Streetcar- vocab Flashcards
kinesics
Gestures, postures, eye and facial
movements, other body movements due
to feelings and emotions: e.g. trembling.
proxemics
Movement in relation to another
character’s personal space: e.g. moving
closer to, further away from.
Haptics
Touching another person: e.g. holding,
shaking, kissing.
Face threatening
When you attempt to reduce or harm
somebody else’s status.
E.g when Stanley calls Blanche a ‘Canary bird’
Enhancing positive face
When other person allows you to maintain a
high status.
E.g when Blanche says to Mitch ‘it’s healthy to pespire’
Protecting negative face
When you protect somebody’s negative face,
you are avoiding a direct confrontation.
E.g Stella
Hegemonic masculinity
the prevalent view of society about what it is to be masculine: i.e behaviours, appearances, interests etc. that keep men in a dominant power over women.
Hegemonic femininity
the prevalent view of society about what it is to be feminine: i.e behaviours, appearances, interests etc. that keep women subordinate to men.
Accommodation theory
Developed by linguist Howard Giles, suggests that we adjust our speech to accommodate, or to suit, the other participants in the conversation.
Mutual convergence
Occurs when a speaker’s style of speech moves closer to that of another person in order to reduce the social distance between them.
Downwards convergence
occurs when a speaker adopts the language characteristics of a person he/she is addressing, who has a perceived lower social status.
Upward convergence
happens when a speaker of lower status will attempt to converge towards the language characteristics of a higher status speaker.
Mutual convergence
is where both speakers converge to linguistically ‘meet in the middle’.
Divergence
speakers’ styles of speech move further apart, increasing social distance.
Grice’s Maxims
Maxims of Quality. Be truthful. Only say that for which you have adequate evidence.
Maxims of Quantity. Provide as much information as required.
Maxim of Relation. Be relevant. Don’t answer a question with something not relevant (e.g. Blanche’s silly stories).
Maxims of Manner. Avoid ambiguity. Be clear, brief and orderly.
Smooth speaker switch
expected form of conversation, no overlap of speakers
Overlap
speakers speaking over each other (often excitedly or due to enthusiasm - generally not maliciously or disrespectfully).
A symbol
A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material
object representing something abstract.
Politeness theory
According to Brown and Levinson, politeness strategies are developed in order to save the hearer’s “face.”Usually you try to avoid embarrassing the other person, or
making them feel uncomfortable.
Assertives
speech acts that commit a speaker to the truth of what they are saying, such as a
statement like “I am not married”.
Directives
speech acts that are to cause the hearer to take a particular action, like requests,
commands and advice. “Don’t forget your homework.”
Commissives
speech acts that commit a speaker to doing some future action, e.g. promises and
oaths. “I promise I won’t forget my essay.”
Expressives
speech acts that express the speaker’s attitudes and emotions, e.g. congratulations,
excuses and thanks. “I’m really sorry that I forgot my coursework draft.”
Declaratives
speech acts that change the reality of the situation, e.g. baptisms or pronouncing
someone husband and wife.
Peripeteia
reversal of fortune
Catharsis
A sudden emotional breakdown or climax that involves overwhelming feelings of great sorrow, pity, laughter or any extreme change in emotion that results in the restoration, renewal and revitalization for living
Hamartia
error committed by tragic hero that leads to their downfall and death
Hubris
Overbearing pride or presumption, especially towards the gods.
Excess confidence
Characteristics of a tragic hero
1) nobility
2)hamartia
3)anagnorisis
4)audience must feel dramatic irony for the character
Anagnorisis
The discovery or recognition that the reversal of fortune was bourght about by the hero’s own actions
Locutionary act
the performance of an utterance: the actual utterance and its surface meaning
Illocutionary act
the pragmatic, intended meaning of the utterance; its significance and force in its particular context
Perlocutionary act
the utterance’s actual effect on the hearer, such as persuading, convincing
Realism
Characters are believable everyday types etc
Naturalism
Extreme realism
Southern Belle
Fabled creature had to conform to social expectations; she was expected to be innocent, childlike, decorous, demure and submissive.
Positive politeness
Speech intended to avoid offense by highlighting friendliness
E.g ‘It’s been a long time since breakfast, how about some lunch’
Adjacency pairs
An example of conversational turn-taking. An adjacency pair is composed of two utterances by two speakers one after another.
E.g a question and then an answer
Diminutive
Shortening of a name, typically used informally
Expressionist play
A style of writing in which the writer seeks to express the inner world of emotion, rather than the external reality
Domestic tragedy
A tragedy with a focus on personal affairs often set in a small house hold.
Register
The formal and informal style of text/speech.
E.g a high or low register
Turn taking
Standard conversational discourse structure.
Respective turns taken to speak by each participant
Expressive locutionary force
Speech acts that effect the speakers attitude and emotion
Nomenclature
A system or set of names or terms for things/people.
Term of address
A word or phrase used to address or refer to someone or something without using his her or its name
Commissive locutionary force
Speech that commits teh speaker to doing some future action
Paralinguistics
Non-lexical features of communication by speech. Can include:
Accent, pitch, volume, speech rate, modulation, and fluency. Some researchers also include certain non-vocal phenomena under the heading of paralanguage: facial expressions, eye movements, hand gestures,
Pathos
The power of a person, situation, piece of writing or work of art to cause feelings or sadness
Negative politeness
Politeness strategy based on the speakers minimising imposition of the addressee
Negative politeness is used when speakers know they are impinging on a person’s time or space and want to minimise the potential threat or awkwardness. Negative politeness can be expressed by being indirect, using hedges, minimizing imposition, or apologizing.
Assertive locutionary force
A speech act which commits the speaker to the truth of what they are saying.
E.g a statement
Bald on record
Does not attempt to minimise the threat to the hearers face
Directive locutionary force
speech acts that direct the hearer to take a particular action
Topic management
The control of the conversation in terms of speaking and topic
Topic initiation
Refers to the introduction of topics for discussion
Naturalism
A term often used as a synonym for realism; also view of experience that is often characterised by bleak and pessimistic.
Interjection
A word thrown into a sentence or conversation
What is asymmetry
In conversation analysis, asymmetry is an imbalance in the relationship between speaker and hearer(s) as a result of social and institutional factors
Social diexis
Can be name calling or can just be referring to other people i.e ‘they’
