DRAFT FOR DA PAPER :)

Amanda Katko

Research in Language and Literacy

October 29, 2011

            Defining Discourse Analysis is a difficult term to define.  There are many definitions for this term and this style of analysis.  Discourse Analysis is a research method that is usually defined as the analysis of language beyond a sentence.  Each person analyzing the same sentence has their own perspective on what it means and what is behind the sentence.  The Chat Room transcript that I evaluated has two excerpts—both different from each other.  My evaluation is entirely different from every other person evaluating the same transcript.  The Chat Room transcript is conducted by S and interviews A. They speak about chat room experiences then, when A was young and chat room experiences more recently when A was older.

            My focus and question for this Discourse Analysis essay is:  How does A go from being a victim to a confident and more outgoing person?  What factors influenced A's change and made her able to move from being a victim who was vulnerable, had no control, and almost abused to a rebel who was powerful, capable of inflicting damage, and going outside the rules?  The Chat Room transcript has many points that prove A to be a victim and have many points that prove A to be a rebel.  A as a victim and rebel are shown separately; A transforms from a victim in the first excerpt of the transcript into a rebel in the second excerpt of the transcript gradually and somewhat noticeably.  In order to see the transformation, one must successfully use discourse analysis.

            A victim is a person or thing that is suffered during the act of something.  A rebel is one that opposes or does something that is not appropriate or called for; one who has guts, nerve, and confidence in what is happening.  In the first excerpt of the transcript, A is made out to be more of a victim than anything else.   First off, A uses the pronoun I more than any other pronoun; the pronoun I is used approximately thirty-four times.  Usually when some uses the pronoun I, it means that the person is independent and confident, but not in this case.  In this case, it symbolizes her victimization.  In excerpt two, instead of using the pronoun I, she uses we most of the time which causes an assumption that A has grown out of the victimization stage into a more confident stage (rebel).  A uses the pronoun we twenty times and uses I only four times.    In this situation, she is showing more of a confident side of herself, whereas in excerpt one, she is showing a fearful side by using I.

Another point that shows that A is a victim in the first excerpt and a confident rebel is when A uses the word dangerous when telling the first story in the first excerpt and seems to laugh and use the word funny when telling the second story in the second excerpt.  This is known as linguistic evidence.  She uses the word dangerous four times in the first excerpt whereas she does not use the word dangerous at all in the second excerpt.  When a person repeats the word dangerous, it most likely means that something is dangerous or a person is retelling a story from the past that still unconsciously bothers him or her.  In this case, A is talking about her experience with an online predator which was dangerous.  It can be assumed that A was definitely the victim and that this event still might be bothering her.  Because A does not use the word dangerous or any negative word in the second excerpt, she shows that she did/does not fear the event that took place. 

An additional piece of information that shows A is a victim in the first excerpt and is a victim to a confident rebel is in the first excerpt.  A retells the same story about the online predator three times.  Any person who is confident and relaxed enough to tell a story will not have to retell it three times.  Unless a person still thinks about or fears an event that happened in the past, will a happening bother him or her enough for a story to be retold more than once.  Besides the retelling of the story, it does not seem as if A takes as many turns in talking as S does.  It seems that S has to encourage A to tell the story.  This can lead to an assumption that A is nervous from her past.  Because she has to bring memories back from the past in order to talk about it, she hesitates.  In the second excerpt, it seems that A and S talk about the same amount as each other.  This can lead to an assumption that A is not as nervous as she was in the first except which also shows that she is no fearful of anything. 
            Lastly, in the first excerpt, A does not tell her parents what has happened with the online predator.  This can cause an assumption that A is shameful and guilty of what happened. 

All of these points of evidence lead to a large assumption that A goes from being a victim to a confident and more outgoing person.  There are factors that influenced A's change and made her able to move from being a victim who was vulnerable to a confident a rebel who was powerful.  Firstly, the fact that her parents did not know much about the internet puts her in a vulnerable position.  Anyone might believe that the fact that A’s parents did not know anything about the computer allows her have less power, but it actually allows her to have more power.  If A’s parents knew more about the risks of computer and the internet, they could have had more control over A, which would have caused A to have less power to do whatever she pleased on the internet including chatting with an online predator.  Because she had more control caused her to be more vulnerable and be victimized.  It can be assumed that this is one of the factors that influenced A to transform from a victim to a rebel.  Did A feel resentment towards her parents because of their ignorance of computers? A stated in the transcript that what happened changed the way she used computers.  She said that she was more careful and she was also strict on her brother and sister when they were on the computer.  She made it a point that she watched over her sister, nothing about her brother.  A’s parent’s ignorance may definitely be a factor that caused A to be more aware of the internet and computers and more of a confident rebel as she got older.

