THE ANALYSIS OF CONVERSATION STRUCTURE
ON THE COMIC STRIP
THE BORN LOSER
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
VIANA ANGGRAENI ROLOS
Student Number: 064214065
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTEMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
THE ANALYSIS OF CONVERSATION STRUCTURE
ON THE COMIC STRIP
THE BORN LOSER
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
VIANA ANGGRAENI ROLOS
Student Number: 064214065
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTEMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
iv
v
For
My Beloved
vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to The Almighty
God, Jesus Christ for His blessing and graces so that I can finish this
undergraduate thesis.
My grateful also goes to my advisor, Anna Fitriati S.Pd., M.Hum., for
her guidance and patience in supporting me during the writing process of this
thesis. I would also like to express my gratitude to my co-advisor Dra.
Bernardine Ria Lestari, M.S., for checking and giving advice on this thesis.
I would also like to express my proper appreciation to all lecturers of
English Letters Department for giving me the best lesson and knowledge, to all
staff of Faculty of Letters and Sanata Dharma Library for their help and
services since I studied and started writing this thesis.
My deepest gratitude is also dedicated to my beloved parents: Walter
Rolos and Dortje Parante for their love, support, and prayer. I also thank my
brothers: Jossie A Rolos and Hendry Y Rolos for giving me spirit and support.
I would also thank all my classmates of Sastra 2006 especially my best
friends Siska Usmani, Lucia Eri, Sheila Putri, Indah Hayu, Elis Wahyu, and
Fabiola Sekar, thank you so much for the great friendship, care, and support for
all these times. My sincere gratitude also goes to Ari Setiyono for his support,
patience, and love. Finally, I would like to thank my friend Ellen, Gaby, Dewi
Maria and those whom I do not mention here but have given me a great hand.
ix
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ... vii
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN ... viii
1. Conversation Analysis ... 10
a. Turn-taking ... 10
b. Adjacency Pairs ... 12
c. Sequences ... 14
2. Preference Structure ... 16
a. Preferred ... 17
b. Dispreferred ... 18
C. Theoretical Framework ... 18
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 20
A. Object of the Study ... 20
B. Method of the Study ... 21
1. Data Collection ... 22
x
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ... 25
A. Analysis of Conversation Structure Used in the Comic Strips ... 26
1. Turn-taking ... 26
d. Compliment – Acceptance/Rejection ... 35
e. Complaint – Apology/Denial ... 35
B. The Patterns of Dispreferred Response that Brutus Uses as the Response to the First Part ... 41
1. Giving an account ... 42
2. Preface ... 44
3. Repetition ... 46
4. Appeal for understanding ... 47
5. Delay/Hesitate ... 49
6. Token yes ... 49
xi
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 53
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 55
APPENDICES ... 57
Appendix 1: Table Analysis of Conversation Structure ... 57
Appendix 2: Table Patterns of Dispreferred Response ... 58
xii
ABSTRACT
VIANA ANGGRAENI ROLOS. The Analysis of Conversation Structure on the Comic Strip The Born Loser. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters,
Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2013.
Languages can be divided into two types: written language and spoken language. The example of spoken language once can be found in comic strip The Born Loser by Chip Sansom. In the comic strips, there are some characters and one of them is Brutus Thornapple. There is a structure of conversation between Brutus and other characters that later will be examined by the writer.
There are 2 problems that are formulated to be discussed in this thesis. The first problem is what kinds of conversation structure used in the comic strip. The second problem is what patterns of dispreferred response that Brutus uses as the response to the first pair.
Comic strip used as the samples are taken from the comic strip between July to December 2011. In analyzing the problems, the writer uses the theory of conversation structure and the theory of preference structure. The writer begins the analysis of the conversation structure of the comic, and then the writer analyzes the preference structure of the conversation between Brutus and other characters.
xiii
ABSTRAK
VIANA ANGGRAENI ROLOS. The Analysis of Conversation Structure on the
Comic Strip The Born Loser. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,
Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Bahasa dapat dibagi menjadi dua jenis, bahasa tulis dan bahasa lisan. Salah satu
contoh bahasa lisan dapat ditemukan dalam komik strip The Born Loser oleh Chip
Sansom. Di dalam komik strip, terdapat beberapa karakter dan salah satunya adalah Brutus Thornapple. Di dalam percakapan antara Brutus dan karakter lain, terdapat struktur percakapan yang kemudian diteliti oleh penulis.
Ada 2 rumusan masalah yang akan dibahas dalam tesis ini. Pertama, apa saja jenis struktur percakapan yang digunakan dalam komik strip. Kedua, apa saja pola tindakan sosial yang tidak disukai yang digunakan Brutus sebagai respon terhadap pasangan pertama.
Komik strip yang digunakan sebagai sampel diambil dari komik strip antara Juli hingga Desember 2011. Dalam menganalisis rumusan masalah, penulis menggunakan teori struktur percakapan dan teori struktur preferensi. Penulis memulai dengan menganalisis struktur percakapan komik, dan kemudian penulis menganalisis struktur preferensi dalam percakapan antara Brutus dan karakter lainnya.
