Aris Felipe Lara Coba.

Monday, October 1st 2012.

Code: 861190
Practicum Tutor: Prof. Claudia Ordoez
National University of Colombia

SELECTION AND ANALYSIS OF A PIECE OF DISCOURSE

1. Presentation of the Material:
I hereby present the selection of a piece of discourse to be used in our English 1 class.
Once again, I chose a written article, the text "Tips for Protesters", posted by Nathaniel
Stein on Shouts & Murmurs, the daily humor section from The New Yorker Magazines
website. The piece is available on-line at: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/shouts/
2012/08/tips-for-protestors-from-the-tampa-police.html. [See annex 1]
2. General Reasons for the Selection:
I have a weakness for comedy. Good humor in general, regardless of what medium it
appears in, interests me a great deal. So, Im always on the lookout for humorous pieces of
discourse that we can use as materials in our class. This has proven rather difficult; there
always seems to be a problem or issue that keeps comedic discourse, especially oral
fragments in video or audio format from stand-up shows or monologs, from being usable.
Sometimes however, I come by a written piece such as this one, which fulfills our
requirements and also my own standards for comedy, which make it a perfect choice.
My main reason for choosing this article is that I think it is a very good reading
exercise. On the one hand, the authentic performance of understanding humor, with all the
implicit information it has and the inferences it demands is beneficial for our students. On
the other hand, learning about the general use of humor in written form for written articles

is also in their best interest, since they will have to include humorous, ironic or sarcastic
writing in at least one of the texts they will have to write for their newspaper project.
I believe this text is not only a good example for them on how to include humor in their
written texts, but it is also a relatable piece of discourse for them, because of the subject
matter it deals with. This text was a written as a response to a brief news clip, reporting on
the fact that the Tampa Police would give protesters a guide with maps, designated protest
areas, and other information during the Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay. The
absurdity of the idea of Police Officers collaborating peacefully with protesters prompted
Mr. Stein to write a very sarcastic and ironic piece, imagining what such a guide might look
like. The actual protest in Tampa might not be familiar situation for our students, but the act
of protesting in-and-of-itself should be familiar enough for them. Being students in the
National University of Colombia, they should be able to connect to the text and what the
author is trying to achieve, and they can find elements to relate to and identify with in the
piece, as well as enjoy the general humor. Thus, they should be able to bring their own
intertextuality into discussion, using their previous knowledge, or other texts they have read
before, (Ordez, 2010b). Also, I think the joke is very clear, and the text is very easo to
enjoy; and these 3 facts, according to Ordez (2011) should facilitate the emergence of
authentic performances.
3. Discourse Analysis of the Material:
As per usual, I will analyze the text and its meaning in the four levels proposed by John
Moore (in Castilla de Campo y Lobo-Guerrero de Saba, 1979) taking into account: the
notional, propositional, textual and pragmatic levels. We have to remember that when

reading, these four levels are worked simultaneously and unconsciously. (Castilla de
Campo y Lobo-Guerrero de Saba, 1979)
A. Pragmatic Level: This article is found in Shouts & Murmurs, the daily humor
section of a magazines website. So, at first glance it would appear to have a very
simple, very obvious purpose: to make the reader laugh; to entertain him or her for a
while. But as its often the case with political humor, this article has a critical side to
it, hidden between the lines.
There is a lot of sarcasm in the text, for example, just by looking at the first
line: Were extremely glad youre here protesting, for reasons that have everything
to do with our shared love of the Constitution and free speech and absolutely
nothing to do with our eagerness to try out the new rubber bullets." One can clearly
see the author intends to express the opposite idea of what is written. The officers
are in fact not happy that people are protesting the republican convention, but they
might in turn be excited to get a chance to test their new rubber bullets.
All the paragraphs in the text contain similar uses of sarcasm and irony,
where the authors intention to criticize the law enforcements way of dealing with
manifestations and protests is fairly obvious. So, it is abundantly clear that the
authors purpose goes beyond the simple joke; he wants to plant a seed for critical
thought inside the readers mind.
B. Notional Level: There are many notions included in the text, so much so that we
would need to analyze the notions included in every sentence one by one. Some of
these notions are explicitly presented while other are implied; for the purposes of
this paper, I will only mention some of the most prominent notions included in the
article:

Groups and members: the text includes references to different groups like the
Republican Party, the Tampa Bay Police Force, the protesters and their

members.
Function: participants who belong to entities (like the protesters and the
policemen) are characterized in terms of their function as participants in the

process of protesting and controlling said protests.