The fact that A was alone and used I in the first transcript versus the fact that A was in a group and used we in the second transcript shows that she transformed from being a victim into a rebel.  Being alone at such a young age interacting with an online predator is what caused her to be the victim.  Therefore, she easily transformed from being victimized into rebelling because of the group she is in while chatting with the pastor’s son.  A’s collective identity may be a factor in her transformation from a victim to a rebel.  Her sense of belonging to a group no longer put her in a vulnerable position, but a more outgoing and confident position. 

The specific usage of pronouns, linguistic evidence, retellings and the easy flow of telling a story, and turns taken while talking shows that A transformed from being a victim to a rebel.  Something must have caused A to turn from a victim to a rebel.  It was not the evidence that influenced her to transform, but it can be assumed that A’s parent’s ignorance of the internet and her connective identity caused the transformation of victimization into rebellion.    

ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR DA ESSAY

My focus for blog 11 was not direct enough and was too general, so I changed my focus.  I changed my information on Blog 11 and I am stating new information on this blog.  My new focus is the following: 


 HOW DOES A GO FROM BEING A VICTIM TO BEING A REBEL?


First I will explain why she is a victim in the first excerpt.  I will include:

• The word differences in each excerpt
• I vs. We, the use of pronouns, she seems afraid by using I in the first excerpt rather than 'we' in the second excerpt
• use of the word dangerous in the first vs. the use of the word funny in the second
• Re-telling the first story in excerpt 1 which shows that she is not sure, she still fears what  happened in the past
• A does most talking in the first, shows that she is nervous from the past
• She seems to grow into a protector of her sister, from a scared girl to a protector of her sister
• Her parents not knowing about the internet puts her in the position of a victim
• she is vulnerable because her parents were not familiar with computers, if her parents knew about computers, this most likely would not have happened
• Learning from her mistake of being the victim, watches over sister when on the computer
• Less control
• tone and information seems dangerous

THEN, I will explain why she seems to be a rebel in the second:

• Thinks what happened is funny
• uses of we, stronger, not afraid
• Ch and A talk almost an equal amount, doesn't see like she is talking as much in the first excerpt which shows me that she is not as nervous as she was in the first excerpt
• very outgoing, not afraid
• more control 
• tone seems fun, worry free

THE EVIDENCE/QUESTIONS THAT WILL MOST LIKELY PROVE THAT SHE GOES FROM BEING THE VICTIM TO REBEL:

• Does her mother not knowing much of the internet cause her to be more of the victim?
• Does this cause her to be more independent and able to grow from a scared child to a 'rebel' as an adolescent?  
• Does the fact that her mom did not know much of the internet cause her too be more frightened or  not as frightened?  
• If the mother knew that she was doing this would she still be able (most likely no) then would she be able to learn from her mistakes?
• Does the fact that her mother not knowing about the internet cause her to step up and be more mature so that she can watch over her sister on the internet?
• She goes from being a victim to a rebel because of certain things that happened

NOW I AM BLANK!!!

My problem is...how do I pull this all together so that I can make a point?  What is my point...that she is a victim and then turns into a rebel?  I do not know how I can exactly answer the question of H.O.W???

 HOW DOES A GO FROM BEING A VICTIM TO BEING A REBEL?  


I know differences from her being a victim to a rebel but.......that is about it.. HELP Professor

DA FOCUS

I think I will do the chat room transcript for my first essay.  

I am having a difficult time trying to find something that is not obvious to point out.  I am not sure yet, but I think I might focus on:

HOW DOES A GO FROM BEING A VICTIM TO BEING A REBEL?




