1.; T3. .11.... .52.. .. r... 3...; .i .97).... ..§ .V . v: 5, C...L.f...lél..l-. . .1. I... 13.. 35.4 W I o‘nl~t1-lu. '1‘.’-1.’u> firgl v.3". ll.‘~vl’e - w’ .u‘:\.!lx:3c .. 3 . . . DI. 3.... yr... > V .g!. tr.- ...i;! y;lt»l.... AA... I‘Ldr . , .3»... 21:11.0; , 7.... a ~..I . -.~.-.z.. . . it?" 0.0 a.» .rvvi .ylae 03' I .\ £u. «J». I}... ‘c 1. V4 . . . ll )0... ;. psl 2| . 35$»... 9...... . .s.1..:fl....x 2.1.; an”. . 3}... X .W 79...... y. .. .231. .7? . .l . Ki , v .i'w A. .0 .E . o.Oi-.‘ =7 (0." :1“. .1... . . 14.55... 14.3.... no .~ . 11 ,9’9 51... 7...: .2... .i . .v . . . . $-r6raJ )9! 2.1L... . 1.1.5 . . . .I 53.5.}. x:!\2.. . l:7\.§.,i. n ....31 (“11.59: ’. 7031......» v3. .13.]?! . 9 . .ii. .5? - . . t... . z. 13‘ ~ ‘1! . {.1‘ II 55.1... .' ’t..l.'|!. I- (.3 . 5.1,.) . . v .3. .II . . 22.2.-.. . , . . .l : querI. . . . 23-33:. . $ . V 3.652.... y'nn’,I ~01. .Iv y. :1... r3: 3?! .(‘filfll 3... 2.... . 5.3.5.. .. ‘i‘: . . .tlt? 3. Iii... :1.» . i .5. . Li. lit. 1 .V... V. 935.. 3...... . i .ov-r. . 92:29... :1 r: 0\€...~ 51.3,). . . . ‘r n0.... v... . il> 53; ll 3 c It... , i..§ex:.|3. .: x 6. S“: r I I.) l...u.r in. .an . 2a 1.222....5 3 viy'r r :.t....:. . 9...)...1 E: at: 7 6‘1... - (a! p31. ... .1 It]... .ui..!|: . .5i! 2):?! . 1 .F t I“. NIVERSI TY LIB 1111111111111111111111111 11111111111111 31293 00881 0859 This is to certify that the dissertation entitled Sense Making and the Television Text: Towards a Theory and Method for "Interpretive Television Discourse" presented by Yvette J. Guy has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. degree in Mass Media I WWW:— Barry Litman Major profes or Date April 1, 1993 WM? MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution 0- 12771 LIBRARY Michigan State University PLACE iN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE MSU Is An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution eana-pd SENSEMAKING AND THE TELEVISION TEXT: TOWARDS A THEORY AND METHOD FOR "INTERPRETIVE TELEVISION DISCOURSE" by Yvette J. Guy A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY College of Communication Arts and Sciences 1993 ABSTRACT SENSEMAKING AND THE TELEVISION TEXT: TOWARDS A THEORY AND METHOD FOR "INTERPRETIVE TELEVISION DISCOURSE" By Yvette J. Guy This study examined how viewers made sense of a television fictional text, namely the situation/domestic comedy, ”The Cosby Show." The situation comedy has been a main staple of television fare since the arrival of television around five decades ago. Although its main purpose is humor, it also acts as a vehicle for social commentary and a source of socialization. One of my major concerns therefore was gaining direct access to the viewer to find out how s/he makes sense of a situation comedy and what factors are brought to the interpretive process. Discourse analysis provided a multidisciplinary perspective for theory and method. Grounded mainly in the field of literary theory with a focus on reader response criticism/reception theory, discourse analysis also draws on related fields of linguistics, cultural studies, microsociology and cognitive psychology. Within this framework, audiences are seen as active members involved in a process of meaning production and not the passive receivers of messages. Emphasis is hence on the process of individual interpretations, viewer commonalities and not on collective effects of a message. It was hypothesized that audience members actively engaged in making meaning of a television text as opposed to passively receiving a message; that different types of knowledge played an important role in sensemaking; and that the identification of these types of knowledge was a crucial factor in understanding the sensemaking process. The development of a method that would identify such knowledge was also an important factor in the study. Data was randomly collected from a heterogeneous mix of viewers who were asked to view "The Cosby Show" with the researcher. They were interviewed before, during and after the viewing. Interview discourse was then analyzed according to rules of discourse analysis and broken down into topics and categories. Results of the discourse analysis confirmed the theoretical assumptions of the study. Viewers were found to possess different types of knowledge that influenced the viewing event. Moreover, variations in knowledge resulted in three prototypes of viewers. The method of discourse analysis which was developed for this study was successful in bringing such information to the fore. Copyright by YVBTTE J. GUY 1993 To my family ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS "My grace is sufficient..." (2 Cor. 12:9) I wish to thank Dr Grethchen Barbatsis, my advisor and committee chair, for her guidance and perspectives. I would also like to thank the members of my committee --Dr Kathleen Geissler, Dr Laura Roehler, and Dr Bonnie Reece for their thorough assessments and insights. My deepest love and appreciation go out to my sisters Judy, Marion, Myrna, Jean and Gloria; my brothers David, Russell and Maxie; my aunts Agnes, Cynthia, Pauline, Isabel and Joyce; my cousin Phyllis, my nieces, nephews and sisters and brothers-in-law; Thank you all for your constant love and support. A special thanks to my dear friend, Renato, for his encouragement and assistance. Thanks also to Charles and my other special friends. And a final thanks to the Major, my deceased father, for putting ideas into my head. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Eng: LIST OF TABLES ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 8 AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK The Multi-Disciplinary Nature of Discourse Theory 8 Origins of Discourse 8 Discourse and Television Studies 11 Key Concepts in Discourse Theory 14 Information Processing 14 Memory 16 Short Term Memory (STM) 16 Long Term Memory (LTM) 16 Semantics 16 Frame/Script/Schema Theory 17 Inferences/Presuppositions 21 Situation Models 21 Strategies 22 Top Down/Bottom Up Processing 22 Contexts 22 Pragmatics 23 Pragmatic Cues 24 Semantic Macrostructures or Topics 25 Local Coherence 26 Global Coherence 26 Topics as the Bridge Linking Theory and Method 27 CHAPTER 3: METHOD 29 The Method of Discourse Analysis 31 Local Coherence 32 Global Coherence 32 Data Collection 34 The In-Depth Interview 34 Sensemaking and the Cosby Show 35 Method 35 Plot Summary 35 Design of the Study 36 The In-Depth Interview 36 Individual (One-to-One Interviews) 36 vii Sample 37 Viewer Respondents 37 Data Collection 38 Departure Point for In-Depth Interview 38 Data Analysis 39 Discourse Analysis 39 A Note on Reliability 40 Local Analysis 41 Global Analysis 41 Topics 41 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS 52 Main Topics 52 Textual Topics 52 Contextual Topics 54 Topic Sets 55 Program as Story (Narrative) 55 Program as Production 58 Program as Situation Comedy 60 Program as Television 62 Evaluation 63 Expectations 70 Identification 74 Attitude 77 Collective Schema 79 Pragmatic Knowledge Schema 79 Personal Sociocultural Knowledge Schema 81 Evaluations 81 Expectations 82 Identification/Realism 83 Attitude 84 Story Knowledge Schema 85 Positive/Negative Schema 86 Individual Schema 87 The Cognoscent Viewer 90 The Cognizant Viewer 100 The Peripheral Viewer 106 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 110 BIBLIOGRAPHY 122 APPENDIX A: Interview Guide: "The Cosby Show" 134 Interpretive Television Discourse APPENDIX B: Viewer Profiles 135 APPENDIX C: Discourse Analysis 136 Topic Extraction viii 0301.500“) LIST OF TABLES Textual and Contextual (Pragmatic) Topics Personal/Sociocultural Topics Positive/Negative Topics Collective Schema Individual Schema Viewer Prototypes Ranked Schema Viewer Prototypes Ranked Positive/Negative Schema ix 57 64 66 80 91 98 99 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Sensemaking is a fairly recent term found in communication research on television audiences. Two paradigms can be identified within this type of research. One has evolved from what has been labeled decoding or interpretatign_studies where, the term sensemaking_or making,sense is used to describe how people make sense, interpret or make meaning of television program content although collectively the research is not labeled sensemaking as such. The other paradigm, though labeled sensezmakingl can be more aptly described as informatinnzseeking.sensezmaking as it is more concerned with information needs and uses. Its focus, therefore, takes a direction that poses a problem for television audience critics of the decoding mold, such as myself, who are interested in sensemaking per se and who see infomatinnzseeking sensemaking as a regressive link with uses and gratifications research. As a result my study is propelled by sensemaking research that has evolved from decoding studies. The term decoding was coined within several communication models to describe the interpretative process undergone by receivers of a communication message encoded by the sender. Decoding studies emerged in the eighties (Morley, 1980); (Katz and Liebes, 1984) based on research done by Hall (1980). In these pioneering studies specific television texts were used as departure points for viewer interpretation. Adopted by a growing number of researchers this type of research developed into the decoding sensemaking paradigm in providing a perspective for such questions as "What does this mean to the reader?" or "How does it come to mean this?" (Corner & Richardson, 1986). Accordingly, the researcher is concerned with naking,sense or sensemaking_as the preferential operational term to decoding+,the former seeming better able to capture the "protean and equivocal” and "even messy" nature of the process (Dahlgren, 1987, p. 7). Nithin this paradigm, sensemaking is approached from a multidisciplinary perspective. It is grounded mainly in the field of literary theory with a focus on reader response criticism/reception theory; it draws on the interrelated fields of linguistics; cultural studies; microsociology, cognitive psychology and discourse theory and analysis (see especially, Richardson and Corner, 1986; Dahlgren,1984; Morley, 1980; Hall, 1980; Eco, 1972). Inquiry is aimed at how people make sense of or interpret media output, with specific reference to a televisual text. The latter can be defined as any discrete flow of communication, "the inscription containing images, words, sounds and music which are recoverable and tangible" as cultural products (Silverstone, 1988, p. 30; Geertz, 1980, p. 175). A common interest in decoding, interpretation, reception or sensemaking has evolved from the a movement towards re-assessing the assumptions of traditional media research. Such research seemed to espouse a hypodermic needle based popular communication theory which focused on the behavioral effects of television content on audiences that are seen as passive due to their common responses to easily transferable messages. Indeed, later research moved away from the hypodermic needle/passive audience to a limited-effects model where individual biases and differences in the audience were seen as integral to media effects. 'However, although this approach did acknowledge a more active audience member it was more concerned with developing demographic marketing strategies than in exploring the audience as actively participating in the viewing process and the sensemaking that should be involved in such a process. A growing acknowledgement of the limitations of these approaches resulted in some new efforts at theory building that not only include the processes of meaning- making, but also a wider contextual framework of the media message itself. These contextual considerations are socio/political, cultural, and institutional (See Carey, 1975; Hall, 1980; Carey, Jensen, 1983). Sensemaking, therefore is meant to contrast with the traditional behavioristic conception of passive audiences. Within its framework, audiences are seen as active members involved in a process of meaning production and not the passive receivers of messages. Emphasis is hence on the process of individual interpretations and not on collective effects of a message. Rationale Sensemaking or decoding studies of the television audience have been mainly done with respect to the news or news programs (Hall, 1980, Morley, 1980; Dahlgren, 1984; Jensen, 1987; Corner, 1988). Few have been directed at television fictional texts, though Katz & Liebes (1986) reflected this focus. Their study investigated how different viewers decoded "Dallas" and how viewer understanding differed in different cultures. However, these studies were not clear in determining how researchers can study the process of sensemaking. As a result, my study is concerned with understanding the lianin8.a¥anl as it relates to a fictional televisual text, namely the situation comedy "The Cosby Show". My approach to this concern is focused on the viewer as an active participant in the meaning,constructinn_nrncess and in so doing, gaining direct access to the viewer in the course of their sensemaking. The situation comedy was chosen as the departure point in my study for two main reasons. Firstly, because it has been a main staple of television fare since the arrival of television in the forties. Secondly, although it's main purpose is humor, the situation comedy also acts as a vehicle for social commentary and has been targeted as a source of socialization (See especially Gitlin (1982) in Newcomb (Ed.) Teleyisinn; Ihe_CnitiQal Xian. "The Cosby Show" was chosen as the text for viewer interpretation because it is said to have spawned the revival of the situation comedy, especially in its domestic form, from the mid eighties to the present time. It is hoped that viewer-generated conclusions on the situation comedy will shed some light on not only how viewers make sense of a situation comedy but also what makes a comedy a hit, and why on the whole this genre refuses to die, having remained a television staple throughout its existence. Rasaamhfluastiona My research questions have developed from my area of concern which is understanding the yiening,ayent* They are based on the assumptions that audience members actively engage in making meaning of a televisual text as opposed to passively receiving a message; that genre plays an important role in sensemaking; and that the television audience has critical skills without being formally instructed. The research question to emerge from this perspective is: 1. How can one identify the knowledge that the viewer uses to make sense of a televisual text? Related to this question is the more specific one that asks: 1. How can one identify the knowledge that the viewer uses to make sense of the situation comedy, "The Cosby Show"? Such questions suggest that my research inquiry is grounded in method, that is, it seeks to find a way to study the sensemaking process in order to identify the kind of knowledge the viewer uses in sensemaking. As was previously stated, integral to my research is a way of gaining direct access to the viewer's sensemaking process, i.e. getting as close as possible to the mental processes involved in viewer interpretation. What is needed therefore, is an approach that can meet this particular need, in both theory and method. Discourse analysis seems to provide such a solution. This is due to its multi-disciplinary nature which incorporates a variety of theoretical and methodological elements that can be extrapolated for sensemaking research. Within this multi-disciplinary perspective are two important factors: (1) its focus on the truly active reader/viewer in audience comprehension studies and (2) its cultural/social and pragmatic dimensions. This study will propose that discourse analysis is the most useful approach, for providing a theoretical framework within which to develop a method for identifying the sensemaking process in the televisual context. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK The intent of this study is to get as close as possible to the mental processes that are involved in viewer interpretation in a way that could be theoretically explained. A discourse theoretical approach provides such explanations. To explain the important role discourse theory and analysis play in this study and suggest its potential for other studies of this kind, a review of the literature will set out to do the following: (1) examine the multi-disciplinary nature of discourse analysis from which comes its strength (2) identify key concepts that are considered integral for the study of the sensemaking process thus providing the study with its conceptual framework. 1. THE HULTI-DISCIPLINARY NATURE OF DISCOURSE THEORY Origins of Discourse Discourse analysis, originally referred to as linguistic discourse analysis, was used to specifically refer to a method of textual analysis. Of primary importance to sensemaking research is that discourse analysis was created to study speeches, interviews, or accounts of the types of data integral to sensemaking research. This type of analysis is not to be confused, however, with conversational analysis which studies casual conversations with its rules and functions. The study of discourse can be traced to the beginning of the nineteenth century in the schools of historical and comparative linguistics, and the structuralist approaches to language which began to replace rhetoric as the primary discipline of the humanities. It was influenced as well by developments taking place in other fields such as poetics, linguistics, and anthropology, commonly referred to as Russian Eomalisn. Vladimir Propp's Mmhalou of. the Eglktale (1928) for example, provided structural analysis of discourse in the form of a folktale, using fixed thematic structures in which parts of different tales could be inserted. Levi Strauss's later work on the structural analysis of myth, paved the way for similar approaches to narratives and other cultural discourses by such as Barthes, Greimas, Todorov and Eco. Their works were all done within the framework of linguistically-inspired semiotics and soon came to be known as semiotics. Emphasis began shifting to forms of speech and cannunigatinn,and variations in discourse due to socio-cultural and historical contexts, systematically developing into the field of sociolinguistics (See Hymes, 1984). During this time, 10 the functional analyses of language which had been restricted to isolated sentences within the paradigm of generative—transformational grammar, were now moving beyond the sentence to whole discourses or texts under the label textlingnistics. This was later integrated into linguistic studies bringing with it its study of overall semantic macrostructures or topics, propositions and the notion of coherence in sentence sequences. Discourse analysis emerged as an independent approach to research in the early seventies. Interest in context-dependent discourse was high, along with the structural analysis of spoken language as proposed by Labov (1972). In addition, the notion of saaach acts and a speech act theory in linguistics was introduced through the philosophical works of Austin, Grice and Searle. Discourse and Mass Media Discourse analysis was integrated into mass media studies in the early seventies when structural linguistics and early semiotics, as founded by Sassure and expanded by Levi Strauss and Roland Barthes, served as a point of departure for analysis of the mass media (van Dijk, 1983, 1985; Connell & Mills, 1985). However, in these early semiotically-based media studies signifying systems were treated abstractly and independently of social relations. 11 This gap was filled by Eco in his work on semiotics regarding the television message (1972) and the reader's role (1976). These works expanded the Saussurean tradition by addressing the relationship between massages and their social structure. Eco also introduced the functions of addresser and addressee into the analytical framework of a television message in arguing that meanings were determined by the context of communication rather than in any correspondence between the encoding of the message and its moment of decoding. His models of reading comprehension showed strong similarities to those proposed by van Dijk under discourse analysis, incorporating such areas as linguistics, pragmatics, artificial intelligence and textlinguistics. Discourse analysis was thus showing itself as the perfect tool for enveloping a diversity of theories and concepts of an interdisciplinary nature for the purpose of meaning making. Some studies in television had begun to take note of this and began incorporating discursive elements in their research. Discourse and Television Studies In television studies, textual discourse was used to describe the television text or program. This is in contrast to such viewer discourse as interviews, accounts, etc. A documentary chosen for analysis, for example, is the textual discourse, while a respondent's 12 account or interview can be referred to as the discourse of interpretation (Corner & Richardson, 1984). Morley was among the first to apply discourse analysis as an overriding theory to the interpretation of television texts. His work has been followed by a growing body of cross-disciplinarily influenced notions and studies that can be conveniently categorized as various kinds of discourse analysis (cf. Brunt & Jordin, 1984; Corner, 1984; Dahlgren, 1984; Eco, 1972; Jensen, 1987; McHoul, 1982; Pateman, 1983; Newcomb, 1984). A variety of discourse models has been presented in these ethnographic studies from approaches that relate discourses to socio-cultural, political, institutional, and other discursive contexts. Morley uses a model that presents discourse as a socially produced way of talking or thinking about a topic. As a framework it approaches the text as an area of social reference which is the departure point for sensemaking, the context as a social location of the sensemaking, and the linguistic or signifying system as the means by which the sense is made and circulated. He defines the reading of a television text as the meeting of the discourse or discourses of the reader with the discourses of the text. The negotiation that takes place between them is, therefore, discursive. Jensen uses a model of discourses proposed by A.J. Greimas and later Egebak (1972) based on the notion that the meaning of a given discourse l3 grows out of its relationship with other discourse levels (Jensen, 1986 p. 169). Newcomb (1984) suggests a “dialogic model" which is intended to capture the interaction among systems of discourse, at the same time collapsing Hall's typology of readings to the more expansive "versions of negotiation" (p. 47, 48). Corner and Richardson (1987) create their own "discourse of interpretation“ which is "very complex in its weaving together of autobiography, political and social beliefs, affective responses, description of program content and speculation about the processes of production," and these are only the most prominent themes (p. 489). As previously indicated, only some of these studies (notably, Morley and Jensen) have overtly pursued a discourse theoretical approach. Nevertheless, a concrete, comprehensive theory of discourse with regard to sensemaking and the televisual text has not been formulated. It is the purpose of this research therefore to show that such a theory can be formulated for research inquiry into the sensemaking process. The researcher believes that discourse theory as influenced by these various disciplines and developed by van Dijk and Kintsch over a period of years is the most suitable framework for studying sensemaking. Cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence were responsible for introducing a very important dimension to discourse--a cognitive base. Bringing 14 linguistic (textual) and pragmatic (contextual) strands to this cognitive base, discourse theorists developed various concepts relating to reader comprehension and recall. For the purpose of this study which is to understand the sensemaking process and how it applies to the televisual text, key concepts as mainly developed by van Dijk (1979, 1980, 1985, 1987) and Van Dijk & Kintsch (1983) were identified within cognitive and contextual dimensions. (2) KEY CONCEPTS IN DISCOURSE THEORY Information Processing Information processing involves a processor/reader who is seen as actively processing information rather than passively receiving it or reacting to it. Hork in psychology and psycholinguistics was initially done within experimental studies for behavioral effects. Emphasis changed to cognitive information processing becauseof new interest in semantic memory and the representation of knowledge. Cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence following the early work done by Bartlett (1932) created the term information processing to describe the cognitive processes involved in ways in which information is understood, represented in, recalled and retrieved from memory. Understanding refers to decoding and strategic operations by the information processor; representation describes how 15 information is represented or structured in memory; recall and retrieval is concerned with what and why kinds of structures as represented in memory are most easily recalled and retrieved from memory. Artificial intelligence was also working on knowledge representation in memory. Through the works of Minsky (1975), and Schank and Abelson (1977), theoretical notions were developing out of computer programs that were intended to simulate language understanding. Cognitive models therefore, were proposing the importance of memory as the main location for information processing. This type of research was extended to models of memory for text and text comprehension processes. Work done by Kintsch (1974) and Rumelhart (1976) marked the beginnings of the psychological study of discourse. However, as stated above, of major importance to this study of sensemaking is the work done by van Dijk and van Dijk & Kintsch, which extended the theoretical concepts developed by psychology and artificial intelligence to the area of discourse. Van Dijk & Kintsch (1978,1983) applied the information processing paradigm to their development of strategies of discourse comprehension. Van Dijk also extended it to the processing of literary discourse (1979) media discourse (1983, 1985); and interview discourse (1987). 16 Memory Information processing literature stresses the role of memory in cognitive processes as the site where mental activities such as understanding, representation, retrieval, problem solving take place. Two popular categorizations of memory have been developed: short term memory and long term memory. ShortmmnamouLSIM). Short term or working memory refers to the assignment of structures and interpretation to incoming data that might be embodied in surface structures of discourse e.g. words, syntax, etc. It is described as short term because it only has the capacity to store information on a short term basis. LongIeLmNamoniLIm. Long term memory stores all the information that has been processed in STM. Hence, it is the storage room where the structures that have been assigned to the discourse are deposited and from whence they are retrieved. Semantics Semantics deals with the meaning of words, phrases, sentences or whole discourses. Studies in cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence found that information processing is predominantly semantic that is, surface structures of a discourse such as phonology and morphology are transcribed into meanings which are 1? represented in memory as concepts or propositions. These concepts are then represented in LTM with the assumption that the more structure they show the more meaningful they are, and the more meaningful they are the better they can be recalled thus making them more retrievable. Frame/Script/Schema Theory The introduction of frame theory to semantic analysis through artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, and microsociology was a major contribution to discourse. Frames are considered as very convenient structures for organizing the great amount of incoming information a reader has to process. They are described as highly structured categories of typical situations stored in long term memory that are used for organizing information. Their degree of structure in memory makes them high level or highly salient, and so easily retrievable. And because of their retrievability they are often present in semantic macrostructures or topics. In artificial intelligence frame/script theory developed from an effort to simulate language understanding in computer programs. The reliance of these programs on common or conventional knowledge and linguistic intuitions resulted in such notions as mmmmmandm As posited by Minsky (1975), and Schank and Abelson (1977) as integral to understanding, frame and schema 18 theory were inserted into studies of cognitive discourse processing and larger theories of models of discourse. Van Dijk describes a frame, schemata, or script as "a knowledge structure which ties together information in memory" (van Dijk & Kintsch 1983, p. 307). Eco sees frames such as codes as discursive structures that provide semantic information and, as expressed by Winston (1977, p. 180), frames are data structures that represent stereotyped situations. Altogether frames are regarded as knowledge representations about the world, determining “units or chunks of concepts ...denoting certain courses of events or courses of actions involving several objects, persons, properties, relations or facts” (van Dijk, 1976, p. 36). Basically, they can be seen as world knowledge categories occupying slots in LTM which are filled by the reader. For example, a reader will have a part! frame stored in memory and will therefore bring that knowledge of party going to discourse processing. The use of frames within discourse theory to study visual communication was popularized by Chafe (1980) in Ihg Egan Stanias. Tannen's study "What's in a Frame?” (1980) is distinguishable for making comprehensive use of frame-based text processing in the visual media. Her study pointed out that frames were associated with many expectations and inferences in viewers with regard to a silent film. In this way frames also revealed cultural 19 differences among viewers. Through surface structural discourse analysis she discovered such frames as film frames, film-viewer frames and story-telling frames. Similarly, Collins (1982) found that frames which reflected general knowledge and expectations about situations and event sequences, were one of three requisites in children's comprehension of television entertainment programs. Television studies have also been done based on based on sociological theories of frames as developed by Goffman (1974). These studies include television and everyday life (Davis & Baran, 1983), families and television (Davis & Abelman, 1983), and ethnocentric crosscultural readings of television (Katz & Liebes, 1985). Davis and Baran regard the concept of frames and framing as central to understanding communication For them "frames are a set of cues that people use to organize experiences of situations" and can be defined as social or personal (p. 69). Accordingly, the meaning process is regarded as a communication activity that involves the application of many explicit, implicit, elaborated and restricted codes. These codes are used to structure or encode the message, while related coding schemes are used to interpret or decode the message. Davis and Baran, for example, see television commercials as having interrelated elaborated codes through, action, color, and music. At the same time, a different set of 20 implicit restricted codes are present that can be used by each audience member to frame different individual experiences. With regard to television, as in film and other types of entertainment, frame theory argues that audiences are exposed to cues that encourage them to willingly suspend disbelief. In conjunction with this, they are asked to frame the conventions of the medium as everyday communications. Moreover, primary frames structure serious actions and play frames or keyings structure play. Within this perspective, a television entertainment program is seen as containing many cues that must be used to create the keying. Genre cues, for example, are seen as part of conventionalized and elaborated rules, which are used to point the viewer to the suitable genre keying. On the whole, a mass entertainment program is regarded as a kind of play, in which many rules are given to the audience as participants. For children and some young adults primary keyings and playful keyings can become confused, which results in the misinterpretation of television representation for reality. It is suggested, however, that constant viewing and framing can develop great insight into the structure of specific programs. As a result, children can learn to correctly predict both character actions and plot outcomes (Davis & Abelman, 1983, p. 395). In their popular study of ”Dallas" Katz and Liebes used the concept of keyings within a 21 rhetorical framework to describe how viewers involve or distance themselves from a television program. In real keyings the viewers relate to the program as if it were real life, while in playful keyings viewers play with ideas in the program in the process of not taking it seriously. Inferences/Presuppositions As especially demonstrated in Tannen's study, inferences play an important role in the interpretive process. In discourse literature inferences are also referred to as presuppositions, or premises. The notion of inferences suggests that a reader can construct a meaningful mental representation of a text, only if s/he has some general knowledge about it. Inferences are associated with frames because the latter are said to be activated by the reader to assist in interpretation. Even when external data is missing, and the reader has presuppositional information, s/he may have expectations about the story before having read it or certain parts of it. Situation Models Van Dijk places the notion of frames and inferences under the umbrella of what he describes as a ‘situation model.’ Such a model theorizes that each time a person experiences a situation s/he forms a ‘mental model' of the experience. As a result, in discourse processing the processor will bring this mental model as their own 22 individual or personal experience of a stereotypical situation. Strategies Within the situation model there is also the notion of strategies. Strategies describe the processes used to organize experiences in a situation model into situation categories. These categories are known as schema and are said to display a hierarchical structure. 