...TextTell Me a Good Story: Using Narrative Analysis to Examine Information Requirements Interviews during an ERP Implementation Rosío Alvarez University of Massachusetts, Boston Jacqueline Urla University of Massachusetts, Amherst Abstract This paper reports on a participant-observation study examining how clients use narratives to convey information during ERP requirements analysis interviews. Techniques drawn from narrative analysis are used to analyze the structure and content of different types of narratives clients tell during requirements analysis interviews. First, findings reveal that interviewees organized their experience, sought to persuade listeners, and conveyed information to analysts using “stories,” “habitual,” and “hypothetical” narratives. Client narratives provide a pragmatic view of the information system, offering insight into the ways the system is actually used and the habitual practices of the work environment. Second, narratives function to signal the embeddedness of the information system in its larger organizational and social context. While analysts may be inclined to dismiss narratives as messy or uncodeable data, the insights they provide merit attention. To the degree that narratives give insight into users’ perspectives on organizational issues, they provide knowledge that is essential to any information systems project. This is especially true for ERP projects that, unlike other systems projects, seek to integrate processes spanning the entire...
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...Gr.301 Russu Cristian Narrative Essay The legend of the Coral Island - NOPOMBALU The legend of the Coral Island - NOPOMBALU Once upon a time there were a handsome hunter, his name was Lawongo. In the jungle he only hunted wild hogs. The animals often destroyed the villagers' fields. The villagers were very grateful. With Lawongo's help, their fields were safe from the wild hogs. Lawongo was also very great in playing a flute, it was so melodious, like the night butterflies, dancing over the fire. Everybody always enjoyed listening to his flute play. One of the people was a beautiful girl. She always listened attentively, with those passionate eyes looking at him. Lawongo knew there was a beautiful girl who always paid attention to him. Lawongo fell in love with her. The girl also loved him, later they got married. They were very happy. They loved each other and promised to be always together. They would be together until they died. On one night, Lawongo had a strange dream. In his dream he was hunting a very big wild hog. The hog attacked him. He did his best to kill the hog, with monstrous tusks. He used his knife to stab the hog and it finally died. Its dead body, was as big as the moon in the sky that night. On the next morning, Lawongo went hunting. It was still early in the morning and he did not want to wake his wife up. In the jungle ha did not see any animals. He could not find any wild hog either. He felt very strange. He walked and he felt very...
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...Crossing - Abstract This paper examines the narrative technique and the significance of the setting in the short story Crossing. It also investigates the main character in the short story. The first part sets out to define the narrative technique. This is done by reading through the text and noting down any time one reads something useful about the narrator. After this is done one can do the examination of the narrative technique. The second part examines the main character in order to get an understanding of who he is as a person and what he wants. The examination is done by making an analysis and interpretation him. The final part of this study assesses the significance of the setting. This can be found by noting every time the setting is described. Afterwards one can do an analysis of the setting in order to evaluate the significance of it. The paper shows that the author is working with indirect speech when the reader experiences flashbacks. Otherwise quotation marks are used when the father is speaking with his son. By analyzing the main character it is shown that he longs for getting back together with his former wife and of course his child. It is concluded that the significance of the setting is somewhat important. It helps the reader to get a clear understanding of the events that takes place by the way it is described. Crossing - Abstract This paper examines the narrative technique and the significance of the setting in the short story Crossing. It also investigates...
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...a moving image text through the film techniques and media theories I have learnt in this term. The film is called “17 again”, which is directed by Burr Steers and written by Jason Filardi. This movie is took place in USA and released in 10 April 2009. The budget of this movie is $20000000 US and the final gross is $64149837 US which is a great success. This story is taking about the main character-Mike O’Donnell ( Zac Efron) whose life didn't quite turn out how he wanted it to and wishes he could go back to high school and change it. He wakes up one day and is seventeen again and gets the chance to rewrite his life. The genre of this film is comedy romance, which is a hybrid genre as I can find lots of signs and conventions in the movie. For examples, the kissing scenes and some silly reactions of the characters can be found in the movie. What’s more, the lighting in this film is high-key lighting which connotes the meaning of happiness and serenity. Moreover, the mode of address in this film is indirect to the audience which was used the third person angle to encode the meaning to the audience. On the other hand, I choose this movie because of few reasons. Firstly, I love the main character- Zac Efron very much. He has acted in many teenage romance films before, for instance, High School Musical 1, 2 and3. After I watched the High School Musical, I admire his out-looking and his acting skills. Therefore, I choose this film. Besides, the narrative of this movie is...