The points/evidence I will use is:

-the word differences in each exerpt
-re-tellings the first story in excerpt 1
-the use of pronouns, she seems afraid by using I in the first excerpt rather than 'we' in the second excerpt
-A does most talking in the frist, shows that she is nervous from the past
-she seems to grow into a protector of her sister, from a scared girl to a protector of her sister

Does the fact that her parents not knowing much about computers relate to her being able to do more on the internet?  Does this cause her to be more independent and able to grow from a scared child to a 'rebel' as an adolescent?  Does the fact that her mom did not know much of the internet cause her too be more frightened or  not as frightened?  If the mother knew that she was doing this would she still be able (most likely no) then would she be able to learn from her mistakes?

CHAT ROOM/ ADULT TRANSCRIPT ANALYSIS

CHAT ROOM INTERVIEW:

Excerpt 1

S    so how do you think you felt about computers (when you were young- in grade school/middle school).

A    I loved it - I loved it because, when I discovered what AOL was - that I could email my friends, put in little pictures, photoshop - all those things - and like chat with people my age - which can be dangerous

We didn't have a computer, but we had web tv.  Must have been in fifth grade.  And it was a slow connection and you could have a little keyboard, and you could, check your email, and you could also chat strangers - which was dangerous cause I think I talked to a pedophile I'm not sure, I I was in fifth grade I gave him my phone number when he called me I hung up I was so scared

S    what did that experience do

A    That was scary. because

S    did you tell your mom

A    no I never told my mom or my dad

S    we'll be careful if we publish this (laughing)

A    I mean, I think I told them later on when I was in college, but it's dangerous, cause my parents weren't familiar with computers or web tv and I was a child exploring it -like - there was no restrictions, my parents didn't know how to put restrictions, they weren't too familiar with it.  It's only maybe three of four years ago that my mom learned how to use a computer so being a child, discovering it on your own could be really dangerous when there's chat rooms, and talking to people telling you that they're your age, but they're not

S    Exactly

A    That was scary experience

S    But you figured that out, you knew to hang up when you got the call

A    Yeah, well as soon as I heard a deep voice I was like, that is not a kid, and like I think he asked me what I was wearing, and so I I was like, I'm wearing pajamas - bye, and I was like Oh my gosh, he's going to find where I live, my mom's going to kill me, so I didn't go on WebTv for a long time. 

S    Oh my.  So that was frightening. but it was also  - how did that change the way you used it then?

A    I was careful, and then I was strict on my younger sister and my brothers using the computer.  I also hogged the computer because I liked talking to my friends. But when my sister started going online I would check up on who she's talking to, I would look over, I would check the history, see what websites she went on

S    and how old were you when you were doing that.

A    High school.  I was in high school.  I was more familiar with it. And we started learning more about computers from the in middle school in high school by that time I was able to email who ever I wanted, and research, very familiar with the internet

Excerpt 2

S    so what did you and your friends do on the computer in a typical session - if you went over to your friend down the street

A    check our emails, check our home pages, see if people left us messages, go in chat rooms and chat with our friends, exchange pictures with people that lived in our area that was our age, which could be dangerous, cause they could be imposters, we really didn't care

//

A    I think paint came with our computers,  I remember eight grade we were playing with like drawing our own little pictures, um changing the backgrounds and printing out whatever we did on paint, and then it evolved into photoshop, and making my eyes green, and fixing my cousin's nose to make it a little pointier, and then sending it to people will all the photoshop, so we had a lot of fun

S    oh you did (laughing) you did

A    we would make ourselves a little thinner, and that's what we did though, I think half of our albums were photoshopped, so um

S    so how often did you use technology with your friends?

A    every time we hung out

S    every time, every time

A    every time, that was just our way of life afterwards

S    do you have a particular story about one one adventure with technology (laughing)

A    um, one time we were in a chat room, chatting, well my friend and I were like, oh lets go with that guy's sceen name, and then, he was like do you have a picture, we sent a picture, we found out it was our pastor's son who was like 20, and we're like eeuew he's like an older brother, and then when he saw our picture he's like why are you doing that, why were you sending pictures to strangers, and kind of got mad at us

S    oh that's really funny it backfired on both of you

A    it was kind of embarassing, we were like eeuuew, we go to church with him, he's old,

S    that's really funny, how old were you then

A    we were freshman in high school

S    ok so you were about 14

16

A    yeah, and he was bout 20, and he was like our older brother, too, and we were like, so now we know how you pick us girls, all these girls you met were from the chat room

S    that's really funny

A    that was a weird story

S    that's a funny story, and it's funny, it's like a reprise of the story when you were little, and you gave, but it's um

A    well this time it's someone I know and I think we lied about our age, too, so we said, every time we were 14 we'd at 3 or 4 extra years, we wanted to sound older (small laugh) and we would change our screen name so many times, cause we're like  'ahh, we want to have a new personality today'

S    laughing

A    we're like "pinkgirlloves whatever" or there, like our new boyfriends name, like Angelalovewhateverhisnameis - we changed it every week.   What can you do?

