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Analysing Rita
Task D – Our answer
Frank initiates the first topic in turn 1, asking Rita for her name.
She disrupts this attempt, though, and he does not manage to ‘close’
his topic. Then, in turn 8, Rita introduces the topic of the picture on
Frank’s wall, which continues until turn 19, with Rita arguably
introducing sub-topics related to the picture in turn 16 (pornography
and eroticism). In turn 20 Rita changes the topic to the kind of students
Frank teaches, and then asks about the Open University in turn 24. Then,
when, in turn 25, Frank says why he is not really in a position to comment
on the Open University, Rita introduces the topic of Frank’s financial
situation. She also raises the topic of cigarettes by asking if she can
smoke in turn 32, and discussion of this topic lasts until the end of
the extract.
Hence Rita effectively controls the topic of the conversation throughout,
and the topics involved (pornography, eroticism, Frank’s finances)
are not the sort of topics one would expect to be introduced on a first
meeting by anyone, let alone by the least powerful interactant in social
terms. This is in marked contrast to our schematic expectations for the
tutorial activity type and, as with the factors we have seen in tasks
B and C, contributes to the portrayal of Rita’s unusually powerful
personality and discourse style. Although the play is called Educating
Rita, at the beginning, at least, it is Frank who appears to be being
educated.
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