Berdasarkan hasil dari analisis, terdapat 3 bagian dalam struktur percakapan yang digunakan dalam komik strip, ketiga bagian itu adalah pengambilan giliran, pasangan berdampingan, dan urutan. Pasangan berdampingan merupakan bagian terbanyak yang ditemukan dalam analisis pertama. Pada analisis kedua, struktur percakapan komik strip sebagian besar menggunakan struktur preferensi yang didominasi oleh tindakan yang tidak disukai. Dari hasil ini, Brutus adalah orang yang paling sering menggunakan tindakan yang tidak disukai dibandingkan karakter lain sebagai respon terhadap apa yang karakter lain katakan dalam bagian pertama percakapan. Brutus menggunakan beberapa
pola sebagai indikasi dalam tindakan tersebut. Pola-pola tersebut antara lain pembukaan,
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Language is one of the ways to communicate. Through language people
can deliver message and information. In general, there are two kinds of language:
first is the written language and second is the spoken language. Written language
is a language that can be found in written texts, such as letters, documents, and
books; and it is usually formal. On other side, spoken language is different from
written language because it is spoken and usually informal. One thing that can be
found in spoken language is what is called a conversation. We can say someone is
having a conversation when he or she talks to others and the others reply by
giving a feedback. Here, the participant may include two or more people.
Conversation can happen when someone is talking to another and it
continues when the other gives the answer or response. According to Cook, a talk
may be classed as a conversation when it is not primarily necessitated by a
practical task, any unequal power of participants is partially suspended, the
number of the participants is small, and the turns are quite short. In other words,
Cook said that a conversation happens naturally in a small number of participants
and the duration of the participant taking their turn is quite short (Cutting,
Some linguists do not agree with Cook’s opinion on “not primarily
necessitated by a practical task”, they say that most of what we say is outcome
oriented. It means that we talk to others with some purposes or we intend that
other participants will know our intention. Other linguists, such as Fairclough, do
not agree with Cook’s opinion on “any unequal power of participants is partially
suspended”. Fairclough says that a conversation may occur when there are
significant power differentials between participants. The conversation may
continue when the participants have different power in talking. It means that the
participants have different power when they take their turn. There is the one who
dominates and takes control in the conversation and the other follows and gives
their response in return (Cutting, 2003:29).
In our daily life, we cannot avoid doing a conversation. Just like what
Saint-Laurent said in his book The Art of Conversation (1951: 12), a conversation
is as necessary to us as eating and drinking. Wiling or unwilling we devote a great
deal of our time to a conversation. Not only in our daily life can we find
conversations, we can also find it inside a written text, such as a story, a drama
text, and even a comic strip. However a comic strip is different from a written
story or a drama, a comic strip has pictures that show the attitude of the person
who is talking and sometimes the place where the conversation takes place. It
makes people easy to recognize what the speaker’s feeling, whether he or she is
happy or mad. The following are some examples of a conversation in a story, a
In a story:
“My name is Alice...”
“It’s a stupid name enough!” Humpty Dumpty interrupted impatiently. “What does it mean?”
“Must a name mean something?” Alice asked doubtfully.
“Of course it must,” Humpty Dumpty said with a short laugh. “My name means the shape I am – and a good handsome shape is, too. With a name like yours, you might be any shape almost.”
(Fromkin, 2003: 185)
In this example Alice talked to Humpty Dumpty. She introduced herself by
saying her name. As the response to Alice, Humpty Dumpty said that her name
was a stupid name but then he asked what the meaning of her name is. Here Alice
could not answer the question. Instead of giving him an answer, she gave him
another question by saying that “must a name mean something?”. Humpty
Dumpty then explained that every name has their meaning, just like his name that
showed his shape which is a good handsome shape, he said Alice’s name must
have meaning too which showed which shape she was.
In a drama
NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Excuse my interrupting you. You say, "my Oxen Meadows. ..." But are they yours?
LOMOV: Yes, mine.
NATALYA STEPANOVNA: What are you talking about? Oxen Meadows are ours, not yours!
LOMOV: No, mine, honoured Natalya Stepanovna.
NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Well, I never knew that before. How do you make that out?
LOMOV: How? I'm speaking of those Oxen Meadows which are wedged in between your birchwoods and the Burnt Marsh.
NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Yes, yes. ... They're ours.
NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Just think, Ivan Vassilevitch! How long have they been yours?
LOMOV: How long? As long as I can remember.
NATALYA STEPANOVNA: Really, you won't get me to believe that! (Taken from a play The Proposal by Anton Chekhov)
<http://www.one-act-plays.com/comedies/proposal.html> (28 May 2013)
In this example, the conversation happened between Natalya Stevanovna
and Lomov. Here they both argued about the Oxen Meadows. Both Natalya and
Lomov said that the Oxen Meadows was theirs, none of them was caving in.
In a comic strip:
(Taken from The Born Loser; The Jakarta Post, 01 March 2010)
Brutus : “I’m freezing! Would you get me a hot cup of coffee?” Gladys : “Certainly –cream or sugar?”
Brutus : “Don’t bother –I’m going to pour it on my feet!”
