Rashid Whittaker
Mr. Chaemsaithong
English 1302
2/21/10

Midterm Essay

In option 1 the two conversations portray different styles of indirect complaints that involves a third party. While looking similar, essentially the politeness strategies implemented in this are not all the same, seeing as how the level of familiarity between the two parties is different. The party discussing the hotel give the impression of two strangers having a conversation, while those discussing the airport security guard seem to be acquainted with each other. I will be investigating the politeness strategies used in these two conversations, their differences and their similarities. As I stated above this exchange seems to be conducted between two strangers seeing as how the person complaining is using positive politeness in order to feel like he is not the only one who felt appalled by the bugs and living conditions inside of the hotel. Victor is constantly stating his opinions on things and exclaiming that he can’t believe he’s in London. This indicates that Victor is hoping that Luda will agree with his opinions. He does this so that he can feel more comfortable with his rant about the hotel and to feel as if he isn’t alone in this conversation. Victor is also constantly talking familiarly with Luda going so far as to use grammatically incorrect English when conversing. At one point Victor interrupts Luda in the middle of her saying something. This shows that Victor is openly announcing that he feels comfortable with Luda’s presence and also in a sense brings out his personality. Personality wise Victor seems to be a person that tends to go over the top, seeing as how he encroached upon Luda’s personal space. In response to Victor’s approach to the conversation Luda uses negative face as it seems she isn’t so familiar with Victor. When Luda first started talking it was clearly positive face but soon after being after being cut off by Victor she seemed to retract into her shell and started speaking in a way that wouldn’t impose upon Victor’s manner of communication. This can most obviously be seen when she adapts to Victor’s way of speaking. An example of this being when Luda said “You, a cool American, you got accustomed to clean life!” With this I can say with certainty that the Exchange between Luda and Victor was that of two strangers sharing a conversation based upon mutual opinions. Another noteworthy thing about Luda‘s American comment would be that he is complimenting Victor by calling him cool using the negative face approach. This conversation also uses indirect forms of speech are being used which can be seen when Victor keeps going on about other places with better hotel conditions. It seems that Victor is indirectly asking that Luda show him to a hotel with better living conditions around the London area that he is residing. The second exchange that takes place between Bill and Luda is most certainly between two people who are familiar and comfortable with each other. Their conversation starts off with Bill stating a talking about a situation he experienced in the airport and Luda interrupting and finishing with a joke that ties in with Bill’s story. The way that this interruption was carried out and its purpose seemed to give off an air of familiarity. After this Luda asked if Bill was kidding. Normally if you were approaching someone using the negative face you wouldn’t ask them if they were kidding; seeing as that would create friction between you and that person if you were unfamiliar with each other. It seems that at one point in the conversation the two begin to use obscene/curse words in the conversation. If you were talking to a complete stranger in negative face you wouldn’t want to say anything that would impose upon their manner of speaking or cause there to be some kind of conflict. Both and Luda Bill seem to open up to each other in this conversation, speaking as they want so freely around each other. The most obvious hint that they are on a pretty good level of familiarity would be when Bill stops himself from using the word serious and uses the phrase dead serious instead. The number of differences vary between these two exchanges. The obvious being Luda’s switch from negative face in the first exchange to positive face in the second exchange. First off the way both exchanges started was different; in the first one Victor interrupted Luda’s story so that he could go on to state more things about himself. This in turn made Luda start using a negative face in which he began to agree with almost everything Victor said while giving out compliments on the side. Whereas in the second exchange Bill was interrupted by Luda so that he could make a joke which established a comfortable atmosphere between the two of them. They both continued to remain in positive face for the rest of the conversation. Another difference between the two exchanges would be their application of positive and negative. In the first exchange between Victor and Luda ,Victor is using positive face with Luda but this only seems to push Luda towards a negative face as a result of Victor’s over familiarity. It seemed to me that Luda was constantly saying things so as to not cause friction between him and Victor, going so far as to appease Victor’s statements and complimenting him. In The second exchange Bill and Luda are using curse words, and phrases that you would normally only use around people that you are familiar. As stated before it can be also noted that it seems Victor is tying to hint for Luda to help him, which can his explain why he tried to create a friendly atmosphere through positive face The similarities between the two exchanges besides the obvious fact that Luda is a recurring character are few in number from my perspective. One of the few similarities I Can find between the two conversations would be the use of positive face in attempts to not impose on the other person. Thusly creating a situation in which things can be implied and said without offending the other person. Another similarity that can be seen in both exchanges would be the use of the indirect approach. In the first exchange it can be seen at the end that Victor is inconspicuously asking for Luda to show him to a new hotel with better living conditions. He is also inconspicuously implying that London as whole may have hotels infested with bugs like the one he stayed at. In the second exchange Bill uses the indirect approach at the end when he says “this is my test to get back into the country.” Bill is most likely sarcastically implying that his countries educational level or standards are not what they should be. So in conclusion the politeness strategies used in both stories are similar in outward appearance but get more complex as each conversation progresses. Whether it be Victor’s incorrect use of the positive face approach, or Bill and Luda’s creation of a familiar atmosphere with the positive face. While the faces are fundamentally the same (though their end results differ), the indirect forms of speech used in both exchanges are different. The Indirect speech in Victor’s conversation is used to ask a question while, in Bill’s conversation it is used to state an opinion. Thusly the two conversations, while looking normal from the outside, get much more complicated as you delve deeper in an attempt to completely understand the speech used.