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...is a key facet of narrative. “In telling a story, who tells it is of paramount importance” (Bohner and Grant 15). Narrator “Choosing a narrative point of view is perhaps the most important and most difficult decision a writer of a story makes. Point of view—like plot, character, setting, and language—is a creative decision; however, it is also a very much a technical decision” (Bohner and Grant 15). “Someone has to tell the story. That someone is called the narrator. But the question is who will that narrator be and what does the narrator know” (Bohner and Grant 15). Mediation Drama and film unfold directly before our eyes. In narrative fiction there is always something (a viewer, a speaker, both) between the reader and the action: a point of view other than our own has already been imposed. This is mediation. Point of view involves the angle of vision (the point of view from which the people, events, and other details are viewed). This view is called the focus. The words of the story lying between the reader and the story is the voice. Focus Focus acts like a camera. It chooses what we can look at, the angle at which we can view it, and how it is framed. In this case, a tv screen vs. a movie screen. Details and emphasis change depending upon the frame and the focus in both text and film. Angles in film Film can help us to understand point of view if we think of the camera eye as our mediator in the text. The picture...
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...What factors affect reading? | | | | | | * A non-encouraging reading home environment * A non-encouraging reading classroom environment * Vision problems * Lack of interest in the book * Hearing - Speech impedement, Hard of Hearing, or deafness * Lack of background knowledge * Lack of strong vocabulary base * Gender * Intelligence with the ability to 1) learn, 2) problem solve, or 3) see relationships in reading * Language differences/Dialect/Cultural difference | | In Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children, Snow, Burns, & Griffin (1998) presented a synthesis of research on the conditions that contribute to successful reading. The authors identified the following factors as predictors of success and failure in reading: Physical and Clinical Factors | Predictors of School Entry | Acquired Knowledge of Literacy | Family-based Risk Factors | Neighborhood, Community, and School-based Factors | Cognitive deficienciesHearing problemsEarly language impairmentAttention deficit/hyperactivity disordersVision problems | Acquired proficiency in languageVerbal memoryLexical and syntactic skillsOverall languagePhonological awarenessOral Vocabulary | Reading readinessLetter identificationConcepts of printPhonemic awareness | Family history of reading difficultiesHome literacy environmentOpportunities for verbal interactionHome language other than EnglishUse of a nonstandard dialect of English in the homeSocioeconomic status | Environmental...
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...night Garden and Swallows and Amazons How do ‘the lure of the real’ (Bogan,A.2006) and the ‘power of the fantastic’ (EA300,Block 4) work together in any two of the set texts in Block 4? ‘The lure of the real’ (Bogan,A.2006) and the ‘power of the fantastic’ (EA300,Block 4) are used to create dramatic effect and depth to narratives, in interesting and diverse ways. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive. When the real and the fantastic combine, truly delightful and often informative, stories are created. Novels differ in their proportional use of realism and fantasy. Realism is commonly used to convey a sense of believability, to give gravitas to characters and to enable a child reader to understand through the presentation of the familiar and recognisable. Fantasy can be viewed as a “departure from consensus reality.” (Hume cited in EA300. Block4.p169). This could exist in the form of imaginary play, dreams, unworldly creations or literal impossibility. This essay will concentrate on Swallows and Amazons and Tom’s Midnight Garden. Each text has different approaches to the use of reality and fantasy. However, they convey similar themes and messages through various presentations of ‘the real’ and ‘the fantastic.’ Ransome and Pearce anchor their stories in reality by creating a “powerful sense of place and” a “celebration of freedom underpinned by family security.” (EA300, Block4) Ransome achieves this by distinct geographical representation of the Lake District...
