First watch clip #1 and, using concepts borrowed from Gee and Cuddy, analyse what you see happening in the film. Consider the following questions, for example:

  • What is the “dominant secondary Discourse” at work in the film? What are some its features? Note that there might be more than one at work.
  • How can we tell that Rita isn’t fluent in this Discourse? What details (for example, in her “saying-doing”) reflect her difference from Dr. Byrant?
  • What might Amy Cuddy observe about each character’s body language? How does their body language compare to what they are saying?
  • For Gee, Discourse entails “being-valuing-believing” as well as what we say and do. What values do the characters name or express explicitly? What others values are implied and how can you tell?

Rita talks a lot she says “I don’t get to talk to people like you”     Cowards for wanting to quit smoking

“gotta do it from the inside like i wanna learn” she wants to be confident    ” I dont want another tutor”   “looking like a Jeriatric hippy”-humorous

Dominant secondary discourse is Rita attempting to get the professor to tutor her and to become a student at this university. She wants to enter a apprenticeship.

We can tell Rita isn’t fluent in this discourse is because of the way she opens up about how she hasn’t been to school in years. “I’m slightly out of step” referring to how long it’s probably been since she was in school. Another example she mention is that she’s 26 years old.

Her body language was very confident which is in conflict with how she really feels. She constantly walked around and never stopped talking, her body language suggested that she was very confident, another example is her smoking and drinking