demands extra tentativeness i.e. be careful → reasons complex
→ but complexity should not be off-putting
→ recognising and showing complexity=hallmark of high quality research
FOCUS AND SCOPE
determining a focus = deciding which questions take priority
● focus in text analysis same as in photography i.e. adjusting your sights to get as
sharp a picture as possible of a specific area
● closely connected with scope → how much of the rest of the picture to include
● Scope is often determined by focus: if the focus of the enquiry is clear, then the
scope of the study shouldn’t be too difficult to work out
➔ no fixed pathway for a language exploration
➔ one idea can lead to another, but limit the amount of material chosen
(depth/detail more important than breadth, especially for your
presentations)
Voordelen van het kopen van samenvattingen bij Stuvia op een rij:
√ Verzekerd van kwaliteit door reviews
Stuvia-klanten hebben meer dan 700.000 samenvattingen beoordeeld. Zo weet je zeker dat je de beste documenten koopt!
Snel en makkelijk kopen
Je betaalt supersnel en eenmalig met iDeal, Bancontact of creditcard voor de samenvatting. Zonder lidmaatschap.
Focus op de essentie
Samenvattingen worden geschreven voor en door anderen. Daarom zijn de samenvattingen altijd betrouwbaar en actueel. Zo kom je snel tot de kern!
Veelgestelde vragen
Wat krijg ik als ik dit document koop?
Je krijgt een PDF, die direct beschikbaar is na je aankoop. Het gekochte document is altijd, overal en oneindig toegankelijk via je profiel.
Tevredenheidsgarantie: hoe werkt dat?
Onze tevredenheidsgarantie zorgt ervoor dat je altijd een studiedocument vindt dat goed bij je past. Je vult een formulier in en onze klantenservice regelt de rest.
Van wie koop ik deze samenvatting?
Stuvia is een marktplaats, je koop dit document dus niet van ons, maar van verkoper oliviahertoghe. Stuvia faciliteert de betaling aan de verkoper.
Zit ik meteen vast aan een abonnement?
Nee, je koopt alleen deze samenvatting voor €9,49. Je zit daarna nergens aan vast.
