Introduction to the Linguistics of Text: Assignment

These are the instructions for carrying out the required course work for the 'Introduction to the Linguistics of Text and Discourse'

The main work consists of the rhetorical structure analysis of texts that you will select.

DOING THE WORK

You should work in groups of around 3-4 people.

Each group will select one text to analyse. This text should be a self-contained text, or text extract, that contains enough `rhetorical' content to motivate an interesting analysis. Simple descriptions, or sequence of events, will not usually be rhetorically very interesting: texts where there is some persuasive element will generally be more rewarding, as will be texts which are trying to interpret events or descriptions and not just recount them. The selected texts should be around a half a page in length maximum.

Each text that is selected by a group will also be analysed by another group, who will act as critics of the original analysis. That means that each group actually has to analyse two texts:

• one they have selected themselves,
• and one that has been selected by another group.

Each group therefore takes on two roles: original analysers, and co-respondents who criticise the analysis of a text selected by some other group.

Presenting the results

Presenting rhetorical analyses of a more lengthy text is complicated, so you will have to think carefully about how to present this information during the presentation.

• It usually makes good sense to present the text top-down, i.e., first you might motivate its overall structure (as a rhetorical structure of course) and then go to discuss the smaller blocks within that lareger structure. The top-down break-up of the analysis may also be a good way to distribute the work of analysis within your group: that is, particular individulas may be made responsible for particular parts of the total text.
• You may use handouts, overheads, or presentations with a data projector for this as you wish.
• You should justify your analyses as well as you can; i.e., the relations selected should fit their definitions, and you should explicitly note any grammatical or other evidence (e.g., thema, cohesion, etc.) that supports your anlaysis.

Usually, only one text will be dealt with in each session: the first half to two-thirds will be the original anlaysis presentation, the remainder of the session will be the analysis and/or critique of the co-responding group.

Following the session, each group should prepare a final analysis of their text that incorporates any changes agreed on during the session. This final analysis must be prepared using a special computer program for making RST analyses that is described here; this will also be introduced briefly in the next session. It can be downloaded directly from the URL: http://www.wagsoft.com/RSTTool/RSTTool345Install.exe

The resulting analysis file should be uploaded to Stud.IP for all to see.

GRADING

Your grades for the course will be based on:

• the accuracy of your analysis—clearly your RST tree must be formally correct and also obey all the precise relation definitions (as given, for example, on the RST website and in the Stud.IP reading: "Rhetorical Structure Theory: Introduction" under Documents>Readings,
• the extent to which you can motivate it,
• the way you respond to suggestions or corrections from the critique offered by the co-respondents
• how well you critique the analysis of the other text you have to analyse.
• the uploaded file containing the final analysis as discussed in class.

final words

You may of course send me an email at any time to ask questions about the appropriateness of the texts that you have selected, or about particular points of anlaysis: not, however, about checking your analysis as a whole before presenting it.

Good luck!