Above is the example of comic strips that tells about Brutus who is asking
for a drink from Gladys. From the conversation above, it is clear that Brutus feels
cold and asks for a coffee. The situation is not clear yet because there is no
description like in a short story that tells about the condition when the
conversation takes place or the explanation about the gesture of the one who is
talking. The situation can be seen from the picture that explains them. In the
picture the setting of the conversation is clearly seen, it is outside their house
In a story, a conversation takes only a few parts. The conversation is
usually followed by descriptions of who is talking, how the person acts, and the
feeling of the person. These descriptions are used as an explanation during the
conversation. In drama, the conversation is the main content. A conversation in a
drama is more like a conversation in daily life because a drama is made to be
performed. There are also descriptions in a drama but it is lesser than in a story.
Both a story and a drama contain description inside, while in a comic strip, it is
almost nothing. Instead of the description, pictures are used to explain the
situation.
One of comic strips written by Art and Chip Sansom, The Born Loser is
one of the examples of comic strip that tells about people’s daily life that contains
conversation inside. The Born Loser is one of the comic strips that The Jakarta
Post chooses to publish inside their newspaper along with some other comic
strips. This comic strip tells about Brutus Thornapple’s life. Brutus Thornapple is
the main character in this comic strip. There are also other characters; they are
Gladys Thornapple, Wilberforce Thornapple, Rancid W. Veeblefester, Ramona
Gargle, and Hurricane Hattie O'Hara.
In this paper, the writer intends to analyze the conversation in a comic
strip. In order to analyze the conversation, a conversation analysis is needed to see
how to analyze the preference structure used in the comic strip. The writer also
intends to reveal the patterns of dispreferred response that Brutus uses as the
response to the first part, here the writer uses the series of optional elements of
wants to inform the readers about the preference structure of the comic strip The
Born Loser and what the patterns of dispreferred response that Brutus uses as the
response to the first part are.
B. Problem Formulation
Two problems are formulated to analyze the topic, they are:
1. What kinds of conversation structure are used in the comic strip?
2. What are the patterns of dispreferred response that Brutus uses as the
response to the first part?
C. Objectives of the Study
Since the conversation analysis helped on the understanding of utterance
meaning by showing how large proportion of the situated significance of
utterances can be traced to their surrounding sequential environment, it is
necessary to know the preference structure of the conversation in the comic strip
to know how the characters react to certain utterance. Therefore, the first objective
of the study is applied to identify the preference structure used in the comic strip
The Born Loser.
By finding the preference structure, the dispreferred response of the first
part in conversation can be found. This finding may help to study the second
objective of the study, the writer uses the series of optional elements of
dispreferred response by Yule as the guidance to find the patterns of dispreferred
D. Definition of Terms
There are four definitions of terms used in this topic. They are
conversation, conversation analysis, dispreferred, and comic strips. It is important
to know the terms in order to avoid the misunderstanding.
1. Conversation
Conversation is discourse mutually constructed and negotiated in the time
between speakers: it is usually informal and unplanned. (Cutting, 2003: 28)
2. Conversation Analysis
Conversation Analysis is an approach that studies the way that: what the
speaker says dictates the type of answer expected, and that speakers take turns
when they interact. (Cutting, 2003: 24)
3. Dispreferred
Dispreferred is the structurally unexpected response or next act. (Yule,
1996: 79)
4. Comic Strip
Comic strip is a series of drawings inside boxes that tell a story and are
8
CHAPTER II
THEORITICAL REVIEW
This chapter is divided into three parts. The first part is Review of Related
Studies. In this part there are two reviews given by two people. The second part is
Review of Related Theories. This part discusses theories that are going to be used
in this study. The third is Theoretical Framework. This part explains the use of the
theories in order to solve the problem formulation.
A. Review of Related Study
Miller in Conversation Analysis and the Book of Jonah:
A Conversation tried to analyze the conversation in Raymond Person's book In
Conversation with Jonah with Conversation Analysis. She found that Person
succeeds in analyzing the conversation in Jonah, and Person also succeeds in
highlighting that dialogue and the structure of biblical narrative is important.
Miller tried to show how Person analyzed the narrative using Conversation
Analysis that could help him in finding that in the narrative the order of the linear
order can be changed from the second part of an adjacency pair immediately after
the first part.
The other related study comes from Andi Muhammad Yauri S. Koherensi dalam
wacana komik the born loser (Coherence in The Born Loser Comic Discourse). In
his writing, he analyzed the coherence of the conversation in the comic The Born
Loser. He used linguistic tools such as reference, substitution, deletion,
comic strip that is The Born Loser. The analysis that the writer is going to reveal
is about the dispreferred response of the preference structure in the comic strips. It
is similar to Miller analysis but the writer here wants to analyze the structure of
the conversation in the comic in order to see the pattern of dispreferred response
that Brutus uses as the response to the first part.
B. Review of Related Theories
In this review of related theories, the writer will use two theories, they are
Conversation Analysis and Preference Structure. First, in the theory of
writer will use to analyze the conversation in comic strip The Born Loser, they are
turn-taking, adjacency pairs, and sequences. Second, the theory of Preference
Structure, they are preferred and dispreferred.
