1, Conversation is supposed to be an example of joint action, and we have a considerable amount of television programming dedicated to watching people participate in this joint action (e.g., talk shows, late-night TV). Usually these programs are entertaining and interactions between participants follow the implicit rules of conversation; however, occasionally, these interactions go horribly wrong, and violate the rules of conversation.
Please watch David Letterman interviewing Farah Fawcett on YouTube and identify where and how Fawcett violates each of Grice’s four Conversational Maxims (these appear in Harley (2017/2010)).
To be warned…this is a very awkward/weird/uncomfortable interview. Things go pretty badly quite quickly!
Please do not just write down what time in the video the violation occurred; write a few sentences describing the interaction preceding the violation and give an explanation of which maxim was violated and why.
2, Comment on two classmates’ posts by Sunday. Reflect on whether you identified the same issues or if there are other ways to classify the conversation errors.
0 comments