English Discourse and Pragmatics - Mini Project #2 James Madison University

[This assignment is due Weds. 3/23, and it will be graded. Please read the directions carefully. ]

1. Team up with 1 partner. (A special concession for one 3-person team may be made if the numbers don't work out.)

   (If you have not chosen a partner by Weds., 3/16, I will assign you one. If you missed class on 3/16, you must contact me ASAP to either give me your partnership information or be told who your partner is.)




2. As a team, choose an interesting and intelligible discourse/discourse segment at least 12 clauses long. I recommend one of the following, though you can propose an alternative to me, if you do so in person or by email no later than noon on Friday, 3/18:
   
   • John Donne's Holy Sonnet #10 (the one that starts "Death, be not proud")
   • Anne Sexton's "To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Triumph"
   • The first two paragraphs of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit
   • The beginning of Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol -- specifically the opening of stave 1: Marley's Ghost, which begins with the line "Marley was dead: to begin with." and ends with "You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail."
   • The first fourteen lines of Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy in Shakespeare's Hamlet
   • The "ENGLISH ONLY" resolution at the linguistic society of America's website, www.lsadc.org. (Access the resolution by going to the pull-down menu under "members" and then choosing the resolutions link.) Leave the last two sentences-- which are about where the resolution was presented and where it was submitted and passed - out of your analysis.)

   
   

3. Before class time on Monday 3/21, analyse the structure of your chosen discourse using Hobbs' coherence relations. Follow the method and practices used by Hobbs. In other words, show how you think the discourse is segmented, create a tree numbering the relations you observe, and explain why you feel that particular clauses or segments are connected by the particular coherence relation(s) you choose. Also, as you analyse your discourse, keep a list of any issues that come up that don't seem to be handled by Hobbs' theory.
4. Prepare a legible copy of this work to share with your partner during classtime on Monday, which has been alloted as a time for you to meet with your partner. You and your partner should use class time to compare and contrast your analyses and to come up with a final form (could be parts of both original ones, plus new ideas, etc.) that you both think is best or is at least a best compromise.
5. Write up, individually, a summary of the issues that cam up in both your original analysis and your review with your partner.
6. TURN IN individually a package of your original analysis, your shared analysis (with both your name and your partner's name on it!), and your summary of the issues.