1. Conversation Analysis
Cutting in Pragmatics and Discourse: A resource book for students (2003:
27, 28) stated that Conversation Analysis takes a „bottom-up‟ approach: it begins
with the conversation itself, and then leads to the structure of the conversation.
Conversation Analysis looks the conversation as a process. It looks at the flow of
the event little by little and what it implies from the conversation between
speakers. Conversation itself is a discourse that formed by different speakers at a
time that is unplanned and usually informal (2003: 28).
In conversation analysis there are 3 parts, they are turn-taking, adjacency
pairs, and sequences. Those three parts may help to find the structure of the
conversation. Below are the explanations of those parts.
a. Turn-taking
In most countries and cultures there is only one person speak at the time. It
naturally happened when someone is speaking, the other is listening. The people
take turns; when the first speaker finishes talking, another speaker begins to talk.
When the speaker finish talking the next speaker begins to talk, the
moment of changing between the speakers is called a transition relevance place or
TRP. In the conversation, the next speaker do not know exactly when the first
speaker‟s turn is complete, but they will end their turn by saying a word or
sentence that indicates that their turn already complete. When the next speaker
begins to talk while the first one is still taking, this called an interruption. The
following is the example of the interruption. The interruption is indicated with a
//, this sign is adapted from Gumperz (Cutting, 2003:29).
B: well, I guess the meeting is // over for today.
A: // umm. Um, can I speak first.
The next speaker can predict when the turn is complete. The moment
when they predict the turn of the current speaker almost finishes but they begin to
talk is called overlap. The following the example of the overlap. The overlap
begins indicated with a =. This sign is adapted from Schriffin (Cutting, 2003:29)
A: No, she is in the hospital. Well =
B: = What happened to her?
It seems there is an unwritten agreement in each culture about the
acceptable length of a pause between two turns. The pause is called an attributable
silence (Cutting, 2003: 29). The following is the example of the attributable
A: Do you love me?
B: (5) Uh-uh.
A: So, would you marry me?
B: Yes.
From the above example, B pauses for five second, before her “uh-uh”. It
indicated with number five which is in the brackets. The “uh-uh” is an attributable
silence because it comes after the pause.
b. Adjacency pairs
Adjacency pairs are a pair of utterances that occur in conversation. In a
conversation the utterance of the first speaker may lead to particular response of
the second speaker. The conversation then consists of a first part and a second
part, that the first part may create an expectation of particular second part. These
parts are produced by different speakers. According to Levinson (1984:303),
adjacency pairs are sequences of two utterances that are adjacent; produce by
different speaker; ordered as a first part and a second part; and typed, so that a
particular first part requires a particular second (or range of second parts) – e.g.
offers require acceptance or rejections, greetings require greetings and so on. The
following is a few examples taken from Cutting (2003:30).
a question has preferred response of an answer
an offer an acceptance
an invitation an acceptance
an assessment an agreement
a proposal an agreement
a greeting a greeting
a complaint an apology
In adjacency pairs, when the first speaker produces the utterance, it must
be recognizable so the second speaker can produce a recognizable second part as
the response of the first part. The following are some examples of adjacency pairs
that have the first part and the second part. There are also some optional second
parts for some examples.
e. Compliment - Acceptance A: That‟s a nice watch.
B: Thanks.
- Justify B: I was hungry. It was just a cup anyway.
- Challenge B: So what?
g. Offer - Accept A: Would you like another cup of coffee?
B: Yes please, that would be nice.
- Reject B: No thanks.
In conversation the speakers tend to construct their conversation that leads
to some particular sequences. These sequences can be pre-sequences, insertion
sequence, and opening and closing sequence. Pre-sequences happen when the
speaker is giving a ground for the further sequence and the type of utterance to
follow (Cutting, 2003:30). Pre-sequences can be pre-invitations, pre-requests, and
pre-announcements. The following are the example of pre-invitation, pre-request,
• Pre-invitation
A: Do you know that Bona will hold a party this weekend?
B: Yes?
A: Can you help me with my homework?
B: Sure.
• Pre-announcement
A: I can‟t wait to go home now.
B: What happen?
A: Mona will be home today and we are going to spend our weekend with
the kids in Disney Land.
B: That would be great, I guess.
Insertion sequence happens when the first speaker asking question, the
second speaker answers it by another question, and when the second speaker
answers the question given by the first speaker, the first speaker answers the
second speaker question (Q1, Q2, A2, A1). The following is the example of
A: You know that French film that‟s on in the Odeon?
greeting.The following is the example of opening sequence.
Alan: Hi, Bob.
Bob: Hi, Alan.
Alan: How are you?
Bob: Fine, how about you?
Closing sequence is the end of conversation that usually contains a
farewell. The following is the example of closing sequence.
A: Sorry, I have to go now.
B: It‟s okay. See you.
A: See you on Monday. Bye.
B: Bye.
2. Preference Structure
In adjacency pairs there is a correlation of content and format that the first
parts and the second parts have, in example: request may have acceptance or
called preference structure that consists of preferred and dispreferred respons.
