语篇分析与外语教学研修班 Class 20 ， 2011

Killing the goose that laid the golden egg One day a poor farmer went to the nest of his goose and found a shining yellow egg. When he picked it up it was very heavy. He thought it was strange, so he took it home and found that it was an egg of pure gold. Every morning the goose laid a golden egg, and the farmer grew rich by selling them. As he grew rich he grew greedy; he wanted to get all the gold at once, so he killed the goose and opened it. There wasn’t any gold, just a dead goose.

Discourse Activity rich spiritmaterial Money, car, house, gold… Knowledge, education, contribution, donation, love, self-realization…

 Cohesion  Coherence  Culture  Critique  Context 5 Cs

Context When (time )One day; every morning Who (participants/characters)A farmer; a goose Where (place)[implied: the farmer’s house/ farm/ fair] WhatThe goose’s laying a golden egg; The farmer’s wish to grow rich; HowThe farmer’s growing rich by selling golden eggs; And he killed the goose. WhyThe farmer’s trying to get all the gold at once. Greedy.

Reference One day a poor farmer went to the nest of his goose and found a shining yellow egg. When he picked it up it was very heavy. He thought it was strange, so he took it home and found that it was an egg of pure gold. Every morning the goose laid a golden egg, and the farmer grew rich by selling them. As he grew rich he grew greedy; he wanted to get all the gold at once, so he killed the goose and opened it. There wasn’t any gold, just a dead goose.

Conjunction One day a poor farmer went to the nest of his goose and found a shining yellow egg. When he picked it up it was very heavy. He thought it was strange, so he took it home and found that it was an egg of pure gold. Every morning the goose laid a golden egg, and the farmer grew rich by selling them. As he grew rich he grew greedy; he wanted to get all the gold at once, so he killed the goose and opened it. There wasn’t any gold, just a dead goose.

Repetition+antonyms One day a poor farmer went to the nest of his goose and found a shining yellow egg. When he picked it up it was very heavy. He thought it was strange, so he took it home and found that it was an egg of pure gold. Every morning the goose laid a golden egg, and the farmer grew rich by selling them. As he grew rich he grew greedy; he wanted to get all the gold at once, so he killed the goose and opened it. There wasn’t any gold, just a dead goose.

Coherence: macro-structure SituationA poor farmer found his goose lay a golden egg every day. ProblemRich/greedy SolutionKill EvaluationNo gold

Chronological sequence One day a poor farmer went to the nest of his goose and found a shining yellow egg. [Event 1] When he picked it up it was very heavy. [Event 2] He thought it was strange, so he took it home and found that it was an egg of pure gold. [Event 3] Every morning the goose laid a golden egg, and the farmer grew rich by selling them. [Event 4] As he grew rich he grew greedy; he wanted to get all the gold at once, so he killed the goose and opened it. [Event 5] There wasn’t any gold, just a dead goose.

Time sequence One day a poor farmer went to the nest of his goose and found a shining yellow egg. When he picked it up it was very heavy. He thought it was strange, so he took it home and found that it was an egg of pure gold. Every morning the goose laid a golden egg, and the farmer grew rich by selling them. As he grew rich he grew greedy; he wanted to get all the gold at once, so he killed the goose and opened it. There wasn’t any gold, just a dead goose.

Clause relations One day a poor farmer went to the nest of his goose and found a shining yellow egg. When he picked it up it was very heavy. He thought it was strange, so he took it home and found that it was an egg of pure gold. [Cause-Effect] Every morning the goose laid a golden egg, and the farmer grew rich by selling them. [Cause-Effect] As he grew rich he grew greedy; he wanted to get all the gold at once, so he killed the goose and opened it. [Cause-Effect] There wasn’t any gold, just a dead goose.

Culture  Goose----Hen

Critique ---Abnormal behavior ---Violating the natural rule ---Temporary profit (shortsighted) ---Lose (--punishment)