109.th Top-down and bottom-up processing are considered strategies that are reflected in the hierarchical structure found in frames and situation models. In top- down processing the reader processes information to fit into high level categories already organized and fixed in long term memory by situation models and frames. In bottom-up processing the reader deals with information as it comes in short term memory without pre-conceived notions. Contexts Linked to a situation model would be the notion of pragmatics. Pragmatics describes the contextual knowledge that the reader brings to the text, through previous knowledge evidenced in situation models and frames. Contextual knowledge differs to textual knowledge in that the latter is provided by the text at the time of its reading. In his work on literary discourse comprehension van 23 Dijk (1979) proposes that contextual factors add to the meanings found in the text and are integral to its understanding. He also delineates these factors as pragmatic and socio-cultural, while proposing that meaning is due to the pragmatic and socio/cultural functions of the type of discourse in communicative interaction. The notion of pragmatics as described below therefore plays an important role in sensemaking studies. Pragmatics Pragmatics as derived from speech ants and speech act theory theorizes that the social nature of language demands the study of it as a function in communicative interaction. It emphasizes the social action behind verbal utterances. Social action is meant to include a speaker's intentions, beliefs, or evaluations, which are seen as serving an illocutionary function, as well as relations between speaker and hearer. Pragmatics was incorporated into comprehension models and applied to fictional texts, especially through the work of Pratt, 1977, Leech, 1983. Models pointed to the importance of pragmatics in underlining the specific functions of types of discourse in certain contexts and situations. Consequently, it is believed that different types of discourse result in different knowledge, beliefs and preferences where both speaker and hearer are concerned. Pragmatics was introduced to communication in 24 general (van Dijk, 1983), and to television news and documentaries in specific (Morley, 1980, Jensen, 1987, Corner & Richardson, 1986). From the perspective of pragmatics, detailed study of the television text is undertaken within the broader framework of text-reader relations. As such, it considers such specific elements as knowledge of television, and the form and conventions which constitute the viewing act. Exagmatic.Cnas. Pragmatic interpretation occurs when meaning is related to a speech situation (Leech, 1983). Such interpretation comes from various criteria as suggested by Leech (1983) or pragmatic cues (van Dijk, 1979) in and out of the text. The following statements can be considered as some examples of pragmatic cues: -—(1) Surface Structures Where the reader tries to make sense of a discourse according to evidence i.e. cues in the text itself as found in surface structures, e.g. the title of a book -— (2) Typical Actions/Conventions of Text and Genre Any background knowledge assumedly shared by both reader and creators of textual discourse that contributes to the reader's interpretation of the text. In this situation, the reader will know and expect certain actions and conventions s/he might consider typical or predictable in 25 association with the text and its genre. ——(3) Problem Solving/Goal-Task Orientation Where a goal oriented or task-related activity is involved. A reader might see the act of reading a story as being assigned some problem solving task such as detecting a theme, moral. Adams and Collins note the importance of problem solving and goals in the understanding of a fable. Van Dijk (1979) lists problem solving as an important cognitive factor in the understanding of literary discourse. —-(4) Speech Act/Activity Some form of speech act or activity is identified, not necessarily such traditional examples as an assertion, threat or promise. Here the reader recognizes or shows awareness of a speaker's intentions, beliefs, etc. Semantic Macrostructures or Topics Semantic macrostructures or topics are regarded as high level representations and are crucial to the cognitive framework of discourse processing. Topics give meaning to fragments of discourse as a whole. They are said to provide global meaning to a discourse, representing its most important aspect. In this way topics provide the discourse with an overall coherence. Levels of meaning can be achieved according to the types of coherence involved. These types are described as 26 local and global coherence. LocalCnhexenca At a local level therefore, coherence refers to the meaningful relationships between words, clauses, phrases and other sequences. At this local level propositions or concepts should be causally related, hierarchically organizing the structure of a sequence until it reaches its highest level at which it is most retrievable. GlnhaItherenna The local meanings of a discourse are organized by topics or themes that make sequences meaningful as a whole rather than at a locally sequential level. Theoretically, topics or themes are known as semantic macrostructures which are macroconcepts that represent the highest level of representation in memory. According to van Dijk (1987) they provide the theoretical link between cognition and talk. Because they define the overall coherence of a discourse, representing the gist or most important aspect of a discourse, semantic macrostructures or topics are the most represented in memory. As a result, they are the most easily retrievable in the discourse output or production by a language user. Evidence of the importance of macrostructures have been found in most studies on reader comprehension and recall, and the analysis of media texts. 27 Van Dijk's (1979) comprehensive theoretical outline for understanding a literary text pointed to the importance of semantic macrostructures and frames in understanding literary discourse. But his 1987 study of prejudiced discourse was the first to empirically show their theoretical importance in interview discourse. His study on communicating racism revealed three important factors about semantic macrostructures or topics. They are as follows: (1) that interview data revealed topics that are properties of the global meaning of discourse (2) that these topics expressed cognitive representations of knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, especially through the use of frames (3) that these topics are derived from the local meanings of words and sentences through a method of discourse analysis that uses rules known as macrorules. Topics as the Bridge linking Theory and Method In his work on communicating racism (1987) Van Dijk was successful in demonstrating the importance of topics as the bridge from theory to method. That is to say a discourse analytical method aimed at the derivation of topics from interview data would lead to confirmation or/and development of discourse theoretical concepts. Such a discourse analytical method as proposed by Van Dijk (1987) would therefore evolve from concepts 28 concerned with semantic macrostructures or topics, and their textual representations in interview data. Bearing these and other factors from the review of the literature in mind, the conceptual framework of this study was further developed as a bridge linking discourse theory and method. The framework that leads to a discourse analytical method is as follows: 1. Discourse processing is cognitively represented in interview data. 2. Discourse processing is cognitively based taking place mainly at a semantic level i.e. textual representations in discourse deal especially with meanings. 3. Meanings are mainly evidenced in semantic macrostructures more commonly known as topics. 4. These topics are also cognitive representations of viewers’ knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, etc. 5. These topics are cognitive representations of the mental strategies involved in discourse processing The next step in this study of sensemaking, therefore, is a crucial one. It aims to demonstrate and develop a method that will use this conceptual framework to operationalize the principles of discourse theory outlined in the literature. This step will be detailed in the following chapter. CHAPTER 3 METHOD At the end of the previous chapter the conceptual framework of the study was further developed for the purpose of showing the connection between discourse theory and method. Using such a conceptual framework, the first part of this chapter will detail the methodological procedures involved in operationalizing the principles of discourse theory that are integral to this sensemaking study. Each factor of the conceptual framework therefore will point to a step of the method. The second part of the chapter will describe in detail the methods of data collection and analysis. It is important to reiterate at this point that essentially what the conceptual framework is doing is stressing the importance of semantic macrostructures or topics. Theoretically, topics dominate textual representations in memory. This is the case because they convey the gist of what a fragment of discourse is all about i.e. the most important information, and as a result, are the most easily retrieved from memory. The discourse analytical method used in this study aims to 29 30 extrapolate these topics from viewer discourse taking the following factors into consideration: 1. Discourse processing is cognitively represented in interview data. The method will utilize interview data to get at these cognitive representations in viewer discourse. Discourse processing is cognitively based and takes place mainly at a semantic level, i.e., textual representations in discourse deal especially with meanings. The method will deal with the meanings present in discourse about the television text. Meanings are mainly evidenced in semantic macrostructures more commonly known as topics. The method will get at those meanings by extrapolating topics from viewer discourse. These topics are also cognitive representations of viewers' knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, etc. The method will show how the viewer's knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, etc., are represented in viewer's topics through topic sets or categories. It will also reveal the contextual factors such as frames and situational model schema that help form these topics sets or categories. These topics are cognitive representations of the mental strategies involved in discourse processing. The method will show what factors determine 31 the hierarchical structure of topics and whether they display top-down or bottom-up strategies in processing. The method will also show how topics sets or categories are hierarchically ordered in individual viewer discourse as individual schema and collectively as collective schema. This framework therefore will identify four kinds of topics which cognitively represent the meanings viewers make of the televisual text and the kinds of knowledge involved in the sensemaking process. The topics will be labeled as follows: 1. Main Topics 2. Topic Sets 3. Collective Schema 4 Individual Schema The Method of Discourse Analysis Discourse as we recall, can be defined as verbal utterances, sentences, discourses, texts or messages of which there are various levels and dimensions (van Dijk, 1977). Analysis is divided into surface structures and semantic structure. Surface structures deal with phonology, morphology and syntax. Semantics deals with the meaning of words, phrases, sentences, or whole discourses. The derivation of topics from discourse involves different levels of analysis and the use of macro-rules. 32 Macrorules influenced by linguistics rely heavily on syntax and its rules for the combination of grammatical sentences. Essentially, macrorules are designed to reduce complex information to its simplest level. At their most complex level information is regarded as lower-level meanings evidenced in words, phrases, clauses. But macrorules of deletion, generalization, and construction, delete irrelevant details, generalize meanings, and construct new higher meanings from combining lower-level ones. In the process local and global coherence is assigned to the discourse. Lnnnl.thexenne One typical condition necessary for meaningfulness of a discourse is semantic unity through local and global coherence. At a local level, coherence refers to the meaningful relationships between clauses and texts, where propositions or concepts or conceptual structures should be causally related, hierarchically organizing the structure of a sequence. Propositions can belong to a number of? co '10-? 7 frames which 4a ei brganizing principles or units relating Epepés or propositions through convention and experience MAI" Glenn]. Coherence. Global coherence is arrived at through unity of topics or themes which constitute macrostructures. Meaning is considered at its lowest level in fragments of discourse that do not reflect much coherence. At a higher level 33 showing more coherence and semantic unity sequences become topics. Topics can be described as secondary when even more coherence and semantic unity are evident. Secondary topics become main topics when they are reduced to a very high level of abstraction and simplicity but still contain all the essential elements of the discourse. At the highest levels discourse is textualized in viewer discourse as main topics or first level topics, secondary topics, second level topics, and so on. Macrorules are responsible for assigning coherence to discourse in the process of generating topics at their various levels. The following is a description of macrorules as outlined by van Dijk and Kintsch (1983). 1. DELETION: Deletes irrelevant details in the sense that they do not contribute to the building of a topic. One must note that details can be considered relevant at a local level and may be taken to the first level of macrostructures and deleted at a higher level where they are no longer considered relevant. Deletion is the simplest and most commonly used rule. 2. GENERALIZATION: Abstracts the semantic details in respective sentences to construct a proposition/concept that is conceptually more general. In order to avoid making the resulting macroproposition too general, i.e. abstract, it is stipulated that this rule involves the least possible generalization. 3. CONSTRUCTION: Specifies when a sequence of propositions/concepts jointly entails a higher level concept given the appropriate world knowledge in frames or scripts. More specifically the 34 macroconcept represents what is typical, usual, in an event or situation. The construction rule therefore, can only be used when frames are involved. 4. ZERO: Leaves concepts/propositions intact by placing them at a directly at a macrolevel, e.g. one sentence discourses. The zero rule also applies when the level of abstraction has been reached after application of one or more macrorules. Data Collection The discourse analytical approach is closely affiliated with ethnography. Ethnographic methods have been used in interpretive studies as a way of collecting interview data. These methods include in-depth interviews, participant observation, done in natural or semi-natural settings. Ihe.ln:D§nth.Inte:!iei. A pilot study was done by this researcher testing the in-depth interview in a semi-natural setting as a data collection tool..Confirming the results of other studies, the pilot study found that the in-depth interview resulted in deep and thick descriptions that are integral to any interpretation-oriented undertaking which wants to come as close as possible to the sensemaking process. The use of discourse analysis with the in-depth interview is intended to show that when strategies of discourse are applied to the thick 35 descriptions of the interview discourse, this procedure can in turn lead to stronger theoretical formulations of the sensemaking process. SENSEMAKING AND THE COSBY SHOW Method The following is a summary of ”The Cosby Show" whose content was used as the departure point for viewer sensemaking. ElatSummau. The episode centers around Clair Huxtable, working mother. After a hard day at the office where she is an attorney, Clair finds that as soon as she gets home she is plagued by a variety of demands from her offspring. She gets angry that her needs are not considered in the household. Her husband, Cliff Huxtable, is very understanding and suggests a weekend away from home spent in a friend's cabin in the mountains. Clair hesitates at first but one more demand from the kids makes up her mind. However, her weekend proves to be a huge disappointment. Management in the person of an old male cabin clerk is bothersome and amenities are substandard. Clair finds her way home and on getting there is immediately faced with demands from Rudy. Instead of complaining, seeing she still needs a rest, Clair seems strangely energized and eagerly gets involved in Rudy's project. This is much to her husband's surprise and conical disgust. 36 (1) Design.of the Studs. A. Ihe.ln:DenLh.Intez!i£n. Studies done in the area of sensemaking show that talk as data comes as close as possible to the sensemaking process (See Katz & Liebes, 1984, 1986; Corner & Richardson, 1986; Jensen, 1986). Accordingly, emphasis is placed on use of in-depth interviews as the most suitable method for collecting data. These studies have also shown that less priority is given to whether these interviews take place in natural, semi-natural or arranged settings. As a result, I decided on the in- depth interview as my main data-collection tool with a setting arranged for that purpose. B. Indixidnnl_LQn§:tn:Qn£l.Intezxiena. The main data collecting tool in this study was the individual (one-to-one) in-depth interviews. As a way of assessing what type of interview would be more appropriate, preliminary questionnaires in the pilot study were used to find out about respondents' viewing situations. Most of the respondents watched television both ways: with others and alone. The pilot study also revealed that one-to-one interviews were more suitable for the study than group interviews as the latter tended to encourage situations for group influence on individual responses. Interviews took the form of one-to-one sixty minute joint viewing/discussion sessions in informal settings 37 at researcher's place of work and residence. The sessions were aimed at giving complete and sustained attention to the characteristics and details of individual viewer discourses. One-to-one interviews were deemed mosy suitable for that purpose and as a way of gaining access to the mental processes of viewers. All interviews were taped and later transcribed and typed for analysis. LSamnle. Viewers/Respondents My sample consisted of twenty five viewers from the San Francisco area. Viewers were randomly picked from public places such as malls, libraries, fitness clubs, and asked whether they wished to participate in a study. Flyers were also left at these places along with community centers, churches, and the local state university briefly describing the study with contact numbers for interested participants. Respondents ranged in ages from nineteen to seventy four and constituted a heterogeneous mix with regard to gender, race, class and education though there was a predominance of white, educated, middle class viewers. Although the study was not designed to be a sociological one, heterogeneity was helpful in broadbasing the viewers and creating the potential for increased variations in sensemaking (See Appendix A). 38 LDataCelleetinn Before viewing sessions began, viewers were asked to fill out a questionnaire describing their personal background and media habits. Viewers were then asked to freely respond to questions about the program they were about to see. A taped episode of "The Cosby Show" was shown. As my research was concerned with fresh responses to unpreviewed material, viewers were asked to indicate at any point in the program whether they had seen the particular episode before. When the answer was in the affirmative the viewer was asked to view another comedy program and the data was not used. Viewers were asked questions before, during, as well as after the showing. These questions were general in nature e.g. "Let's talk about what you have seen so far" and shaped by an interview guide (See Appendix A). Questions asked during a program were timed at commercial breaks which I regarded as convenient pauses embedded in the presentation. Viewers were able to talk freely during these pauses. Researcher probings were also done here. When viewers ran out of things to say, viewing of the program continued. LnenantmEnintionlnznenthInteuiea There was no textual analysis of "The Cosby Show". In many studies of this kind (Morley, Jensen, Corner & Richardson) the media text is first analyzed and then compared to respondents' accounts. This procedure has 39 given rise to methodological-based theoretical concerns about how much viewers' accounts are measured against meanings already "discovered" in the media text. Consequently, to avoid imposing any kind of structure on viewer's meaning making the text was not analyzed. Instead, viewer interpretations at the beginning, during, and after the program were used as departure points for understanding the sensemaking process from the viewer's frame of reference. At the beginning of the program viewers were asked general questions about what they might be seeing, the length of the program, etc. At each commercial pause in the program they were asked to talk freely about what they had seen, what they were thinking as the segment ended, and the like. At the program's end they were asked to pretend that they were relating what had happened in the episode to a family member or friend/s who had missed it in this way providing a summary of their main points (See Appendix A). These were all strategies aimed at finding out what factors were involved in the sensemaking experience without imposing researcher or textual structures on sensemaking activities. (2) Data Analysis LDisennrseAnalxaia Interview data was analyzed using two main levels of discourse analysis (1) global (macro) analysis, and (2) local (micro) analysis as developed by van Dijk and 40 Kintsch, 1980; 1984. In his study of prejudiced discourse (1986) Van Dijk used a sample of 180 interviews. He pointed out that a step by step analysis showing how main and secondary topics were derived from interview discourse would be too cumbersome. In dealing with such a large sample he decided that using summaries for the derivation of topics was the most practical method to get at the meanings found in topics. As a result he did not fully demonstrate the use of the elements and dimensions of discourse analysis for deriving topics from interview data itself. It was left to this researcher therefore, to apply discourse analysis as applied by van Dijk and Kintsch to a media text to interview data. A Note on Reliability One must raise the issue of reliability seeing that this researcher was the sole coder in the analysis of the interview discourse. Reliability was therefore attained by comparing the major topics derived from each individual viewer discourse to the main topics provided in each individual summary. Summaries were requested from viewers at the close of each interview. Major similarities between a viewer's summary, which theoretically represents the ‘gist' of a discourse, and the main topics found in the body of viewer discourse demonstrated the degree of reliability contained in the method. 41 The method involved two levels of analysis; local and global. (1) Local Analysis This level looked at semantic (meaning) structures such as individual words, phrases, clauses, sentences, from which concepts/propositions were formed. Concepts organize such lower level conceptual information and semantically connect immediate sentences thus assigning local coherence through semantic unity. (2) Global Analysis Ionics This level looked at topics or semantic macrostructures (van Dijk & Kintsch, 1984) which are basically topics or themes that are the summarizing ideas or gist of a sequence of sentences. Topics as high level abstractions therefore while assigning global meaning to discourse, provide semantic unity and global coherence to several sentences in a discourse, large segments of a discourse, or a discourse as a whole. Main topics were regarded as the representation of the global meaning of each fragment of discourse. In this way they also signified what was important, relevant or prominent in a discourse. Topics were derived from the meanings of the sentences of a discourse fragment or segment, from a sequence of concepts or propositions. 42 --Frame Analysis Within local and global analysis frame analysis was also used. Frames are knowledge structures about conventionally identifiable situations. They form a particular set of concepts or propositions about typical events and actions, and consist of a hierarchy of subsets. A frame is general enough to capture the essential elements of all its subsets or members of its set. As a result, frame analysis was used in identifying packets of knowledge and beliefs as retrieved from long term memory. They were identified as superconcepts relating a number of concepts through convention and experience. Frames were then used in the formation of higher level topics and situation model schema. --Inferences/Presuppositions/Premises At both the local and global levels, special attention was paid to presuppositions, inferences or premises within and without the context of frames. These different terms all point to the importance of linguistic choices in signalling viewer's expectations or assumptions about a text. Expectations can be openly stated (explicit premises) or implied (implicit premises) and were identified in their links to frames and other situation model schema. 43 3. The Procedure The sensemaking process therefore, as evidenced by interview data, was analyzed hierarchically according to the kinds of topics discussed, from the highest to the lowest level, as represented by main, secondary and minor topics. Certain steps were involved in the derivation of topics. First of all, topics were sought from any fragment that might be considered discourse according to its definition as verbal utterances, sentences, discourses, texts or messages of which there are various levels and dimensions (van Dijk, 1977). A...Iooioal£xanents Topics were sought from topical fragments in viewer discourse. In order for these fragments to be selected from original viewer data and termed 'fragments' they had to be locally coherent. Material which did not contribute to the formation of topics through local coherence were considered irrelevant and so deleted. Coherence Locally, coherence is established by the identification of relations i.e. connections between successive sentences. There are two types of local coherence: functional coherence and conditional coherence. Functional Coherence: This is a link between one propositional sequence and a previous one through a function such as an (1) example (2) specification (3) comparison (4) contrast (5) continuation (6) explanation 44 (7) repetition (8) generalization (9) conclusion. A propositional sequence can be therefore explained as a point or idea that is elaborated upon in a number of ways. Within a fragment propositional sequences usually take the form of main sequences, i.e. topical sentences holding first position in a segment, followed by other sequences. This factor applies to both functional and conditional coherence. Conditional Coherence: This is concerned with referential relations between propositions. It relates facts in a possible world usually through conditionality in the form of causality and temporality. Conditional expressions demonstrate the conditions of (1) Cause (2) Consequence and (3) Reason; These conditions are usually marked by explicit connectives such as ‘because', ‘since', ‘if’, ‘then', ‘before' after a topical sentence or sentences. Conditional coherence also involves referential relations in terms of Identity regarding a person or thing as evidenced in surface structures by personal pronouns such as ‘he', ‘she', ‘it. TooioalExoxossiona Fragments were considered topical when they contained topical expressions which were so designated in accordance with indicators suggested by van Dijk & Kintsch (1983). First of all, topical expressions tend to display specific surface structures. They tend to occur at various points in the discourse for instance 45 (a) at the beginning of a paragraph where they help the reader to form a hypothesis about that particular fragment of the discourse. In this way, following sentences are interpreted through top down processing relative to the macroproposition (b) at the end of a paragraph where they serve to check, revise or repeat the already established topic in the reader's mind (c) they are expressed in independent sentences and separated from other expressions by pauses or blanks (d) They are also found in key words and phrases in order to help the reader to infer macropropositions for previous or coming discourse segments. Some topical expressions can be regarded as low level provisional (first level) topics until they are. extracted to a higher level where their status is changed. Others can be high level permanent topics that need no further abstraction. As topical expressions developed into higher level abstractions they were regarded as formulating high level (secondary) topics and higher level (main) topics. Basically, high level topics were arrived at through a process of reduction, with rules created to reduce abstractions to their highest level; a process of construction which allows certain meaning units to be combined in newer, more complex units; a process of generalization that organizes sequences of concepts together by linking them to one macroconcept. 46 All topical expressions including tOpic sentences can be in themselves provisional topics or permanent topics, the latter being the case if they cannot be reduced or generalized by macrorules. Topics were considered extracted to their highest level when the level of abstraction was not too high to lose relevant meaning. On some occasions the identification of frames in viewer discourse was helpful in determining the gist of a topic. Topics in a fragment varied in how they reached their highest levels of abstractions. Some made use of one macrorule, others, a combination of two or more macrorules. In brackets at the end of each fragment is the kind of coherence found e.g. {EC/explanation) meaning Functional Coherence/explanation. In brackets at the end of each topic is/are the type/s of macrorule used, the number of the fragment and topics involved, and finally what type of frame, if present, was activated. The following are examples of the breakdown of discourse analysis of individual viewer discourse: Example #1 A. Topical Expressions TF1 Well, I always like to watch it (TS) They change it every season. They change it regularly. It's always interesting to watch. I used to like it more than I like it now I mean it's like for this particular show that all the characters are so strong and so polished... {CC/identity} {FC/continuation/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. I always like to watch it (TF1) [zero] 47 . They change it every season (TF1) [deletion] It's always interesting to watch (TF1) [zero] I used to like it more than I like it now (TF1) [deletion] DOOM C. Main Topics 1. I always like to watch it (STl) [zero] 2. They change it every season (ST2) [zero] 3. It's always interesting to watch (8T3) [zero] 4 I used to like it more than I like it now (ST4) [zero] Coheronoe Topical Fragment one (TF1) contains topical expressions (in bold). "I always like to watch it“ is the main propositional sequence with which "They change it every season"/ "They change it regularly"'/ "It's always interesting to watch"/ "I used to like it more than I like it now" are locally coherent. Coherence is conditional through identity {CC/identity} evidenced by the pronouns "it" and "they". "I mean it's like for this particular show that all the characters are so strong and so polished..." is a continuation and explanation of the preceding sequence "I used to like it more than I like it now" therefore it's functionally coherent through continuation and explanation. {FC/continuation/explanation}. Macrorules Secondary topics "I always like to watch it" and "It's always interesting to watch" are permanent high level topics that remain intact from first level (topical expressions) to second level (secondary topics) to third level (main topics) hence the [zero] rule throughout. 48 "They change it regularly" is somewhat of a repetition of "They change it every season" and so is considered irrelevant, hence the [deletion] rule. "I mean like for this particular show..." is a specification of "I used to like it more than I like it now“ and is considered irrelevant, hence the [deletion] rule. All secondary topics yield directly into higher level main topics with no further need for abstraction, hence the [deletion] rules. Example #2 A. Topical Expressions TF5 What are they trying to get across that it's ok for women to have needs too-—which I like that message but then I'm thinking nobody in my family even ever talked about what they wanted or needed or could go to their Mom and ask for anything {CC/consequence} {EC/contrast} So this is as far as relating it to my family is really unreal {EC/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I like the message they're trying to get across that it's okay for women to have needs too (TF5) [deletion] 2. Nobody in my family ever talked about what they wanted or needed or could go to their Mom and ask for anything so relating it to my family is really unreal (motherhood frame) C. Main Topics 1. I like the message they're trying to get across that its okay for women to have needs too [zero] (STl) 2. Relating it to my family is really unreal [generalization] (ST2,3) (motherhood frame) Coherence Topical Fragment five (TF5) contains topical expressions [in bold]. "What are they trying to get across that it's okay for women to have needs too" is the main 49 propositional sequence locally coherent with ”which I like that message" which is an attitudinal consequence of the message content and so demonstrates conditional coherence/consequence {CC/consequence}. "But then I'm thinking nobody in my family ever talked like about what they needed.... is in contrast with the preceding sequence about liking the message and is therefore functionally coherent through contrast {FC/contrast} "So this is as far as relating it to my family is really unreal" is a conclusion to all that has been said before, therefore it is functionally coherent through conclusion {EC/conclusion} Maororulea Topical expressions yield two higher secondary topics. Secondary topic one (ST1) "I like the message they're trying to get across that it's okay for women to have needs too" is yielded through the deletion of the contrastive statement ”but then I'm thinking nobody..." which introduces a new propositional sequence or set of ideas that yields secondary topic two (8T2), and so can be deleted. ST1 cannot be further abstracted without losing relevant detail so it moves to another higher level (main topic) intact. 8T2 contains a stated or expressed generalization (as opposed to one that is unstated and so inferred) in the conclusive statement "so relating it to my family is really unreal.“ This generalization becomes the main 50 topic by subsuming "Nobody in my family ever talked about what they wanted or needed or could go to their Mom and ask for anything." An inferred topic coming out of “nobody in my family..." could have been : "my family didn't communicate like that." As this main topic was partly created by a motherhood frame, all subsequent categorization must bear this in mind. Example #3 A. Topical Expressions TF1. Probably thinking of my own life, y'know. I worked, I had two daughters. I know how she feels... all the things I went through when they were growing up {FC/explanation/specification} Then you kind of, y'know at my age then you look back, looking at her life, you think well, y'know maybe she should slow up, why does she do it? But when you're her age you think a little different [she likes what she's doing, and she likes the family and she's torn between the two and you have to...sometimes you have to choose] {F/C/comparison/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. Probably thinking of my own life, I worked, had two daughters, I know how she feels (TF1) [deletion] 2. At my age I think differently to her because when you're torn between job and family sometimes you have to choose (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. As once a working mother I know how she feels but think differently now. (ST1,2) [construction/generalization] (motherhood frame) Coherence TF1 contains topical expressions (in bold), "probably thinking of my own life" is the main propositional sequence which is functionally coherent with "I worked, had two daughters, I know how she feels" through 50 topic by subsuming ”Nobody in my family ever talked about what they wanted or needed or could go to their Mom and ask for anything." An inferred topic coming out of "nobody in my family..." could have been : "my family didn't communicate like that." As this main topic was partly created by a motherhood frame, all subsequent categorization must bear this in mind. Example #3 A. Topical Expressions TF1. Probably thinking of my own life, y'know. I worked, I had two daughters. I know how she feels... all the things I went through when they were growing up {FC/explanation/specification} Then you kind of, y'know at my age then you look back, looking at her life, you think well, y'know maybe she should slow up, why does she do it? But when you're her age you think a little different [she likes what she's doing, and she likes the family and she's torn between the two and you have to...sometimes you have to choose] {F/C/comparison/specification} B. Secondary Topics . 1. Probably thinking of my own life, I worked, had two daughters, I know how she feels (TF1) [deletion] 2. At my age I think differently to her because when you're torn between job and family sometimes you have to choose (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. As once a working mother I know how she feels but think differently now. (ST1,2) [construction/generalization] (motherhood frame) Coherence TF1 contains topical expressions (in bold), "probably thinking of my own life” is the main propositional sequence which is functionally coherent with "I worked, had two daughters, I know how she feels" through 51 explanation and specification {FC/explanation/specification}. These sequences also show conditional coherence through identity "I". "But when you're her age" and ”sometimes you have to choose“ are functionally coherent with the preceding sequences through comparison and specification {FC/comparison/specification}. Macrorules Topical expressions yield two higher level secondary topics (ST1,2) through deletion of irrelevant detail. The construction rule is then used to join propositional sequences found in ST1,2 to form a new proposition “working mother" at a higher level (main topic) based on a working motherhood frame. The propositions or concepts have also been generalized at this higher level, hence the generalization rule. The method as developed yields topics that will be developed into categories of knowledge which viewers use in the sensemaking process. As suggested by the conceptual framework these topics will be categorized according to (1) main topics (2) topic sets (3) collective schema and (4) individual schema. Using these categories the following chapter will examine the findings from the application of discourse analysis on viewer discourse. CHAPTER 4 RESULTS Findings from discourse analysis showed patterns that emerged from the four categories that comprised the method of the study. These patterns will be examined within the four categories of (1) main topics (2) topic sets (3) collective schema (4) individual schema. 