Below, I have pasted the professor’s instructions. I attached 5 reading slections, but only 2 should be
used for the paper. I am also attaching a copy of the instructions–there is a graph at the bottom that would not paste.
Instructions: You will craft a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of topics within 2 of your recent readings. The topics you choose to focus on are very large ideas but this is a short paper, so you will have to
be diligent in focusing very closely on your chosen topic to capture it succinctly and with strong,
accurate, dynamic writing. There is no way to cover the breadth nor depth of any given topic
here, but the short format allows us to capture a tight assessment of what are the most
important, crucial, and critical aspect(s) of your chosen topic.
*You can choose from any of the readings that are published on the Canvas modules, apart from
the Guajardo & Guajardo short article.
Instructions:
1. Choose your 2 readings; Read them closely. What is the topic at hand? What is the problem-
the social issue?
2. Choose which “important” aspects/factors/definitions/elements/concepts/events/ideas are
central and critical to the problem-the social issue. (see Grid of Sociopolitical Regularities image
at bottom to help generate ideas)
3. Draw upon the following 2 Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis to reflect on your chosen 2
readings and those “important” aspects therein—apply BOTH Principles 1 & 2 to BOTH of your 2
chosen readings.
(1) CONTEXTUALIZE the most crucial and critical terms and concepts shared within each reading
for their “historical and social importance, in order to trace the communication and system of
dominant ideologies”. That is, what are the most important scenarios and attributes which
constitute a given concept explored in the reading, and how is that concept situated within a
larger narrative of sociopolitical domination between individuals or groups? You can do this by
identifying the unit of analysis in the reading, the actors involved in the social drama, the
objectives of the researchers with respect to the problem, and by taking time to analyze The
terms being used and defined by the authors as the most meaningful and important to the
problem. Principle 1 is about giving CONTEXT to the problem.
*Additional references will help, as you situate your analysis within a larger scope of the given
topic.
&
(2) “PARSE the meanings of terms and new concepts through careful attention to potential
implications, presuppositions, word choice, and other elements of dialogue” (DiAngelo and Allen
2006; Van Dijk 1993). This is the “discourse”, the literal kind of “stuff” of the world—the words
we use, how we engage and interface with one another, why we see the world the way we do,
and how our mental models have been shaped over time. We all come to the world with implicit
and sometimes explicit biases. How do these biases show up—hidden in plain sight—through our
modes of communication, the records we generate, and the sociopolitical systems we reaffirm
along the way? Where is this evident in the reading? You can find this by looking for the actual
human practices, policies, and systems where people are being mistreated—where inequities
exist. Then, identify the ideas, terms, concepts and normative narratives that define the problem
or social issue. How do you see our collective “way of knowing” being shaped by the way we
define and communicate about your chosen topic. This is where the knowledge-power dynamic
can be uncovered, and where we can start to make visible the processes therein. Principle 2 is
about showing how meaning is made anew, and how certain narratives become norms.
*Additional references will help, as you situate your analysis within a larger scope of the given
topic.
Write at least 750 words (no word limit) about your chosen readings and the topics at
hand.
Feel free to split your paper into two sections where you capture each reading and topic
separately. You can also integrate the two readings if it makes sense to do so.
This assignment will challenge you to distill a large topic down to the most critical and
important genetic elements—a mini-genealogy of sorts—analyzing the knowledge-power
generated and regenerated due to the process between individuals, groups, and systems.
Focus on what is crucial to problem, and do not try to cover everything.
Here is an image of a hypothetical “grid of sociopolitical regularities” which provides a
kind of framing for the any of the possible, mostly unseen or occluded objects,
attributes, and concepts we all share as social and political participants. These concepts
behave like weather patterns—pushing together and pulling apart with forces, pressures,
assumptions, powers, and ways of knowing.