Features in transcript:

• S provokes A to tell more
• Indication that A trusts the interviewer by telling personal stories that scared her in the past, she did not even tell her parents
• A does most of the talking, especially in the first excerpt
• A retells the story three times, not just once
• S asks many questions
• A repeats dangerous a few times
• When telling about watching over A's siblings, A only describes keeping a close eye on sister, not brother
• First excerpt was more serious while the second was funny
• The first excerpt had more questions from S as the second excerpt didn't
• I was used in the first excerpt, we was used more in the second excerpt
• It seemed that I had less power than we did
• The second excerpt, S and A take more turns talking rather than A doing most of the talking like excerpt one
• The first excerpt was more serious than the second one
• The second excerpt.. every time S said that something was funny, A would go on to tell funnier things

Questions:

•  What emotions do speakers project into the conversation?
• Who initiaties new topics? 
•  Why does the subject talk more about watching over her sister instead of her brother?  Are there gender differences when it comes to internet chat rooms?

______________________

ADULT TRANSCRIPT:

Excerpt 1

Ch        So in 2002, you were word processing, typing papers.  But in that math class you didn't want to use that math program

M         No

Ch        Do you remember why?  What were your feelings about it, can you remember that?

M         I guess thought that I couldn't do it, I didn't trust myself, I didn't trust the computer, I was afraid.

Ch

        what was it about your self that you didn't trust?

M         That I could do it, I guess I didn't think that I needed to use a computer in that way.

Ch        Yeah

M         I was willing to use it to type

Ch        yeah, and what was it that you didn't trust about the computer?

M         I guess that putting all of my information in there, and trusting the computer to, you know, analyze it, the way that I could have done it myself

Ch        So you didn't think it would ah,

m         represent what I wanted it to represent.

Ch        yeah.[ pause] now go back again, so what was it, what was your resistance, if you can remember

M         With the computer?

Ch        Why didn't you want to learn it?  The teacher says we're going to do the course this way, and you rather than learning the program they gave you, that was supposed to make it easier, and that's the course where they were going to teach you and support you to use it, you you did it your own way, and that  isn't just you, that's fairly typical, so let's do some reflecting on, what were your motives, I understand the fear thing, but let's think about where the fear came from, what was it, the one you identified, about not thinking that it was going to represent what you really wanted, is a big one, that's big, but can you think of any of the other things, maybe about you, or your past experiences or

M         Maybe I didn't relate the computer to education in the right way, that I didn't think it was necessary

Ch        mm hm, and what do you mean, like, didn't relate the computer to education?

M         I guess I thought I could go through without - without having to do this.

Ch        It seemed like something extra?

M         Yeah, and even though I guess I wasn't you know comprehending that this was supposed to make my life easier, it made it more difficult

Ch        And also, I think I'm hearing, if I'm understanding you right, you felt that learning that program didn't really have anything to do with what you needed to learn for that course,

M         right

Ch        that you'd learn more, or better, or what you wanted, by doing it on your own

M         mmhmm

Ch        So you didn't see the program as part of what it was important to learn

M         Mmhm

[I wish I had asked why at this point]

M         I was fighting it

Excerpt 2

Ch        that's very interesting.  OK that was your school experience beginning that fall. So then when you took the computer class, how did you feel, it was obviously different.

M         It was different, and ah, it was a fun experience because the teacher was very good, very willing to work with use, she asked us where we were all, part of the class it was you know, twice a week, once we would meet in the classroom, and the other time we would meet in the computer lab, so it was the history of computers, so we learned about the history of computers, and then it was the actual hands on, how we would use it, so and we had to do projects, each project, we had to do an excel project, we had to do a word project, we had to do what else, what other programs are there, we did excel we did word, we did (thinking) what's it? slides?

Ch        Powerpoint?

M         yeah powerpoint and ah,

Ch        frontpate?