1. MAIN TOPICS Main topics emerged from a substantial number of secondary and minor topics within individual viewer discourse or protocols (See Appendix C). The topics revealed the textual and contextual factors that viewers use in sensemaking Textuall‘ooics There were no topics that were purely textual, that is, focusing solely on the story, character role, behavior and feelings without being linked to some form of opinion. Instead topics were a mixture of text and context revealing that text and context are closely intertwined in the viewer's mind. As a result, textual topics are defined here as those topics that focus on the program as a story being told while containing many contextual 52 53 personal/sociocultural factors evidenced in viewers' evaluations, expectations, identifications, and attitudes with regard to elements of the story and the program in general. As the most prominent topics in viewer discourse, textual topics deal with elements of the story such as its situations/events, character behavior and feelings, and the way these relate to specific roles within the family, from these personal/sociocultural perspectives. Evaluations refer to statements where some kind of judgement is made concerning certain aspects of the show or the show in general and found in words such as "good" “bad” and other judgemental adjectives. (Topics 1-3). Expectations concern anticipation or involvement viewers demonstrate with regard to the story and its elements, the program in general and the fact that it is a situation comedy on television (Topics 4-6). Identifications are evidenced through explicit use of words such as "identify" "associate" "relate." Other indications are found in the use of personal pronouns in comparative statements aligning the viewer with certain aspects of story events or character role and behavior (Topics 7-9). Finally, attitudes are revealed in affective expressions of "like" and "dislike." They are also seen in general opinions and beliefs that explicitly or 54 implicitly reveal viewer disposition and predisposition regarding the show or certain elements of the show, its genre, and the television industry (Topics 10—12). 1. The perfect family situation doesn't seem realistic I know it’s funny but the way they talked to the kids was very rude Her wanting to help the daughter was kinda good and bad I kept wondering what was going to go wrong I thought that she would actually get some rest I thought how could she leave right in the middle of a court case As once a working mother I know how she feels Like Cosby, my husband leaves me with all the paperwork 9. I associate with the kids on "A Different World" not with this. 10. I really like that kid Vanessa 11. I like the way Cosby treats his wife 12. I like the way they look and behave Contextuallooics CD'Q 030105 00 N Contextual topics can be described here as text-based topics that are more contextual than textual in that they do not focus on the story that is being told. These topics are more concerned with knowledge external to the text. Some of this knowledge is pragmatic having to do with the story as a creation. From a pragmatic perspective viewers are aware of the show as a creative product and the creative processes behind the show such as the creators' intentions and their intended effects on the viewer. Pragmatically speaking, viewers focus on the story as a program that is produced, belonging to a particular genre-~the situation comedy, and as an overall product 55 of television. Pragmatic topics contain additional contextual factors that are personal/sociocultural such as evaluations, expectations, identifications and attitudes. 1. For this particular show all the characters are too perfect and allowed to be who they are (evaluation of production) I really like the first part but the second part wasn't as good for me (attitude/production) I know they couldn't have a story if you went up there and closed the door (expectations/genre) I could totally relate to Theo's character (identification/character) . This is a good show on tv which is rare (evaluation/tv medium) 010th 2. TOPIC SETS Topics were then placed into topics sets or categories according to their most dominant concepts. Topic sets were formed from textual and contextual topics. Topic Set A is comprised of textual topics while Topic Sets B, C, and D are text-based contextual topics. 1. Program as Story (Narrative) The most prominent set of topics are text centered topics that deal with the story itself, that is the narrative that is being told by the televisual text. (See Table 1). Emerging as the most popular category in viewer's discourse, the program as story shows that the story of ”The Cosby Show" is highly represented in viewer discourse and so highly ordered in viewer's minds. Moreover, its high saliency demonstrates that the story itself is at the core of the sensemaking process. 56 The most frequent topics within this story category are those concerning the situations/events that are present or take place in the course of the program. These are mainly concerned with contrasting statements about the family situation: 1. It's such a typical family 2. Socially, its not a very typical family Other topics deal with the mother's situation as a working mother coping with the demands of her children, and the turn of events where she finds it necessary to escape from the family by going away for the weekend. 1. I thought that she would actually get some rest 2. I thought how could she leave right in the middle of a court case 3. It's so typical of motherhood 4. The situations are always like this The next most frequently occurring topics in this set relate to characters in general, and character behavior/feelings, especially those pertaining to their perceived roles and relationships. Most of the topics refer to Cosby's husband, the wife as a working woman and mother, and the family interaction. Topics also deal with character appearance in general and as well as the appearance of characters (Topics 12, 13). 1 I like how Cosby treats his wife 2. Are husbands that supportive in real life 3. As once a working mother I know how she feels 4. A lot of working mothers do not have her patience 5. We mothers do just what she did at the end 6. I just thought that as a mother she was talking real harsh 7 I really like Cosby 8 9 I really like that kid Vanessa I really like Vanessa, she's my favorite 57 character on there 10. That kind of communication will be good in an ideal world 11. It was interesting how the three kids and the Dad watched a movie together 12. Y'know they really are fashionable 13. I like how they look and behave Table 1 Topic Sets TextualandContextualLEnagmaticllooics Topic Set Total Rank 1. Program as Story 122, .1 Sit/Events 45 1 Roles/Relationships 37 2 Char/Beh/Feelings 37 2 Theme/Moral/Lesson *9 4 Problem Solve/Goal *3 5 Char/Appearance 3 5 2. Program as Production 19 ..Z Program/char (General) 35 1 Story Structure 26 2 Performance 13 3 Writing 5 4 Theme/Moral/Lesson *9 5 Problem Solve/Goal *6 6 3. Program as Situation Comedy 51 _3 Genre (general) 27 1 Comparison across Genre 12 2 Comparison within Genre 12 2 4. Program as Television 9, _4_ Television (General) 6 1 TV Medium Terms 3 2 * Indicates the inclusion of themes/morals/lessons/problem solve/goals in story and story structure 58 Finally within this category are topics dealing with a theme or message the viewer detects in the program. Some themes or messages deal with the messages found in the program in general (Topics 1-4), family/career conflict as found in the mother's situation of being wife, mother and career woman (Topics 5,6) and a fundamental issue in the women's liberation struggle concerning women's needs (Topics 7,8). 1. That was a good one, they never teach you any heavy lessons I think there's a good message in it, a good role model for people I guess this is like teaching material The director of this program is trying to show another side of American life Balancing family and work is a very important topic A message is Clair having to get away from the children and being thankful I like the message they're trying to get across that it's okay for women to have needs too . This was a good one, it was really supportive of women 00410301:wa Other themes or messages deal with needing to get away and appreciating what one has. 1. Sometimes you have to see what the grass is like on the other side to realize it's not always greener . 2. I kinda figured out that when she came home she'd know that home was the best place to be 3. She got a minvacation by getting a break 4. Seems like most last minute decisions turn out that way 2. Program as Production The second set of topics is important in demonstrating the great degree viewers look at the program as a creative product. Most of the topics within this set are those about the program in general as 59 something constructed. This is indicated when the program is referred to explicitly as a "show" or implicitly as "it" and "one." Topics 1 through 8 deal with the show in general as an entertainment product. It's light and just good entertainment It's always interesting to watch . This was one of the best ones I've seen . One of the most hilarious ones I've seen I think it's really great because of its high values and realistic people I always like to watch it I used to like it more than I like it now . There are other shows that I prefer CDNICD (filh-OONH Also prominent are topics revealing viewers' concern with production values (Topic 1), especially the story structure regarding the opening and ending (Topics 2-5), the plot Topics 6-8), actor intentions (Topic 9) and actor credits (Topic 10). 1. It's the program that has the highest production quality to me . Just realized they had a new opening . They change the opening every season . Very cool opening I notice the cast is getting bigger and bigger every year . This show is always resolved in a positive way . The plot is not very important It's difficult to make a successful episode every week . Bill Cosby tries to adopt a low profile even though we know he's the main character 10. I didn't know Lisa Bonet was on this show (0 CD40) O'HhODN Viewers are also concerned with the acting performances on the show. Especially prominent are topics about the performances of Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, the little girl (a new addition to the cast) and the acting in general. 60 1. I think Bill Cosby is totally the best actor in the show It really comes alive when he's on the screen The little girl is a natural and Cosby gets better and better She looked so spaced out--she's such a good actress She's a really good actress I think she's a really good actress . They're all very good actors . They really perform well I thought the little girl was cute and very good I didn't believe she (Phylicia Rashad) was on the phone when she was doing that thing 11. It's not that Phylicia Rashad is not a very good actress but she's not up to him 12. You could tell they taught her (the little girl) how to talk 13. The way they were talking looked very rehearsed and dumb H OCOCDQGU I5 (ION Also prominent are topics about the writing in the show and its relation to characters, its quality when compared to other shows, and its idealistic orientation. 1. I don't think the writers write better for him 2. I like the mother, she has real good lines 3 I thought the guy at the desk was written as a real silly character , 4. I think there are other shows like "Knots Landing" that are better written 5. There's a lot of feminist talk on "Growing Pains" and I like it 6. Whoever wrote this show must be thinking about the ideal way it could be 3. Program as Situation Comedy The third most prominent topic set in viewer discourse concerns the show as a situation comedy. It is important to note here that although these topics are not included in the Production topic set, knowledge of the program as a production is implied here. The most frequent topics within this category are topics that reveal a knowledge of the genre, its 61 conventions, its history, and its present characteristics (Topics 1-9). Also numerous are topics which compare the show as a situation comedy to other sitcoms as well as other genres such as mysteries. These topics are used to describe character roles, and situations in other sitcoms as well as shows in other genres, to describe the level of involvement the viewer has for the Cosby Show as compared to other sitcoms and shows in other genres and to compare how themes are handled by other sitcoms (Topics 13-20). 1. I know they couldn't have a story if you went up there and closed the door. 2. Comedies are good one season and the next they're not 3. You know it's gonna end happily everafter 4. What I know of comedy, the one thing she needs really badly is a rest and you know that she is not going to get it 5. I find some of these sitcoms at certain times predictable 6. None of them gets too heavy 7. It was not typical in that it had a mixed message and didn't resolve the problem 8. I'm made for those easy-to-watch sitcoms 9. I don't think too much when I'm watching sitcoms 10. Him and ”Family Ties" are just the same 11. Their family like in "Leave it to Beaver” and "Father Knows Best" isn't that believable 12. Comedies like this, Roseanne and others help maintain the status quo . . 13. There's a lot of feminist talk in "Growing Pains"... 14. It's not something you think on like "A Different World" 15. More serious shows like "Growing Pains" and "Family Ties" make me think more 16. I'm made for those easy to watch sitcoms 17. I don't think too much when I'm watching sitcoms 18. The children were more dominant in "The Waltons" 19. I tend to let it happen for sitcoms, not for different kinds of shows like "Sixty Minutes" 20. I only worry about what the outcome is when it's a murder mystery 62 4. Program as Television Finally these are topics that refer to the show as a product of the television medium. Moreover, these topics like those in the Situation Comedy category are also production-related but more explicitly so than in the previous set. Most frequent in this set are topics that use the show to reveal the viewer's level of involvement with television (Topics 1-4). These are followed by topics referring to the general state of television fare (Topics 5-7). H You can be glued to television one year and the next year never turn the tv on I kinda divorced television so I don't watch tv I don't use my brains when I'm watching tv I don't watch tv anymore as I tend to be more critical than involved This is a good show on tv which is rare Over the years they're (tv shows) are all the same even like "Evening Magazine" I find it strange that Clair took the vacation after talking about work but that's television \‘l 0301 IbOON There are also topics that utilize production terms specifically related to the television industry. 1. In last summer reruns Rudy was a tiny little thing 2. I can't wait for the new season to start 3. It's not one of the better episodes Embedded in representations of the program as story, production, situation comedy and television show in viewer discourse are still more contextual factors. These factors can be described as 63 personal/sociocultural. They generate additional topic sets based on viewer evaluations, identifications, expectations and attitudes. (See Table 2). 1. Evaluation The most prominent contextual topics related to personal/sociocultural concerns are evaluative topics. As previously stated, evaluative topics are those where some kind of judgement is made concerning certain aspects of the show or the show in general and found in words such as “good” "bad" and other judgemental adjectives. Most of the evaluative topics are found within the production category. Especially prominent are topics about actor's performances and how credible these performances are. (Topics 1-3). Most of the evaluative topics are positive showing that viewers think highly of the production values in the show especially the overall acting. Viewers seem especially impressed with the acting of Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad. 1. I think Bill Cosby is totally the best actor in the show It really comes alive when he's on the screen Cosby gets better and better She looks so spaced out-~she's such a good actress She's a really good actress I think she's a really good actress They're all very good actors They really perform well I thought the little girl was cute and very good The little girl is a natural.... OCOCD-QO'JUI IbOON H Positive evaluations also extend to the themes or lessons viewers find in the program. 64 Table 2 Topic Sets WWW Topic Set Total Rank . Evaluation 119. .1 Production 44 1 Story 38 2 Genre 23 3 Program 10 4 Medium 4 5 . Expectations 82_ 2 Genre 35 1 Story 28 2 Production 17 3 Medium 2 4 Iden/Realism 81 3 Story 73 1 Production 7 2 Genre 1 3 . Attitude 3D. 4 Production 9 1 Story 8 2 Genre 7 3 Program 3 4 Medium 3 4 65 Some evaluations deal with the lessons found in the program in general, and more specifically to the family/career conflict and women's liberation. 1. That was a good one, they never teach you any heavy lessons 2. I think there's a good message in it, a good role model for people 3. Balancing family and work is a very important topic 4. This was a good one, it was really supportive of women Positive evaluations also refer to the program as a whole. These are mainly positive evaluations regarding the show's entertainment value on its own merit as well as when compared to other shows (Topics 1, 2); and it's entertainment value as compared to other episodes the viewer has seen (Topics 3-4). (See Table 3 for Positive/Negative Topics). It's one of the better shows for sure I think it's okay, it's not like the Bundys It's light and just good entertainment It's always interesting to watch I think it's really great because of its high values and realistic people . One of the most hilarious ones I've seen This was one of the best ones I've seen ~10) O'HhODNt-A The few negative evaluations about the show in general are also present. These concern its entertainment value and its realism. 1. I don't think it's extremely funny 2. Its so far from what real life is about... 66 Table 3 Positive/Negative Topics Topics/Schema P N Total Rank EVALUATION 51. 52. 113 1 Prog/Structure 20 16 37 1 Prog/Genre 4 12 16 2 Ch/Roles/Beh 7 7 14 3 Fam/Sit/Feelings 8 6 14 3 Prod/Per 10 3 13 5 Sit/Events 6 6 12 6 Prod/Writing 1 5 6 7 Medium 1 3 4 8 Genre - 3 3 7 IDENT/REALISM 45. 33 £1 2 Identification an. 22. EA. .1 Char/Roles/Beh 17 13 30 1 Sit/Feel 11 5 16 2 Fam/role/sit/stat 1 4 5 3 Place 1 - 1 4 Realism 16. ll 21. 2 Fam/Role/Sit 6 8 14 1 Char/Roles/Beh 10 3 13 2 ATTITUDE 12 18. 3.0. 3. Program 2 6 8 1 Prog/Genre 1 5 6 2 Production 5 - 5 3 Char/Beh/Role 4 1 5 3 Genre - 3 3 5 Medium - 3 3 6 Less frequent are negative evaluative topics. When present, they concern the general writing quality and orientation of the show as well as the writing as 67 applied to certain characters. Topic 4 implies that Cosby is a good actor to pull the humor off because the writers don't seem to give him better lines. 1. I think there are other shows like "Knots Landing" that are better written Whoever wrote this show must be thinking about the ideal way it could be I thought the guy at the desk was written as a real silly character I don't think the writers write better for him (Cosby) “SOON The acting ability of some performers is also negatively evaluated. It's interesting to note that the same actresses who are given positive evaluations by some are given negative evaluations by others. 1. I didn't believe she (Phylicia Rashad) was on the phone when she was doing that thing 2. You could tell they taught her (the little girl) how to talk 3. The way they were talking was very rehearsed and dumb The next most frequently occurring evaluative topics are found within story category. Evaluations are mainly linked to the family situation as it concerns reality. These topics are mainly negative evaluations of the family's situation in terms of its status and behavior compared to the real world experiences or knowledge the viewer brings to the story. Realism is evidenced in such words as ”typical" "realistic" "real" “really" "ideal" "perfect" and "exceptional." 1. The perfect family situation doesn't seem realistic Socially, it's not a very typical family It's not a very typical family It's all a bit idealistic because a low percentage of blacks live like that IbWN 68 I don't think it's a typical American family That kind of communication will be good in an ideal world . The family's happiness seems unreal For this particular show all the characters are too perfect and allowed to be who they are (Dd 0301 Other reality—based negative evaluative topics concern character behavior with specific reference to roles. The latter mainly relate to the roles of husband and doctor, mother, parents and the marriage itself as well as general character behavior. . The husband was being exceptionally wonderful Would husbands forgetting about themselves really happen Are husbands that supportive in real life I just thought that as a mother she was talking real harsh . Her wanting to help the daughter was kinda good and bad It's like an idealized kind of relationship between married people He doesn't act like a doctor which is idealistic I know it's funny but the way they talked to the kids was very rude mqoacnuhooNI-t Though not as numerous as negative evaluative topics, positive evaluative topics pertaining to reality are also present. These especially concern the family situation, the mother's role, as well as other characters' actions, especially Mr. Bingham, the old desk clerk at the cabin. 1 Y'know I was just thinking that really is typical of a family situation 2 Seems like a very real situation that was also funny 3 It's positive family interaction is an ideal to live up to 4. I think those kids were just kinda being normal 5. The mother's situation is reflective of our era. 6 It's so typical of motherhood 7. In certain ways she was being a real mother 8. The husband's behavior at the end can be typical 69 9. Seems like most last-minute decisions (Clair's holiday) turn out that way 10. It's so real life (Mr. Bingham's incessant talking) 11. How Cosby had her (Rudy) hold the paper away (so he could read it) was realistic 12. The old man (Mr. Bingham) wanting to carry on and talk was realistic Although most evaluative topics within this category deal with reality, other types of evaluative topics are also present. Many evaluative topics are also found in the situation comedy category. These mainly have to do with the predictability of the show as a situation comedy. Such evaluations are indicated by the use of the actual word "predictable" and other adjectives describing the sameness of the show. Moreover, when viewers use the adjective ”predictable" they are implying a negative evaluation. Topics 1 and 2 bring out this factor in their evaluation of the show as being predictable but still funny, and as predictable and,dumb. I guess it was kinda predictable but still funny A lot of what they said to each other was predictable and dumb I guess it was kinda predictable I find some of these sitcoms at certain times predictable I guess it wasn't that predictable . Him and "Family Ties" are just the same I tend to categorize sitcoms as "awful” except for "The Odd Couple“ Q0301 use: NH Also present are evaluations in the television category. These are negative evaluations about the tv medium, stated explicitly in Topic 1 and implicitly in Topics 2 and 3. 70 This is a good show on tv which is rare You can be glued to television one year and the next year never turn the tv on 3. Over the years they're (tv shows) are all the same... NH 2. Expectations The second most prominent set of personal/sociocultural topics is based on viewer expectations about the show. Most frequent are expectative topics about the show based on the fact that it is a situation comedy. The most common expectations are those that reveal the degree or level of involvement the viewer demonstrates towards the show as a situation comedy. Such topics are mainly comparative statements with regard to "The Cosby Show" and other genres as well as to other situation comedies. Others are general expectations about the show as a situation comedy. Also implied in these statements are evaluations about the situation comedy as a genre undeserving of serious attention, along the lines of what is explicitly stated in Topic 8. 1. We'd try to predict shows like "L.A. Law not sitcoms 2. I only worry about what the outcome is when it's a murder mystery 3. It has to be really riveting for me to wonder what happens next except for a live sporting event 4. Some of the shows like suspense stories you want to know what's going to happen unlike "Cosby" 5. There's a couple of those like "Cheers" where you don't have to focus 6. Shows like "Growing Pains“ and "Family Ties' make me think more 7. I like to eat my dinner and watch those easy—to— watch sitcoms 8. Usually with these shows if I try to think too 71 much I usually frustrate myself 9. Most sitcoms aren't good enough for me to care what happens next 10. Comedies are good one season and the next they're not 11. Usually I don't watch a program like this for any in-depth meaning 12. If I'm watching this at all it's usually because I don't want to think a lot 13. I don't think too much when I'm watching sitcoms 14. Especially if it's half an hour I don't think anything The level of involvement reflected in these topics can be described as low, because of the lack of anticipation the viewer has towards the show because of its genre. Other expectations to emerge because of the show's genre are story related. Such topics reveal that viewers expect certain criteria of story structure in a situation comedy to be met. These concerns are dominated by the need for a resolution or attainment of a goal at the end of a story, with the usual clear positive message (Topics 1-6). Conversely, others consider the ending as what is normally expected from a situation comedy (Topics 5-7). Viewers also expect certain plots, themes and storylines in the show because it is a situation comedy (Topics 8-15). Nothing happened which is strange for a sitcom It was not typical in that it had a mixed message and didn't resolve the problem I don't understand the ending as I expected more of a resolution It seems like there wasn't any point to this episode . This show is always resolved in a positive way Well, it was the customary resolution of the problem I guess it's a true comedy I know they couldn't have a story if you went up there and close the door Cbx'l 0301 IA (.0 NH ll. 12. 14. 15. 72 . Forget it's a comedy and how comedies go 10. The status quo is maintained in the situation comedy None of them gets too heavy You know it's gonna end happily everafter I predicted pretty mush the outcome What I know of comedy the one thing she needs really badly is rest and you know that she is not going to get it The part with the elderly clerk was kinda slow for me Other expectative topics regard the story itself. There are general story expectations as well as those regarding elements of the plot as the story unfolds, its outcome, and aspects of character behavior and role. Many of the viewers here evidently expected Clair Huxtable to get some rest or expected her husband to accompany her on the trip. HH H OCO CDme . They're all very good actors (A.1) It's positive family interaction is an ideal to live up to (A.2) I like the mother, she has real good lines (A.3) I really like Vanessa, she's my favorite character on there (A.3) coco 40901 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 102 They really perform well (A.3) I guess this is like teaching material (A.4) I don't think the kids can see how hard it is to be a mother (A.4) I guess it wasn't that predictable (A.5) It was not typical in that it had a mixed message and didn't resolve the problem (A.6) When she got home she should have been more uptight but she went back to the same thing (A.7) I just enjoy the way nobody gets mad at each other (A.8,9) I find the lack of heavy conflict enjoyable and refreshing unlike something like a horror show (A.8) Rudy used to be cuter when she was a little kid (A.11) I like the way Vanessa emphasizes the names of her boyfriends (A.11) I'm made for those superficial sitcoms (A.12) Bill Cosby tries to maintain a low profile even though we know he's the main character (A.13,l4) Seems like a very real situation that was also funny (A.15) I predicted pretty much the outcome but I still enjoyed it because the actresses were so good (A.15,16) They needed a new cute one so here's a little cutie in there (A.17) Theo is just like my son (A.18) I felt that it fell down in the second half (A.19) The end where she wanted to see the paper was unrealistic (A.19) The mother's situation is reflective of our era (A.20) He doesn't act like a doctor which is idealistic (A.20) I think it's reall great because of its high values and realistic people (A.20) Because of posture this type of viewer seems to regard the viewing experience as some kind of contract with the creators, the terms to which s/he has agreed. The presence of negative pragmatic schema within individual schema does not diminish this argument. Rather it succeeds in differentiating further the cognizant viewer 103 from the cognoscent one. Like the cognoscent viewer, but not to the same degree, the cognizant viewer is aware of flaws and weaknesses of the genre, production, and tv medium. However, s/he is prepared to accept these characteristics for the sole purpose of enjoying the program. As a result, the viewer is very much a partner with the creators of the show in making sense of it. In this almost conspiratorial experience the viewer becomes somewhat of an accomplice in what can be described as a crime of knowing better. B. 1. It's light and just good entertainment 2. I find it strange that Clair took the vacation from work but that's television 3. That was a good one they never teach you any heavy lessons 4. I guess it was kinda predictable but still funny 5. It's nicely put together so that it's not really made up 6. You know it's gonna end happily ever after 7. None of them gets too heavy 8. It's difficult to make a successful episode every week 9. The plot is not very important 10. I'm made for those kinds of very superficial sitcoms 11. I predicted pretty much the outcome but I still enjoyed because the actresses were so good 12. They usually have a beginning, a middle, and an end but with this one I guess because it's family life nothing ever changes 13. That was a good one, they never teach you any heavy lessons und§;_From a superficial level the mode of the cognizant seems as detached as the cognoscent. This is evidenced in topics that attest to lack of story involvement because of the program's genre, as well as a product of 104 television. C. 1. N] 030105 00 N Especially, if it's half an hour sometimes I don't think anything When I watch tv and this show I don't want to have to think Usually with these shows if I try to think too hard I usually frustrate myself I don't use my brain when I'm watching tv I don't think about what is going to happen I get hooked into the characters in L.A. Law not sitcoms Some of the shows like suspense stories you want to know what's going to happen unlike "Cosby" But there's much more attachment than is what is found in the cognoscent viewer. One tends to come to this conclusion because there are more positive identifications with story events and other representations of story schema in their individual schema. D. (0 HH HO H N 13. 14. 15. 16. CDQOD 01 lb CONH As once a working mother I know how she feels He mothers do just what she did at the end You think of your own situation and that of mothers now in the workplace . The husband's behavior at the end can be typical Sometimes when you go on vacation things like that happen Mothers will be mothers I didn't talk to the children like that . A lot of single mother do not have her patience I thought she probably would have stayed longer and not gotten that much rest I could totally relate to Theo's character . What is most amusing to me is it's exactly what I'm going through right now . That's why I thought it was so interesting, I could identify very much with the kids' behavior and how she felt In certain ways she was being a real mother I don't think the kids can see how hard it is to be a mother I thought that she would actually get some rest By sitting down and watching Cosby is a 25. 28. 27. 28. 105 minivacation for me . Cosby behaves just like my father My sister and brother are always asking for something like their family I could totally relate to how she was feeling Theo is just like my son I see so much of myself in her She got resentful but it passes As a single mother and attorney I tend to have the same conflict Remembering myself I knew Sandra was calling for babysitting 14. She got a minivacation by getting a break Conflict is not really the way conflict is In certain ways she was being a real mother I don't think the kids can see how hard it is to be a mother I thought that she would actually get some rest The cognizant viewer seems to be more task-oriented in his/her role as accomplice than the cognoscent viewer. S/he seems highly motivated in detecting a theme, moral or lesson to the story. E. 1. 10. QN‘IODUHHCDN Sometimes when you go on vacation things like that happen That was good one, they never teach you any heavy lessons It's positive family interaction is an ideal to live up to I guess this is like teaching material It was not typical in that it had a mixed message and didn't resolve the problem I think there's a good message in it a good role model for people Seems like most last-minute decisions turn out that way Sometimes you have to see what the grass is like in the other side to realize it's not always greener I like the part where she got home because of her ability as a professional woman and her husband's This was a good one, it was really supportive of women Problem solving is also important to the cognizant viewer but to a lesser extent to that of the cognoscent viewer. 108 Most likely, this is due to the fact that problem solving is more evident in a highly critical posture, because it tends to be mainly grounded in evaluations, and those evaluations are mainly negative. F. l. DISODN 5. I thought she probably would have stayed longer and not gotten that much rest She got a mini vacation by getting a break I thought that she would actually get some rest I thought he was going to be with her which would have been better I knew Sandra was calling for babysitting... 3. The Peripheral Viewer The peripheral viewer is the least common type of viewer in the study and by a wide distance when compared to other types. Compared to the other types of viewers the peripheral viewer seems to share many of the characteristics of the passive viewer of the past. S/he demonstrates a capability for absorbing the program by getting completely involved with the story. Pragmatic knowledge is very sparse and this is reflected in what can be described as an undeveloped posture for the show. From all indications, the peripheral viewer is not much of a television watcher. One can conclude that minimal tv watching is due to lack of time rather than a dislike for the medium or the sitcom genre because there are more positive than negative factors regarding these factors within the peripheral's individual schema. Unlike the cognoscent and cognizant viewer who are more specific in their knowledge of the genre, through their expectations, evaluations, identifications and 107 attitudes, the peripheral's knowledge is vague and superficial and can appear merely incidental. Such knowledge is usually evident through a modal statement of detachment from the show without specifically relating this detachment to the fact that the show is a situation comedy or a product of television. Superficial knowledge is also present through comparisons of the show with another, and here, knowledge of the show as a situation comedy is merely implied. A few throw away statements about the situation comedy are also present, but again these are statements that can be regarded as mere labeling. A. 1. I only worry about what the outcome is when it's a murder mystery or something 2. Sometimes I think of what's to come usually for suspense movies, not this kinds show where you know what's going to happen 3. I don't know what the comedy is Knowledge of production elements is also minimal. B. 1. She looks so spaced out--she's a good actress 2. Just realized they had a new opening Mode: Pragmatic knowledge, therefore, plays a very minor role in the sensemaking of the peripheral viewer. The mode of the peripheral viewer is highly attached. As a result this type of viewer tends to be more of a prisoner of the story giving her/himself up to the control of its creators without much of a fight or confrontation. Consequently, there are not many evaluations, expectations, attitudes about the show as a creative product. Rather when such 108 personal/sociocultural factors are present they are linked to the story. Evaluations, attitudes and expectations relate to story events and character behavior. Accordingly, story knowledge dominates this viewer's schema. A. 1. It's kinda sad when children can't get help from their parents It's interesting how the Dad and the kids watched a program together I like the way Cosby treats his wife What a bummer, she was at this place and she can't get a rest tbODN Identifications, mainly positive, are also present to a small degree as compared to cognoscent and cognizant viewers but are ranked highly in individual schema. I kinda feel that sometime Like Cosby, my husband leaves me with all the paperwork I could feel her needing a break I can relate to how tired she is Going away sounds good but I won't want to go alone I can't imagine at this point working full- time and having that many kids '8. 