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...Narratives are meaningful stories that retell past events about specific characters (Fee and Stuart, 2003). Biblical narratives are just like narratives except they are inspired by the Holy Spirit. Biblical narratives tell God's story. Biblical narratives have three components characters, plot, and plot resolution (Fee and Stuart, 2003). The characters include a protagonist, which is the main person in the story (Fee and Stuart, 2003). An antagonist which is the person that causes the conflict and lastly, agonist which role is to support the main characters in the story. A narrative main function is to retell a story using specific characters. When interpreting narratives it is easy to make common mistakes associated with interpreting narratives. Although, there are many errors people make when interpreting narratives, I will only list three, which are moralizing, personalizing, and lastly misappropriation. The first, error is moralizing. Moralizing assumes that moral teachings or principles for living can be taught from all scripture (Fee and Stuart, 2003). The second, error is personalizing. Personalizing involves reading a narrative and making it pertain to you, instead of realizing that the narrative tells a story about specific characters in that story (Fee and Stuart). The third and last error is misappropriation, which means to appropriate the text for purposes that it was not intended for (Fee and Stuart, 2003). There are many principles for interpreting...
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...Course: Instructor: Date: It is primarily difficult to define Postmodernism literature due to its novelty in technique, versatile ideas, and its break from the traditional narrative writing. Basically “If on a winter's night a traveler” is a novel about the reading experience. When discussing the postmodern literature, Calvino’s novel of 1979 “If on a winter's night a traveler” definitely is a work that is worth to be examined within this context. While ascribing the features of the postmodern fiction to a specified work at times can prove to be an undertaking that is both controversial and challenging in nature. This novel has proven to be both fascinating and also to be innovative work of the fiction which is postmodern. “If on a winter's night a traveler” authored by Italo Calvino, is a postmodern novel since it deviates from the obvious objectivity provided by the omniscient external narration normally found in nearly all traditional books(Calvino & William, pp.13-18). All through chapter two, Calvino employs second person viewpoint, where he narrates of the readers of the novel, are the key characters in his plot. The author constantly employs the pronoun “you” in making the reader to feel more engaged in what is happening and points out directly the relationship between the author, the text, and the readers. Self-reflectivity also is found in nearly all postmodern novels are well-known to possess. Calvino’s novel portrays numerous remarkable literary devices that...
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...Vera Kemzane Group 4B The text analysis “The Pearl” by John Steinbeck. The present extract is from the novel “The Pearl” written by American author John Steinbeck. The novel is about Kino, who is a pearl diver and main theme is man`s nature, both evil and good, greed and honest. The extract refers to the part of the novel, when Kino discovers an enormous pearl or “the Pearl of the World”. The register of the text is fictional narrative, and type of narration is heterodiegetic, because the narrator situated outside the level of action. The text is with omniscient point of view, or zero focalization – the narrator knows more than characters. The authorial narrative allows the narrator to have an insight into the thoughts and feelings of the characters, and to see the story from outsider`s position: And he wondered whether he had baptized Kino`s baby, or married him for that matter. And the doctor’s eyes rolled up a little fat hammocks and he thought of Paris. He remembered the room he had lived in there … In addition, it is a third-person narrative extract, because all character of the story referred as “they” “it” “he”: their mother knew it; his eyes; he wondered; they waited etc. Finally, it is overt narrator; he makes his opinion known and gives extra information and explanations: The news came to the doctor where he sat with a woman whose illness was age, thought neither she nor the doctor would admit it (this is also an example of irony). The narrator uses evaluative...
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...perfect example of a gothic novella; it has all the above elements, which are cleverly implemented throughout the text. One of these elements is James’ use of the frame narrative. I will be discussing the frame narrative and narrators, with particular focus on Douglas, and how it affects the governess’ story. The Turn of The Screw; a novella in which one thinks less about the literary techniques, or the writing style, but more about the story itself. One finds oneself asking; are the ghosts real? Is the governess insane? Is it a conspiracy? We, as the reader need to take a closer look at the text to identity and analyse the techniques, the words, the imagery that gives the story its mystery and intrigue. One such technique is the use of a frame narrative, we hear the story from the unnamed narrator, Douglas and then from the Governess. We know very little about any of the narrators, however, perhaps the narrator that stands out most is Douglas; he is our link to the Governess and her story. Although we are not given much information on Douglas, he is very cleverly used by James. He is the only person present who knew the governess, and the similarities between him and Miles are thought provoking. They are both roughly the same age, they both came back from school to meet the governess , who was hired to look after their sisters , and lastly it is mentioned in the text that they both stand with their hands in their pockets , . Although some readers believe Douglas and Miles to...
