Description / paper instructions
In this assignment we will look at other Yelp reviews. The module ‘Assignment 1’ contains (1) a link to a spreadsheet where you can look up what your three choices of reviews are, and (2) a document containing 300 Yelp reviews of similar length. Please look up which three reviews you can choose from and pick one to answer the questions below for. You can search for your review in the document by searching for ‘REVIEW #’ followed by your review number.
This assignment is worth 15 points. Each question indicates how many points can be obtained. For the written answers, please write them out below the text of your review and number them with the question numbers. When you’re done, convert your document to pdf and submit it on Quercus.
(0) [1pt] Copy and paste your review in a document. Assign line numbers to it so each line is numbered.
(1) [2pts] Find at least three cases of third-person pronominal reference and, for each case, colour code the pronoun and all of the noun phrases (full noun phrases and pronouns) that refer to the same entity. Use three different colours, one for each case. For example:
The server greeted us when we came in. He was really nice and suggested we order the hamburger. When he brought out the dish, we were happy to see it had pickles on it. These pickles were yummy. We loved them.
(2) [3pts] Discuss the first time each referent was mentioned. Was the first mention a case of definite reference or indefinite reference. If it was definite, discuss why given-information marking was used for a discourse-new referent. If it was indefinite, discuss why this would be a more expected choice than definite marking. Write up your answer in around 200 words.
(3) [3pts] Find at least 3 cases of proximal or distal demonstrative deixis. Apply the insight from chapter 4 that proximal deixis asks for a high level of attention and distal deixis for a medium level of attention, and discuss in each of the three cases why the writer chose proximal instead of distal deixis or the other way around. Write up your answer in around 200 words.
(4) [2pts] Mark with a yellow highlight, three adjectives that mark the stance of the speaker towards the dish, the restaurant, the service, or anything else. What stance do these adjectives express?
(5) [4pts] Get creative — analyze your review using any of the concepts we discussed in weeks 1-4. Try to read between the lines: what are these various choices doing, how do they express who the writer is, or wants to be, and what the writer feels about the place. What does the writer assume the reader knows or thinks or feels about restaurants and going out for dinner? Support your argument with references to linguistic expressions, and refer to them by using the line numbers in the text you created in question (0). Write up your analysis in 400 to 600 words.
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