0) who) NH Evaluation/realistic topics are almost nonexistent, however, again showing the high degree of story involvement this viewer has toward the show and little concern for realism. The peripheral viewer is rarely task-oriented. Not much effort is spent in detecting a message or a theme, although detecting a moral or lesson at the end is present. Problem-solving sometimes occurs regarding story events and character behavior that might be linked to evaluations and attitudes but not to contextual 109 pragmatic factors, such as genre or production elements. 1. I kinda figured that when she came home she'd know that home was the best place to be 2. It's kinda sad when children can't get help from their parents CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS This chapter will discuss the major conclusions that can be drawn from the study of sensemaking. It will look at the significance of the various patterns that have been found in the sensemaking process. It will also examine the method that was developed for the study of sensemaking. Finally, it will explore areas that require further research as part of a comprehensive development of sensemaking research. The purpose of this study was to understand the viewing event as it relates to a televisual text. It was propelled by inquiry into identifying the kind of knowledge the viewer brought to the text in the sensemaking process. It also sought a method of studying the sensemaking process in order to identify this kind of knowledge. Specific resrach questions asked were: 1. How can one identify the knowledge that the viewer uses to make sense of a televisual text? 2. How can one identify the knowledge that the viewer uses to make sense of the situation comedy, "The Cosby Show?" 110 111 The study found that the viewer of the situation comedy brought a great deal of contextual knowledge to the text. Such knowledge was revealed in the mental processes of the viewers as revealed in topics. Collectively, such knowledge was called collective schema, and individually, referred to as individual schema. Collective schema revealed that pragmatic knowledge which described a viewer's knowledge of the program, genre, production, and medium, was dominant in viewers' schema. Knowledge of the genre, production and medium displayed viewer's focus on the show as a creative product while knowledge of the program revealed the amount of program history a viewer brought to the show. host viewers made sense of the program as a creative product, and in this respect knowledge of the genre was dominant followed by knowledge of the program, and the medium. Personal and sociocultural factors such as evaluations, expectations, identifications, and attitudes were also dominant contextual elements. These were linked to pragmatic knowledge which in turn was linked to story knowledge. All knowledge, therefore was entwined in viewer's schema revealing that text and context cannot be separated in the sensemaking process. Of personal/sociocultural factors evaluations were most prominent, followed by expectations and identifications. These factors were especially concerned with realism 112 mainly due to viewers' knowledge of the genre, production and television medium. Accordingly, viewers' concern for realism is a crucial factor in making sense of a fictional text. This is the case notwithstanding the fact that in terms of expectations viewers did not expect much from the situation comedy, with their level of story involvement normally low. Because of the kinds of knowledge viewers possessed regarding the program, production, genre, and tv medium, three prototypes of viewers, the cognoscent, the cognizant, and the peripheral, were identified. Prototypes were significant in accounting for variations in sensemaking or readings of the televisual text, and their identification was facilitated by the discovery of two components integral to the sensemaking process--mgstnna and mode* Posture describes the stance a viewer took towards the show because of pragmatic and personal/sociocultural knowledge embedded in long term memory. Genre and story frames along with sociocultural frames were prevalent in viewers' posture. The presence of frames showed that viewers tend to do more top-down than botttom-up processing. Hode describes the degree of attachment a viewer has towards the show. Posture and mode worked in conjunction with each other in the three prototypes. Possessing the greatest degree of pragmatic knowledge, the cognoscent viewer had a highly critical posture and used a detached 113 mode of sensemaking; with substantial pragmatic knowledge the cognizant viewer had a fairly critical posture and used a semi—detached mode; lacking much pragmatic knowledge the peripheral viewer had a mainly neutral posture and used an attached mode of sensemaking. The cognoscent and the cognizant viewer were the most common types of viewers. Their popularity demonstrates that viewers are highly knowledgeable of the creative aspects of television shows. The cognoscent viewer seems to point the way to the future where viewers might be so burdened by contextual knowledge that they might come to regard watching television as joyless and turn away from the medium as many cognoscent viewers have done. However, it is important to note that viewer's posture is mainly defined by the fact that the program is a situation comedy. Viewer's explicit statements attest to the possibility that their posture changes according to genre, and such genres as mysteries, elicit more story involvement. Another factor is that some situation comedies elicit more story involvement than others, according to their themes and issues. More social themes and issues seem to engender more story involvement and positive evaluations regarding realism. This might explain why "The Cosby Show" received more negative than positive evaluations overall in terms of its realism. 114 The equally strong showing of the cognizant viewer points to what might be presently the more typical viewer of the show and situation comedy. The cognizant viewer is more willing to suspend disbelief, paying heed to an unspoken contract with creators. This type of viewer seems to accept the situation comedy, flaws and all in an effort to enjoy the show. In so doing s/he abides by the terms of the contract where creators have created a formula for laughter, and it is left to the cognizant viewer to laugh despite formulas that at times might not work too well. The peripheral viewer was the least prevalent type of viewer by a wide margin. What is interesting is that although this type of viewer did not posses the considerable knowledge as found in the cognoscent and cognizant viewer, s/he did possess some form of knowledge. Consequently, this type of viewer revealed that the totally ignorant viewer is a thing of the past. Still the cognoscent and cognizant viewer were much more in control of the viewing experience than the peripheral viewer. While the cognoscent and cognizant viewers made sense of the show from a program as story perspective, the peripheral viewer did so more from a story as story perspective. With a detachment mode the least operative, the peripheral viewer came closest to the passive viewer of the past although s/he cannot be defined as such. 115 A general conclusion is that the predominance of pragmatic knowledge based on knowledge of the situation/domestic comedy genre, production and the television medium in viewers' schema suggests that there is a contract between the television industry/sender/creator and the receiver/audience that is established over time. Pragmatic knowledge sets the terms for the contract resulting in a particular posture that the viewer adopts towards the program and his/her degree of involvement with the show in terms of event anticipation and story attention. Most viewers are active participants who decide how active or passive to be according to the terms of the contract determined by the program, genre and medium. Some viewers have become jaded and reject the terms of the contract as shown by cognoscent viewers. Others, cognizant viewers, abide by the rules of the contract and seem to get more enjoyment from the viewing experience. Most viewers don't care a great deal about what happens in the show but they do expect to laugh, to detect some kind of message and a resolution. They also expect a tv reality that is acceptable to the reality they know. When such expectations are not met, viewers believe that the creators are not living up to their end of the contract. Evaluations tend to show the degree in which expectations are met or unmet. 116 However, although many viewers might claim to be indifferent about what is going to happen in the story many still do anticipate story events as seen in contradictory statements made by some of them. Viewers are also motivated to see how the story happens. These two factors lead to a form of ambivalence found in many of the cognoscent and cognizant viewers toward the situation comedy and to television. Moreover, this ambivalence describes the fine line drawn by their expectations; that the situation comedy although not a forum for deep thought-provoking issues in keeping with the laid;hack type of relaxation associated with comedy, but at the same time it should not be inane, unfocused, unrealistic or unresolved. Many evaluative and attitudinal topics were negative concerning these aspects of ”The Cosby Show." However, many of such topics were positive regarding the show's production values, viewer identification with the domestic situations and Bill Cosby's character. It is interesting to find that characters are referred to by their story names except for Cosby whose real name is used instead. This was done by all types of viewers which might be due to the fact that the show is called "The Cosby Show" or that viewers find it difficult to separate Cosby, a very much liked personality, from the character Cliff Huxtable. 117 These positive factors might explain why the show has been considered to be responsible for the resurgence of the domestic comedy whose popularity had been on the decline over the years. They might also explain the show's long reign as number one until a couple of years ago . In addition, viewer ambivalence to the situation comedy genre itself presents some answers regarding the long history of the situation/domestic comedy as an entertaining genre on television. As we have seen, it doesn't demand much respect in the viewer but it serves an important function with regard to leisure and relaxation. As a result, intermittent rumors of its death have always been shown to be grossly exaggerated. The second main purpose of this study was to find a method that was most suitable for the study of sensemaking. This method would be one that allowed the researcher to get as close as possible to the sensemaking process. Discourse analysis was chosen for its two-fold advantage of providing both theory and method as a possible solution. Theoretically, discourse processing as propounded by van Dijk and Kintsch takes place at a mainly semantic level and is cognitively represented in interview data. Meanings are mainly evidenced in topics which represent the mental strategies involved in sensemaking and also viewers' knowledge, beliefs and other personal/sociocultural 118 factors. Consequently, the study focused on topics as a link between theory and method. The method used interview data to access cognitive representations found by extracting main topics from viewer discourse. These topics contained meanings that embodied the sense the viewers were making of the televisual text. Topics revealed the textual and contextual knowledge present in those meanings through main topics, topic sets, and the frames embedded in these topics that helped form a viewer's posture. Discourse analysis showed that pragmatic knowledge in the form of knowledge of the program, genre, production and medium determines the hierarchical structure of topics in collective viewer discourse or collective schema and individual discourse or individual schema. Extrapolating topics from viewer discourse was a time consuming process but not as time consuming as it could have been for more than twenty five viewers. This was the first time discourse analysis as formulated by Van Dijk and Kintsch (1983) was applied to interview data. The researchers for their study on communicating racism (1987) did not apply their strategies of discourse with rules such as generalization, deletion, and construction, to entire viewer discourses to extract the main t0pics. Instead, they used interviewee summaries, postulating that summaries were as effective in providing main topics as entire viewer discourses. 119 They suggest this as a suitable variation in their method of discourse analysis when interviews are numerous, in their case more than a hundred. As a result, this researcher utilized the strategies demonstrated in the researchers' analysis of a Newsweek text (1983) to interview data regarding "The Cosby Show." The method was highly successful in extracting main topics. As qualitative data because of its richness tends to be thick and occasionally cumbersome, more coders could be involved in the analysis of the data. Moreover, the use of coders increases the reliability of the study. In this case, reliability was achieved through topics present in viewer's summaries that mainly duplicated those extracted from entire viewer discourse. Another factor for consideration is that this study was done in a semi-natural setting. Many viewers indicated that they liked to eat dinner or read while watching tv programs. They were not allowed to do so in this study and whether story involvement might have been influenced in the process is not known. Further research forays in sensemaking using discourse theory and methods can explore the viewing experience in totally natural settings. This would mean going to such places as viewers' homes, and popular viewing hangouts. This type of research can also test viewers' claims of story involvement according to genre. As a result, some studies can focus on the role of genre in sensemaking. 120 Other inquiries can focus on locating the sources of knowledge viewers bring to the text. Researchers can attempt to find out whether this knowledge is due only to viewer's history with the program, genre, and the television medium as this study has shown, or to such extratextual factors as news entertainment programs, magazines and other channels. Morover, the contribution of frames to viewers' knowledge and their sensemaking strategies is highly significant when considering any kind of reseach relating to thought processes. Of major significance however, are the far reaching implications of this study in the area of audience effecsts research. Historically, research in the mass media has used quantitative analysis to make assumptions about the television audience and how it is affected by tv content such as violence and sex. Through the qualitative method of discourse analysis, this study has shown that viewers bring a variety of knowledge to the televisual text. As a result, this study leads to a re— examination of the area of effects research asking questions of the audience that can be answerd in deep and insightful descriptions provided by interview data. The theoretical confirmation of topics as cognitive representations of viewers' sensemaking processes suggests that within this paradigm, studies in understanding the socialization process can be therefore undertaken. Researchers can look to sensemaking to ask 121 such questions as whether stereotypical images from television are embedded in viewers' minds and what roles these images might play in sensemaking. Questions relating to such concepts as hegemony and audience's perceptions of reality can now be asked of the audience with answers elicited from their own accounts. Even more questions can be asked about the parodoxical stance of the television viewer while exploring further the nature of the viewing experience. What other factors might play a role in the ambivalence displayed by so many of the viewers in this study? How does this ambivalence work in conjunction with audience effects and perceptions regarding television content? What might explain viewers' fascination for the situation comedy, other genres, and the television medium itself? Answering such questions will undoubtedly lead to stronger theoretical formulations in television audience research and more widespread and sustained use of discourse methodological procedures. BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY Agar. M.H. (1988). Sneaking.ef.Ethnegra2h11 Beverly Hills: Sage. Alexander, A., Ryan, M. S. & Munoz, P. (1984) Creating a Learning Context: Investigations on the interaction of Siblings During Television Viewing. Critical Studies 1n.Mass.Qemmun1eetien.1J 345- 364 Allen, R. (1987). Channels Qi,Qisgonrse+,Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Altman, R. (1984). A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genres. C1nema.lenrnal 23(3), 14-15- (1987). The American £11m.Mueieal1 Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Ang, I. (1985). Watehing,nallas* London: Penguin. Barthes, R. (1972). Mythologies*,London: Jonathan Cape. (1975) 5111 London: Jonathan Cape. (1978) Elements ef Semieleex1 Trans. A. Lavers & C. Smith. New York: Hill & Wang. Bechtel, R.B., Achepol, C., & Akers, R. (1972). Correlates Between Observed Behavior and Questionnaire Response on Television Viewing. In E. A. Rubenstein, G. A. Comstock, and J. P. Murray (Eds ), Ielexieien.and.fiee1al Beha11e11 11 pp 274 -344. Washington, D. C. : U. S. Government Printing Office. Berger, A. (1981). Semiotics and television. In R. Adler (Ed ), Understanding.Telexisiena (pp. 91-114) New York: Praeger. Berger, J. (1985). We;ehing_flallas. London: Methuen Booth, W. (1961) The Rheter1e ef Eietien1.Chicago= University of Chicago Press. 122 123 Brunsdon, C. (1981). Crgssrgsdsr Notes on Soap Opera. Screen 22, 32-37. Bryce, J. (1987). Family Time and Television Use. In T. Lindlof (Ed.), Nsrurai Audisngssr Norwood, N.J.: Ablex. Burton, D. (1980). Qiaiggne and Qisegnrssr London/Boston Henley: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Carey, J. (1975). Communication and Culture. C9mmuniea119n.Reeeereh1 April (1979). Mass Communication Research and Cultural Studies: An American View. In J. Curran, M. Gurevitch and J. Woolacott (Eds. ). Mass qumun19911911 and 599.1911... Beverly Hills: Sage. (Ed.). (1988). Media... 1111111151 1191111911195... Beverly Hills: Sage. Caughie, J. (1977). The World of Television. Edinburgh Magazine. (1981). Rhetoric, Pleasure, and ‘Art Television' ——Dreams of Leaving. Serssn 22, 9-31. (1984). Television Criticism. Sgrsen 25, 109-21 Chafe, W. (1980). The Bear 51911951 Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Chatman. 3. (1978), 119199111951991111‘911111911911999 Eiimr, Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Collins, W. A. (1983). Cognitive Processing in Television Viewing. In E. Wartella (Ed. ), Mass Qnmmnniatign 89119919999991111. Connell, I., & Mills, I. (1985). Text, Discourse and Mass Communication. In T. A. van Dijk (Ed.), Q15991115999dC99mu11199119n... Corner, J. (1983). Textuality, Communication and Media Power. pp. 268-81. In H.Davis and P. Walton (Eds.), Lengneger lmager Mediar London: Basil Blackwell. Corner, J. & Richardson, K. (1986). The Documentary Viewer and the Discourse of Interpretation. In J.R. Corner (Ed.), Deenmenrary in Britainr London: Edward Arnold. (1986). Reading reception: mediation and transparency in viewers 'accounts of a TV programme. 1191119.. (111111129 and 5991911.. Beverly H1115: Sage 124 Culler. J. (1975). 5119919191151 29911951 London: RKP. (1981). The 2915911 ef 512951 Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Curran. J. et al (Eds.). (1977) 9955.C9mm99199119n.9nd 59919111 London: Arnold. Dahlgren, P. (1983). Making Sense of the News: An Ethnographic Perspective. Werking_Eepers_ih Cemmnnieaiignr_Montreal: McGill University. (1984). The Modes of Reception: For a Hermeneutics of TV News. In P. Drummond & R. Paterson (EdS), 1919115199.1n 11995111991 London: British Film Institute (1985, August). Media, meaning and method: A ‘post-rational' perspective. Paper presented to the 7th Nordic Conference for Mass Communication Research, Fuglsoe, Denmark. Davis, D. & Baran, S. (1981). Mass Cemmunieatien and Exerxdar Lifer Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Davis, D. & Abelman, R. (1981). Children's Perception of Television Reality. 1991991 91,199111.1559951 Denzin, N.K. (1970). The Reseereh Aehr Chicago: Aldine. Dervin, B. (1978). Strategies for Dealing with Human Information Needs: Information or Communication. 1991991 91.3199999511921 291 (1980). Communication Gaps and Inequities: Moving Toward a Reconceptualization. In B. Dervin & M. Voigt (Eds.), 21991955.19.9999991991199 891999951.21 Norwood, N. J. : Ablex. (1983). An Overview of Sense-Making Research: Concepts, Methods, and Results to Date. Presented to the annual meeting of the ICA, Dallas, Texas. Dervin, B., Jacobson, T., & Nilan, M. (1982). Measuring Aspects of Information Seeking: A Test of a Quantitative/Qualitative Methodology. In M. Burgoon (Ed ). 9999991991199.1991999k 91 Beverly Hills: Sage. van Dijk, Teun A. (1977). Tex1,and,Qenrexrr London: Longman. 125 (1977). Semantic macrostructures and knowledge frames in discourse comprehension. In M.A. Just & P A Carpenter (Eds ). C92911119 919995595 19 99921999951991. Hillsdale, N.J. Erlbaum. (1983). Discourse Analysis: Its Development and Application to the Structure of News. Jenrnei Qt 99999919911991 391(2) (1983). 9999999k 91.D15999159.A9911515. (4 vols.) London: Academic Press. (1985). 915999159 999 Q9999919911991 Berlin/New York: de Gruyter (1987). 9999991991195 899159. Beverly Hills/London: Sage van Dijk, T.a., and W. Kintsch (1978). Cognitive psychology and discourse: Recalling and summarizing stories. In W.U. Dressler (Ed.), Cnrren1_trends in Lexi 119291511951 Berlin/New York: de Gruyter ._______ (1983). 3119199195.9£ D15999159.C9991999951991 New York/London: Academic Press. Drummond, P. & Paterson, R. (1984). Teieyisien in Txnnsilien. London: British Film Institute. Durkin, K. (1984). Children's Accounts of Sex- Role Stereotypes in Television. 9999991991199 89599199 11, pp. 341- 362. Dyer, R. (1973). Light Enleztninmenii.Londonz British Film Institute. Dyer, R., Lovell, T. , & McCrindle, J. (1977). Soap Opera and Women. Ed1999199.1919199119991.Eee11191 Eregremme. Unpublished manuscript. Eco, U. (1972). Towards a Semiotic Inquiry into the Television Message W91k199,299915 19.99119191 51991951 3 _______ (1975). Innovation and repetition: Between modern and post-modern aesthetics. D99991951 Fall. (1979). The Rule 91.199 8999911 Explorations in the Semiotics of Text. Bloomington/London: Indiana University Press. Ellis, J. (1982). Yisihie,Eie1iensr London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. 128 Fejes, F. (1984). Critical communication research and media effects: The problems of the disappearing audience. 1191119... (3911.919 81 99.91911. 6... 219-232 Fernie, D.E. Ordinary and Extraordinary People: Children's Understanding of Television and Real Life Models (pp. 47- 58). In H. Kelly & H. Gardner (EdS)1199199C.hild1enT919999T919115199..San Francisco: Jossey- -Bass. Feuer, J. (1987). Genre study and television. In R.C. Allen (Ed.). Channels 91‘: 9159911159.. Chapel Hill. N.C.: University of North Carolina Press. Findahl, O., & B. Hoijer (1981). Media content and human comprehension. In K. Rosengren (Ed.), Adxanees in 9991991.A99115151.pp.111-131. Beverly Hills: Sage. Fish 8 (1979) 1.519919919111191915919551The 991h91111 9f 191919191119 99999911195... Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Fiske, J. (1987). British cultural studies and television. In R. C. Allen (Ed.), Channels 91 Disennrsei,Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press. Fiske, J. & Hartley. J. (1978). Reading Tele115199... London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. Flitterman- -Lewis, S. (1987). Psychoanalysis, film, and television. In R. C. Allen (Ed. ), Channe1s_9£ 9199991991, Chapel Hill, N. C. . University of North Carolina Press. Freedle. R. (1979) 1199 9119911995 19 915999159 E1999551921 Norwood, N. J. : Ablex. Garfinkel. H. (1987). 5199195 in E1999991h99919g1... Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Ablex. Genette, G. (1986, 1989,1972). E129195.11 Figures 111 Figures 1111 Paris: Seuil. Gerbner, G. & Gross, L. (1976). Living with television: The Violence Profile. 1991991 91 (1999991991199... 29(2), 173-199. Gitlin, T. (1978). Media Sociology: The dominant paradigm. 199911 and 5991911.. 5... 205-253. (1979). Prime Time Ideology: The Hegemonic Process in Television Entertainment. Sneial 127 91991995... 51(3). Goffman, E. (1974). Frame A99115191 New York; Harper & Row. Gorden. R. (1980). 1919111991931 Homewood: Ill.: The Dorsey Press. Gross, L. (1987). Life vs Art: The Interpretation of Visual Narratives. In L. Halasz (Ed. ), Literarr 9159991591 Berlin/New York: de Gruyter Gurevitch, M., Bennett, T., Curran, J., & Woolacott, J. (Eds). (1982). (3911919.. 3991911... 999 199 119919.. London: Methuen. Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/Decoding. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, & P. Willis (Eds.), Culture1 999191 Languager, London: Hutchinson & Co. (1980). Cultural Studies: Two Paradigms. Media1 9911919 & 59919111 2. 57-72. Hall, 8., Clark, J., Jefferson, T., & Roberts, B. (Eds). (1975) 9951519999 119th 1119915... London: Hutchinson. Hammersley, M. & Atkinson, P. (1983L E1hn92199h11 9119919195 in 91991199.. London: Tavistock. Heath, 8. & Skirrow, G. (1977). Television: A World in Action. $91999... 19(2). 7-59. Himmelwheit, H., Swift, 9., & Biberian, M. (1980). The Audience as Critic: An approach to the study of entertainment. In P. Tannenbaum (Ed. ), 999911995 99 T919115199... New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hobson, D. (1980). Housewives and the mass media. In S. Hall, D. Hobson, A. Lowe, & P. Willis (Eds.), 99119191.mediar languager London: Hutchinson. (1982). 91955199951Thed19999195999999191 London: Methuen. Holland, N. (1975). 5 Readers 89991921 New Haven: Yale University Press. Holub, R. (1984) 999991199The9111A91111991 in1rndne1inn1 London: Methuen Ingarden. R. (1973) TheL1191911991k91Ar11A9 191951199119999199991991119959999191991. 128 L99191,999.199911 91 L1191919191 Trans. G. Grabowicz. Evanston, Ill.:Northwestern Univ. Press. Iser, W. (1974). Interaction between text and reader. In J. Corner & J. Hawthorn (Eds. ), C999991991199 Sindigsi,London: Edward Arnold. 9999911 (99. 274- -294L Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press. Jakobson, R. (1972). Linguistics and poetics. In De Georger & De George (Eds ). 199.511991919115151 9199.M91x.19 L911 9119955. New York: Anchor Books. Jameson, F. (1972 ) Th9 911599.99959.91.L99999991 A 91111991 9999991 91 9119919191159.999 9955199 Earmaiismr Princeton: Princeton University Press. (1981). 199 991111991 9999959199599551.991191119 95 9 99919111 91999119 991. Ithaca. N.Y.: Random House. Jensen, K. B. (1988). Making 59959.91 199 9925; Towards a theory and empirical model of reception for the study of mass communication. Aarhus, Denmark: Aarhus University Press. Katz, E., and T. Liebes (1984). Once upon a time in Dallas. 19191999191 121 28-32 (1984). Mutual Aid in the Decoding of "Dallas" Preliminary Notes from a Cross- Cultural Study. In P. Drummond and R. Paterson (Eds. ) 1919115199 in 11995111991 London: British Film Institute (1985). The Export of Meaning: Cross Cultural Readings of American TV. Paper prepared for the Manchester Symposium on Broadcasting, March 5-6, England. (1986). Patterns of Involvement in Television Fiction: A Comparative Analysis. European lgnrnal Qt CommuniQaLinni_1i_151-71, Beverly Hills: Sage. (1988). Dallas and Genesis: Primordality and Seriality in Popular Culture. In J. Carey (Ed.), 999191 91191 999.99119111951 Beverly Hills: Sage. Kellner, D. (1979L TV, Ideology, and Emancipatory Popular Culture 599191151 9911911 99 129 Kintsch, W.,and T.A. van Dijk (1978). Toward a model of text comprehension and production. Esyghgiggigal 9911991 991 383-394. Kirk, J. and M. Miller (1986L 99119911111 999 19119111 19.99911191119 995991991 Beverly Hills: Sage. Kozloff, S. (1987). Narrative theory and television. In R.C. Allen (Ed ), 99999915 91.9159991591 Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press. Labov, W. (1972). 999191199915119 991191951 Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Leech. G. (1983). 9119919195 91 91999911951.London/New York: Longman. Lemish, D. (1982). Television Viewing in Public Places. 1991991 91 919999951199 29, 757-782. (1987). Viewers in Diapers. In T. Lindlof (Ed.). 9919191 Andignggsr Norwood, N. J. : Ablex. Lewis, J. (1983). The encoding/decoding model: Criticisms and redevelopments for research on decoding. 99919.9911919 & 99919111.91 179-197- (1984L Decoding Television News. In P. Drummmond & R. Paterson (Eds. ), Igieyisign_in 11995111991 London: British Film Institute. Liebes, T. (1984). Ethnocriticism: Israelis of Moroccan ethnicity negotiate the meaning of "Dallas. "_9199195 19,115991.C9999919911991 19(3). 46- 72. Lindlof, T.R. (Ed ). (1987). 9919191 999199995. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex. Lull, J. (1982). The social uses of television. In E. Wartella & D. Whitney (Eds.), 9955.9999991991199 191199.1991999k 31 397-409). Beverly Hills. Sage. McHoul, A. (1982). I911199.HQR 19319 19191 London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. McQuail, D., Blumler, J., and J. Brown (1972). The television audience: A revised perspective. In D. McQuail (Ed.). 999191991 91 9955 9999991991199 (pp.135-165). London: Penguin. Messaris, P. (1987). Mothers Comments to their Children about the Relationship between Television and Reality In T Lindlof (Ed ). 9919191.9991999951 130 Norwood: N.J.: Ablex. Metz, C. (1975). The Imaginary Signifier. 99r99ni_ifi (2), 18—19. Minsky, M. (1980L A Framework for representing knowledge In D Metzing (Ed ). 91999 99999911995 999 21911 11999151999199... Berlin/New York: de Gruyter. Morley. D. (1980). 1119 1911999199; 99919999... London: British Film Institute. (1981). The ‘nationwide' audience - A critical postscript. 991999 E99991199... 9. 3-14. Neale, S. (1980). 999191 London: British Film Institute. Neuman, R. (1980). Television and American Culture: The Mass Medium and the Pluralist Audience. Unpublished paper. Newcomb, H. M. 0n the dialogic aspects of mass communication. 91111991 fi199199.in.9999 Newcomb, H. & Hirsch, P. (1983). Television as a cultural forum: Implications for research. In W. Rowland & B. Watkins (Eds. ) 1919r9r9iing 1919115199 (pp. 58— —73) Beverly HIlls: Sage. Ortony, A. (1978L Remembering, Understanding and Representation 999911.119 9919999 2. 53. Pacanowsky, M.E. & Anderson, J.A. (1982). Cop Talk and Media Use. 1991991 91 919999951199 2.6.. 741-755. Pateman, T. (1983). How is Understanding an Advertisment Possible? pp.187-204. In H. Davis & P. Walton (Eds. ). 19999999.. 19999... 119919... London: Basil Blackwell. Patton. M. (1980). 99911191119 9191991199 9919995... Beverly Hills: Sage. Pierce, C. (1931-58). 991199199.2929191 (Eds.). C. Harthshorne and P. Weiss. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Pratt. M (1977).191919999999999119991191L1191911 9199991991 Bloomington/London: Indiana University Press. ' Prince, G. (1973). Introduction 9 l'etude du 131 narrataire. 299119991 191 178—96. Propp, V. (1968). 119191191911 91 1119 1191111919... Austin: University of Texas Press. Ray, 91. (1984). 1.119191111999191-11991319999999191119 099995119911991,0xford: Blackwell. Reid, L.N. & Frazer, C. (1980). Television at Play. 1991991 91 (19911991991199 311(4). 66-75. Richardson, J & Corner, K. (1986L Reading reception: mediation and transparency in viewers' accounts of a TV programme. 999191.9911919.999.89919111 Beverly Hills: Sage. Rogers, E. (1985). The empirical and critical schools in communication research. In E. Rogers & F. Balle (Eds.). 19999919191919119919A99119999911951919 E91999 (pp. 219- -235L Norwood, N. J. . Ablex. Rogers, E. & Balle, F. (Eds.). (1985) 199 99919 1919191199 19 M91199 999 11951919 E91999. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex. Rosengren. K. (Ed.). (1981) A9199995 19 12991991 A99115191 Beverly Hills: Sage. Rowland, W. , & Watkins, B. (Eds. ), (1984) 191919191191, 19191131991 Beverly Hills: Sage. Schank, R.& Abelson, B. (1977). 59119191,9199s1 99913 999 99991919991911 Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Schatz, T. (1981). 991119999,G991991 New York: Random House. Schatzman, L. & Strauss. A. L. (1973). E1919 399991991 8119191199 191 9 9919191 599191911. Englewood Cliffs, N. J. : Prentice Hall. Scholl, N.K. (1981). Four Young Children Construct Reality: Television Watching in the Home. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Indiana University. Schulze, L. (1986). Getting Physical: Text/Context/Reading and the Made-for-Television Movie. (2199199 1991991 211(2), 35-50. Seiter, E. (1987). Semiotics and television. In R.C. Allen (Ed.). 29999915 91 015999159... Chapel Hill. N.C.: University of North Carolina Press. 132 Silverstone, R. (1976). An Approach to the Structural Analysis of the Television Message. E._g.n:_ee_n_IL 11* 9-40. (1980)IheMesseged£Tele11sien_z_Mnhand Hermann in Centemsemrl Celina... London: Heinemann. (1988) Television Myth and Culture. In J. Carey (Ed ). Media... um. and antenna... Beverly Hills: Sage. Streeter, T. (1984). An alternative approach to television research: Developments in cultural studies at Birmingham. In H. Rowland & B. Watkins (Eds.). hierereting Telexisien (99.74-97). Beverly Hills: Sage. Suleiman, S. & Crosman, I. (Eds.) (1980), The readers in the,text+ Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Tannen, D. (1979). What's in a Frame? Surface Evidence for Underlying Expectations. In R. Freedle (Ed.), Men We in Iliseonrse hmssinz... Norwood, N.J.: Ablex. Taylor, L. 8: Mulligan. B. (1986). Unlimited guests; The iMimateseemLsefitelexisimmdrMLondon: Chatto & Hindus. Taylor. S & Bogdan. R. (1984) Inimdnceien Le Quelitetixe Reseamh Methdds... New York: John Wiley & Sons. Thorburn, D. (1987). Television as an aesthetic medium. CLLLiealSiudiesinMassCemmunieatieneMZ). 161- 173. Tanking: J- (Ed->- (1980). Renderenespense eniiieism. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. Traudt, P. & Lont, C. (1987). Media Logic in Use: The Family as Locus of Study. In T. Lindlof (Ed.), Natural Andienees+,Norwood, N.J.: Ablex. White, M. (1987). Ideological analysis and television. In R.C. Allen (Ed.). Channels d: Discsmrse. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press. Hilliams, R. (1974). Ielensisms. leehmlegx and Quinn]. Egrme London: Oxford University Press. 133 (1977) Marxism and Literaturer London: Oxford University Press. Wood, P. (1979) ”Television as Dream" In H. Newcomb (Ed.). Ielexisiene_the Qritieal Eleni New York: Oxford University Press. Woodall, W.C. et a1 (1983). From Boob Tube to the Black Box: Television News Comprehension from an Information Processing Perspective. Juurnal at Breadeastinzi.21(1), 1-23. Wolf, M. (1987). How Children Negotiate Television. In T. Lindlof (Ed.), Narural Audiaueasl,N.J.: Ablex. Wolf, M.A., Meyer, T.A., & White, C. (1982). A Rules- Based Study of Television's Role in the Construction of Social Reality. Jgurnal at Breadeasting.Zfii 813-829. APPENDICES APPENDIX A Interview Guide: "The Cosby Show" Interpretive Television Discourse 134 Appendix A Interview Guide: The Cosby Show Qne:19:Qne.SessiQns The program you're going to see is ..................... 1. Have you seen it before? How often? 2. Do you have any idea how long the program is going to be? Why? 3. Have you any idea what the program is going to be about? Why do you say that? 4. (Optional) Please talk about an episode you have seen. COMMERCIAL BREAK 5. Do you think about anything as the segment ends? (This is to get viewer to talk about what s/he has seen so far). OR Let's talk about what you have seen so far. Why do you think that happened? (If there is a lead-in to this question). 