Preferred response is the expected response and dispreferred response is the
unexpected response (Yule, 1996: 78-79).
The participants can give response based on the request. The response can
be preferred response by accepting the request or dispreferred response by
refusing the response. The following is a table of correlation of content and format
in adjacency pairs that is taken from Levinson‟s book Pragmatics (1984: 336).
First Parts: Request Offer/Invite Assessment Question Blame
Second Parts:
Prefferred: Acceptance Acceptance Agreement Expected
answer
Denial
Dispreferred: Refusal Refusal Disagreement Unexpected
answer or
non-answer
Admission
a. Preferred response
The preferred responses are usually agreements and acceptances. This response
contains what the first speaker expects from the second speaker. The following is
the example of preferred responses:
A: Can we go to the pool now?
B: Yes. Can you call the cab so we can go now?
From the above conversation, A is asking whether he and B can go to the
pool right now. The answer “yes” is the preferred response because it is
considered as the expected answer from B. The conversation continues when B is
asking whether A can call the cab so they can go, this first part leads to the second
part that B will answer the question. A‟s answer “sure” is considered as preferred
response since B expected A to answer with an acceptance.
b. Dispreferred response
The dispreferred responses usually contain refusals and disagreements.
This response happens when the first speaker does not expect the answer from the
second speaker. There are also unusual responses that consider as meaningful or
even rude. For example, the absence of response may consider as the hearer is not
paying attention, refusing to cooperate, or not having heard. The following is the
example of dispreferred response:
A: Do you know where the doctor‟s room is?
B: I don‟t know.
From the above example A is asking whether B know where the doctor‟s
room is. B answers “I don‟t know” is a dispreferred answer since A does not
conversation structure used in the comic strip. By finding the conversation
structure, it may help in the second analysis to reveal the patterns of dispreferred
response that Brutus uses as the response to the first part, here the series of
20
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the writer will explain about the object of study and the
method of the study that the writer used in analyzing the topic. In the object of the
study, the writer will describe the object or data of the study, which include the
which written by Art and Chip Sansom. The Born Loser is one of the examples of
comic strip that tell about people’s daily life that contains conversation inside. The
Born Loser is one of the comic strips that The Jakarta Post chooses to publish
inside their newspaper along with some other comic strips. This comic strip tells
about Brutus Thornapple’s life. Brutus Thornapple is the main character in this
comic strip. There are also other characters; they are Gladys Thornapple,
Wilberforce Thornapple, Rancid W. Veeblefester, Ramona Gargle, and Hurricane
Chip Sansom began to continue The Born Loser when he was 14 years old
when his father, the late Art Sansom, first created the strip in 1965. After years of
observing and assisting his father, he assumed that it was his destiny to be a
cartoonist to continue what his father had done.
“I am very happy that The Born Loser is still as appealing to readers, new and old, as it was when it first appeared 45 years ago,” Sansom said. “It is a tribute to the great characters my dad created and his universal and timeless premise that Brutus Thornapple is an everyman, taking the fall for the rest of us in the trials and tribulations we face everyday.”
<http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2010/05/05/the-born-loser- celebrates-45-years/http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2010/05/05/the-born-loser-celebrates-45-years/> (7 July 2010)
After all The Born Loser is one of the most popular comic strips in the
world. It had readers of more than 1,300 in newspapers around the world and on
the Web at www.gocomics.com. It appears daily in more than 35 countries and as
the result it is also translated into nine languages. The Born Loser also gets into a
six-time National Cartoonists Society award nominee for Best Humor Strip in
1991 and 1987. In the 1990, Topper Books published a compilation book The
Born Loser’s Guide to Life
<http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2010/05/05/the-born-loser-celebrates-45-years/> (7 July 2010).
B. Method of the Study
The writer used library and internet research as the method of the study in
analyzing this thesis. The materials were taken from newspapers, library, and
websites. The sources of this study were divided into two, they are primary and
The primary source of the study was the comic strip written by Art and
Chip Sansom, The Born Loser. The secondary sources of this study were books
and articles from internet and library; they included theories, references or any
related topic.
There were some steps that the writer did to analyze the comic strip. First,
the writer collected all comics from July to December 2011. After all the comics
were collected, the writer chose the comics that have Brutus Thornapple as the
first speaker, second, or third speaker to be analyzed. Next, the writer began to
analyze the comics using a conversation analysis and a preference structure view,
this is the first analysis. After finishing the first analysis, the writer began the
second analysis to see the patterns of dispreferred response that Brutus uses as the
response to the first part in the comic strip.
1. Data Collection
The writer collected the data manually from newspapers and websites. The
data was collected during July to December 2011. Not all of the comic strips are
sufficient for the research that is why the writer needs to analyze all the comic
strips and collects the samples.
Strategies that will be used in the manufacture of the sample are purposive
sampling strategy. Based on the book written by Sudjana, Metoda Statistika,
purposive sampling occurs when the sampling is based on personal
In this case, the researcher who asked to collect data on something that has been fixed in advance, in practice he collects necessary data in accordance with the consideration and / or take advantage of all the information in a predetermined category. Thus, taking the sampling unit is determined by the researcher until it is adequate. (Sudjana, 1989: 168)
Based on this technique, the writer decided to take a comic strip with the
following criteria. First, the writer collected all comics that are published during
2011. Next the writer took comics during six months from July to December
2011. After that the writer chose some comics that contain Brutus Thornapple as
the first speaker, second, or third speaker. Finally the comics that have been
selected were ready to be analyzed.
