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Self Assessment Instructions
Before beginning the self assessment activity proper, you need to complete
your own analysis. But to simplify the task, we want you to look in detail
at three language levels:
GRICE'S CO-OPERATIVE PRINCIPLE, POLITENESS and TURN TAKING AND POWER RELATIONS
Please follow the instructions below:
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Firstly, read through the following extract several times so that
your are familiar with it.
We suggest that you print the printer friendly version
of this page and do your work on the extract using a word processor. Then you
can copy and paste your analysis into the self-assessment mechanism. Even if you do decide to work
directly on the self-assessment page it will be important for you
save your work to a disk or print it off, so that you do not lose
it.
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[CONTEXT: The following extract takes place
at Mr Ernest Worthing's country residence. Cecily lives in the
country and Gwendolen, who lives in London, has come to visit.
They are sitting in the garden. They both think that they are
engaged to marry Ernest. Now they each discover that they have
a competitor.]
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1. Cecily:
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[rather shyly and confidingly]
Dearest Gwendolen, there is no reason why I should make a secret
of it to you. Our little county newspaper is sure to chronicle
the fact next week. Mr Ernest Worthing and I are engaged to
be married.
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2. Gwendolen:
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[quite politely, rising] My darling
Cecily, I think there must be some slight error. Mr Ernest Worthing
is engaged to me. The announcement will appear in the Morning
Post on Saturday at the latest.
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3. Cecily:
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[very politely, rising] I am afraid
you must be under some misconception. Ernest proposed to me
exactly ten minutes ago. [Shows diary.]
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4. Gwendolen:
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[examines diary through her lorgnette
carefully] It is certainly very curious, for he asked
me to be his wife yesterday afternoon at five-thirty. If you
would care to verify the incident, pray do so. [Produces
diary of her own.] I never travel without my diary. One
should always have something sensational to read in a train.
I am so sorry, dear Cecily, if it is any disappointment to you,
but I am afraid I have the prior claim.
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5. Cecily:
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It would distress me more than I can tell you, dear Gwendolen,
if it caused you any mental or physical anguish, but I feel
bound to point out that since Ernest proposed to you he clearly
has changed his mind.
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6. Gwendolen:
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[meditatively] If the poor fellow
has been entrapped into any foolish promise I will consider
it my duty to rescue him at once, and with a firm hand.
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7. Cecily:
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[thoughtfully and sadly] Whatever
unfortunate entanglement my dear boy may have got into, I will
never reproach him with it after we are married.
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8. Gwendolen:
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Do you allude to me, Miss Cardew, as an entanglement? You are
presumptuous. On an occasion of this kind it becomes more than
a moral duty to speak ones mind. It becomes a pleasure.
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9. Cecily:
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Do you suggest, Miss Fairfax, that I entrapped Ernest into
an engagement? How dare you? This is no time for wearing the
shallow mask of manners. When I see a spade I call it a spade.
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10. Gwendolen:
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[satirically] I am glad to say
that I have never seen a spade. It is obvious that our social
spheres have been widely different.
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[Enter Merriman, followed by the footman. He
carries a salver, tablecloth, and plate-stand. Cecily is about
to retort. The presence of the Servants exercises a restraining
influence, under which both girls chafe.]
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11. Merriman:
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Shall I lay tea here as usual, miss?
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12. Cecily:
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[sternly, in a calm voice] Yes,
as usual.
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[Merriman begins to clear and lay cloth. A long
pause. Cecily and Gwendolen glare at each other.]
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13. Gwendolen:
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Are there many interesting walks in the vicinity, Miss Cardew?
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14. Cecily:
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Oh, yes, a great many. From the top of one of the hills quite
close one can see five counties.
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15. Gwendolen:
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Five counties! I don't think I should like that. I hate crowds.
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16. Cecily:
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[sweetly] I suppose that is why
you live in town? [Gwendolen bites her
lip, and beats her foot nervously with her parasol.]
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17. Gwendolen:
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[looking round] Quite a well-kept
garden this is, Miss Cardew.
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18. Cecily:
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So glad you like it, Miss Fairfax.
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19. Gwendolen:
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I had no idea there were any flowers in the country.
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20. Cecily:
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Oh, flowers are as common here, Miss Fairfax, as people are
in London.
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21. Gwendolen:
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Personally, I cannot understand how anybody manages to exist
in the country, if anybody who is anybody does. The country
always bores me to death.
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22. Cecily:
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Ah! This is what the newspapers call agricultural depression,
is it not? I believe the aristocracy are suffering very much
from it just at present. It is almost an epidemic amongst them,
I have been told. May I offer you some tea, Miss Fairfax?
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23. Gwendolen:
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[with elaborate politeness] Thank
you. [Aside] Detestable girl! But
I require tea.
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24. Cecily:
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[sweetly] Sugar?
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25. Gwendolen:
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[superciliously] No, thank you.
Sugar is not fashionable any more.[Cecily
looks angrily at her, takes up the tongs and puts four lumps
of sugar into the cup]
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26. Cecily:
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[severely] Cake, or bread and butter?
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27. Gwendolen:
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[in a bored manner] Bread and butter,
please. Cake is rarely seen at the best houses nowadays.
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[Cecily cuts a very large slice of cake, and
puts it on the tray.]
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(Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, Act II)
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Note: The Morning Post was a national newspaper
at the time when Oscar Wilde wrote the play
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Now write down for your future reference a brief account of your
general understanding of the text, including its general topic, its
style, or any specific overall effects you think the author wanted
to produce. This intuitive statement then becomes the interpretative
hypothesis that your later analysis will relate to. You can then keep
comparing your analytical results to see how they relate to that hypothesis.
You may find that you need to alter your hypothesis to a greater or
lesser degree, depending upon what you find. Alternatively, you may
find that you don’t need to alter your initial interpretative
hypothesis very much, if at all. But you should find that your analysis
will help to explain your interpretation in more detail and greater
depth.
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If you were doing a complete stylistic analysis from scratch, your
would need to look carefully and systematically at the sorts of linguistic
features we have discussed on the course, at each linguistic level.
You should also refer to relevant checksheets from the course and
from the textbook in order to make sure that you don't miss anything
significant.
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Now, having completed the analytical tasks, go back to your original
interpretative
comments from (2) above. Has your understanding of the text been affected
in any way (e.g. changed, deepened, etc.)? If so, write down how.
This will help you to understand the benefit of doing stylistic analysis.
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When you have completed the above tasks, you should write up a finished
version. It is important that you structure your analysis by dividing
it into sections. Start off with your own general interpretation of
the text. Then proceed to the analysis proper, and structure it according
to the three levels indicated above, linking your analysis at each
stage back to your initial, general interpretation.
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Save your work to a floppy, so that you can copy and paste your analysis
into the self-assessment exercise.
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You're now ready to (i) compare your analysis with responses from
other students, (ii) check out the level that you are achieving, and
(iii) see what improvements you can make.
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