6. What are you thinking about as the program is about to restart? Probe. (Why? etc) COMMERCIAL BREAK Repeat questions END OF PROGRAM 7. Pretend you're telling a friend or family member about what happened in tonight's episode. APPENDIX B Viewer Profiles 135 Appendix B Viewer Profiles VIEWER SEX 1 F 2 F 3 F 4 F 5 F 8 M 7 M 8 M 9 M 10 M 11 M 12 F 13 F 14 M 15 F 16 M 17 F 18 F 19 M 20 F 21 F 22 M 23 M 24 F 25 F TOTAL: 25 Female (F):14 (56%) Male (M) :11 (44%) AGE RACE 33 W 74 W 33 B 29 H 38 B 34 W 24 A 22 W 27 O 22 A 28 W 36 W 55 W 25 W 28 W 27 W 27 W 48 W 19 W 32 W 26 H 26 W 31 W 35 W 38 B White (W) Black (B) : Hispanic (H): Asian (A) ° Other (0) OCCUPATION Administrator Ret.Bookkeeper Clerk Investigator Court Reporter Student Student Student Administrator Student Engineer Technician Former Teacher Teacher Receptionist Minister Lawyer Nurse/Midwife Student Ed.Developer Student Student Student Secretary Lawyer (68%) (12%) ( 8%) ( 8%) ( 4X) HNNOOKI APPENDIX C Discourse Analysis Topic Extraction 136 Appendix C Discourse Analysis mieExtraeiien (V1) A. Topical Expressions TF1 Well, I always like to watch it. They change it every season. They change it regularly. It's always interesting to watch. I used to like it more than I like it now, I mean it's like for this particular show that all the characters are so strong and so polished... {CC/referential} {FC/continuation/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. I always like to watch it (TF1) [zero] 2. They change it every season (TF1) [generalization] 3. It's always interesting to watch (TF1) [zero] 4. I used to like it more than I like it now (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics I always like to watch it (ST1) [zero] . They change it every season (8T2) [zero] It's always interesting to watch (ST3) [zero] I used to like it more than I like it now (ST4) [zero] .war-A A. Topical Expressions TF2 It's almost like for this particular show that all the characters are so strong and polished and so...like they're just gonna be who they are, it's almost like too much... Everybody is too strong and too perfect ...they're just so allowed so much to be who they are --they're just so... almost too good. {EC/explanation repetition} 8. Secondary Topics 1. For this particular show all the characters are too strong, polished, perfect and good and allowed to be who they are. (TF2) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. All the characters are too perfect and allowed to be who they are. [generalization] A. Topical Expressions TF3 I really like that kid. (Vanessa) She's really developed into quite a woman —-very pretty. She’s really fun. I really like that kid {FC/explanation/specification/ repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. I really like that kid because she's really fun and a very pretty woman [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I really like that kid (Vanessa) [generalization] 137 A. Topical Expressions TF4 Oh God, you have so much to do. (Are you a Mom) No, but but you know... my mom had eight kids, she didn't have to work but {FC/explanation/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. My mom had so much to do (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. My mom had so much to do (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF5 What are they trying to get across that it's ok for women to have needs too--which I like that message but then I'm thinking nobody in my family even ever talked about what they wanted or needed or could go to their Mom and ask for anything {CC/consequence} {PC/contrast} (TS) So this is as far as relating it to my family is really unreal (TS) {FC/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I like the message they're trying to get across that it's okay for women to have needs too (TF5) [deletion] 2. Nobody in my family ever talked about what they wanted or needed [generalization/deletion] 3. Relating it to my family is really unreal [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. I like the message they're trying to get across that its okay for women to have needs too [zero] (ST1) (woman frame) 2. Relating it to my family is really unreal [generalization] (ST2, 3) (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF6 I just felt that she was talking really harsh and that we sort of this--that mothers always deny that they have these feelings {EC/continuation} and that there's a lot-- that the husband was being exceptionally wonderful. (TS) I don't think this is completely false I mean that certainly could be an ideal and there maybe families that have that {PC/explanation} but in my family it wasn't like that. {EC/contrast} I just thought ...it's probably not like that for more people than it is. (TS) (FC/conclusion) B. Secondary Topics 1. I just thought that she was talking really harsh as mothers always deny that they have these feelings (TF6) [deletion] 2. The husband was being exceptionally wonderful (TF6) [zero] 3. In my family it wasn't like that (TF6) [generalization] 4. 138 It’s probably not like that for more people than it is (TF4) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. 2. 3. 4. I just thought that as a mother she was talking really harsh (ST1) [construction/deletion] (motherhood frame) The husband was being exceptionally wonderful (ST2) [zero] (marriage frame) In my family it wasn't like that (ST3) [zero] (family frame) It's probably not like that for more people than it is (ST4) [zero] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF7 I do not sit and wonder what is going to happen not in this show. Some other shows I will, like if I watch “Knots Landing". That's more of a serial -—like what they'e going to do next. I think because this...I think the dialogue's good on this but maybe because it's only half an hour too, I don't-~I never ... {FC/contrast/explanation} I think there are some other shows that I think are better written. When I think the show is really well written, I--then it intrigues me to think what they'e going to do next like "Knots Landing“ although it's kinda of a fluffy stupid show the way they do things in that show really intrigues me, they get themselves in a situation like how can they possibly resolve this and then they are up with something you never even thought of {FC/continuation/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. I do not sit and wonder what is going to happen for this show like in the serial "Knots Landing" (TF7) [deletion] I think there are some other shows like "Knots Landing" that are better written (TF7) [deletion] C. Main Topics 2. 1. I do not sit and wonder what is going to happen for this show like in the serial "Knots Landing" (ST1) [zero] I think there are some other shows like "Knots Landing” that are better written (ST2) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF8 Again I was thinking that how much everybody in the show is allowed to be what they are and say what they want and everybody's so confident and sure of themselves and they can say bad stuff to each other and it's okay nobody gets mad-—people don't get hurt they don't feel rejected... it's all okay to have that kind of communication which will be good in an ideal world --she was saying what she felt --she was able to talk back to them 139 and tell them what she was feeling more about putting her own stuff out there rather than feeling bad. At least she gets to take care of herself that way. Then they all said, ‘oh yeah, let's ...' they listened to her, she got the feedback, she got the attention she wanted. {FC/repetition/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. Again I was thinking how much everybody in the show is allowed to be what they are (TF8) [generalization] That kind of communication will be good in an ideal world. (TF8) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. 2. 9. 10. ll. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. V2 ( 1 2 3. 4 5 8 7 8 Again I was thinking how much everybody in the show is allowed to be what they are (ST1) [zero] (family frame) That kind of communication will be good in an ideal world (ST2) [zero] (family frame) V1) MAIN TOPICS I always like to watch it They change it every season It's always interesting to watch I used to like it more than I like it now For this show all the characters are too perfect and allowed to be who they are. I really like that kid (Vanessa) : My mom had so much to do I like the message they're trying to get across that it's okay for women to have needs too Relating it to my family is really unreal I just thought that as a mother she was talking really harsh The husband was being exceptionally wonderful In my family it wasn't like that It’s probably not like that for more people I do not sit and wonder what is going to happen for this show like in the serial "Knots Landing" I think there are some other shows like "Knots Landing" that are better written Again I was thinking how much everybody in the show is allowed to be what they are That kind of communication will be good in an ideal world A. Topical Expressions TF1. Probably thinking of my own life, (TS) y'know. I worked, I had two daughters. I know how she feels... all the things I went through when they were growing up {FC/explanation/specification} ‘_‘-'—- 140 Then you kind of, y'know at my age then you look back, looking at her life, you think well, y'know maybe she should slow up, why does she do it? But when you're her age you think a little different she likes what she's doing, and she likes the family and she's torn between the two and you have to ..sometimes you have to choose] {F/C/comparison/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. Probably thinking of my own life, I worked, had two daughters, I know how she feels (TF1) [deletion] 2. At my age you think differently because when you're torn between job and family sometimes you have to choose (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. As once a working mother I know how she feels, and now think differently (ST1,2) [construction/generalization] (motherhood frame) A. Topical Expressions TF2 I didn't talk to the children like that. Probably had I they would have been hurt, so you just kinda suffer along {PC/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. I didn't talk to the children like that [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I didn't talk to the children like that (ST1) [zero] (motherhood frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3. She did show a lot of patience here today too, a lot of mothers do not have the patience of course, every situation is different. A lot of mothers today are mothers alone and that makes the whole situation different. This mother can lean on her husband which makes a powerful difference {FC/generalization/examp1e But it does... these things when you see them you do think of your own situation, situation of mothers that I see now in the workplace B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. A lot of mothers today are mothers alone and that makes the whole situation different (TF3) [generalization] You think of your own situation and mothers I see now in the workplace (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. A lot of mothers today are mothers alone and that makes the whole situation different (ST1) [generalization] (motherhood frame) You think of your own situation and mothers I see now in the workplace (ST2) [zero] (motherhood frame) 141 A. Topical Expressions TF4 And Rudy my goodness, last summer when I was watching and of course they were all reruns-- she was just a tiny thing {CC/referential} B. Secondary Topics 1. In last summer reruns Rudy was a tiny thing (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. In last summer reruns Rudy was a tiny thing (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF5 They're all very good actors--everyone of them B. Secondary Topics 1. They're all very good actors (TF5) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. They're all very good actors (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF6 Well, sometimes y'know--things when you go on vacation things like that happen. It's not like you think it's going to be at all, and sometimes you'd be better off if you would've stayed home and rested. ({FC/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. Sometimes when you go on vacation things like that happen (TF6) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Sometimes when you go on vacation things like that happen (ST1) [zero] (vacation frame) A. Topical Expressions TF7 I thought she probably would have stayed longer but I thought she probably wouldn't have gotten that much rest because one of the other kids whoever it was going to be finding her, calling her all the time. {EC/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. I thought she probably would have stayed longer but she probably wouldn't have gotten that much rest (TF7) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I thought she probably would have stayed longer and not gotten that much rest (ST1) [deletion] (story frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8 I thought that was just like a woman (behavior at end), just like a mother, we do the same thing {EC/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I thought that was just like a woman and mother (TF8) [deletion] 142 C. Main Topics 1. I thought that was just like a woman and mother (ST1) [zero] (motherhood/woman frame) A. Topical Expressions TF9 Sometimes it's typical behavior of the husband (at the end) to tell her off. (TS) B. Secondary Topics 1. Sometimes telling her off is typical husband behavior (TF9) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Sometimes telling her off is typical behavior of the husband (ST1) [zero] (marriage frame) (V2) MAIN TOPICS 1. As once a working mother I know how she feels 2. I didn't talk to the children like that 3. A lot of mothers today are mothers alone and that makes the situation different 4 You think of your own situation and mothers I see now in the workplace 5. In last summer reruns Rudy was a tiny thing 6. They're all very good actors 7 Sometimes when you go vacation things like that happen 8 I thought she probably would have stayed longer and not gotten that much rest 9 I thought that was just like a woman and mother 0 Sometimes telling her off is typical husband behavior. 1 V3 (It's a situation comedy, I mean they have a situation, they run it through and you laugh and it closes). A. Topical Expressions TF1. I'll look because it's the new season and if it's something-- I just turn it off because at first they were good but now they're silly. I watch it according to the season --that's all comedies, it's like one season they're good, the next season they're not. Thats why I think with television you watch it, you can be glued to tv one whole year, y'know no one can bother you, then the next you never turn the tv on. And Cosby is at that stage. {CC/reason} {FC/explanation/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I watch it according to the season (TF1) [generalization] 2. At first they were good but now they are silly (TF1) [deletion] 3. Comedies are good one season and the next season they're not (TF1) [generalization] 143 next you never turn the tv on (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Comedies are good one season and the next season they're not (ST1,2,3) [generalization] (comedy frame) 2. You can be glued to television one year and the next you never turn the tv on (ST4) [zero] (tv frame) A. Topical Expressions TF2 She's cut her hair. B. Secondary Topics 1. She's cut her hair (TF2) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. She's cut her hair (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF3. I guess I'll never say that, (raggedy friends) I'll just say 'sit next to your friends {PC/contrast) I wouldn't say that (FC/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. I'll never say that (to the kids) (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I'll never say that (ST1) [zero] (motherhood frame) A. Topical Expressions TF4 Y'see if I'm in a bad mood I couldn't understand why she stayed on the couch cause y'know I just think of it like that and it's like we know after the first kid comes in and you look at it as a real situation {CC/reason} {PC/specification} -- forget it's a comedy and how comedies go {TS} y'know that each person is going to come in there and each is going to give her something to build up the comedy y'know you just must go in your room and close the door {EC/explanation}... but that type of thing. But I guess I don't really like situation comedies cause I think of them like “Green Acres“ he used to have people that would bother him it's not so much funny anymore, it's like you feel frustrated with what's going on. I guess Mr Haley was trying to sell him something, and you know it was supposed to be like this --a comedy, but we got involved in it a different way, like 'why don't you just tell him to go away' and he wouldn't ...It (comedy) doesn't allow that room for you, you have to look at the humor and like when he said ‘I gotta go find the other children and see if they still have heads...’ {FC/specification/example} I used to like that show “Sanford and Son“ but he never built you up like that {EC/conclusion} 144 B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. 3. 4. If I'm in a bad mood I couldn't understand why she stayed on the couch (TF4) [deletion] Forget it's a comedy and how comedies go (TF4) [generalization] I really don't like situation comedies cause I think of them like "Green Acres" you feel frustrated with what's going on and get involved in a different way (TF5) [deletion] I used to like that show "Sanford and Son" but he never built you up like that (TF5) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. 2. 3. If I'm in a bad mood I wouldn't stay on the couch (ST1) [deletion] Forget it's a comedy and how comedies go (ST2)[zero] (comedy frame) I really don't like these kinds of situation comedies like "Green Acres" which make you feel frustrated (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) I used to like "Sanford and Son" which never built you up like that (ST2) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF5 The situations are always like this where they always put themselves in situations like you can always solve --that--it doesn't become funny anymore, until normally Bill Cosby says something to break it up. I mainly just watch it through. I mean, after you sit down to watch it you just watch it all the way through... and you see if it's gonna hold your interest but it's not and normally I have to admit by that time (after commercials) I'm reading the papers or something in between ... {FC/explanation/example} but "Different World“ will come on after that and I won't read anything [EC/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. The situations are always like this where they always put themselves in situations you can always solve (TF6) [generalization/deletion] 2. You see if it's gonna hold your interest but it doesn't unlike a "Different World" (TF6) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. 2. The situations are always like this (ST1) [generalization] (story frame) It doesn't hold your interest like "A Different World" (ST2) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF7 It's (Different World) a comedy but it's different. It's a different comedy, yeah. But Cosby...even if you gonna watch it it doesn't have a lot of content, doesn't have a lot of meat, it 145 doesn't have--I can't say what's real or anything like that or what's not real {FC/contrast/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. Different World is a comedy but it's different to Cosby which doesn't have a lot of content (TF7) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Different World is a comedy with content which makes it different to Cosby (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8 Him and "Family Ties" are just the same—- a situation with a family y'know where they get really craz-—how they work it out and stick together and y'know you look at their nice kitchen and some of the clothes and then after a while you just pick up a newspaper and finish what you were reading. B. Secondary Topics 1. Him and "Family Ties“ are just the same (TF8) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 3. Him and “Family Ties" are just the same (ST1) [zero] (story frame) A. Topical Expressions TF9 I associate with the kids on “Different World" not with this.... I don't think it's because of their wealth because I'm from a family where you have two people that worked like that but the family situations --you wouldn't have a family I mean you wouldn't have y'know. I don't know maybe there are families that are like that {FC/explanation/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. I associate with the kids on "Different World" not with this (TF9) [zero] 1. I can associate with the family status but not the family situations (TF9) [construction/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I associate with the kids on "Different World" not with this (ST1) [zero] 2. I can associate with the family status but not the situations (ST2) [deletion] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF10 It's just the situation of predictable Cosby, you gonna laugh, you can listen to Cosby, I think you can listen to it better that's why you can read and watch the show You don't really have to look, y'know it because the house never changes, I mean it's not one where...you know it's not gonna 146 change, you see “Different World“ it's all different scenes, you don't know what scene is gonna take place so oyu have to look at it for the scenery. Cosby is taking place in the kitchen, upstairs, so you know it's the same scenery, it's always the same scenery and it's been years, so they haven't changed it... {CC/reason} {FC/explanation/repetition} That's why I say it's for the clothes, if you wanna watch it for the clothes, other than that you can listen to it. {FC/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. It's just the situation of predictable Cosby where you watch it for the clothes or listen to it (TF10) [deletion] You don't have to look because it's always the same scenery unlike "Different World" (TF10) [construction/deletion] A. Main Topics 1. It's just the situation and scenery of predictable Cosby unlike "A Different World" (ST1,2) [generalization/deletion] (story frame) A. Topical Expressions TF1 A. TF1 1 You know they're really fashionable --they're up with the hair and they wear that typical upper class fashion —-y'know everything that Macy has, yeah they do and they go with the seasons, it's whatever is in style...if you notice the way she's dressed compared to the way she was dressed before the one girl that has the hair long she would switch up and put braids, or she'll wear her natural hair, and then y'know you look at Macy's... {FC/specification/explanation} Secondary Topics 1. You know they're really fashionable (TF11) [deletion] . Main Topics 1. You know they're really fashionable (ST1) [zero] Topical Expressions 2 I don't have to look, you don't have to focus, and sometimes I prefer, if I'm watching--"Cheers" you don't have to focus, you just can listen. There are a couple of those that are ... you don't have to watch cause week after week it's the same except for their clothes and the dialogue. {PC/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. There are a couple of those like "Cheers' where you don't have to focus, you just can listen (TF12) [deletion] 147 C. Main Topics 1. There are a couple of those like "Cheers" where you don't have to focus (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF13 It's not something that you think on like “A Different World“ you more or less think of what, like they're likely to have a message towards their comedy, they're fashionable too but you know it's different. A message is Clare and the children bugging you and how you should get away and how you should be thankful after you go away. {EC/continuation} B. Secondary Topics 1. It's not something you think on like "Different World" which is likely to have a message (TF13) [deletion] . A message is Clare and the children bugging you and how you should get away and be thankful (TF13) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. 2. It's not something you think on like "Different World" (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) A message is Clare having to get away from the children and being thankful (ST2) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF14 Well she was ready for it (sign the paper) she was away so she misses it. I think that's part of being a mother when you get to that point where you finally want a little inkling of time for yourself and no one...everything falls on you then you say 'I just cant' do this anymore cause there is no more time for me, no one to give me anytime. Oh poor me'. And then you go away and then y'know, like a lot of times I find that if you just go to the mall, you don't have to spend any money or if you go get your hair done or if you go get your nails done y'know you pamper yourself for just two hours you come back and you're ready for it again- - when you don't do those things then you're crazy {FC/explanation/specification/conclusion} You have to go away, do something, even if it's a walk, and there'd be lot of times I guess throughout my marriage I would find times when I just wouldn't do it cause I wanted to y'know try to do it all then you'd find all of a sudden like she was in a trial but then you might have something else y'know something you wanna do and you get tied up in something and then no one gives you that little bit of space, you're crazy and they always suggest a vacation--that's where I am 148 now. I want a vacation I wanna go away, some place I've never been. {FC/specification/comparison} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. Part of being a mother is wanting a little time for yourself otherwise you'd go crazy (TF14) [deletion] You have to go away, do something (TF14) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Part of being a mother is wanting and getting a little time for yourself (ST1,2) [construction/generalization] (motherhood frame) (V3) MAIN TOPICS l. \lCDU'HhQ) N 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 18. 17. 18. 19. 20. V4 Comedies are good one season and the next season they're not You can be glued to television one year and the next never turn the tv on She's cut her hair I'll never say that If I'm in a bad mood I wouldn't stay on the couch Forget it's a comedy I really don't like these kinds of situation comedies like "Green Acres" which make you feel frustrated I used to like ”Sanford and Son" which never built you up like that . The situations are always like this 10. It doesn't hold your interest like "A Different World" "Different World" is a comedy with content which makes it different to Cosby Him and "Family Ties" are just the same I associate with the kids on ”Different World" not with this I can associate with the family status but not the situations It's just the situation of and scenery of predictable unlike "A Different World“ You know they're really fashionable There are a couple of those like "Cheers" where you don't have to focus It's not something you think on like "Different World" A message is Clare having to get away from the children and being thankful Part of being a mother is wanting and getting a little time for yourself A. Topical Expressions TF1. I was thinking how tired I am too. ...not a mother just my hectic schedule rush to work rush home, rush to do the shopping, it gets to you. So I say 149 I can relate to that. {FC/explanation/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I can relate to how tired she is (TF1) [generalization/ deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I can relate to how tired she is (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF2. I don't have kids—-those demands are not on me, thank God. My husband lets me do all the paperwork so I feel that is what he would do, let her make all the decisions. He doesn't want to be bothered with that, he just wants to fix the house and that's it. So I'm left with all the paperwork. {FC/comparison/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. (Like Cosby), my husband leaves me with all the paperwork decisions. (TF2) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Like Cosby, my husband leaves me with all the paperwork (ST1) [deletion] (marriage frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 ...I don't worry about what the outcome is. The only time I do that it's like when it's a murder mystery, I always try to solve it so I'm always thinking what they gonna do but in the comedy show I usually don't I just kick back. {FC/contrast/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. I only worry about what the outcome is when its a murder mystery as I just kick back in the comedy (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I only worry about what the outcome is when it's a murder mystery as I just kick back in the comedy (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame) (V4) MAIN TOPICS 1. I can relate to how tired she is 2. Like Cosby, my husband leaves me with all the paperwork 3. I only worry about what the outcome is when it's a murder mystery as I just kick back in the comedy V5 A. Topical Expressions TF1. It is so typical of motherhood. (TS) [I mean usually don't see the Cosby show as really reflective of the average black family] {EC/explanation} 150 B. Secondary Topics 1. It is so typical of motherhood. (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. It is so typical of motherhood (ST1) [zero] (motherhood frame) A. Topical Expressions TF2 Just listening to the way the mother was responding to all the kids I mean that's very typical especially with black mothers y'know they have a kind of cute way of telling you off and getting you out of the way {EC/explanation}, yeah I could relate to that. {EC/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I could relate to how she was responding to all the kids as that of a typical black mother (TF2) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I could relate to how she was responding to all the kids as that of a typical black mother (TF2) [zero] (black motherhood frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 ...even though the show—-the family situation is not truly reflective of the average black family it presents a positive image of a black family interacting so it gives people who watch it something to, an ideal to live up to. {EC/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. Even though the show is not truly reflective of the average black family it's positive family interaction is an ideal to live up to (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. It's positive family interaction is an ideal to live up to (ST1) [deletion] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF4 I really never think about what's going to happen next, when I watch the show I just sit there like a sponge and absorb it. I've never really watched it when it had me so intertwined in the plot that I can't wait to find out what's going to happen next. It's always resolved y'know whatever the conflict is. This show in particular. It's always resolved in a positive way. {EC/continuation} B. Secondary Topics 1. I never really think about what is going to happen next, when I watch the show I just sit there like a sponge and absorb it (TF4) [deletion] 2. Whatever ths conflict is this show in particular is always resolved in a positive way is (TF4) [deletion] (story frame) 151 C. Main Topics 1. I never really think about what is going to happen next I absorb it like a sponge (ST1) [deletion] 2. This show is always resolved in a positive way (ST2) [deletion] (story frame) A. Topical Expressions TF5 Some of the shows like suspense stories, y'know mysteries--you never know so you just sort, you kind of intrigued you want to know what's going to happen, but they don't really have to twist the plots in the Cosby show that I've noticed. I think the situation comedies—-most of them are like that not too .. {FC/explanation/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. Some of the shows like suspense stories you're intrigued and want to know what's going to happen unlike a situation comedy like Cosby where they don't twist the plots (TF5)[deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Some of the shows like suspense stories you want to know what's going to happen unlike a situation comedy like "Cosby" (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF6. I like the mother, I like her lines, she has real good lines. {CC\reason/referential} B. Secondary Topics 1. I like the mother, she has real good lines (TF8, [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I like the mother, she has real good lines (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF7 They really perform well ...and in that sense they seem real... even though it's not necessarily my favorite program but it's the program that has the highest quality, production quality to me. {PC/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. They really perform well and in that sense they seem real (TF7) [zero] 2. It's the program that has the highest quality, production quality to me (TF7) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. They really perform well and in that sense they seem real (ST1) [zero] 2. It's the program that has the highest production quality to me (ST2) [zero] 152 A. Topical Expressions TF8 That was a good one {TS} because it's kind of cute. They're all cute. They never really teach you any heavy lessons, they're just cute. B. Secondary Topics 1. That was a good one, they never teach you any heavy lessons, they're just cute (TF8) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. That was a good one, they never teach you any heavy lessons, they're just cute (ST1) [zero] (story frame) A. Topical Expressions TF9 I was a little bit bored with the part y'know the elderly clerk. That was just kinda slow for me {PC/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. I was a little bit bored with the part with elderly clerk which was kinda slow for me (TF9) [construction] C. Main Topics 1. The part with the elderly clerk was kinda slow for me (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF10 Y'know I was just thinking that that really is typical of a family situation, y'know with kids constantly hounding their mother and being just like they said fed up and once you get rejuvenated you can get back to dealing with everybody's daily problems {FC/explanation} ‘ B. Secondary Topics 1. Y'know I was just thinking that that really is typical of a family situation (TF10) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Y'know I was just thinking that that really is typical of a family situation (ST1) [zero] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF11 I really like Vanessa, she's my favorite character on there. I think she's just so cute and very talented ...she's just my all time favorite and really when I watch the show I really watch it to look at her. I love her character, and she's just so effervescent and to me immensely talented. She's more real. I always think she's real cute {FC/explanation/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. I really like Vanessa, she's my favorite character on there. (TF11) [deletion] 2. I really like Vanessa because she's so cute, effervescent, talented and real (TF11) [deletion] 153 C. Main Topics 1. I really like Vanessa, she's my favorite character on there (ST1,2) [generalization] (V5) MAIN TOPICS 1. It is so typical of motherhood 2. I could relate to how she was responding to all the kids as that of a typical black mother (TF2) [zero] 3. It's positive family interaction is an ideal to live up to 4. I never really think about what is going to happen next I absorb it like a sponge 5. This show is always resolved in a positive way 6. Some of the shows like suspense stories you want to know what's going to happen unlike a situation comedy like "Cosby" 7. I like the mother, she has real good lines 8. They really perform well and in that sense they seem more real 9. It's the program that has the highest production quality to me 10. That was a good one, they never teach you any heavy lessons, they're just cute 11. The part with the elderly clerk was kinda slow for me 12. Y'know I was just thinking that that really is typical of a family situation 13. I really like Vanessa, she's my favorite character on there V6 (expect comedy, family comedy). A. Topical Expressions TF1 I haven't really seen it since they introduced these new characters and the little girl and all that. {FC/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I haven't really seen it since they introduced these new characters (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I haven't really seen it since they introduced these new characters (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF2 It really comes alive when he's on the screen and when he's not it really isn't um... it's not that Phylicia Rashad is not a very good actress but she's not up to him and her lines were not very convincing especially on the phone I didn't believe she was talking to anybody, him I believe was talking to somebody... And her lines didn't come out--there were some lines which she was supposed to —-they were supposed to be real funny 154 but really weren't. To me they weren't {FC/explanation/continuation /repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. It really comes alive when he's on the screen (TF2) [generalization/deletion] 2. It's not that Phylicia Rashad is not a very good actress but she's