In his article ______ , Isham argues that “[a] particular utterance […] in any given time and place conveys many different things simultaneously. ” (1986, p. 112) In order to fully understand these various aspects and the speaker, one must break down any given utterance, and examine it piece by piece. For a successful message analysis, Isham suggests dividing a message into six comprehensive categories: content, function, register, affect, metanotative qualities, and contextual force. (1986, p. 12)
Dissecting a message allows the audience to not only interpret the speaker’s message, but also get a glimpse of who the speaker is, his or her background, and the ultimate meaning of the conveyed message. Context and Content Every utterance presents its audience with particular propositions, or “facts, ideas, information and other objective material. (Isham, 1986, p. 113) Isham describes these certainties, as propositions. One sentence alone can have several propositions, each representing a specific “concept within the discourse,” (1986, p. 113) whether it be obvious or interpreted.
However, to fully comprehend and analyze a given message, the audience must have “some amount of background information […] to fully understand the speaker’s intention. ” (1986, p. 113) If an audience was thrust into the middle of Teresa’s story they may not fully understand the importance of key points; therefore, she opens the video with background information that is critical to understanding her message as a whole. Teresa begins by telling her audience she does not look her age, and that she has a “youthful appearance;” (Sanges, 2015, 00:00:09), therefore the proposition being that she looks younger than she really is.
In order to substantiate this fact, she provides examples of how and why external forces allow this mis-conceeption of her age to continue: She tells the audience her husband is fourteen years older than her, that her stepchildren are only fourteen and sixteen years younger than her. So, because Teresa looks younger than she really is, the large age difference between her and her spouse, and the small age difference between her and her stepchildren, the family has received “weird comments, some strange looks, and some awkward moments. ” 2015, 00:00:32-00:00:35)
Teresa shares more experiences including one of her stepson’s classmates asking if his “friend” (2015, 00:00:43), was single (referring to her), people calling Teresa and her stepdaughter sisters, and when in the company of her husband, she has been referred to as his daughter. Teresa ends her contextual background by letting the audience know that the above incidents have been “both flattering and amusing. ” (2015, 00:00:57-00:01:00) Teresa then proceeds into her main story, or the body of her message. While the above points are critical pieces, they are more like an introduction in an essay.
With the given information, the audience presupposes the main story will have to do with something revolving around this age difference within her family. She builds interest and curiosity about what is to follow, but also provides the audience with key points that will further their understanding of content to follow. Teresa recalls a specific experience, before she started studying at George Brown. Teresa volunteered at her children’s school as the pizza lunch coordinator, describing what that job entailed (giving forms to children, collecting money, ordering pizza, assembling volunteers, and distributing pizza).
Teresa goes on to explain how one particular pizza day, she was short volunteers, so she asked her husband to help out, and he agreed. They began to allocate pizza throughout the school, when, at one point, a student approached her asking for more pizza. Upon further investigation, Teresa found out the student was asking on behalf of “the elderly gentleman,” (2015, 00:02:08-00:02:09) who was volunteering. Teresa quickly deduced that the student was talking about her husband. Teresa continues her story explaining how she immediately told her husband, and they were both amused by what had happened.
She concludes that it is “a good that that [her husband] has a good sense of humour. ” (2015, 00:02:38-00:02:42) With the above story, coupled with the contextual background information, the audience is given a multitude of propositions, both connotative (i. e. subjective) and denotative (objective). To list a few, Teresa looks younger than she is, her hustand is distintly older than her, for these reasons, Teresa has been in numerous occasions where her age has come into question (whether they be funny or awkward or both), and both she and her husband can fortunately laugh about these situations.
There is, however, more to the story than simply these facts established in the basic content of Teresa’s message. If we continue to dissect Teresa’s story into Isham’s other categories of message analysis, we will see how and why Teresa not only successfully shares an amusing anecdote, but how she is able to keep her audience entertained, interested, comfortable, and connected. Function Inevitably, there is a reason behind most every utterance. Isham argues that when we deliver a message, “we intend to accomplish something,” (Isham, 1986, p. 15) and in order to truly understand Teresa’s story on a deeper level than strictly content, we must decipher what the ultimate goal is behind her choice of anecdote. It is clear that her goal is to entertain the audience with a lighthearted story, where, in the end, both she and her husband (who is ultimately the butt of the joke) are both amused at the turn of events. Teresa’s goal then is to also leave the audience feeling amused with what she has shared.
Isham argues that “the function of a message greatly influences how something is expressed,” (1986, p. 115) which is evident through Teresa’s facial expressions, body language, vocabulary, and intonation, which will be discussed in greater detail in Isham’s other categories of message analysis. A secondary goal of Teresa’s story is to sell herself as a young, vibrant woman who does not take life too seriously.
