Jennifer Cleary

Strategies of Involvement and Independence from transcript on New South Voices:

Faith McConnell, female, age 76, South Carolina Native

Involvement

  1. Faith did notice and attend to the hearer. She smiled often and paused as if she were telling the story according to the hearer’s facial expressions.
  2. I don’t know about the exaggerated sincere interest, but I think Faith was sincere in her story; however, it is hard to tell if she was sympathetic with the hearer without listening to the conversation.
  3. Faith did claim in-group membership using we, you, and us.
  4. Faith did claim common point of view about girls not walking a mile to school alone as well as about women retiring from teaching after marriage. She also stated that only the popular children wore gingham dresses or corduroys to school and the lower class children were denim or overalls. Faith also stated the school children loved to carry the book bags over their shoulder and girls thought hair ribbons were their favorite Christmas presents.
  5. Faith was optimistic about going to school, making their own lye soap, ironing outside away from the hot kitchen and the discipline problems teachers had back then in school.
  6. Faith would say excuse me after a cough and stirred her conversation toward what would allow the hearer to pay attention.
  7. I assumed reciprocity between the two since smiles were exchanged as well as the exchange of conversation.
  8. Faith used given names throughout her conversation for many different objects.
  9. Not sure, could not hear clip.
  10. Not sure, but I don’t think she used the hearer’s dialect by the way the dialogue is written.

Independence

  1. Faith did use the phrase “I don’t know if you or I am sure you have heard of” when talking about what items were called and how they were used back in her day.
  2. Faith never gave the option to the hearer to not to something.
  3. Faith never minimized any kind of threat from the hearer.
  4. Faith never apologized for any of her speech or conversation.
  5. Faith was never pessimistic by asking for the time or etc.
  6. Faith never dissociated her speech.
  7. Faith did state a rule by saying the schools required married women to stop teaching, but they could be substitutes.
  8. Faith only used the word momma to speak of her mother and father to note her father.
  9. Faith was very talkative throughout the conversation. She was the primary speaker throughout the conversation.
  10. Although I was not able to hear the conversation, based on the written dialogue, Faith remained in her own dialogue and dialect consistently.