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.