Exploring Power Related Discourses Power and Authority Exploring Power Related Discourses

Discourse Discourse is the language used to discuss an area of knowledge or subject Within a culture, human knowledge is collected and structured into discourses They are distinctive ways of seeing the world and representing it Different groups within society have their own discourses, which reflect the ideology or cultural values and beliefs of its members

Cultural Identity The cultural identity of a composer is the product of cultural assumptions – his or her world view or ideology – the way he or her sees the world, how they think it should be and the way they see their own place in it

Context The personal, social, historical, cultural and workplace circumstances at the time the text is produced and received The context of a text influences: The issues raised Social purpose Events and characters Form, medium, publication point and audience The language used to signify meaning Ideas values and beliefs the RESPONDER bring to the text RESPONDER’S world view and experiences

Positioning the Responder Using language and structuring ideas and values and presenting them in a form and medium to an audience for a particular social purpose Composers use language to position readers to accept their views expressed in the text

Foregrounding To use language in such a way that it attracts attention to certain ideas Used to place certain values and beliefs in a privileged position in text

Gaps and Silences Gaps are places where the composer relies on the commonsense assumptions of the reader to make sense of a text Texts often contain silences which are used when the writer wants to control the responders’ thinking and acting by not encouraging them to question certain cultural values

The Analytical Essay Analytical essays require the writer to examine their response to, and thoughts about, the reading they have done. To compose an analysis, the writer collects the information that is central to the argument – in this case how people obtain, reject and struggle with power - and interprets the strengths and weaknesses of all sides in question. An analytical essay focuses primarily on the writer's use of evidence and assumptions to support their claim or argument (thesis)

Texts for consideration Tomorrow When the War Began The development of power in a positive manner How do people respond to difficult situations by using power/authority The author’s use of powerful language to create an atmosphere of fear

Cont… Political Speeches McCarthy Bush Hitler Stalin How do these men use speech as a tool to maintain power? Use of fear to gain power and authority

Cont… Film – Goodnight and Good Luck How film makers portray the use of power How do people struggle with power?

The purpose of your analytical essay. To show how context shapes the meaning of text To consider how different text makers want to position the author to accept/reject their idea of power How power and authority is used in text to position the reader in a certain manner Need to consider how power is gained and controlled through the various texts: Fear Respect Leadership Propaganda War What affect does power have on people