Power Flashcards
Political Power
Held by politicians, police, those involved in law courts
Personal Power
Those who have power because of their occupation or role e.g. teachers, employers, parents
Social Power
Those who have power because of social variables e.g. class, gender, age
Ideology
A set of belief systems, attitudes or a world view held by an individual or groups
Rhetoric
Effective or persuasive speaking or writing
In sentence: He is using a common figure of rhetoric, hyperbole
Direct address
Name, ‘you’, ‘your’
Facts and Statistics
Show knowledge/research, how much they care about the field of the discourse, add realism,
Emotive/Loaded language
Rhetoric used to influence an audience by using words and phrases with strong connotations
Hyperbole
Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally e.g. “So hungry i could eat a horse”, “Seen this movie a hundred times”
Litotes
Emphasises a point by stating a negative to further affirm a positive e.g. “I don’t hate it”, “That wasn’t half bad”
Rhetorical questions
Questions asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer e.g. “What time do you call this?”, “Do birds fly?”
Anecdote
A short amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person
Power: word of mouth, adds realism
Tripling
Structure: beginning, middle, end
Lexis: e.g. ‘scared, lonely, distressed’
Collocation
A natural combination of words that are closely affiliated (associated) with each other e.g. “pay attention”, “fast food”, “make an effort”, “powerful engine”
Syndetic and Asyndetic listing
Syndetic: listing connected with conjunctions e.g. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head
Asyndetic: listing connected with a comma instead of a conjunction e.g. A man with no hat, with broken shoes, with an old rag tied round his head
Jargon
Special words or expressions used by a profession or group that are difficult for others to understand e.g. medicine, politics, music
Alliteration
Occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words e.g. ‘bounced the ball at the backyard bbq’
Inclusive/Exclusive pronouns
Including/Excluding certain audience e.g. by gender
Power in and behind discourse - Fairclough (2001)
In: the way power is presented through language
Behind: the focus on the social and ideological beliefs that cause the power to occur e.g. gender, class, age etc
2 types of power in Discourse - Fairclough (2001)
Instrumental: enforces authority and is imposed by the laws, state, conventions and organisations e.g. “Shut up now!”
Influential: persuasive and inclines or makes us want to behave in a certain way e.g. “Please do not touch the red paint”
Synthetic personalisation
Personalised language that helps to ‘connect’ with the audience and strengthen the persuasive intention e.g. second-person pronoun ‘you’ to construct a relationship between text producer and receiver, ‘have a nice day’, ‘welcome’
Anaphora and Epistrophe
Anaphora (reinforces meaning): repetition occurring at the beginning of sentences/ clauses
Epistrophe (adds weight to idea, more memorable): repetition occurring at the end
Power asymmetry/ Unequal encounter
Clear difference in the power status of individuals involved in discourse
Relationships that have an unequal division of power
Powerful/Less powerful participant
Powerful: a speaker with higher status in the context, they can impose power
Less powerful: a speaker with less status in the context, they are subject to the constraints imposed on them
Constraints
Ways in which powerful participants block or control the less powerful participants e.g. interrupting, leading questions, confrontational declaratives
Constraints examples
Leading questions, Jargon, Reformulating response, First name usage, Topic/Exchange control, Back-channelling (‘ok’), First person plural pronouns (reinforce cooperation), Colloquial language, IRF (Coulthard and Sinclair)
Initiation-Response-Feedback (IRF)
I - “How are you?”
R - “Fine thanks. You?”
F - “Yeah, alright thanks.”
Insertion sequence
IRF isn’t always the case: when someone interrupts or the speaker adds an extra piece of information that doesn’t fit entirely with what is being said
Reformulating responses (constraint)
Repeating what another has said using the same words or rephrasing in a more concise way using other terms without adding other concepts to the content
Leading questions
(constraint)
Questions that prompt or encourage/suggest the answer wanted (implies there is a correct answer) e.g. “Our company’s pizza rolls are the best, aren’t they?”
Topic control (constraint)
When a topic is initiated, it should be collectively developed by avoiding unnecessary interruptions and topic shifts
First name usage (constraint)
Informal, lack of respect, close relationship
Deontic and Epistemic modality
Deontic: when a modal verb is used to affect a situation, by giving permission etc e.g. ‘can go’
Epistemic: when a modal verb is used to express the speaker’s opinion about a statement e.g. ‘might’, ‘possibility’
Face concept - Goffman (1955)
Face threatening: name calling, disobedient, talking back, protesting, command
Saving face: manners, greeting, agree, questioning
Hedging (face concept)
Mitigating imperatives alter the strength of a demand by adding words e.g. ‘just’, ‘actually’
Positive and negative face - Brown and Levinson
Positive: an individuals need to feel valued, liked and appreciated
Negative: an individuals need to not feel imposed on or have their freedom or actions threatened
Face threatening acts (FTA)
When communication can damage a person’s sense of face or affect the needs of someones +/-tive face e.g. potential when asking someone to carry out a task or dealing with a sensitive issue
Face theory - Goffman, Brown & Levinson (1970’s)
Politeness strategies a speaker might use to mitigate or avoid face-threatening acts
4 politeness strategies
- Positive politeness
- Negative politeness
- Bald on record
- Off-record (indirect)
Positive politeness/face examples
- complimenting
- congratulating
- agreeing
Negative politeness/face examples
- hedging (indirectness) to avoid feelings of
- apologetic
- minimising imposition e.g. “it wont take long!”
imposition on the listener
When we appeal to a persons negative face we want to make them feel like they haven’t been taken advantage of
e.g. “I know its a real pain, and i hope you don’t mind, but could you please print these off for me?”
Face Threatening Acts (FTA) forms*
Verbal: words/language
Paraverbal: characteristics of speech e.g. inflection (change in pitch/tone)
Non-verbal: facial expressions or body language
Bald on record
When there’s a sense of urgency (“watch out!!”), there’s a low risk of threat to the listeners face/ in the interest of listener (“your headlights are on!”) and close relationship (“eat up!”)
Off-record/Indirect
The speakers’ intentions are implied and it’s up to the listener to interpret them, avoiding saying the potentially face-threatening act altogether
- relies heavily on pragmatics
S: “I have a headache”
L: “Oh dear. Here, take some of my painkillers.”
Penelope Brown and Stephen Levinson
Adverbs to intensify (feelings)
“So so so difficult”
“Absolutely pride”
Temporal and spatial adverbial
Time: ‘when’, ‘during’, tomorrow, last year, yesterday
Space: above, anywhere, above, below, here
Adjectives
Base: big, good
Comparatives: bigger, better
Superlatives: biggest, best