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...when they were going to spend the week-end with Dolly, he urged Julia to seize the opportunity that the week-end presented. Julia explained that people financed plays for two reasons, either because they wanted notoriety, or because they were in love with someone. But Michael had never even thought that Dolly was in love with him. He was very surprised when Julia told him that it was not he whom Dolly loved. He didn’t believe it. 3. This extract belongs to the belles-lettres functional style, the main purpose of which is to give the readers aesthetic pleasure, to make them think and entertain by appealing to their emotions. The major part of the text is presented by the author’s narrative proper. It is told in the 3rd person, from the view point of an omniscient anonymous narrator. Sometimes the author’s narrative is interspersed with insertions of represented inner speech. The represented inner speech is employed to reveal Michael’s ideas and thoughts. There are such markers showing this fact: a) verbs denoting mental activity (he thought), b)...
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...analysis provides the background for an essay, and account or a text in another genre you are asked to write about a text. You should only use results from the analysis, which are relevant for the focus you have chosen. Novels | Short stories | A novel is a literary imaginative work whose content has been invented in an author’s imagination. It does not represent actuality and it is seldom based on facts.Novels and short stories are fiction. | A short story belongs to the genre fiction.It is epic and it tells a story in just one main plot. Often: * Exposition (eksponering, udstilling, redegørelse) * Complication * Crisis * Sad/happy/open/surprising ending.A short story is often restricted (begrænset) to one setting only; fixed place and time and narrow (snæver, smal) social surroundings. There is a limited set of characters in a short story. A decisive (afgørende) situation beyond a character’s control occurs (forekommer, opstår) and the story starts. A short story only discusses a selected part of life. It mostly shows a decisive moment in life, which can entail (medfører) a fatal blow (skæbnesvangert) | To analyse fiction is to open the text by examining its various components (forskellige bestanddele). A good analysis will cover all the following points. * However, all the points will not be equally important in all analyses. Always base your analysis on what is actually said in the text. Analysing of fiction Description: | * Who is the author...
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...Using Narrative Text in the Secondary Classroom Once upon a time, in a school, very much like your own, American History and all its contents were studied alongside tales of triumph, and defeat. In this history class, the students supplemented curriculum delivered through lectures and textbooks, with materials from sources such as diary entries, editorials, and historical fiction. This is an example of how narrative text can coexist with expository information found in content area classrooms in today's high schools. While the need for expository text is vital to the success of a student to understand the content (i.e., Social Studies) curriculum, narrative literature and various other texts are a great way to supplement the learner with information from which they can draw a better understanding of the state standards. Explained below is a definition of narrative literature, advantages and disadvantages of using narrative text in the high school Social Studies classroom, and five possible uses for using narrative texts in the high school classroom. Narrative Literature Narrative literature can be both fiction such as novels, as well as non-fictional works such as memoirs (Burke). Often, narrative literature includes many of the following: a plot, character, problems, and themes. In fictional work, one generally finds a setting, with a beginning, a reaction, and an ending (Roe, Stoodt-Hill, & P. C. Burns, 2004). Narrative literature can, and does exist on its own in...
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...The crossing The relationship between the father and the son The protagonist is an unnamed man somewhere between 30-50 years old, and located in a small depression, because text says; "He had not been happy in a while." The protagonist is divorced or separated from his wife: "... He had not wanted here back, had not wanted much of anything really" (line.15) It would seem that the protagonist himself is to blame for the divorce, as he nurtures a desire that things should work again, both in relation to his ex-wife, but perhaps most in relation to his son. The father is very caring and loving to his son, and you quickly sympathize with him as the reader "... when the boy came running into the living room he threw him over his shoulder, careful not to hit his head on the corner of the TV…" (Page 2. line16-17) The protagonist wants to pass some of the good childhood memories that he had with his own father. They also used to take the same trip, and the main character repeats many of the same principles and rituals with his own son. Since the reader does not have access to the boy's thoughts and feelings, just as we have in the father. The author paints a picture of him with descriptions and through his father's thoughts about him. Most of all, we get a picture of a small frail boy. This narrative technique enables the reader to quickly sympathize for the boy and especially his father, who tried to get him safely through their journey in the wilderness: "He looked at the...
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