While the function or “desired result,” (1986, p. 15) of Teresa’s story and the subsequent meaning with which the audience leaves are two different aspects of her message, Teresa is quite successful at not only providing the audience with a comical story, but she also sells herself as a charming speaker, a youthful woman, and someone who is able to take a joke. The overall mood of Teresa’s video is playful, casual, welcoming, and amusing; consequently, her audience feels this amusement, which is also apparent through her use of linguistic and paralinguistic clues.
Register The goal of a messasge and its final meaning can vary considerably based on a speaker’s use of register, also known as their use of language. By choosing a particular style of language, he or she can establish either “social distance or proximity,” (Isham, 1986, p. 116) and choose to either perpetuate or terminate these social groupings. When analyzing a message, the speaker’s register tells us to whom Teresa is speaking. In her video, Teresa uses a degree of familiarity and closeness with the audience. She ets us into her life, and gives us details about her marital status, stepchildren, schooling, and her involvement in the community (as a volunteer). By choosing a story to entertain her audience, Teresa also proves her ability to find humour in a potentially awkward situation. She starts her video with a casual “hi,” (Sanges, 2015, 00:00:01), which shows that Teresa both acknowledges the audience.
She then mixes formal and informal registers, by combining her minimal use of contractions, e. g “that I do not look my age,” (2015, 00:00:06), with her occassional use of slang, e. . “sorta,” (2015, 00:01:45) which gives the feeling that Teresa’s targeted register is informal; however she does consider whoever will be watching the video to be her equal. Teresa does not refrain from everyday language; however, she does not compromise her own intelligence by “dumbing down” her own vocabulary. This appropriate mix of both formal and casual registers, along with the intimacy established by her sharing a private and potentially embarrassing situation, makes Teresa’s video both pleasing and accessible to many potential viewers.
Affect Speakers also use a variety of paralinguistic techniques such as intonation, posture, gestures, and facial expressions to create his or her affect, which according to Isham, is the “emotion and tone conveyed” (1986, p. 117) in a message. Throughout Teresa’s story, she keeps a fairly high-pitched tone, and only varies when she describes her interaction with the student who needed more pizza (00:02:14-00:02-15). This higher, confident tone keeps the general mood of Teresa’s video casual (that is, she never uses a deep, stern voice).
Also, Teresa’s voice remains strong, and confident (again only except while she is describing the above confusion), which keeps the audience interested and active (whereas a quieter, less confident speaker may lose the attention of the audience). Teresa also keeps the audience involved and active through her facial expressions. While explaining the situation with her stepson, and her being mistaken for his friend, Teresa ends the sentence by looking into the camera, raises her eyebrows, and makes a face one would associate with a feeling of awkwardness (00:00:46).
Later, Teresa physically makes quotation marks with her hands when mentioning her “elderly husband. ” (2015, 00:02:28-00:02:30) Both paralinguistic clues show that Teresa is actively engaging audience, letting them into her life, and sharing a laugh with them. _______ Contextual Force While a speaker may have a particular goal behind his or her message, and while he or she may take advantage of many linguistic and paralinguistic tools to achieve that goal, inevitably it is the viewer who determines the the ultimate significance of the speaker’s story.
We all have our individual experiences, past knowledge, and personal biases we bring with us everywhere. The contextual force, or “relative impact” (Isham, 1986, p. 118) a story has on us can, therefore, be unique from viewer to viewer. While Teresa’s main goal was to engage her audience by sharing an entertaining story, I was able to identify with her story on a strong level. Because my partner is twenty-one years older than me, I too have had experienced hurtful, awkward, and funny reactions from other people when we go out.
Teresa’s story made me recall times where people gave us confused or disgusted looks when we embraced, mistook me for his daughter, and when people assumed his son (who is only fifteen years younger than I am) and I were siblings. Because of this connection, Teresa’s story kept me interested and amused throughout. Because of my background, Teresa was successful in keeping me interested, amused, and I left feeling that she had truly engaged me with her experience. Had I been from another generation (we are close in age), or had I never experienced dating an older man, the comical aspect might have been completely lost.
Metanotative Qualities Regardless of how a speaker presents his or herself, and no matter what the desired function is behind the message, there are always “non-content characteristics that influence a person’s overall impression of the speaker. ” (Isham, 1986, p. 119) If a speaker is conscious of this, s/he can attempt to guide the audience towards an optimal conclusion of who s/he is, whether it be through choice of clothing, use of language, etc. However, despite this awareness, the audience will naturally come to their own subjective conclusions about a speaker, whether they be desired or otherwise.
