Identity of Self and Reflection in Conversation - Case Study Example

Transcript of Conversation GIRL: what’d you do tonight BOY lip smacking sound uhh, I went for dinner GIRL: where’d you go BOY: I went to that new restaurant (.) Dinosaur BBQ. GIRL: oh how’d you get there BOY: oh: we took a tax- a taxi GIRL: was it expensive? BOY: uhh: it was like twenty dollars. GIRL: oh that’s not bad how far was it from campus BOY: it’s like ten: fifteen minutes maybe GIRL: oh that’s not bad who went BOY: it was me: Amanda: Abby: uh Paige: (.) um (.) and: Danielle GIRL: why didn’t Carlie go BOY: >oh Carlie and Amanda got into a huge fight< . GIRL: oh (.) was the wait long for a table? BOY: uh: no because my parents are friends with the owner so they called in and held a table for us GIRL: oh cool what’d you eat BOY: um: well we all shared the macaroni-and-cheese and mashed potatoes and sliders and (.) Paige and Alex shared the ribs but Danielle didn’t really eat any of that GIRL: why didn’t she eat that BOY: She’s a vegetarian, so she didn’t really like the restaurant so she got us out GIRL: oh: okay how much was dinner BOY: dinner was a hundred dollars which like wasn’t so bad when we all split it. GIRL: oh that’s good how’d you guys get home BOY: uh we took a cab. GIRL: are you going out tonight? BOY: no I’m really tired for dinner so I think I’m just going to stay in GIRL: okay Analysis of Identity IDENTITY OF SELF AND REFLECTION IN CONVERSATION The conversational abilities of an individual tend to reveal much about a person’s thought processes, interaction habits, and identities. Vocal intonations and fluctuations give away much about what a person intends to say or what a person really means. When trying to decrypt the identity of a person in a conversation by solely relying on their speech patterns, it is important to focus on how something is being said instead of what is being said. Dr. Karen Tracy states in her book Everyday Talk, ‘Talk does identity work. Through a person’s choices about how to talk, identity work is accomplished’ (7). Building on the idea of “pre-existing identities” (7), I claim that the conversation is shaped by the fact that I am an adolescent in college. It explains the need to socialize and go out with a select group of individuals who are my friends. While the conversation recorded and transcribed for this assignment does not offer much cultural perspective, it does provide an insight into the mundane life activities of a college student. My calm, good-humored tone in this conversation implies that I am talking to a good friend, someone with whom I feel comfortable around. That fact that I do not pause much between questions shows willingness on my part to answer the questions and that I do not mind them. When questioned about why a certain friend opted not to go for dinner with my other friends and me, my vocals speed up a little. This implies that I am excited about sharing a piece of gossip with my friend that she might not be aware of. My pleasure is also evident by the fact that I can recall all the details of the dinner and my friends’ actions. This shows that not only did I enjoy dinner with my friends but am also very well acquainted with their habits. The entire conversation, hence, builds up to my identity as a college student – my use of colloquial terms points towards my youth and the timbre of my voice indicates that I am a boy. Also, the fact that I do not ask any questions throughout the conversation exhibits an unconscious indifference towards the life activities of the other participant in the conversation. IDENTITY OF PARTICIPANTS AND CHARACTER OF RELATIONSHIP A clear distinction between the different participants in a conversation is very important. This conversation works to reveal the participants’, i.e., my friend’s and mine relational and interactional identities. As defined by Dr. Karen Tracy, an interactional identity is one that is concerned by the roles we take on, e.g. student, friend, employee, etc. and a relational identity is one that is concerned with the kind of relationship one enacts with a partner. Through several hints and conversational patterns, it is easy to infer that the identity of the other participant in the conversation is that of a close friend. This can be seen by the ease and lack of apprehension with which she asks questions about my personal life. Her familiarity with all the other friends in my dinner story implies that she belongs to the same group of friends as me and that we have known each other for quite a while. In several instances, my friend expresses pleasure with the fact that me and my group of friends did not experience any conflicts or discomfort during our outing. This shows that she does not resent or regret not being a part of the outing. This is also exhibited by the eagerness with which she asks questions. Her eagerness itself is exhibited by the lack of pauses between me ending my answer and her beginning her next question. Concerning her master identity (defined as the stable and unchanging aspect of one’s identity) is reflected by her vocal pitch, which is high and, hence, defines her as a girl. The quality of her voice also points towards her youth. The conversation gives away a lot about the relationship I share with my friend. The negligible paralanguage indicates an easy relationship that does not involve any acting or pretending. It is, however, indicated by her eager questioning and indifferent answering that she may not be as integral part of the group as myself, and her question at the end implies that she would like to be included if there are any more plans for dinner, even if she does not resent not being included in prior plans. Hence, it is concluded that our conversations and speech patterns greatly reflect our identities and reveal much about how we interact with people and how we perceive ourselves. Works Cited Antaki, Charles. An Introductory Tutorial in Conversation Analysis. Loughborough University. 2002. Accessed on 24 February 2012 Tracy, Karen. Everyday Talk: Building and Reflecting Identities. The Guilford Press. 2002. Print. Read More