THE CRITICAL ANALYSIS – A SAMPLE ANSWER

Territoriality

Joseph A. DeVito

Joseph A Devito holds a PhD from the University of Illinois and is a professor of communication at HunterCollege. He is also the author of numerous college textbooks, including Messages : Building Interpersonal Communication.

One of the most interesting concepts in ethology ( the study of animals in their natural surroundings) is territoriality. For example, male animals will stake out a particular territory and consider it their own. They will allow prospective mates to enter but will defend it against entrance by others, especially other males of the same species. Among the deer, the size of the territory signifies the power of the buck, which, in turn determines how many females he will mate with. Less powerful bucks will be able to control only small parcels of land and so will mate with only one or two females. This is a particularly adaptive measure, since it ensures that the stronger members will produce most of the offspring. When the “landowner” takes possession of an area – either because it is vacant or because he gains it through battle – he marks it, for example, by urinating around the boundaries. The size of the animal’s territory indicates the status of the animals within the herd.

The size and location of human territory also say something about status (Mehrabian, 1976; Sommer 1969). An apartment or office in midtown Manhattan or downtown Tokyo, for example, indicates extremely high status. The cost of the territory restricts it to those who have lots of money. Status is also signaled by the unwritten law granting the right of invasion. Higher-status individuals have more of a right to invade the territory of others than vice versa. The boss of a large company, for example, can invade the territory of a junior executive by barging into her or his office, but the reverse would be unthinkable.

Some researchers claim that territoriality is innate and demonstrates the innate aggressiveness of humans. Others claim that territoriality is learned behaviour and is culturally based. Most, however, agree that a great deal of human behaviour can be understood and described as territorial, regardless of its origin. Primary territories are your exclusive preserve; your desk, room, house, or backyard, for example. In these areas you are in control. It’s similar to the home field advantage that a sports team has when playing in its own ballpark. When you are in these primary areas, you generally have greater influence over others than you would in someone else’s territory. For example, when in their own home or office people take on a kind of leadership role; they initiate conversations, fill in silences, assume relaxed and comfortable postures, and maintain their positions with greater conviction. Because the territorial owner is dominant. You stand a better chance of getting your raise, your point accepted, and the contract resolved in your favor if you are in your own primary territory (Marsh 1988).

Secondary territories, although they do not belong to you, are associated with you perhaps because you have occupied them for a long period of time or they have been assigned to you.

For example, your desk in a classroom may be a secondary territory if it was assigned to you or if you have regularly occupied it and others treat it like it is yours. Your neighbourhood turf, a cafeteria table that you regularly occupy, or a favorite corner of a local coffee shop may be secondary territories. You feel a certain “ownership-like” attachment to the place although it is really not yours in any legal sense.

Public territories are those areas that are open to all people; a park, movie house, restaurant or beach, for example. The European café, the food court in a suburban mall, and the public spaces in large city office buildings are public spaces that, although established for eating, also serve to bring people together and to stimulate communication. The electronic revolution, however, may well change the role of public space in stimulating communication (Drucker & Gumper, 1991;Gumpert & Drucker, 1995). For example, home shopping clubs make it less necessary for people to go shopping “downtown” or to the mall, and consequently they have less opportunity to run into other people and to talk and to exchange news. Similarly, electronic mail permits communication without talking and without even going out of one’s home to mail a letter. Perhaps the greatest change is telecommuting (Giordano 1989) which allows people to work without even leaving their homes. The face-to-face communication that normally takes place in an office is replaced by communication via computer.

Much as animals mark their territory, humans mark theirs with three types of markers: central, boundary, and earmarkers (Hickson & Stacks 1993). Central markers are items you place in a territory to reserve it. For example, you place a drink at the bar, books on your desk, and a sweater over the chair to let others know that this territory belongs to you.

1. State, using evidence from the passage, what you consider to be the writer’s

intention/purpose (3 marks)

2. Identify the target audience and using evidence from the text, fully assess the

suitability of the diction to this audience.(4 marks)

3. What is the dominant developmental strategy employed in the text? Explain how this is

suited to the subject and purpose. (5 marks)

4. Identify two other organizing principles in the text and comment on their effectiveness

in communicating meaning. (6 marks)

5. Comment on the tone of the text and explain how it helps the writer to achieve purpose

(3 marks)

6. Give two examples of how the writer establishes common ground with his target

audience. (4 marks)

NOTES OF ANSWERS - Territoriality

  1. The writer’s purpose is to explain/highlight/inform readers that “a great deal of human behaviour can be understood and described as territorial.” The writer begins by highlighting what is more familiar to readers when they think of territoriality and then he moves to focusing on territoriality in humans, showing the different ways in which they display territoriality.
  1. The target audience is a general educated/non-specialist audience. The lack of technical terms and use of more simple language, is suitable to a wider and broader audience who may not have detailed information or any information about the subject matter. The writer also assumes that the readers would have knowledge of certain words or vocabulary, for example, words like “innate”. This suggests that the writer expects a level of education. In addition, in keeping with the absence of technical words, the writer explains the only technical word used “ethology”
  1. The dominant developmental strategy is classification, which clearly highlights/brings to the reader’s attention the different groupings of territories in relation to human behaviour. This forces the readers to re-think or focus on, in detail, human territorial behaviour.
  1. Two other organizing principles are exemplification, which helps the writer to fully illustrate the various classes/groups of classification to the readers, making the various groupings more concrete in their minds. It becomes easier then, for them to understand his/her point, allowing him to achieve his purpose of informing them. The writer also uses definition, in so doing giving the readers a clear indication of what the various territories are. He first defines the various types of territories and then solidifies the definition using exemplification.(for eg in paragraph one he uses definition but this is supported with exemplification)
  1. The passage begins with an objective tone and moves to a more conversational, engaging tone. Using the more objective tone, the writer removes himself and his emotion from the subject matter and merely presents the information. This makes the information more credible to the reader, as it does not appear to be skewed by the writer’s interpretations, but appears more scientific and objective. Using a more conversational tone, the writer tries to engage the audience to show/highlight how the subject matter relates to and applies to them. In both instances, the writer appears more credible and this allows the audience to more easily accept the information, thereby allowing the writer to relay the content matter and fulfill his purpose.
  1. Two examples of common ground are (1) the use of a conversational tone, i.e, deliberately engaging the audience, making them relaxed (2) the use of numerous examples that the readers would be aware of and would be able to identify with. (3) Acknowledging that there exist different approaches to explaining territoriality in humans (paragraph 3i).