2. Data Analysis
In analyzing the data there were several steps that the writer did. First of
all, the writer started the study by analyzing the data. Then the writer developed a
framework to simplify in writing this thesis. In addition, the author combines the
data that have been collected to the competent writing. The following were steps
undertaken by the writer in conducting the study of this thesis.
As a beginning, all the data were numbered. The writer used numbers
inside brackets to refer to the data used in the analysis. Inside the brackets, there
are 3 numbers that separated by slash. The first number referred to the number of
data used in this thesis. The second number referred to the date of the comic
strips. The third number referred to the month of the comic strips. After that the
writer did some research on the existing comic strips. Furthermore, the writer
chose the comic that is considered enough for conversation to be studied. The
and preference structure. At this step, a comic strip conversation is analyzed using
a conversation analysis to see the turn-taking, adjacency pairs, and sequences; and
deeper using the preference structure to see the preferred and dispreferred
response to some pairs. In the analysis, the writer uses “A”, “B”, or “C” to refer to
the speaker. “A” as the first speaker, “B” as the second speaker, or “C” as the
third speaker.
After analyzing the conversations based on conversation analysis and the
preference structure, the writer then proceed to the next step that is to analyze the
patterns of dispreferred response that Brutus uses as the response to the first part
in the comic strip. Here the writer also applied theory of dispreferred by Yule in
which he presents the pattern of dispreferred response. After finding these results,
the writer then reached the final step of completing the conclusions of the research
25
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
In this chapter, there will be two analyses. These analyses are the answers
of the problems from the first chapter. The first analysis is on the conversation
structure used in the comic strips. The second analysis is to find the patterns of
dispreferred response that Brutus uses as the response to the first part.
The comic strips The Born Loser is one of a daily comic strips that are
posted in a newspaper The Jakarta Post. In the analysis below the writer chooses
comic strips from year 2011 as the samples which are from July, August,
September, October, November, and December to be analyzed. There are 184
comic strips, from those comic strips only 121 that the writer uses as the samples
in the analysis. All comic strips used in the analysis are numbered and represented
in the appendices.
Table of the Comic Strips Used as the Samples
From the above table, it can be seen there are 184 comic strips during July
to December 2011. There are 121 comic strips that will be used in the analysis.
From 184 comic strips, there are 63 comic strips that the writer does not use in
analysis. The writer does not use the comic strips because the comic strips only
contain one speaker talking or there is no Brutus Thornapple there.
The first example of the comic strips that is not used in the analysis is the
comic strip (6/6/vii), it is when Brutus talks to himself. The second comic strip
(1/1/vii), it is also one speaker talking but in this comic strip Gladys talks to
Brutus. In here Gladys complains about Brutus who makes her feel so
embarrassed with his behavior at the party. Brutus who drives the car still quite
and don’t say anything. He’s silence then consider as dispreferred response to
Gladys’ complaint. But the writer also does not use it in the analysis. The third
comic strip (15/15/vii), it is the example of comic strips that has no Brutus as the
speaker. In this comic strip Gladys talks to Ramona Gargle.
A. Analysis of Conversation Structure Used in the Comic Strip
In this analysis, the writer will categorize the conversation into some parts
based on its conversation structure. There are three parts; they are turn-taking,
adjacency pairs, and sequences. The following are the analyses for each part:
1. Turn-taking
Turn-taking is the first part that the writer uses to analyze the
conversation. In this analysis, the writer will analyze the turn pattern of the
turn-taking that are found in the samples. Those patterns contain “A” as the first
speaker, “B” as the second speaker, and “C” as the third speaker. Below are the
patterns and the examples of each pattern:
a. A – B
The writer found 39 A – B pattern in the sample. The following are some
examples of the A – B pattern:
Gladys: There you are! Oh, Good –since you’re not doing anything special...
There’s something I’d like you to do.
Brutus: Hold it right there! I’ll have you know, what I’m doing is very special to
me!
In this conversation (2/2/vii), Gladys is the first speaker. She is talking to
Brutus who is the second speaker.
Brutus: And thas is my argument for why they should abolish the designated hitter!
Do you follow my logic?
Mr. Veeblefester: Trying to make sense of your sense theories is like watching a 3-D movie without the glasses!
In this conversation (40/9/vii), Brutus is the first speaker. He is talking to
his boss Mr. Veeblefester who is the second speaker.
b. A – B – A
There are 36 A – B – A pattern in this sample. The following are some examples:
Brutus: I’d like two seats for today’s game!
The ticket seller: We’re almost sold out – I just have standing room only tickets. Brutus: Okay. Give me two seats in standing room only!
In this conversation (67/5/ix), Brutus is the first speaker. He is talking to
Brutus: My new diet and exercise regimen is really working! Gladys: Good for you! How much have you lost?