M         no, I'm trying to think what else, but they were just projects that we had to turn in.  So ahm, some kids knew how to use the computer but they didn't know how to use it in the way she wanted it to be used, they would zip by all their work and not do it the correct way, and maybe I was in a better situation, because I knew nothing. about you know, computers, and this was my fear, entering the information and then you press a button, and I remember , you know, the laughed at me because you would press the button and everything on the screen would disappear and I'd be like "oh what happened" but there was a way to get it back, there was always a way to get it back, so it was a funny experience and it was ah, it was kind of taught me not to be afraid, to you know, to use the computer

Ch        good, so this course was important, in getting you over your fear

M         yeah

Ch        What do you think it was that got you over it?

M         Ahm, I guess what could happen, you know? You know, what could happen, you put your work in you press a button, and you just - what's going to happen?

Ch        So you had some assurance that your work would be there.

M         Right

Ch        that you knew how, that you knew how to what?  What was it that you learned how to do?

M         well I learned, well when I was typing on word I didn't know a lot of the different things, to use, I learned how to ah how to format, I learned different fonts, I didn't know how to use any of the pull down bars, I didn't know all of those things the drop down menus I didn't know all those things were there, I didn't know about the undo button, that's my favorite button the undo button (laughing) go back, go forward.

Ch        so let's go back to how you learned word when you learned it by yourself,

you had something you needed to do, right? and then you'd ask someone what to do.  Did you do very much exploring on your own?

M         No.  No if I had to type, I just went in and I typed I used it like a typewriter.

Ch        But you didn't go across the menu at the top and use the hover thing so

M         No I was afraid to.  I was afraid of breaking the computer. Or afraid of what would, I never explored, I went on, went to word, opened it up, typed what I had to type, and you know.

Ch        So your process of learning word was to go in and type, and then when you needed to do something that you didn't know how to do

M         Ask somebody

Ch        Ask someone, and then, how would they tell you, or what kind of directions did you get?

M         Ah, well like where us word.  I would type in Notepad, you know, and then maybe somebody showed me, or you turn it on, and I thought that was the only program and then somebody, don't you use word?  What do you mean?  You know, so , ahm, then I would go into word,

Ch        OK so, I guess then maybe that the discussions of the history of the computer and how they were organizred and what they did were important in that class

M         probably (but doesn't sound really convinced)

Ch        Do you remember

M         yeah cause when they, well it talked about, ah fear of computers, ah well and the realization that a computer has really been around for very a long time, and we talked about the internet and we learned how to find things, on the internet, and

Ch        What kinds of things - did they tell you how to get help on the internet?

M         I think so

Ch        Did you use that?

M         No

Ch        Ok, I'm trying to figure, cause, we've skipped all these other things about friends and growing up in school, so you had this one class and ah, so then, ah you bought a computer - how did things change when you bought a computer

M         I guess then I was little, my kids used it a lot more than I did, and I really didn't explore at first, and then I became more comfortable with it, little by little, then after I took that computer class, I took an internet course for the first time, I said, well let me try this, now that I, well I had to trying to graduate from Middlesex, to fit into my schedule, and then that internet course kind of helped me to build up my confidence, cause we had to do everything on the computer, answer all these questions had the discussion group and we had to answer all the se questions and he the teacher. It was an English course and he set up all these links to different things on the internet that we could go to, so I kind of explored a little bit that way.

Ch        So the internet course helped you to learn how to explore?

M         I guess so, how to research on how to use the computer for research

Ch        did it help you with exploring programs

M         not really programs, no

Ch        So how would you learn a program now?

M         Ask somebody

Ch        You still wouldn't go through the menu bar and see what each of the tools did, and you know because you can hover over it, or you wouldn't open them up and just play with it

M         I might, but I would probably ask somebody

Ch        Would you read somethihg
M         I would read, yeah.  I would read the help things

• Negative contractions are used a lot
• Even amount of turns talking
• Ch talks A LOT, much more than M, seems as if he does not have much to say
• Ch had to explain what she wanted specifically out of M
• Says I GUESS a lot
• In the second excerpt, M talks more than Ch
• Seemed like Ch was 'begging' for answers from M
• Does not seem into the interview, seems as if Ch is doing most of the work

Questions: 

• What strategies get the subject to talk?
• Why isn't the subject so quite?
• Do speakers seem to share the same assumptions?