Spatial location: the Republican National Convention will take place in the
Tampa Bay Times Forum, inside the city of Tampa Bay, in the state of Florida.

C. Propositional Level: The author starts his text by including a piece of news
reporting that the Tampa Bay Police would give protesters a "How to Protest
Safely" guide. He then proceeds to write what he imagines the text of this guide
would look like. All the propositions in this article are very sarcastic and ironic, for
example, the sentence: You can also create your own free-speech zoneanywhere
youd likeby placing a gag in your mouth. Presents a clear juxtaposition of
ideas, which doesnt make logical sense. From this proposition the reader has to
infer that what the author is actually saying is that there will be no free speech
zones as far as the Tampa Bay Police are concerned. All the propositions in the
text, apart from the initial news report are presented in a similar fashion to the one
exemplified above, and can be analyzed in a similar way.
D. Textual Level: In this text, the author uses several devices to move from one idea to
the next fluidly and in order to avoid repetition of his message. The main cohesive
resources used are personal pronouns, to replace previously mentioned names and
nouns. For example, the protester, mentioned in the first line, to whom the text is
directly speaking (the author uses the voice of the Tampa Police) is immediately
replaced by you on lines 4, and by I and We when allegedly quoted directly

on lines 11 and 2. Likewise, the Tampa Bay Police is mentioned in line 1, and then
are replaced by we on lines 5 and 6, and subsequently thereafter. The pronoun
them replaces the Grand Old Party (Republican Party) on line 9.
The author also uses impersonalization as a means of removing himself from
the text, or in this case The Tampa Police, which he is using as the speaker, on line
34, with the sentence Everyone knows that the most effective way to protest is in
so-called ready position. The text is presented as a guide, a set of instructions on
how to do something. So, it is full of simple connections used to emphasize the
informational function, characteristic of said texts.
4. Proposed Handling of the Materials in Class:
Just like on previous occasions, I will base my suggestion on the constructivist
principles that guide our work in class. According to Ordnez (2010a) these principles are:
individual learning based on previous knowledge, learning coming from experience in
specific contexts, learning happening in social interaction and being fostered through
authentic performances, and knowledge considered as a long term process, (Piaget, 1970, in
Ordez, 2010c). With that in mind, I propose the article to be used in our reading station,
to serve as an example of humorous, sarcastic writing. It could also be read comparatively
with another sarcastic piece, if we find a similar text; one that expands on the events of the
protests on a similar critical, yet comical way, for example. Also, since students are writing
a newspaper in their writing station, this article can also be mentioned here, as an example
of constructs and expressions they can use if they wish to be sarcastic or ironic in an
opinion piece they are writing.

For the reading station, we have already established that the first step, of utmost
importance, has to be the understanding of the text. First, students have to read the whole
piece, without worrying too much about unknown words, but also trying to understand its
meaning, as much as they can. We have to help them face the information presented in the
text, and try to get the general idea and the context. Students should wonder what the
author is really telling them, with what purpose, and since this is a humor piece, the also
have to understand where the humor is coming from, and why it is presented the way it is.
They should be able to construct an interaction with the writer, and I am convinced they
will manage to achieve it, regardless of the proficiency level of the different groups.
After they have acquired some context, and grasped the general idea and purpose of the
text, we can start guiding them in making their own inferences, based on the explicit
information contained in the text. allows students to make their own inferences. Given the
fact that this is a text full of jokes, sarcasm and irony, a significant amount of time should
be allotted to the identification and discussion of the general humor. Here, theres a big
chance the lower level groups will need more clarification and guidance, but we as teachers
should be able to discriminate the most important pieces of the text we want to focus on,
based on each groups response. We cant forget to give them a sense of closure, so we need
to be thorough in making sure they dont waste too much time reading the full text,
worrying about individual words, or getting distracted and side-tracked. Also, we have to
make sure that they manage to understand not only the general idea of the text, but also
what we consider to be the most significant pieces of the article for a respective group.
Only then, after doing everything mentioned above, can we go into the vocabulary, and
expressions that need to be clarified, as well as the grammar that might still need to be