Brutus: I’ve lost an X!
In this conversation (89/27/ix), Brutus is the first speaker. He is talking to
Gladys who is the second speaker.
c. A – B – A – B
There are 20 A – B – A – B pattern, the following are some of the examples:
(10.142)
Gladys: Isn’t this yesterday’s weather forecast?
Brutus: Yeah – I recorded it.
Gladys: Why do you want to watch yesterday’s forecast today? You already know what’s happened!
Brutus: I like checking to see how right they got it!
This conversation (142/19/xi) happens between Gladys and Brutus. Gladys
is the first speaker and Brutus is the second speaker.
Gladys: How is mama’s fruitcake? Brutus: It doesn’t taste fresh!
Gladys: How can that be? She just made it last week!
Brutus: Your mother’s fruitcake is staleas soon as it’s made!
This conversation (180/27/xii) happens between Gladys and Brutus.
Gladys is the first speaker and Brutus is the second speaker.
d. A – B – A – B – A
There are 7 A – B – A – B – A pattern, the following are some examples:
Brutus: Hi, Gladys! When’s dinner?
Gladys: Momma asked me to delay it a bit. Brutus: Why?
Gladys: She wanted to catch up on her beauty sleep.
Brutus: We’re in for a long wait!
The conversation (25/25/vii) happens between Brutus and Gladys. Brutus
Wilberforce: Do I have to eat this?
Brutus: That’s fish! Eat it –it’s food for your brain!
Wilberforce: Yeah? Do you eat fish, pop? Brutus: Every chance I get!
Wilberforce: In that case, I’ll pass!
The conversation (56/25/viii) happens between Brutus and Wilberforce.
Brutus is the first speaker and Wilberforce is the second speaker.
e. A – B – A – B – A – B
There are 7 A – B – A – B – A – B pattern. The following are some examples:
Wilberforce: What have you got there, Pop?
Brutus: I’m making s’mores on the charcoal grill!
Wilberforce: Oh, I love s’mores! We made them in camp! Can I help you make them?
Brutus: Are you sure know what to do?
Wilberforce: Absolutely –I’m an expert! I’m the best s’more maker in town!
Brutus: Well, I guess that makes you the good s’more-itan!
The conversation (80/18/ix) happens between Wilberforce and Brutus.
Wilberforce is the first speaker and Brutus is the second speaker.
Brutus: I don’t think you ever said where you went to school.
Wastrel P. Gravesite: I was home-schooled. Brutus: Oh, so you parents taught you? Wastrel P. Gravesite: Nope. I taught myself! Brutus: Really? How did that work?
Wastrel P. Gravesite: Just fine –I gave myself straight A’s!
The conversation (167/14/xii) happens between Brutus and Wastrel.
Brutus is the first speaker and Wastrel is the second speaker.
f. A – B – A – B – A – B – A
There are 3 A – B – A – B – A – B – A pattern. The following are some the
examples:
Wilberforce: Where are you goin’, pop?
Brutus: I’m going to the big opening day game, today!
Brutus: It is, but my boss Mr.Veeblefester, has an extra ticket and he’s taking me! Wilberforce: Wow! How cool is that!
Brutus: And what’s better yet –he’s got a box on the fifty-yard line. Wilberforce: Gee, he better move it before the game starts!
The conversation (73/11/ix) happens between Gladys and Brutus. Gladys
is the first speaker and Brutus is the second speaker.
Gladys: You’re watching a Nascar race? May I join you? Brutus: I didn’t know you followed Nascar, Gladys!
Gladys: All the time! I’ve become good at picking the winners!
Brutus: No kidding? What’s your method – do you do research on the drivers? Gladys: No, see those pictures on the cars?
Brutus: The advertisements for the sponsors’ products?
Gladys: Yes – I just pick the car that has the picture of the candy or cereal I like the best!
The conversation (94/2/x) happens between Gladys and Brutus. Gladys is
the first speaker and Brutus is the second speaker.
g. A – B – B
There are 3 A – B – B pattern. The following are some the examples:
Mr. Veeblefester: Care to hit first?
Brutus: Don’t mind if I do.
- (pause)
Brutus: That does it! I have to get new golf clubs – these clubs are ruining my game
The conversation (3/3/vii) happens between Mr. Veeblefester and Brutus.
Mr. Veeblefester is the first speaker and Brutus is the second speaker.
Brutus: Gladys is away, so I’m having dinner at my favorite spot. Care to join
me?
Mr. Veeblefester: No, thank you. - (pause)
The conversation (61/30/viii) happens between Brutus and Mr.
Veeblefester. Brutus is the first speaker and Mr. Veeblefester is the second
speaker.
h. A – B – C
There are 2 A – B – C patterns. The following are the examples:
Wilberforce: Do you always hold your fork in your right hand when you eat, pop?
Brutus: No, I hold it in either hand. I guess when it comes to eating, I’m
ambidextrous!
Gladys: In other words, he holds his fork in whichever hand will get the food in his mouth the quickest!
The conversation (116/24/x) happens among Wilberforce, Brutus and
Gladys. Wilberforce is the first speaker, Brutus is the second speaker, and Gladys
is the third speaker.