not up to him (TF2) [deletion] 3 Her lines that were supposed to be funny didn't come out that way (TF2) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. It really comes alive when he's on the screen (ST1) [generalization] 2. It's not that Phylicia Rashad is not a very good actress but she's not up to him (ST2,3) [generalization] A. Topical Expressions TF3 The other thing I noticed was Lisa's Bonet's hair she's very attractive y'know and I really like the way she looks but her hair makes her look --like something out of "Masterpiece Theatre“ Yeah, it really looked neat. B. Secondary Topics 1. Lisa Bonet's hair really looked neat [deletion] 2. I really like the way Lisa Bonet looks (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I really like the way Lisa Bonet looks (ST1,2) [generalization] A. Topical Expressions TF4 I was thinking how much that Other girl (Vanessa) has grown up--she's very pretty--real nice legs and the little one has grown up a lot also. B. Secondary Topics 1. I was thinking how much that other girl has grown up and the little one too (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I was thinking how much that other girl (Vanessa) and the little one have grown up (ST1) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF5 But it was very predictable you knew what Theo was going to do and you know when she laid down to rest... a lot of these premises were established that the kids were going to interrupt you just wait for the next kid to come in so it's not like --y'know you have to be really good actor to pull that off. She wasn't, although she must be really ill because she seemed really sick and her voice everything, so that played well. {EC/explanation} 155 B. Secondary Topics 1. It was very predictable with a lot of the premises established that the kids were going to interrupt (TF5) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. It was very predictable (ST1) [deletion] (story/comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF6 ...it has to be really riveting for me to sit there and think oh, I wonder what happens next {TS} --in fact that almost never happens except for a live sporting event cause then nobody knows what's going to happen next—-it's like I gotta see if the Reds can come back or especially with football. {FC/continuation/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. It has to be really riveting for me to sit there and wonder what happens next except for a live sporting event (TF6) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. It has to be really riveting for me to wonder what happens next except for a live sporting event (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF7 I didn't believe she was on the phone when she was doing that thing and she didn't look-~she looked ridiculous she didn't look like she was cold. {EC/generalization} I mean she was dressed in warm clothes but other than that-—I was interested in it because I'm interested in acting so I think about it from an actor's point of view The little girl is a natural and Cosby well, is pretty well established because he gets better and better. I suppose when he's on screen...the way he relates to the other actors it's a gift but also a skill. When he goes off screen... B. Secondary Topics 1. I didn't believe she was on the phone when she was doing that thing (TF7) [generalization] 2. The little girl is a natural and Cosby is pretty well established because he gets better and better (TF7) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I didn't believe she was on the phone when she was doing that thing (ST1) [zero] 2. The little girl is a natural and Cosby gets better and better (ST2) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF8 A lawyer and a doctor, wonderful kids, y'know when I think back on it "Leave it to Beaver" wasn't that believable and "Father Knows Best" and any of 158 those shows. Prime time shows in general, I have a hard time] {FC/comparison/example} B. Secondary Topics 1. Their family like in "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best“ isn't that believable (TF8) [generalization/construction/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Their family like in "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best" isn't that believable (ST1) [zero] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF9 ...and at the end of course they have to make it squeaky clean because they're supposed to be America's favorite family. The father is not a bastard, she was Supermom again. {CC/reason} {FC/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. At the end of course they have to make it squeaky clean because they're supposed to be America's favorite family (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. At the end of course they have to make it squeaky clean (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame) (V8) MAIN TOPICS 1. HH HO V7 (.0 CD QC) 0'th CON I haven't really seen it since they introduced these new characters It really comes alive when he's on the screen It's not that Phylicia Rashad is not a very good actress but she's not up to him I really like the way Lisa Bonet looks I was thinking how much that other girl (Vanessa) and the little one have grown up It was very predictable It has to be really riveting for me to wonder what happens next except for a live sporting event I didn't believe she was on the phone when she was doing that thing . The little girl is a natural and Cosby gets better and better . Their family like in "Leave it to Beaver" and "Father Knows Best" isn't that believable At the end of course they have to make it squeaky clean A. Topical Expressions TF1 I guess this can function as like um teaching material and if while family is watching it together they can talk about what's happening in the story probably the parents and kids and how to 157 I to--I don't know. Seems like this program is dealing with lot of important issues er the bond, the strong bond between children and parents. {FC/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I guess this is like teaching material (TF1) [deletion] 2. Seems like this program is dealing with a lot of important issues like the strong bond between parents and children (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I guess this is like teaching material (ST1,2) [generalization] A. Topical Expressions TF2 She is strong, she is y'know working in the court and she's always taking care of the problems in the house and all the kids depending on her and I don't think the kids can really see how hard it is to be a mother, yeah, and I don't know from that point that the kids can learn how to deal with their mothers ... {EC/continuation} B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't think the kids can really see how hard it is to be a mother, or learn how to deal with their mothers (TF2) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I don't think the kids can really see how hard it is to be a mother (ST1) [deletion] (motherhood frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 I don't use my brain when I'm watching TV B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't use my brain when I'm watching TV (TF3) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. I don't use my brain when I'm watcing TV (ST1) [zero] (medium frame) A. Topical Expressions TF4 I don't think it's a typical American family (TS) but y'know I can get information from watching those tv shows and I just want to observe these things] {FC/explanation/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't think it's a typical American family (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I don't think it's a typical American family (ST1) [zero] (family frame) 158 A. Topical Expressions TF5 The director of this program is trying to show where the other American society is traditionally --the comedy thing is dominated by white Americans and now they're trying to present the other aspect of the United States, the American society but if this is another side there has to be another side like Hispanics and Asians. {FC/continuation/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 2. The director of this program is trying to show another side of American society in comedy but there has to be another side like Hispanics and Asians (TF5) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. The director of this program is trying to show another side of American society but not Hispanics and Asians (ST2) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF8 Well mother is mother, she always likes to take care of the children although they're always complaining about everything and how busy they are that I guess that's the mother... {PC/explanation} 8. Secondary Topics 1. Well mothers will be mothers (TF6) [construction/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. ( 1 2 3. 4 5 8. (V8) Well, mothers will be mothers (ST1) [zero] (motherhood frame) V7) MAIN TOPICS I guess this is like teaching material I don't think the kids can really see how hard it is to be a mother I don't use my brain when I'm watching TV I don't think it's a typical American family The director of this program is trying to show another side of American society but not Hispanics and Asians Well, mothers will be mothers A. Topical Expressions TF1. I totally saw myself as Theo's character because the same sort of thing kinda happened to me when I was trying to get my apartment here except I was doing it on the phone and my parents had just walked in from work... {CC/reason} {PC/contrast} I could totally relate to that {EC/conclusion} 159 B. Secondary Topics 1. I could totally relate to Theo's character because the same kind thing happened to me (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I could totally relate to Theo's character (ST1) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF2 ...like my favorite show is ”LA Law“ ...and we'd try to predict what was going to happen--not so much with sitcoms more with the hour long shows. Guess I can get more into it. I guess plus the hour long shows seem more like a soap opera so I can get more into it than sitcoms so I don't usually do that with sitcoms. {PC/explanation} The reason I watch “LA Law” is that I get hooked into the characters so much. I hate summer. I cant' wait for the regular season to start again. But I usually don't get that way with sitcoms. I mean, if you miss a sitcom and you come back two/few months later you haven't missed anything. {FC/continuation/contrast/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. We'd try to predict what's going to happen with hour—long shows like "L.A. Law" not so much with sitcoms (TF2) [deletion] 2. The reason I watch "L.A. Law" is that I get hooked into the characters so much but I usually don't get that way with sitcoms [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. We'd try to predict shows like ”L.A. Law” not sitcoms (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) 2. I get hooked into the characters in "L.A. Law" not sitcoms (ST2) [deletion] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 I hate summer. I can't wait for the regular season to start again. B. Secondary Topics 1. I can't wait for the regular season to start again (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I can't wait for the regular season to start again (ST1)[zero] A. Topical Expressions TF4 I guess it was kinda predictable but it was still funny even though I had a feeling of what was going to happen and I guess it wasn't that predictable when she came home and was like willing to help her children again. 180 {FC/contrast/example} B. Secondary Topics 1. I guess it was kinda predictable but it was still funny (TF4) [deletion] 2. I guess it wasn't that predictable (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I guess it was kinda predictable but still funny (ST1) [zero] (story/comedy frame) 1. I guess it wasn't that predictable (ST2) [deletion] (story/comedy frame) (V8) MAIN TOPICS 1. I could totally relate to Theo's character 2 We'd try to predict shows like "L.A. Law" not sitcoms 3 I get hooked into the characters in "L.A. Law" not sitcoms 4. I can't wait for the regular season to start again 5 I guess it was kinda predictable but still funny 6 I guess it wasn't that predictable V9 A. Topical Expressions TF1 This (opening) is new though. I haven't seen it. They have changed it. It used to be with him and he was making these faces—~downright repulsing. I think it was the most stupid thing I had ever seen in my life. {FC/specification/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. They have changed the opening which used to be very stupid (TF1) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. They have changed the opening which used to be very stupid (ST1) [zero] (story frame) A. Topical Expressions TF2 Well she first came in and she was interrupted the first time. Why didn't she go upstairs, she's asking for it laying on the couch... if you have eight kids you're asking for it (motherhood frame)...and she has eight kids. I grew up in a big household. I have four brothers and three sisters, and so I mean I know better {FC/comparision} I'll never go and lay in the family room and expect to be left alone if I knew people were home I'd go to my room and close the door {EC/contrast} Then again I know they couldn't have a story if you went up there and closed the door. I know that. {FC/contrast/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. I know better than to lie on the living room couch because I grew up in a big household. (TF2) 181 [generalization/deletion] 2. I'll never go and lay in the family room and expect to be left alone if I knew people were home (TF2) [deletion] 3. I know they couldn't have a story if you went up there and closed the door. (TF2) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I know better than to lie on the living room couch in a big household (ST1) [deletion] 2. I'll never go lay in the in the family room and expect to be left alone. (ST2) [deletion] 3. I know they couldn't have a story if you went up there and closed the door (ST3) [zero] (story/comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 I don't recognize the kids. B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't recognize the kids (TF3) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. I don't recognize the kids (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF4 I didn't know she was married and had twins. I just know one of them left the show and did a spinoff. I think I watched it "A Different World" is that what it's called? I read about it-—TV Guide. {PC/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I didn't know she was married and had kids, I just know one of them left the show and did a spinoff (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I didn't know she was married and had kids, I just know one of them left the show and did a spinoff (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF5 Some of these sitcoms,--ones I don't watch, I find them at certain times predictable, y 'know, but not at this point, initially like in the course of when it's going on. I can usually tell what's going to happen next and even some of the one liners I can usually almost anticipate it coming --if it can hold my interest. {FC/explanation/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I find some of these sitcoms at certain times predictable (TF5) [deletion] 2. I can usually tell what's going to happen next and even anticipate some of the one liners (TF5) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I find some of these sitcoms at certain times 182 predictable (ST1,2) [generalization] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8 I like science fiction--I get more involved in it. Sitcoms are ...for relaxing... I'd change the channel if I hadn't been in this situation... But sometimes I watch it just to see what's going on or how the outcome is going to be -~see if you think you can figure out the end of it, and at least see how they arrive at it. {FC/contrast/explanation/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. I like science fiction because I get more involved in it, sitcoms are for relaxing (TF6) [deletion] Sometimes I watch it just to see what's going on or how the outcome is going to be, see if you can figure out the end or see how they arrive at it (TF6) [deletion] C. Main Topics V10 1. 2. I get more involved in science fiction than sitcoms (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) Sometimes I watch it just to see what's going on and figure out the end or see how they arrive at it (ST2) [deletion] (story frame) (V9) MAIN TOPICS l. coooqmcnvbcom They have changed the opening which used to be very stupid I know better than to lie on the couch in a big household I'll never go lay in the in the family room and expect to be left alone I know they couldn't have a story if you went up there and closed the door I don't recognize the kids I didn't know she was married and had kids, I just know one of them left the show and did a spinoff I find some of these sitcoms at certain times predictable I get more involved in science fiction than sitcoms Sometimes I watch it just to see what's going on and figure out the end or see how they arrive at it (Half hour show because it's a sitcom). A. Topical Expressions TF1 I kinda feel that sometime. Not that I do have some stress like that...peace, quiet, being alone. {FC/contrast/specification} B. Secondary TOpics l. I kinda feel that sometime (TF1) [deletion] 183 C. Main Topics 1. I kinda feel that sometime (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF2. Children trying to seek help from their parents, getting no response from their parents--that's kinda sad. {CC/consequence} B. Secondary Topics 1. It's kinda sad when children can't get help from their parents (TF2) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. It's kinda sad when children can't get help from their parents (ST1) [zero] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 I don't know what the comedy is, she didn't sign it first and then she signed it. {FC/explanation/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't know what the comedy is, she didn't sign it first and then she signed it (TF3) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. I don't know what the comedy is (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) (V10) MAIN TOPICS 1. I kinda feel that sometime 2. It's kinda sad when children can't get help from their parents 3. I don't know what the comedy is (V11) A. Topical Expressions TF1 Especially if it's half an hour sometimes I don' think anything. B. Secondary Topics 1. Especially if it's half an hour sometimes I don' think anything (TF1)[zero] C. Main Topics 1. Especially if it's half an hour sometimes I don' think anything (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF2 I find it strange that Clare took the vacation after talking about work, but that's television. {FC/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I find it strange that Clare took the vacation after talking about work, but that's television (TF2)[zero] C. Main Topics 1. I find it strange that Clare took the vacation after talking bout work, but that's television 184 (ST1) [zero] (tv frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 Mixed message. It didn't lead anywhere. Didn't resolve the problem. Mixed message. {FC/specification/repetition} TF4 It's not typical, it didn't resolve expectations B. Secondary Topics 1. It had a mixed message and didn't resolve the problem (TF3) [deletion] 2. It's not typical, it didn't resolve expectations (TF4) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. It had a mixed message (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) 2. It's not typical, it don't resolve expectations (ST2) [zero] (comedy frame) (V11) MAIN TOPICS 1. Especially if it's half an hour sometimes I don't think anything I find it strange that Clare took the vacation after talking bout work, but that's television It had a mixed message It's not typical, it didn't resolve expectations IBOON V12 A. Topical Expressions TF1. Well, I was thinking how I could relate to being overly tired. (TS) B. Secondary Topics 1. I could relate to being overly tired (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I could relate to being overly tired (ST1) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF2. I really related to her really barking out the negative things. Actually it reminded me of how I feel right now. I know how being that tired is.] {EC/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. I really related to being that tired and angry (TF2) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. I really related to being that tired and angry (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF3. I used to watch Cosby... I mean I don't watch the show in general. When the show “I Spy" was on I used to watch that every single week and I loved it and I remember feeling very upset that he 185 wasn't on tv anymore and that there...and I remember thinking at that time that I really like Cosby, and I don't really like this type of show, there is something about him that I still like... {FC/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. I really like Cosby although I don't really like this kind of show (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I really like Cosby (ST1) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF4 I'd never seen the mother character being in that kind of role before. She has always been like really pretty and really like um everything I don't know just more -—but it's more concentrated on him or the kids and she kinda of shows up--or at least that's how I've seen in the past so I was thinking about that and I thought she did a good job of acting. {FC/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I'd never seen the mother character being in that kind of role before and I thought she did a good job of acting (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I'd never seen the mother chracter in that kind of role and she did a good job of acting (ST1) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF5 Before the show started I was thinking of something my mother had said to me which was actually a racist comment --y'know my experience was there not my mother's experience. Well, one time we were talking about entertainers and she said she thought that Cosby really overacted and that in general she found black entertainers overacted--my mother and I have gotten in--our most horrible fights have been over race... {EC/example} B. Secondary Topics 1. From a racist perspective my experience was there not my mother's experience (TF5) [construction/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. From a racist perspective my experience was there and not my mother's (ST1) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF6 I also felt this was one of the best ones I've ever seen of Cosby and I haven't seen it in a while {EC/continuation} B. Secondary Topics 1. This was one of the best ones I've ever seen (TF6) 188 [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. This was one of the best ones I've ever seen (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF7 Well, I thought how could she leave right in the middle of a court case. I thought of that. I thought ‘now wait a minute did I miss something? I thought she was in the middle of this court case and now she's leaving...? {EC/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. I thought how could she leave right in the middle of a court case (TF7) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I thought how could she leave right in the middle of a court case (ST1) [zero] (work frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8 I guess I thought I wonder what's going to happen when they're on the trip B. Secondary Topics 1. I thought I wonder what's going to happen when they're on the trip (TF8) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I thought I wonder what's going to happen when they're on the trip (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF9 I thought about the guy that was at the desk and about he seemed kind of--like the way it was written, I was thinking about the way it was written and how he was this real silly character {FC/explanation/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I thought the guy at the desk was written as a real silly character (TF9) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I thought the guy at the desk was written as a real silly character (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF10 I thought about the fact that here was the situation still messed up and she was still really having a hard time. Now that I think about it it's like a metaphor the guy is obviously the cause of her problems at this point and she's um she just sorta rides through it like, that she um when she takes care of herself she gets out of the situation and she goes back home and she's not refreshed but she began to give again. {PC/continuation} B. Secondary Topics 187 1. It's like a metaphor, the guy is obviously the cause of her problems at this point (TF10) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. It's like a metaphor, the guy is obviously the cause of her problems at this point (ST1) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF11 One thing I thought was why I didn't like situation comedies and it's because the canned laughter is really annoying to me and but I always try to analyse. Like I stopped watching television for like fifteen years because I couldn't stand how people were portrayed and like the relationships between people (linked to realism people-idealized) {CC/reason} {EC/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't like situation comedies because of the cannned laughter but I always try to analyse (TF11) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I don't like situation comedies (ST1) [generalization/ deletion] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF12 I was thinking about how it was like an idealized kind of relationship between people, (TS) I mean all of it was was ...I thought those two (husband and wife) were how great if really someone would act like that and it's not unheard of. It's just not kind of probably probably not real common and I thought that just about their relationship] {FC/éxplanatian/Specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. It's like an idealized kind of relationship between people (husband and wife) (TF12) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. It's like an idealized kind of relationship between (married) people (ST1) [zero] (marriage frame) A. Topical Expressions TF13 Because there's such a stereotype about racism usually as on television when there's interaction between a white and black person I think about what is going to happen and so um ehr like in their encounter I thought of how none of that was present-~there wasn't any friction of any kind and I found it was interesting how the writers wrote how that way that they did in fact how there was almost a total absence of it. {CC/consequence} 188 Like one show that I watch is ”In the Heat of the Night” and that show also has —-that show doesn't have that (black/white) friction either and so there's something about the way that they do it that I really like it because it gets more into it, it's like the get into issues that really seem, I mean, in a way, like the issues are brought up to the surface a little more um and actually there can be friction but it just seems more real and I like that more because I always feel like I need to have progress and I like to see progress (on TV) Yeah, I guess so when I don't see it I feel just like... {FC/continuation/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. I think about what is going to happen because there's usually a stereotype about racism on television (TF13) [deletion] I found it interesting how the writers wrote showing no friction between black and white interaction (TF13) [deletion] “In the Heat of the Night" doesn't have black/white friction either but the issues are brought up to the surface a little more and it seems more real and I like that (TF13) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I think about what is going to happen because there's usually a stereotype about racism on television (ST1) [zero] (tv frame) I found it interesting how the writers wrote about black and white interaction (ST2) [deletion] (race frame) I like how although there is no (black/white) friction in "In the Heat of the Night” it seems more real (ST3) [generalization/deletion] (race frame) A. Topical Expressions TF14 I think another thing about the situation comedy-- it seems like the status quo is maintained somehow that there isn't there isn't a great desire to have it changed taking place and although in comedy--I don't know --but um the comedy can help maintain a a status quo, I guess that's what I'm leading to in a way and that you laugh but nothing really fundamentally changes... {EC/explanation} I mean like I've seen Roseanne and other ones like that and I feel that same way a vacuum or something. {FC/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. The status quo is maintained in the situation comedy (TF14) [generalization] 2. Comedy like this, Roseanne and other ones like 189 that help maintain a status quo and I feel a vacuum (TF14) [construction/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. The status quo is maintained in the situation comedy (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame) 2. Comedy like this, Roseanne and others help maintain the status quo and I feel a vacuum (ST2) [deletion] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF15 I guess what I thought initially was that their family is like a very happy family and there don't seem to be like any like crises that end up in anything disastrous] and er y'know [that doesn't seem like real to me, but so it seemed a little unreal I guess]. {FC/continuation/specification/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. The family seems a very happy family which seems unreal (TF15) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 2. The family's happiness seems unreal (ST1) [deletion] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF16 There was something about invasion of privacy, there was that whole aspect of it. B. Secondary Topics 1. There was that whole aspect of invasion of privacy (TF16) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. There was that whole aspect of invasion of privacy (ST1) [zero] (V12) MAIN TOPICS 1 I could relate to being overly tired 2 I really related to being that tired and angry 3 I really like Cosby 4 I'd never seen the mother chracter in that kind of role and she did a good job of acting 5. From a racist perspective my experience was there and not my mother's 6. This was one of the best ones I've ever seen 7 I thought how could she leave right in the middle of a court case 8 I thought I wonder what's going to happen when they're on the trip 9 I thought the guy at the desk was written as a real silly character 10. It's like a metaphor, the guy is obviously the cause of her problems at this point 11. I don't like situation comedies 170 12. It's like an idealized kind of relationship between (married) people 13. I think about what is going to happen because there's usually a stereotype about racism on television 14. I found it interesting how the writers wrote about black and white interaction 15. I like how although there is no (black/white) friction in “In the Heat of the Night" it seems more real 16. The status quo is maintained in the situation comedy 17. Comedy like this, Roseanne and others help maintain the status quo and I feel a vacuum 18. The family's happiness seems unreal 19. There was that whole aspect of invasion of privacy V13 A. Topical Expressions TF1 He's doing "Ghost" now, isn't he? (extratextual) B. Secondary Topics 1. He's doing "Ghost" now, isn't he? (TF1) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. He's doing "Ghost” now, isn't he? (TF1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF2 This was a good one... it's working with relationships which most tv programs do not do, it's working with reality um it has high standards, high values. {CC/reason} TF3 This is a good show on tv which is rare B. Secondary Topics 1. This was a good one because unlike most tv programs it's realistic and deals with relationships showing high standards and values (TF2) [construction/deletion] 2. This is a good show on tv which is rare (TF3) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. This was a good one because unlike most tv programs it deals with relationships, is realistic and has high standards (ST1,) [deletion] (tv frame) 2. This is a good show on TV which is rare (ST2) [zero] (tv frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 I don't think about the program during break. I leave it up to the show people how they want it to turn out. {CC/referential} B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't think about the program, I leave it to the show people how they want it to turn on [deletion] ‘ 171 C. Main Topics 1. I don't think about the program, I leave it to the show people [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF4 He knows when to put the phone down (conversation with Cosby and Bingham) B. Secondary Topics 1. He (Cosby) knows when to put the phone down (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 2. He knows when to put the phone down (ST1) [zero] (telephone frame) A. Topical Expressions TF5 How do you find out the name of this one? (They don't have a name) Well, this was a good one. Well, it gave ...it was really really supportive of women and allowed her to change her mind and allowed her to be herself and whatever that was. but he was really a supportive husband and she was the central figure which was... {FC/explanation/specification} ... I used to watch that show was it "All in the Family" was it that one where they all said goodnight (The Waltons) and the children are a lot more dominant in that while in this one the mother and father are. {PC/continuation} It is her situation and how people are interacting about the—-mother rather than the kids... which is you wouldn't have seen ten years ago so it's reflective of our era {FC/specification/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. 3. This was a good one, it was really supportive of women allowing her to change her mind and be herself (TF5) [deletion] The children are a lot more dominant in "The Waltons" (TF5) [deletion] It is the mother's situation rather than the kids (TF5) so it's reflective of our era [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. 2. 3. This was a good one, it was really supportive of women (ST1) [generalization] (woman frame) The children are a lot more dominant in "The Waltons" (ST2) [zero] The mother's situation is reflective of our era (ST3) [deletion] (motherhood frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8 You really don't know that he's a doctor except and then he comes in with the white coat that says doctor but he doesn't act like a doctor because he's a good listener to his wife which is not what 172 you hear that they're quite different at home and so er that is idealistic rather than reality there {CC/reason) {EC/specification} I suppose it's all a bit idealistic because they don't have to struggle for monetary and it is helping to sidestep the black to realize that they night be or they have more...What percentage have that kind of life I don't know but it will be a low percentage in comparison to life {CC/reason} {PC/contrast} (social frame) B. Secondary Topics 1. He doesn't act like a doctor because he's a good listener to his wife so that is idealistic (TF6) [deletion] It's all a a bit idealistic because they don't have to struggle and a low percentage of blacks live like that (TF6) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. 2. He doesn't act like a doctor so that is idealistic (ST1) [deletion] (doctor frame) It's all a bit idealistic because a low percentage of blacks live like that (ST2) [zero] (black SES frame) A. Topical Expressions TF7 I think it's really great I think it's one upmanship on the white family I mean it shows high ideals, high values with people y'know in reality. {EC/explanation} It's besting. There isn't any parallel for showing a white family life other than ”Archie Bunker' and that was atrocious y'know it was comical but it was sad, he was such a bigot... {FC/continuation/specification} Secondary Topics 1. 2. l. I think it's really great, it shows high values and realistic people (TF7) [deletion] It's besting as there isn't any parallel for showing a white family life other than "Archie Bunker" (TF7) [deletion] . Main Topics 1. I think it's really great, it shows high values and realistic people (ST1) [zero] It's besting the white family show like "Archie Bunker" (ST2) [deletion] (V13) MAIN TOPICS 1. 2. He's doing "Ghost" now, isn't he? This was a good one because unlike most tv programs it deals with relationships, is realistic and has high standards . This is a good show on TV which is rare I don't think about the program, I leave it to the show people 10. 11. 