explained. (most of it should aready be clear by this point, since the text is not really that
difficult in terms of language). In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that we will need to do
so many explanations with this material, the area we will definitely have to focus on,
especially with the lower level groups, is the pragmatic level of meaning, because the
article is pretty straightforward regarding vocabulary and expressions, but understanding
the humor and the different shades of sarcasm might be difficult for some students.
With the steps I propose here, the material shouldnt take longer than one single reading
station. However, we cant forget it once the station is over, as I said before this article can
be really valuable if we bring it up in the writing station. For that station, I propose that we
remind students about it, if we realize they are trying to use irony, sarcasm, or humor in
some of their opinion or argumentative articles. Since I expect most, if not all students, to
enjoy reading the text, remembering some of the expressions it includes should be rather
easy, and they can be used as examples for their own pieces.

ANNEX 1
Humor article "Tips for Protesters", from The New Yorkers website. Available in
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/shouts/2012/08/tips-for-protestors-from-thetampa-police.html, retrieved on Sunday, September 23rd 2012.
____________________________________

August 29, 2012

Tips for Protesters

Posted by Nathaniel Stein
Tampa Police will hand out a guide with tips for protesters
during the Republican National Convention. The Tampa Bay
Times reports the guide has maps of the official parade
route, the designated protest areas, and places to use the
restroom, cool off, get water and seek first aide.
Associated Press
Welcome, protester, and greetings from the Tampa Police! Were extremely glad youre here protesting,
for reasons that have everything to do with our shared love of the Constitution and free speech and
absolutely nothing to do with our eagerness to try out the new rubber bullets.
Now, we can already hear you asking, But how can I know how to protest safely and effectively, given
how undereducated and lazy I probably am? Glad you asked! Here are some simple tips:
Your safety is our most important priority. For this reason, it is not recommended that you protest if
you are elderly, pregnant, disabled, or allergic to being tasered.
Weve set up several free-speech zones throughout the area. To find them, locate the red X on the
attached map. Buried a mile and a half beneath that X is the first clue of a scavenger hunt that will lead
to the free-speech zones.
You can also create your own free-speech zoneanywhere youd likeby placing a gag in your
mouth.
There are a few areas that, for reasons of safety, are off-limits to protesters. These include the
interior of the Tampa Bay Times Forum, the area directly adjacent to the Tampa Bay Times Forum, and
the state of Florida.

 Everyone knows that the most effective way to protest is in so-called ready position: chin against
your chest, knees on the ground, wrists held together behind your back, and thinking hard about your
grievances.
Why not spice things up this year by yelling new slogans? Some suggestions:
Wearethe ninety-nine per cent of protesters who are orderly and coperative!
Were really, really mad and thats why were whispering.
Everythings great! (said while winking ironically)
Another great way to protest is with a sign or placard. To really get the G.O.P.s goat, mail it to them
overnight.
We all know protests can get a bit rowdy. Thats why weve designated a safe word that you can
call out if you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation and would like assistance from the authorities.
This year, the safe word is I-surrender-my-Miranda-rights.
If you get thirsty, there are several designated areas in the immediate vicinity where you can lie down
and slowly recede into madness.
Happy protesting!
Photograph by Benjamin Lowy via Instagram.

REFERENCES
Castilla de Campo, B. y Lobo-Guerrero de Saba, C. H. (1979). Marco Terico De Los
Materiales Reading and Thinking in English. Bogot: Universidad De Los Andes.
Ordez, C. L. (2010). Concepciones Y Prcticas. In Pedagoga y didctica: Texto del
docente (135-150). Quito: Ministerio de Educacin de Ecuador
Ordez, C. L. (2010). Desempeo autntico en educacin. In Pedagoga y didctica: Texto
del docente (151-160). Quito: Ministerio de Educacin de Ecuador.
Ordoez C.L. (2010). Educacin para el bilingismo en contexto monolinge: dos lenguas
conectadas desde el currculo. Elia 10, 41-76.
Ordoez. C.L. (2011). Education for Bilingualism: connecting Spanish and English from
the curriculum, into the clasrroom and beyond. Profile 13 (2), 147-161.