Hymes and Sacks Models in Discourse Analysis of Short Story

Abstract

Discourse analysis is considered as an instrument in analyzing elements which influence on our understanding of a particular text. Thus, discourse analysis is a highly coherent model in analyzing any spoken, like conversation, or written, like short story text. The aim of this study is to analyze the discourse analysis of a short story, to show how the discourse is initiated, developed and terminated. How the characters participate, interact and what are the relationships among them, how those characters are introduced in the story; how they interrupt, ask questions, and how turns are distributed. The study also aims at counting the number of topics and how they are interrelated. To know whether the sequence of events is logical or not. In order to achieve these aims, the study adopts the discourse analysis of a written text of a short story namely, The Man of the House, by analyzing and describing the different strategies like initiating, developing, and terminating. In this study, the model of discourse analysis is eclectic, comprising of three models; Hymes model (1972) who suggests the category of "speech event", and Sacks model (1968) which proposes interaction analysis based on four categories "conversation", "topic", "sequence", and "turn".