12. V14 173 He (Cosby) knows when to put the phone down This was a good one, it was really supportive of women The children are a lot more dominant in "The Waltons” The mother's situation is reflective of our era He doesn't act like a doctor so that is idealistic (ST1) It's all a bit idealistic because a low percentage of blacks live like that I think it's really great, it shows high values and realistic people It's besting the white family show like ”Archie Bunker" (Has no idea what story is about) A. Topical Expressions TF1 I notice the cast is getting bigger and bigger and bigger every year. I can tell it's going to be a new one because of all the characters that are on it since from the last two seasons (tv frame) {FC/generalization/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. I notice the cast is getting bigger and bigger every year [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I notice the cast is getting bigger and bigger every year (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF2. What is most amusing to me is she's very tired and very busy and she comes home and she has no space or time to her own and um] it's exactly what I'm going through right now [with me in my household and I feel like I'm babysitting all my roomates and I have to keep them constantly entertained and I finally had to put a notice on my door saying leave me alone, stay out of my room don't bother me I want space I want time...everybody's in my room playing and bothering me so that's--most of the things I laughed at it was funny because I remember myself thinking or acting the same way that she had. So it was really a horrible subject. {FC/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. What is most amusing to me is she's very tired and busy and has no space or time at home and it's exactly what I'm going through right now (TF2) [deletion] 2. I remember myself thinking or acting the same way that she had (TF2) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. What is most amusing to me is it's exactly what I'm going through right now (ST1,2) 174 [generalization] A. Topical Expressions TF3 I was confused because I thought she was a judge. I could have sworn that she was a judge and now she says she is a lawyer. Was she always a lawyer? {FC/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. I was confused because I thought she was a judge (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I was confused because I thought she was a judge (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF4 That's why I thought it was so interesting. I could identify very much with the kids coming up and asking questions and how she found them selfish and everything for not giving her any time. I know that feeling {FC/explanation/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. That's why I thought it was so interesting, I could identify very much with the kids behavior and how she felt (TF4) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. That's why I thought it was so interesting, I could identify very much with the kids behavior and how she felt (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF5 I know they're going somewhere to a cabin by a lake so I know that so I don't really think about it from there on cause usually with these shows if I try to think too much I usually frustrate myself... if it's like an hour or if it's like a mystery or something like that that wants you to bury to enclose yourself in it a lot, to think a lot then I try to do that I try to come up with what's going to happen. But with a half hour comedy show I usually don't. {CC/reason} {PC/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. Usually with these shows if I try to think too much I usually frustrate myself (TF5) [deletion] If it's a mystery or something that wants you to think a lot I try to come up with what's going to happen but with half-hour comedy show I usually don't (TF5) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Usually with these shows if I try to think too much I usually frustrate myself (ST1) [zero] 175 (comedy frame) 2. If it's a mystery or something I try to come up with what's happening but not with a half—hour comedy (ST2) [deletion] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF6 I guess it's a true comedy because they come back and the kids come back out and it's the same old scene all over again so it's kind of a let down it should have ended maybe very genuinely but it didn't, it ended like all other sitcoms usually end y'know with the last minute being you feel like it's the first minute so-— {FC/explanation/generalization} so --I really like the first part of it though I think I'll probably be laughing about that all day. But the second part wasn't as good for me. {FC/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. I guess its a true comedy because they come back and the kids come back out and it's the same old scene (TF6) [deletion] 2. I really like the first part but not the second (TF6) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I guess it's true comedy (ST1) [generalization] (comedy frame) 2. I really like the first part (ST2) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF7. They usually have a beginning a middle and an end but with this one I guess mainly because it's family life that nothing ever really changes in family life and that's maybe more what it was y'know the same things that were bothering her in the beginning she accepted in the end she really shouldn't have accepted that {FC/contrast/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. They usually have a beginnning a middle and an end but with this one I guesss mainly beacause it's family life that nothing ever changes in family life (TF7) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. They usually have a beginning a middle and an end but with this one I guess because it's family life nothing ever changes (ST1) [deletion] (story/comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8 I was thinking that in certain ways she aas_being a real mother because I know my mother and people that I know that have children they do that-— they are completely fed up and then something will 178 happen that really makes it worse but yet they always will come back and take care of their kids they just need that little space it might be another hell y'know they just need that little time and space away from it and then they're doing the same thing that was irritating them before, so I guess maybe because this is more like a family- related sitcom that I see that kind of thing {CC/reason} {FC/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. In certain ways she was being a real mother because I know my mother and people that I know that have children they do that (TF8) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics In certain ways she was being a real mother (ST1) [deletion] (motherhood frame) A. Topical Expressions TF9 When she got home she should have been more uptight and everything but she was just like, "Oh, I'm so happy to be complete again” and went back to the same thing that was making her aggravated. {FC/contrast/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. When she got home she should have been more uptight but she went back to the same thing that was making her aggravated (TF9) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. When she got home she should have been more uptight but she went back to the same thing (ST1) [deletion] (V14) MAIN TOPICS 1. 2 3. 4 0'1 COCDQ 10. 11. I notice the cast is getting bigger and bigger every year What is most amusing to me is it's exactly what I'm going through right now I was confused because I thought she was a judge That's why I thought it was so interesting, I could identify very much with the kids behavior and how she felt Usually with these shows if I try to think too much I usually frustrate myself If it's a mystery or something I try to come up with what's happening but not with a half-hour comedy I guess it's true comedy I really like the first part They usually have a beginning a middle and an end but with this one I guess because it's family life nothing ever changes In certain ways she was being a real mother When she got home she should have been more uptight but she went back to the same thing 177 V15 A. Topical Expressions TF1 She looks so spaced out-—she's a good actress B. Secondary Topics 1. She looks so spaced out—-she's a good actress (TF1) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. She looks so spaced out-—she's a good actress (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF2 Oh she's freezing, poor thing 8. Secondary Topics 1. Oh she's freezing, poor thing (TF2) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. Oh she's freezing, poor thing (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF3 ...this woman was definitely needing a break and I can't imagine at this point working full time and having that many kids, y'know...and I could feel her needing a break cause I've gone through that before then I thought that going away sounds really good but I won't want to go alone I'd want to go at least with some other person-- out of the city {FC/continuation/ contrast/comparison/contrast} B. Secondary Tapics 1. I can't imagine at this point working full time and having that many kids (TF3) [deletion] 2. I could feel her needing a break cause I've gone through that before (TF3) [deletion] 3. Going away sounds really good but I won't want to go alone (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I can't imagine at this point working full time and having that many kids (ST1) [zero] 2. I could feel her needing a break (ST2) [deletion] 2. Going away sounds good but I won't want to go alone (ST3) [zero] (vacation frame) A. Topical Expressions TF4 ...and I really like Crosby or Cosby... anyway I like his personality, his attitude a lot. It's really...he's got a great nature {EC/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I really like Cosby's personality, attitude and great nature (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I really like Cosby (ST1) [generalization] 178 A. Topical Expressions TF5 I think those kids were just kinda being normal (TS) y'know, they just kinda came--they all kinda came at the wrong time and I think that that happens in regular life {FC/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I think those kids were just kinda being normal (TF5) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. I think those kids were just kinda being normal (ST1) [zero] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF6 I like the way they look, they dress—-just the modernistic attitude. I guess in a sense the way they joke around with each other. {EC/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I like the way how they look and dress modern and joke around (TF6) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I like the way how they look and dress modern and joke around (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF7 I think it's okay, it's not like the Bundys-—have you watched the Bundys? (The Bradys?) not the Bradys --the Bundys --it's just a real real crude show, a new show that they have on and I don't watch...but the Bundys are younger with children, it's just a really tasteless, Oh Gosh, it's awful {FC/contrast/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I think it's okay, it's not like the Bundys which is really crude [deletion/generalization] C. Main Topics 1. I think it's okay, it's not like the Bundys (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8 I like the way Cosby treats his wife B. Secondary Topics 1. I like the way Cosby treats his wife (TF8) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. I like the way Cosby treats his wife (ST1) [zero] (marriage frame) A. Topical Expressions TF9 Sometimes I think of what's to come -—it must depend on the foreshadowing-—I mean or if it has me in suspense or there's something they were about to reveal, y'know I mean some kinda danger—- usually movies, but shows you kinda know what's 179 going to happen-—just mainly tv shows like this-— this kinda show-- what do you call them? (sitcoms) You see I'm so inexperienced with TV I don't know {EC/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. Sometimes I think of what's to come usually for suspense movies not this kinda show where you know what's going to happen (TF9) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Sometimes I think of what's to come usually for suspense movies not this kinda show where you know what's going to happen (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF10 What a bummer! She was at this place and she can't get a rest every which way it was like problems. I guess when she came back she knew that home was the best place to be. I kinda figured that might happen. Afterwards problems started back again {FC/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. What a bummer, she was at this place and she can't get a rest (TF10) [deletion] 2. I kinda figured that when she came home she'd know that home was the best place to be (TF10) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. What a bummer, she was at this place and she can't get a rest (ST1) [zero] 2. I kinda figured that when she came home she'd know that home was the best place to be (ST2) [zero] (story frame) ' A. Topical Expressions TF11 I like the way Cosby was treating her (his wife) --start a bath for her and stuff, treating her well, how I'd like to be treated y'know but I would do the same too. {FC/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I like the was Cosby was treating her, it's how I'd like to be treated (TF11) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I like the way Cosby was treating her [deletion] (marriage frame) A. Topical Expressions TF12 It was interesting how the three kids and the Dad watched a movie together. Usually kids that age are always out and they don't spend any time with their --wanting to do anything with their parents at all-—like that. {EC/specification} 180 B. Secondary Topics 1. It was interesting how the three kids and the Dad watched a movie together (TF12) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. ( 1. 2. 3 (fin-£3 CD-QC') 9. 10. 11. 12. l3. 14. 15. V16 It was interesting how the three kids and the Dad watched a movie together (ST1) [zero] (family frame) V15) MAIN TOPICS She looks so spaced out--she' s a good actress Oh she's freezing, poor thing I can't imagine at this point working full time and having that many kids I could feel her needing a break Going away sounds good but I won't want to go alone I really like Cosby I think those kids were just kinda being normal I like the way how they look and dress modern and joke around I think it's okay, it's not like the Bundys I like the way Cosby treats his wife Sometimes I think of what's to come usually for suspense movies not this kinda show where you know what's going to happen What a bummer, she was at this place and she can't get a rest I kinda figured that when she came home she'd know that home was the best place to be I like the way Cosby was treating her It was interesting how the three kids and the Dad watched a movie together A. Topical Expressions TF1 It looked very rehearsed, the way they were talking to each other. I thought it was kinda dumb {PC/conclusion} A lot of what they said to each other was predictable, one line in particular where one girl said to the other, ‘you can't tell me to leave Mom alone' I just knew she was going to say that {FC/example/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. A lot of what they said to each other was predictable and dumb (TF1) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. A lot of what they said to each other was predictable and dumb (ST1) [zero] (story/comedy frame) 181 A. Topical Expressions TF2 I think it got progressively better as it went along and in a way that would make it funny—-these things funny. {FC/continuation} B. Secondary Topics 1. I think it got progressively better as it went along (TF2) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I think it got progressively better as it went along (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 ... I noticed .. the guy had on a NYU t-shirt and I go ‘NYU' B. Secondary Topics 1. I noticed the guy had on a NYU t-shirt and I go ‘NYU' (TF3) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. I noticed the guy had on a NYU t-shirt and I go ‘NYU' (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF4 And she's an attorney and I was thinking that about the fact that I could relate to how she feels because I feel that way when I come home from school or when I've been working late but I thought she was being crabby although she was tired. I thought she was excessively crabby and she was telling everyone else they were selfish and she was acting selfishly too y'know what I mean-— if she really wanted to sleep she could have gone up to her bedroom instead of staying in the living room where everybody could come by. {CC/reason} {FC/specification/contrast/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. As an attorney I could relate to how tired she feels but not her acting crabby and selfish (TF4) [deletion] 2. If she really wanted to sleep she could have gone up to her bedroom instead of staying in the living room (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. As an attorney I could relate to how tired she feels but not her acting crabby and selfish (ST1) [zero] (lawayer frame) 2. If she really wanted to sleep she could have gone up to her bedroom (ST2) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF5 I think even though sometimes the things people say to each other are pretty shallow-- the topic-- it's a very important topic--balancing family and home I mean family and work and what it does to you... {EC/contrast} so I can really relate to how she feels because I think about those things too] {EC/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. Balancing family and work and what it does to you is a very important topic [construction/deletion] I can really relate to how she feels because I think about those things too (TF5) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. 2. Balancing family and work is a very important topic (ST1) [deletion] (working mother frame) I can really relate to how she feels (ST2) [deletion] (working mother frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8 I think Bill Cosby is totally the best actor in the show. He makes the show he really does-—he adds something to it. {EC/specification} I can't —-I don't think the writers write better for him I think it's just his--the way he...y'know {FC/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. I think Bill Cosby is totally the best actor in the show (TF2) [generalization/deletion] I don't think the writers write better for him (TF6) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. 2. I think Bill Cosby is totally the best actor in the show (ST1) [zero] I don't think the writers write better for him (ST2) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF7 I guess I don't get so involved in programs. Most of them aren't good enough you get so involved in it you really care about what happens next. I tend to be more critical of what they do, this is why I don't watch tv anymore so I usually just let it happen. {FC/explanation/conclusion} Sitcoms, I tend to do that to, other types of shows I don't, y'know like "Sixty Minutes. I used to watch that. That's a different kind of show {FC/contrast/example/conclusion} But sitcoms I tend to categorise them (TS)I have to admit, maybe I shouldn't do that but when I was growing up I used to watch them for four hours a day and they were really--and they really were awful-—the only one "The Odd Couple“ is the only one that sticks out in my mind, the rest were all... {EC/explanation} 183 B. Secondary Topics 1. [\J (.0 4. Most sitcoms aren't good enough for me to get so involved for me to really care what happens next (TF7) [deletion] I don't watch tv anymore as I tend to be more critical than involved (TF7) [deletion] I tend to do let it happen for sitcoms not for different kinds of shows like “Sixty Minutes” (TF7) [deletion] I tend to categorise sitcoms as awful except for "The Odd Couple" (TF7) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. 2. Most sitcoms aren't good enough for me to care what happens next (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) I don't watch TV anymore as I tend to be more critical than invloved (ST2) [zero] (tv frame) I tend to let it happen for sitcoms not for different kinds of shows like "Sixty Minutes" (ST3) [zero] (comedy frame) I tend to categorise sitcoms as awful except for the "The Odd Couple" (ST4) [zero] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8 I couldn't figure out in the first segment whether he was gonna go with her or not and I thought that he should go with her, but he didn't and I thought she really shouldn't be going up there by herself {PC/repetition} ...(story frame) B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. I couldn't figure out in the first segment whether he was gonna go with her or not (TF8) [zero] I thought that he should go with her (TF8) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. 2. I couldn't figure out in the first segment whether he was gonna go with her or not (ST1) [zero] I thought that he should go with her (ST2) [deletion] (vacation frame) A. Topical Expressions TF9 I thought it sort of ridiculous the way she was in bed, y'know it was so ridiculous it reminded me of "I Love Lucy show" -same kind of rickety place. B. Secondary Topics 1. The way she was in bed in the rickety place was so ridiculous it reminded me of "I Love Lucy" (TF9) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. The way she was in bed was so ridiculous it reminded me of "I Love Lucy" (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) 184 A. Topical Expressions TF10 They don't act like New Yorkers (TS). They're not New Yorkers-~these kids are from the suburbs. New Yorkers are not like that, New Yorkers are much more coarse and sort of street wise and they're not so happy {FC/explanation/comparison} B. Secondary Topics 1. They don't act like New Yorkers who are much more coarse streetwise and not so happy (TF10) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. They don't act like New Yorkers (ST1) [generalization] (city frame) A. Topical Expressions TF11 I thought the little girl was cute and she's very good at expressing herself, and most kids-—she's very very articulate but you can tell she was trying hard—-you could tell that they taught her how to talk so that she could be understood cause most children don't speak the way she's speaking and she was very good. {FC/continuation/contrast/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. I thought the little girl was cute and she was very good at expressing herself [generalization] 2. You could tell that they taught her how to talk so that she could be understood (TF11) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I thought the little girl was cute and very good (ST1) [deletion] (children frame) 2. You could tell they taught her how to talk (ST2) [deletion] (children frame) A. Topical Expressions TF12 I don't understand the ending --I don't feel that there was a resolution at the end...I expected more of a resolution {EC/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't understand the ending as I expected more of a resolution (TF12) [construction/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I don't understand the ending as I expected more of a resolution (ST1) [zero] (story/comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF13 The fact that she wanted to help the daughter with the paper was kinda good and bad. It's good that she wasn't crabby anymore but you could tell that she didn't know when to stop, she never knew when to stop that's why she's tired all the time [FC/explanation/specification} I thought she was funny. I think she probably should have let it alone. (the child's paper). It's compulsiveness. I 185 can be that way too. Compulsion-~50 I know how she feels. {FC/comparison/conclusion} Secondary Topics 1. 2. Her wanting to help the daughter was kinda good and bad (TF13) [generalization] I thought she was funny because I can be compulsive too (TF13) [deletion/generalization] . Main Topics 1. t\) Her wanting to help the daughter was kinda good and bad (ST1) [zero] I thought she was funny because I can be compulsive too (ST2) [zero] (V18) MAIN TOPICS 1. 2. 3. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 18. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. A lot of what they said to each other was predictable and dumb I think it got progressively better as it went along I noticed the guy had on a NYU t-shirt and I go ‘NYU’ As an attorney I could relate to how tired she feels but not her acting crabby and selfish If she really wanted to sleep she could have gone up to her bedroom Balancing family and work is a very important topic I can really relate to how she feels I think Bill Cosby is totally the best actor in the show I don't think the writers write better for him Most sitcoms aren't good enough for me to care what happens next I don't watch TV anymore as I tend to be more critical than involved I tend to let it happen for sitcoms not for different kinds of shows like "Sixty Minutes" I tend to categorise sitcoms as awful except for the "The Odd Couple" I couldn't figure out in the first segment whether he was gonna go with her or not I thought that he should go with her The way she was in bed was so ridiculous it reminded me of "I Love Lucy” They don't act like New Yorkers I thought the little girl was cute and very good You could tell they taught her how to talk I don't understand the ending as I expected more of a resolution Her wanting to help the daughter was kinda good and bad I thought she was funny because I can be compulsive too 188 V17 A. Topical Expressions TF1 I thought they were--it was kind of-- the way they talked to the kids was very rude, the dad told the kid, "you ruined her life" mean stuff like that to children (parental relationship frame) {FC/explanation/example} B. Secondary Topics 1. They way they talked to the kids was very rude (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. The way they talked to the kids was very rude (ST1) [zero] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF2 Usually a program like this when I watch I don't watch it for any—in-depth meaning, I just watch it just so, y'know-—spaced out. {PC/explanation} To me it's so far from what real life is all about that I don't give a lot of deep thought to it-- Situation comedy, prime time, major network, maybe I'm biased in the way I feel about it but I had so many bad experiences before with many different... (sounds like a broken relationship) It is. I kinda divorced television, so I don't watch TV {CC/consequence} {FC/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. Usually a program like this when I watch I don't watch for any in—depth meaning (TF2) [deletion] 2. It's so far from what real life is all about that I don’t give a lot of deep thought to it (TF2) [deletion] 3. I kinda divorced television, so I don't watch TV (TF2) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. Usually, I don't watch a program like this for any in-depth meaning (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame) 2. It's so far from what real life is all about that I don't give a lot of deep thought to it (ST2) [zero] 3. I kinda divorced television, so I don't watch TV (ST3) [zero] (tv frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 Well it was the customary resolution of the problem—-return to normalcy. I expected things to be pretty back to normal, things going back to the way it was, y'know before she had a problem. {PC/generalization} B. Secondary Topics 1. Well, it was the customary resolution of the problem-~return to normalcy (TF3) [deletion] 187 C. Main Topics 1. Well, it was the customary resolution of the problem (ST1) [deletion] (story/comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF4 I just thought it was kind of somebody's attempt to portray family life, it's not a very typical family, (TS)[a father who is a doctor and a mother who is a lawyer]--not very typical at all {FC/example/repetition} I consider those problems that most families don't deal with --very sterile portrayal of family life. {PC/repetition} {CC/ consequence} B. Secondary Topics 1. It's not a very typical family (TF4) [deletion] 2. It's a very sterile portrayal of family life (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. It's not a very typical family (ST1) [zero] (family frame) 2. It's a very sterile portrayal of family life (ST2) [zero] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF5 I know it's funny, they made fun of it but the way they talked to the kids was very rude and he said ‘well you ruined her life,’ y'know mean stuff like that, mean to talk like that to children. {FC/contrast/explanation/example/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. I know it's funny but the way they talked to the kids was very rude and mean (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I know it's funny but the way they talked to the kids was very rude (ST1) [deletion] (family frame) (V17) MAIN TOPICS 1. The way they talked to the kids was very rude 2 Usually, I don't watch a program like this for any in—depth meaning 3. It's so far from what real life is all about that I don't give a lot of deep thought to it 4 I kinda divorced television, so I don't watch TV 5 Well, it was the customary resolution of the problem It's not a very typical family It's a very sterile portrayal of family life I know it's funny but the way they talked to the kids was very rude (340') V18 188 A. Topical Expressions TF1 I think there's a good message in it. I think it's a good role model for people {CC/referential} B. Secondary Topics 1. I think there’s a good message in it and a good role model for people (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I think there's a good message in it and a good role model for people (ST1) [zero] (story frame) A. Topical Expressions TF2 Typical kids-— well, because kids are not really-— they are being what kids are in real life] {CC/reason} I guess that's one of the things--the fun about watching it is that's it's not made up -—nicely put together so that's it's not really made up. {FC/repetition} It's such a typical family--mom is never supposed to get tired or anything else. Of course that's not true but that's usually how most real families understand that moms get tired, they don't understand that really. {FC/explanation} Yet the way they handle it is always with a sense of humor and of course laughtrack in there is in the right places but-rather than sounding off or getting pathological they show a very good way of managing conflicts when they come up. {PC/generalization} B. Secondary Topics 1. The kids are typical kids (TF2) [deletion] 2. It's nicely put together so that it's not really made up (TF2) [deletion] 3. It's such a typical family (TF2) [deletion] 4. They show a very good way of managing conflicts when they come up (TF2) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. It's nicely put together so that it's not really made up (ST2) [zero] 2. It's such a typical family (ST1,3) [generalization] (family frame) 3. They show a very good way of managing conflicts when they come up (ST4) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF3 If I'm watching this at all it's usually because I don't want to think a lot and I simply want to uuuuummm (relax) When I watch TV it's usually because I want to see something or that I can learn something from it or I want to be entertained. I don't want to have to think. I want to take a break from serious stuff. B. Secondary Topics 1. When I watch TV and this show I don't want to have to think, I want to take a break from serious 189 stuff (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. When I watch TV and this show I don't want to have to think (ST1) [deletion] (tv/comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF4 You know it's gonna end happily everafter, they go up there and they probably gonna have some small crisis wondering what's happening at home or something that'll be part of it which qualifies as my definition of entertainment. {FC/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. You know it's gonna end happily everafter (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. You know it’s gonna end happily everafter (ST1) [zero] (story/comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF5 She got a break and she got her battery recharged ...A change can be wonderful just by definition—- mini vacation. By sitting down and watching "Cosby Show" instead of doing something that you have to do, you need to do--work-— that's a mini—vacation right there. It's all how you define it {FC/explanation/specification/comparison} B. Secondary Topics 1. She got a minivacation by getting a break and getting her battery recharged (TF5) [deletion] 2. By sitting down and watching "Cosby Show" instead of doing something you have to do is a minivacation for me (TF5) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. She got a minivacation by getting a break (ST1) [generalization] (vacation frame) 2. By sitting down and watching "Cosby Show" is a minivacation for me (ST2) [deletion] (vacation frame) A. Topical Expressions TF6 I just enjoy the way that nobody ever gets mad at each other, (TS) they're not so goody goody that nobody ever gets mad at themselves, they know everything is pretty wonderful--that's the end of that. The conflict before she went away with-— from the kids and that's all sort of natural..she got away from it, she came back ready to pick up on those things again and yet he was kinda casting up to her what she said before but he did it in a way that he thought brought smiles off her--was obviously not making her angry. It was not really conflict as the way conflict really is, the same flavor that I was talking about 190 {FC/explanation/specification} {EC/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. I just enjoy the way that nobody ever gets mad at each other (TF6) [deletion] It was not really conflict as the way conflict really is (TF6) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I just enjoy the way that nobody ever gets mad at each other (ST1,2) [generalization] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF7 I watch it because I enjoy it. I watch it because it's not heavy conflict and I therefore find that refreshing and it's nice to see ways of dealing with potential conflict though there is conflict-- but they diffuse it and that keeps to my definition of entertainment; whereas some of the horror shows or something like that I don't enjoy {CC/reason} {EC/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. I watch it because I enjoy it (TF7) [generaliztion] I watch it because it's not heavy conflict so it's refreshing and entertaining unlike something like a horror show (TF7) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I watch it because I enjoy it unlike something like a horror show (ST1,2) [deletion] (comedy frame) (V18) MAIN TOPICS l. H O V19 (0 (DQO) 0" “>00 N I think there's a good message in it and a good role model for people It's nicely put together so that it's not really made up It's such a typical family They show a very good way of managing conflicts when they come up When I watch TV and this show I don't want to have to think You know it's gonna end happily everafter She got a minivacation by getting a break By sitting down and watching "Cosby Show" is a minivacation for me I just enjoy the way that nobody ever gets mad at each other I watch it because I enjoy it unlike something like a horror show A. Topical Expressions TF1 It was very big when it started out and y'know everybody had heard about the Huxtables--Cliff Huxtable. I think I also remember there's another 191 tv show which is a spinoff of it. {EC/specification/continuation} I didn't realize that Lisa Bonet was on this show. They must have changed the title music because when last I'd heard something about Bobby McFerrin doing the music and obviously he wasn't for that one. {FC/specification/continuation} {CC/reason} B. Secondary Topics 1. 2. 3. It was very big when it started out (TF1) [deletion] I didn't know that Lisa Bonet was on this show (TF1) [zero] They must have changed the title music (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. 2. 