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Discourse Analysis Exercises

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23 views

Discourse Analysis Exercises

Uploaded by

Trang Đậu Thị
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Discourse Analysis Exercises

Exercise 1: Identify the types of cohesive devices working in the text. Take examples in
the text to illustrate each type.

Many people often write to me asking how they-many people (reference: anaphoric) can get
out of a financial mess. Clearly, it’s better not to get into one (subsitution) in the first place. A
lot (reference: ellipsis) can be learnt from other people’s mistakes (reference-catephoric).
You may be able to keep our head above water if – conjunction you can follow these
(subsitution) rules.

Never buy a car: Many young people celebrate a first job by rushing out and buying a brand
new car. Unless- conjunction you can negotiate a low interest or, better still- conjunction, a
no-interest deal on a loan, you can end up paying double (ellipsis). Not only-conjunction will
you have heavy monthly repayments but-conjuction the car will also - conjunction decrease
in value. It’s simply like tearing up $50 notes. Cars lose most of their – (reference: anaphoric)
values in the first two years, so-conjunction think about buying something slightly older so that
- conjunction some else is paying for most of the depreciation.

Sym: get out of = keep out head above water; decrease in value = depreciation

Antonym: get out- get into; brand new car – slightly older

Exercise 2: Analyze this text. Point out the mistakes with grammar and vocabulary which
destroy coherence in the text. Rewrite the text to make better cohesion and coherence

The kangaroo rats are interesting case studies in survival. They live in North American deserts.
They are a member of the rodent family. They are barely two inches high. They have enormous
feet. They can run on shifting sand easily. They have a tufted tail. It furnishes protection against
blowing sand. It is three times as long as they themselves.

=> The kangaroo rats are interesting case studies in survival. Living in North American
deserts, they are a member of the rodent family. Although they are barely two inches
hight, they have enormous feet. Therefore, they can run on shifting sand easily. Also,
they have a tufted tail which is furnishes protection against blowing sand. The tail is
three times as long as the rats themselves.
They eat only seeds and grasses. It is hard to find seeds and grasses in the areas they inhabit.
They are one of the main foods of other desert carnivores. Desert carnivores include snakes,
owls, coyotes and badgers. The kangaroo rats are always chased and eaten by these animals.
The kangaroo rats are in many respects like them. They have speed. They have craftiness.
Speed and craftiness, at times, enable them to outwit their pursuers.

=> Kangaroo rats only consume seeds and grasses, but these are hard to find in the
areas they inhabit. This kind of animal is one of the main food sources for other desert
carnivores including snakes, owls, coyotes and badgers. They are always chased and
eaten by these animals. Interestingly, the kangaroo rats are in many respects like them.
They have speed and craftiness which, at times, enable them to outwit their pursuers.

Exercise 3: Identify the types and find examples of cohesive devices in the following
report.

Health experts are calling for action to expand cancer care and control in the developing world.
A paper published by the medical journal Lancet says cancer was once thought of mostly as a
problem in the developed world. But it says cancer is now a top cause of death and disability in
poor countries.

Experts from Harvard University and other organizations urge the international community to
fight cancer aggressively. They say it should be fought the way HIV/AIDS has been fought in
Africa.

Cancer kills more than seven and a half million people a year worldwide. The experts say
almost two-thirds are in low-income and middle-income countries. They say cancer kills more
people in developing countries than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. But they say the
world spends only five percent of its cancer resources in those countries.

Felicia Knaul from the Harvard Medical School was one of the authors of the paper. She was in
Mexico when she was found to have breast cancer. She received treatment there. She says the
experience showed her the sharp divide between the rich and the poor in treating breast cancer.

FELICIA KNAUL: "And we are seeing more and more how this is attacking young women. It's
the number two cause of death in Mexico for women thirty to fifty-four-ellipsis. All over the
developing world, except the poorest-poorest, it’s the number one cancer-related death among
young women. And, I think we have to again say that there is much more-ellipsis we could do
about it than we are doing about it."

Professor Knaul met community health workers during her work in developing countries. She
says they were an important part of efforts to reduce deaths from cervical cancer. They were
able to persuade women to get tested and to get vaccinated against a virus that can cause it.
The experts say cancer care does not have to be costly. For example, patients can be treated
with lower-cost drugs that are off-patent. This means the drugs are no longer legally protected
against being copied.

In another new report, the American Cancer Society says cancer has the highest economic cost
of any cause of death. It caused an estimated nine hundred billion dollars in economic losses
worldwide in two thousand eight. That was one and a half percent of the world economy, and
just losses from early death and disability. The study did not estimate direct medical costs. But it
says the productivity losses are almost twenty percent higher than-ellipsis for the second
leading cause of economic loss, heart disease.

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