3. It was very big when it started out (ST1) [zero] I didn't know Lisa Bonet was on this show (ST2) [zero] They must have changed the title music (ST3) [zero] (story frame) A. Topical Expressions TF2 It seems like although she's getting fed up with things it's still this sort of perfect family situation Um, I have... I don't know. I have a lot of problems with accepting that-~um because y'know I grew up in a house, I had a family. It doesn't seem realistic, I mean, I don't know, it just seems too pat, it seems like ...like as though y'know like one thing how the kids were all cheering her when she went out instead of badgering her which would be more like it were before {FC/contrast/explanation/example} B. Secondary Topics 1. It's still this sort of perfect family situation which I have a lot of problems accepting because it doesn't seem realistic (TF2) [generalization/ deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I have a lot of problems accepting the perfect family situation which doesn't seem realistic (ST1) [deletion] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 ...it's always a backround thing...certainly not with something like this. If it's y'know stuff like when they show like a movie in tv, especially if it's good, if it was like a mystery or something then I think that I would wonder more what's going on {CC/consequence} B. C. A. TF4 B. C. A. TF5 192 Secondary Topics 1. If it's like a movie in tv, a mystery or something then I wonder more what's going on than with something like this (TF3) [deletion] Main Topics 1. If it's a tv movie mystery or something then I wonder more what's going on (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) Topical Expressions I kept wondering what was gong to go wrong Secondary Topics 1. I kept wondering what was going to go wrong [zero] (TF4) Main Topics 1. I kept wondering what was going to go wrong (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame) Topical Expressions Strange for a sitcom——nothing happened, totally confused... I remember whenever there was a sitcom there'd be something happening, something would happen in the course of the sitcom that would make the sitcom make me sorta say "Oh no!" but here nothing happened really, I mean went to the cabin, cabin didn't work out, came back. I was really shocked when they put the closing credits because——nothing happened. Strange for a sitcom. {FC/explanation/specification/repetition} Well, it seems like there wasn't a problem to begin with, I mean... it seemed like there really wasn't any point to this episode, I mean, I haven't seen any other episodes so I can't really say, but that basically it was a non—event, y'know she was getting a little fed up and y'know something liek that happens to people--what six times a month at least, and goes off to the cabin and gets a bus and comes back and everything is hunkydory even though she didn't get a rest {FC/explanation/generalization} Secondary Topics 1. Nothing happened which is strange for a sitcom (TF5) [deletion] 2. It seemed like there really wasn't any point to this episode (TF5) [generalization/deletion] Main Topics 1. Nothing happened which is strange for a sitcom (ST1) [zero] (stiry/comedy frame) 2. It seemed like there really wasn't any point to this episode (ST2) [zero] (comedy frame) (V19) MAIN TOPICS 1. It was very big when it started out 2. I didn't know Lisa Bonet was on this show 193 3. They must have changed the title music 4. I have a lot of problems accepting the perfect family situation which doesn't seem realistic 5. If it's a tv movie mystery or something then I wonder more what's going on 6. I kept wondering what was going to go wrong 7. Nothing happened which is strange for a sitcom 8. It seemed like there really wasn't any point to this episode (V20) A. Topical Expressions TF1. I know what's going to happen because I just--I think when you see these shows-~when my husband arranges a holiday it always ends up as a disaster or something (TS) Y'know when I've gotten a bad week at work I'm under a lot of pressure for several weeks and he says, "Oh I'm gonna handle it, it's going to be just fine. Bill Cosby in this show reminds me a lot of my husband in a lot of things, so that's the kind of thing he would do, ”Oh don't worry it's gonna be so nice and then there's gonna be rats and bugs, there won't be any electricity or something, the car would break down...{FC/specification/example] B. Secondary Topics 1. I know what's going to happen because Bill Cosby in this show reminds me a lot of my husband in a lot of things (TF1) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. I know what's going to happen because Bill Cosby in this show reminds me a lot of my husband (ST1) [deletion] (marriage frame) A. Topical Expressions TF2 What I know of comedy (explicit premise) and the one thing is that she needs rest really really badly so the whole thing is going to affect she's desperate to get this rest and the thing is you know she is not going to get it and that's just gonna make it funny because you know she's gonna be so frustrated because people watching will really sympathise, be involved in it when you've had a rough week, your kids are driving you nuts in your family and I have even been there just with my husband and dog (TS) {CC/reason} {FC/specification} {FC/explanation/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. What I know of comedy and one thing she needs really badly is rest and you know that she's not going to get it which will make it funny (TF2) [generalization/deletion] 2. I have even been there just with my husband and dog (TF2) [zero] 194 C. Main Topics 1. What I know of comedy the one thing she needs really badly is rest and you know that she's not going to get it (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) 2. I have even been there just with my husband and dog (ST2) [zero] (marriage frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 I grew up watching sitcoms so as an adult I can't stand watching them even though they are funny, and that's why I've watched them. It's a cute show but I've seen a lot of same situations and again maybe from being a seasoned viewer y'know that's what's gonna happen... combined with your life experience, a married couple. If I had kids I'd probably watch the show and want my kids to watch it ... y'know the ”Brady Bunch” and other--and over the years y'know but it's even like "Evening Magazine" they're all the same. It will be funny to watch to see what you thought came true {FC/explanation/example/conclusion/consequence} B. Secondary Topics 1. I grew up watching sitcoms so as an adult I can't stand watching them even though they are funny (TF3) [deletion] 2. Maybe from being a sesoned viewer combined with your life experience you know that's whats' gonna happen (TF3) [deletion] 3. Over the years they're all the same even like ”Evening Magazine” (TF3) [deletion] 4. It will be funny to watch to see what you thought came true (TF3) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. I grew up watching sitcoms so as an adult I can't stand watching them (ST1) [deletion] 2. Maybe from being a seasoned viewer combined with your life experience you know that's whats' gonna happen (ST2) [zero] (tv/comedy frame) 3. Over the years they're all the same even like "Evening Magazine" (ST3) [zero] (tv frame) 4. It will be funny to watch to see what you thought came true (ST4) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF4 I thought they were gonna go together in the car B. Secondary Topics 1. I thought they were gonna go together in the car [zero] C. Main Topics 1. I thought they were gonna go together in the car [zero] (marriage frame) 195 A. Topical Expressions TF5 After she came home she came in not being exhausted [after taking a bus ride for eight hours you'd be pretty tired and still feeling pretty frustrated, so I thought that was —-I'd probably walk tired up the stairs]. {FC/explanation/contrast} B. Secondary Topics 1. She came in not being exhausted or frustrated while I'd probably walk tired up the stairs (TF5) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I'd probably walk tired up the stairs (ST1) [deletion] (vacation frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8. ...if she's (the little girl) living with them why call them Mrs and Mr. I would think that she'd call them something else (relationship frame, relative)..if she's living with them especially if she's a relative, like she's the stepdaughter of one of their kids, then I think they'd have like an aunt cause I know like my friends kids I grew up with them. {CC/referential/consequence} {PC/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. As a relative living with them she should be calling them something like ‘aunt' instead of Mr and Mrs. like my friends' kids I grew up with (TF6) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. From my own experience she should be calling them something like ‘aunt' (ST1) [construction/generalization] (relative frame) (V20) MAIN TOPICS 1. 2. CD I know what's going to happen because Bill Cosby in this show reminds me a lot of my husband What I know of comedy the one thing she needs really badly is rest and you know that she's not going to get it I have even been there just with my husband and dog I grew up watching sitcoms so as an adult I can't stand watching them Maybe from being a seasoned viewer combined with your life experience you know that's whats' gonna happen Over the years they're all the same even like "Evening Magazine" It will be funny to watch to see what you thought came true I thought they were gonna go together in the car 198 9. I'd probably walk tired up the stairs 10. From my own experience she should be calling them something like ‘aunt' (V21) A. Topical Expressions TF1 I don't think it's extremely funny ... There are other shows that I prefer, that I like B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't think it's extremely funny (TF1) [zero] 2. There are other shows that I prefer (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I don't think it's extremely funny (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame) 2. There are other shows that I prefer (ST2) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF2 I think more with dramas than with sitcoms I don' really care. I don't think too much when I'm watching sitcoms, that's the point I guess {CC/referential}{PC/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I think more with dramas than with sitcoms (TF2) [deletion] 2. I don't think too much when I'm watching sitcoms (TF2) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I think more with dramas than with sitcoms (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame)] 2. I don't think too much when I'm watching sitcoms (ST2) [zero] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 One of my favorite sitcoms is ”Growing Pains“. That's a show that makes me think more because they are dealing with more serious things. ...there's a lot of feminist talk in that show and I like it ...and like in ”Family Ties“ it's more like feelings. So that would make me think in some way about it a little bit more-~if it's something that touches me... none of them gets too heavy {FC/explanation/specification}{CC/reason} {PC/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. One of my favorite sitcoms is "Growing Pains” because like "Family Ties" it makes me think more because they are dealing with serious things (TF3) [generalization/deletion] 2. There's a lot of feminist talk in "Growing Pains” and I like it (TF3) [deletion] 3. None of them gets too heavy (TF3) [zero] C. A. TF4 B. C. V22 A. TF1 197 Main Topics 1. More serious shows like ”Growing Pains” and ”Family Ties” make me think more (ST1) [deletion] 2 There's a lot of feminist talk in ”Growing Pains" and I like it (ST2) [zero] 3. None of them gets too heavy (ST3) [zero] (comedy frame) Topical Expressions ...I didn't like it, cause at the end she took up again that attitude of sacrifice. At the beginning I liked it because she was complaining like she was going to do something about it but at the end nothing changed like she realized that actually she likes that and I didn't like it {CC/reason}{PC/repetition} (Uncritical) -.-she just fell into the same pattern like justifying from a male point of view {FC/constrast/conclusion} Secondary Topics 1. I didn't like it cause at the end she took up again that attitude of sacrifice (TF4) [generalization] 2. At the end nothing changed she just fell into the same pattern like justifying from a male point of view (TF4) [deletion] Main Topics 1. I didn't like it cause at the end she took up again that attitude of sacrifice (ST1) [zero] (feminist frame) 2. At the end she just fell into the same pattern like justfying from a male point of view (ST2) [deletion] (feminist frame) (V21) MAIN TOPICS l I don't think it's extremely funny 2. There are other shows that I prefer 3. I think more with dramas than with sitcoms 4 I don't think too much when I'm watching sitcoms 5 More serious shows like "Growing Pains" and ”Family Ties" make me think more 6 There's a lot of feminist talk in "Growing Pains” and I like it None of them gets too heavy I didn't like it cause at the end she took up again that attitude of sacrifice 9. At the end she just fell into the same pattern like justfying from a male point of view (1)-<1 Topical Expressions Very cool opening. I watch it a lot. I'm crazy about jazz and they're all so cute and they're good dressers. She (Rudy) used to be cuter when she was a little kid--adorable, now she's just 198 —-ordinary {FC/continuation/contrast} B- Secondary Topics 1. Very cool opening (TF1) [zero] 2. I watch it a lot because I'm crazy about jazz and they're all so cute and good dressers (TF1) [zero] Rudy used to be cuter when she was a little kid now she's ordinary (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Very cool opening (ST1) [zero] 2. I watch it a lot because I'm crazy about jazz and they're all so cute and good dressers (ST2) [zero] 3. Rudy used to be cuter when she was a little kid (ST3) [deletion] CO A. Topical Expressions TF2 I don't think about the story. I like it as a whole. I don't care what is going to happen. I just want to watch the program B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't think or care about what is going to happen in the story [deletion] (TF2) C. Main Topics 2. I don't think about what is going to happen (ST1) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF3 I like the way she (Vanessa) emphasizes the names of her numerous boyfriends. B. Secondary Topics 1. I like the way she (Vanessa) emphasizes the names of her boyfriends (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics » 1. I like the way she (Vanessa) emphasizes the names of her boyfriends (ST1)[zero] A. Topical Expressions TF4 There are some similarities between my own family and that family...like my mom works a lot too as my dad and we have three kids always asking for ..we used to ask for a lot of things before we got independence, but even now we are still My dad is pretty funny too, sense of humor, approximately the age of Bill Cosby, fifty five, also the way he behaves, kidding. {FC/explanation/continuation/ comparison} B. Secondary Topics 1. There are some similarities between my own family and that family (TF4) [generalization] 2. My dad is approximately Bill Cosby's age and behaves like he does (TF4) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. There are some similarities between my family and theirs (ST1,2) [generalization] (family frame) 199 A. Topical Expressions TF5 I like to eat my dinner and watch tv especially those easy to watch sitcoms because you already know the context, the families, so you don't have to concentrate a lot but you can still enjoy it {CC/reason} Those kinds of sitcoms I'm made for that --for being very superficial {PC/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I like to eat my dinner and watch those easy to watch sitcoms where you don't have to concentrate (TF5) [deletion] 2. I'm made for those kinds of very superficial sitcoms (TF5) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I like to eat my dinner and watch those easy to watch sitcoms (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) 2. I'm made for those kinds of very superficial sitcoms (ST2) [zero] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF6 I don't think it was one of the best episodes ({TS} She was too tired, it was all that fatigue and the --when is it shown? I'm in a very happy mood, my productivity is very high and very hyperactive and seeing all those people, I mean her, tired all the time complaining about that, even though I understand that she can be tired it's very tiresome. That's why I prefer when all the family is gathered y'know and they're very hyper like Theo, he's very hyper like that, it brings a lot of tension and it's just matching my mood at that time. But everybody was so tense. I felt like er pressure. Overall it was funny of course but not as funny as usual {FC/explanation/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't think it was one of the best episodes, she was too tired (TF6) [generalization] 2. Overall it was funny of course but not as funny as usual (TF6) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I don't think it was one of the best episodes (ST1,2) [generalization] (production frame) A. Topical Expressions TF7 I guess that just before the break I didn't anticipate... I thought that she would actually get some rest and when she would come back she would be very hyper and the rest of the family would be very extremely tired (Contradiction) It's difficult to make a successful episode each week, 200 that requires a lot of creativity and. . {PC/continuation/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I thought that she would actually get some rest and she would come back hyper and the rest of the family would be very tired (TF7) [deletion] 2. It's difficult to make a successful episode each week (TF7) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. I thought that she would actually get some rest (ST1) [deletion] (story frame) 2. It's difficult to make a successful episode every week (ST2) [zero] (production frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8 The plot is not very important, what matters is the way you treat the plot, all the jokes like...I guess the funniest part was at the very beginning when the two sisters are bickering for their Mommy's time... {FC/continuation/examp1e} B. Secondary Topics 1. The plot is not very important, what matters is the way you treat the plot (TF8) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 4. The plot is not very important (ST1) [deletion] (comedy /production frame) A. Topical Expressions TF9 Bill Cosby tries to adopt a low profile even though we know he's the main character, he is producer of the show. It's a good match, maybe boring if she was very easy going too and all the family was like that. She's clearly the brain of the family {EC/continuation} B. Secondary Topics 1. Bill Cosby tries to a adopt a low profile even though we know he's the main character (TF12) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Bill Cosby tries to adopt a low profile even though we know he's the main character (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TFlO He's always for fun and so cool moderating all the arguments and so easy going, he never gets upset. It's a good match. {FC/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. He's always for fun and so cool (TF10) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. He's always for fun and so cool (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF11 It's a a very close, close together family and -— especially today, nowadays with so many divorces like-—it's exotic to see a happy family even though they do have problems, but they always handle them very successfully. Uncritical B. Secondary Topics 1. It’s a very close, close together family and even though they do have problems, they always handle them very successfully (TF11) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. It's a very close, close together family and they always handle their problems successfully (ST1) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF12 It's not a very typical family after all cause even socially they belong to the upper middle class {CC/reason}. They're not rich but they're very well off and highly educated so it's not a typical family {FC/specification/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. It's not a very typical family as socially they belong to the upper middle class (TF12) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Socially, it's not a very typical family (ST1) [deletion] (family frame) (V22) MAIN TOPICS 1. Very cool opening 2 I watch it a lot because I'm crazy about jazz and they're all so cute and good dressers 3. Rudy used to be cuter when she was a little kid 4 I don't think about what is going to happen 5 I like the way she (Vanessa) emphasizes the names of her boyfriends There are some similarities between my family and theirs I like to eat my dinner and watch those easy to watch sitcoms 8 I'm made for those kinds of very superficial sitcoms 9. I don't think it was one of the best episodes 0 1 ~30) I thought that she would actually get some rest It's difficult to make a successful episode every week 12. The plot is not very important 3. Bill Cosby tries to adopt a low profile even though we know he's the main character 14. He's always for fun and so cool 15. It's a very close, close together family and they always handle their problems successfully 16. Socially, it's not a very typical family 202 V23 A. Topical Expressions TF1 I could relate to how she was feeling, nothing left to give. So I think she really portrayed that well. I think she's a real good actress. {CC/consequence} B- Secondary Topics 1. I could really relate to how she was feeling (TF1) [generalization] 2. I think she's a real good actress (TF1) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. I could really relate to how she was feeling(ST1) [zero] 2. I think she's a real good actress (ST2) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF2 Seems like a very real situation that happens and yet it was funny too {EC/continuation} B. Secondary Topics 1. Seems like a very real situation that was also funny (TF2) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Seems like a very real situation that was also funny (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF3 I notice they use a lot of men nowadays, they like to make them seem stupid, like Theo. They're doing that alot in comedies now, they try to make men look stupid...It used to be that women looked stupid like Edith Bunker, and now it's the men. And now the older men are supposed to be totally compassionate and understanding like women are suposed to be. {FC/example/continuation/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I notice they use a lot of men nowadays to make them look stupid (TF3) [deletion] 2. They're trying to make a lot of men look stupid in comedies now (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. They're trying to make a lot of men look stupid in comedies now (ST1,2) [generalization] (masculinist/comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF4 Like I predicted pretty much the outcome but you do that with most shows--tv movies, films. But I still enjoyed it. It was still amusing to me because the actresses were so good. {CC/referential} 203 B. Secondary Topics 1. I predicted pretty much the outcome like with most shows but I still enjoyed it because the actresses were so good (TF4) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I predicted pretty much the outcome like with most shows but I still enjoyed it because the actresses were so good (ST1,2) [zero] (medium frame) A. Topical Expressions TF5 ... Rudy isn't as cute anymore as she used to be. I haven't seen her for a long time, and some of the others they don't add that much to the show anymore {FC/explanation/continuation} B. Secondary Topics 1. Rudy isn't as cute anymore as she used to be and some of the others don't add that much to the show anymore (TF5) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Rudy isn't as cute anymore and some of the others don't add that much to the show anymore (ST1) [zero] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF6 I think it's gonna be something funny that's gonna happen out there, more stress probably for her and she'd want to come home {FC/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. I think it's gonna be something funny that's gonnna happen out there, like more stress [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. I think it's gonna be something funny that's gonna happen out there (ST1) [deletion] (story/comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF7 It's one of the better shows for sure, cause there's a lot of them that aren't so great... I can't even watch them--sit five minutes I go, "Oh God, I don't want to be manipulated by this crap-- fake stuff {CC/reason} {FC/contrast/explanation} B. Secondary Topics 1. It's one of the better shows for sure cause there's a lot of them that aren't so great I can't even watch (TF7) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. It's one of the better shows for sure (ST1)[deletion] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF8 Seems like most last minute decisions turn out that way-—(disaster) sometimes 204 B. Secondary Topics 1. Seems like most last—minute decisions turn out that way (TF8) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. Seems like most last minute decisions turn out that way (ST1) [zero] (decisions frame) A. Topical Expressions TF9 Sometimes you have to see what the grass is like on the other side to realize it's not always greener B. Secondary Topics 1. Sometimes you have to see what the grass is like on the other side to realize it's not always greener (TF9) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. Sometimes you have to see what the grass is like on the other side to realize it's not always greener (ST1) [zero] (story frame) A. Topical Expressions TF10 Who was the little girl? They needed a new cute one so here's a little cutie in there (EC/continuation} B. Secondary Topics 1. They needed a new cute one so here's a little cutie in there (TF10) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. They needed a new cute one so here's a little cutie in there (ST1) [zero] (V23) MAIN TOPICS 1. 2. 3. 4. I could really relate to how she was feeling I think she's a real good actress Seems like a very real situation that was also funny They're trying to make a lot of men look stupid in comedies now I predicted pretty much the outcome like with most shows I still enjoyed it because the actresses were so good Rudy isn't as cute anymore and some of the others don't add that much to the show anymore I think it's gonna be something funny that's gonna happen out there It's one of the better shows for sure Seems like most last-minute decisions turn out that way Sometimes you have to see what the grass is like on the other side to realize it's not always greener They needed a new cute one so here's a little cutie in there V24 A. Topical Expressions TF1 He's (Theo) always looking for a place... Just like my son--he doesn't take me seriously enough B. Secondary Topics 1. Theo is just like my son he doesn't take me seriously enough (TF1) [construction] C. Main Topics 1. Theo is always looking for a place (ST1) [zero] 2. Theo is just like my son (ST2) [deletion] A. Topical Expressions TF2 She's tired, she's really mad, she's angry. She's mad. I see so much of myself {FC/generalization} B. Secondary Topics 1. I see so much of myself in her being tired and angry. (TF2) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I see so much of myself in her (ST1) [generalization] A. Topical Expressions TF3 I think it's really nice he wants to help her ~— some of them... B. Secondary Topics 1. I think it's really nice he wants to help her (TF3) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I think it's really nice he wants to help her (ST1) [zero] (marriage frame) A. Topical Expressions TF4 She's get over it (When Clare said all she needed was some peace and quiet B. Secondary Topics 1. She'll get over it (TF4) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. She'll get over it (ST1) [zero] (motherhood frame) A. Topical Expressions TF5 Does this really happen? Would they (husbands) forget about themselves? B. Secondary Topics 1. Would husbands forgetting about themselves really happen? (TF5) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Would husbands forgetting about themselves really happen? (ST1) [zero] (marriage frame) 208 A. Topical Expressions TF8 I thought he was going to be with her, {EC/explanation} it would have been better {PC/explanation} (Explicit Premise) B. Secondary Topics 1. I thought he was going to be with her which would have been better (TF8) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I thought he was going with her which would have been better (ST1) [zero] (marriage/vacation frame) A. Topical Expressions TF7 It's so real life (Mr Bingham's attitude) B. Secondary Topics 1. It's so real life (TF7) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. It's so real life (ST1)[zero] A. Topical Expressions TF8 Does this really happen? Are husbands that supportive? (TS) Would they do something and think and suggest something as adventuresome as that? Would they forget about themselves and want to help their wife? Y'know here they're getting along really good and he's listening to her and he's receptive] {FC/specification} Would that really happen in reality. {PC/repetition} He's mature-- I don't know——there's just a lot of nice qualities about him that would help a marriage. {EC/specification} Maybe there are, I can't say. Maybe that does happen, it should happen, because it, I'm serious, it would make life a lot more interesting {PC/repetition} B. Secondary Topics 1. Are husbands that supportive in real life (TF8) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. Are husbands that supportive in real life (ST1) [zero] (marriage frame) A. Topical Expressions TF9 If somebody wrote something like this 0k? and someone must-- if someone wrote this show, wrote the script ok? someone must be thinking about the ideal way it could be or it does happen. Either they're writing that it's a real experience or it's a --but it could be that way--that is a very... I don't know—-to me. {CC/consequence} {FC/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. The someone who wrote this show must be thinking about the ideal way it could be or writing from real experience (TF9) [deletion] 207 C. Main Topics 1. Whoever wrote this show must be thinking about the ideal way it could be or writing from real experience (ST1) [deletion] (marriage frame) A. Topical Expressions TF10 ...it's a tv show and some things are better left unsaid {TS} --stuff like with the key hole and things like that because it arouses their suspicions in their mind. We have to be careful what we say to our children about sex. The thing is some things can be discussed and some things can be left between a man and a woman and the keyhole should be blocked and they can learn about it later.... {FC/explanation/specification} B. Secondary Topics 1. It's a tv show and some things are better left unsaid (TF10) [generalization] C. Main Topics 1. It's a tv show and some things are better left unsaid (ST1) [zero] (tv frame) A. Topical Expressions TF11 She got resentful but it passes and then you go right back to being a mother and a wife and all those things again B. Secondary Topics 1. She got resentful but it passes and then you go right back to baing a mother and wife again (TF11) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. 1 11. 12. ( l. 2 3 4. 5. 8 7 8 9 0 She got resentful but it passes (ST1) [deletion] (motherhood frame) V24) MAIN TOPICS Theo is always looking for a place Theo is just like my son I see so much of myself in her I think it's really nice he wants to help her She'll get over it Would husbands forgetting about themselves really happen? I thought he was going with her which would have been better It's so real life Are husbands that supportive in real life? Whoever wrote this show must be thinking about the ideal way it could be or writing from real experience It's a tv show and some things are better left unsaid She got resentful but it passes 208 V25 A. Topical Expressions TF1 One of the most hilarious ones I've seen this far B. Secondary Topics 1. One of the most hilarious ones I've seen (TF1) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. One of the most hilarious ones I've seen (ST1) [zero] A. Topical Expressions TF2 I was thinking about myself for one thing cause I tend to have the same conflict—- [y'know family life, being a single mother and being an attorney as well, knowing how you can be drained at the end of the day and when you get home and having to deal with --y'know trying to be a good parent all the time y'know and trying to balance the two and sometimes you just feel drained, you are cut up, sometimes you tend to make not merely harsh decisions, but like just hurt people's feelings ...sometimes as she says, you feel you have no more to give {FC/explanation/conclusion}} B. Secondary Topics 1. As a single mother and an attorney I tend to have the same conflict trying to balance family life and being an attorney (TF2) [generalization/deletion] 2. Sometimes as she says, you feel you have no more to give (TF2) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. As a single mother and an attorney I tend to have the same conflict (ST1,2) [generalization] (working mother frame) A. Topical Expressions TF3 I knew Sandra was calling for babysitting because you think of young people with kids and most of the times, many times when they call their parents it's for a favor because they're so caught up with their own lives that when they're calling you it's for a favor I mean, remembering my own self too. Sometimes when you get older you get caught up in your own life {CC/reason} {FC/repetition/explanation} (parents - children frame) B. Secondary Topics 1. I knew Sandra was calling for babysitting because many times when young people with kids call their parents it's for a favor because they're so caught up in their own lives and remembering myself too (TF3) [deletion] 209 C. Main Topics 1. Remembering myself too, I knew Sandra was calling for a babysitting favor like many young parents who get caught up in their own lives (ST1) [deletion] (family frame) A. Topical Expressions TF4 I don't think about the program. I'm watching it. I get involved while it's going on. I suppose if it were like a family drama or something I might y'know want to.... B. Secondary Topics 1. I don't think about the program, I'm watching I get involved, I might for a family drama or something (TF4) [generalization/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I don't think about the program, I might for a family drama or something (ST1) [deletion] (comedy frame) A. Topical Expressions TF5 The end where she said she wanted to see the child's paper I thought that was unrealistic, (TS) I mean, given the fact she was in the mountains and she had such a tough time, she couldn't rest, she was cold, the thing would have been to follow through and just drop on your feet. I mean it's not a pressing thing to say its life or death, she could have left it alone. So I felt that it fell down in the second half {FC/explanation/specification/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics . 1. The end where she wanted to see the child's paper was unrealistic because of the tough time she had in the mountains and it wasn't a pressing thing (TF5) [deletion] 2. I felt that it fell down in the second half (TF4) [zero] C. Main Topics 1. The end where she wanted to see the child's paper was unrealistic (ST1) [generalization] 2. I felt that it fell down in the second half (ST2) [zero] (story frame) A. Topical Expressions TF6 I found that was realistic-~(TS) y'know older people. I like these little touches to a show -- the fact that he had her hold the paper away. {FC/explanation/evaluation/ specification} The fact that the old man wanted to carry on and talk and then he was trying to get him off the phone was also realistic because it's a problem I have with people all the time especially older people {EC/continuation} [CC/reason} 210 B. Secondary Topics 1. The fact that he (Cosby) had her hold the paper away like older people do was realistic (TF6) [deletion] 2. The old man wanting to carry on and talk was also realistic (TF6) [deletion] C. Main Topics 1. How he (Cosby) had her hold the paper away was realistic (ST1) [deletion] (age frame) 2. The old man wanting to carry on and talk was realistic (ST2) [zero] (age frame) A. Topical Expressions TF7 We saw her get back home... I like that part because I felt that she showed that she was able as a professional woman not to be dependent on the husband to get her out of there, y'know she could have pulled her own weight to get out {CC/reason} {PC/conclusion} B. Secondary Topics 1. I like the part where she got home because she was able as a professional woman not to be dependent on her husband to get her out of there (TF7) [construction/deletion] C. Main Topics 1. I like the part where she got home because of her ability as a professional woman and not her husband's (ST1) [deletion] (feminist frame) (V25) MAIN TOPICS 1. One of the most hilarious ones I've seen 2. As a single mother and attorney I tend to have the same conflict 3 Remembering myself too, I knew Sandra was calling for a babysitting favor like many young parents who get caught up in their own lives 4. I don't think about the program, I might for a family drama or something 5. The end where she wanted to see the child's paper was unrealistic 6. I felt that it fell down in the second half 7. How he (Cosby) had her hold the paper away was realistic 8. The old man wanting to carry on and talk was realistic 9. I like the part where she got home because of her ability as a professional woman and not her husband's ‘\ 1' I 3129300881