Wilberforce: Tell me again how Santa delivers the presents on Christmas Eve? Brutus: He delivers them all with a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer! Ramona Gargle: The way Santa’s been packing on the pounds this year, he’s
going to need a bigger rig!
The conversation (177/24/xii) happens among Wilberforce, Brutus, and
mother Gargle. Wilberforce is the first speaker, Brutus is the second speaker, and
mother Gargle is the third speaker.
i. A – B – C – BC
There is only 1 A – B – C – BC pattern. The following is the example:
Brutus: How was your trick-or-treating?
Hurricane: Horrible! It was terrifying out there!
Wilberforce: I’ve never been so scared in my life!
The conversation (123/31/x) happens among Brutus, Hurricane, and
Wilberforce. Brutus is the first speaker, Hurricane is the second speaker, and
Wilberforce is the third speaker.
j. A – B – A – C
There are 2 A – B – A – C pattern. The following are the examples:
Wilberforce: How old are you, Mom?
Gladys: Don’t you know not to ask a woman her age?
Wilberforce: Why not?
Brutus: Because she’ll just fib about it!
The conversation (23/23/vii) happens among Wilberforce, Gladys and
Brutus. Wilberforce is the first speaker, Gladys is the second speaker, and Brutus
is the third speaker.
Brutus: I think I just had a senior moment!
Wilberforce: What’s that?
Brutus: That’s when an older person has a temporary memory lapse.
Gladys: Of course, daddy has been having those moments since his twenties!
The conversation (182/29/xii) happens among Brutus, Wilberforce, and
Gladys. Brutus is the first speaker, Wilberforce is the second speaker, and Gladys
is the third speaker.
k. A – B – A – B – A – C
There is only 1 A – B – A – B – A – C pattern. The following is the example:
Brutus: Are you enjoying your chocolate soda, son?
Will: Wow, Pop! Where did you learn to make such a good soda?
Brutus: I learned the old-fashioned way- I worked my way through college as a soda jerk!
Will: What’s a soda jerk?
Brutus: A person who makes sundaes, shakes and sodas at an ice cream parlor!
Unfortunately, times have changed and there aren’t many soda jerks
The conversation (10/10/vii) happens among Wilberforce, Brutus, and
Ramona Gargle. Wilberforce is the first speaker, Brutus is the second speaker, and
Ramona Gargle is the third speaker.
From the analysis of turn-taking there are 11 patterns of turn-taking that
are marked by sign A as the first speaker, B as the second speaker, and C as the
third speaker. The most dominant pattern is the A – B pattern. There are 39 comic
strips which contain the A – B pattern.
2. Adjacency Pairs
There are 7 pairs of the adjacency pairs that are greeting – greeting,
summon – answer, question – answer, compliment – acceptance/rejection,
complain – apology/denial, offer – accept/reject, and request – grant/refusal. The
following are the examples of each adjacency pairs:
a. Greeting – Greeting
Brutus: Hi, Wilberforce!→ greeting
Wilberforce: Hi, pop! How was golf? → greeting
Brutus: I played eighteen holes, and shot one hundred twenty! Wilberforce: Is that good?
Brutus: It is when you play twenty seven holes!
Brutus: Say, you recently moved to my street, didn’t you? I’m Brutus Thornapple! → greeting
Peter Pfeiffer: Hello, Brutus! My name is Peter Pfeiffer –that’s with a silent P. → greeting
Brutus: Nice to meet you, Eter!
From the two examples above the first and the second speaker has a good
cooperation by giving a feedback for the greeting. In the first example (86/24/ix)
Brutus on the way backs from playing golf and meets Wilberforce. Brutus begins
Hi. In the second example (160/7/xii)Brutus meets Peter at the bus stop. Brutus
begins the conversation, he greets Peter Say as he introduces himself. Peter greets
him back Hello and also introduce himself.
b. Summon – Answer
Gladys: Brutus, it’s nine o’clock! Aren’t you getting up?→ summon Brutus: I’m sick, Gladys.→ answer
Gladys: Is it bad? Brutus: Bad?
There is nothing worse than being sick on the first day of vacation!
Wilberforce: Hey, pop! I can’t find the baseball game on TV! → summon Brutus: Today’s game isn’t being televised. → answer
Wilberforce: You mean, I’ve gotta watch the game on the radio?
From the two examples above the first speaker summons the second
speaker. Both second speaker answers the summons of the first speaker. In the
first example (32/1/viii) Gladys summons Brutus because he is not wake up yet
from the bed. Brutus answers her summons and says that he is sick. In the second
example (37/6/viii) Wilberforce summons his father Brutus because he cannot
find the baseball game on TV. Brutus answers him and says that the game is not
From the two examples above the second speaker is really cooperative by
giving some answers for the first speaker’s questions. In the first (131/8/xi) and
second (152/29/xi)example Brutus asks Gladys about the food he eats, Gladys is
very cooperative by giving the answers.
d. Compliment – Acceptance/Rejection
Mr. Veeblefester: Do you have a moment, Thornapple? - (pause)
Mr. Veeblefester: Congratulations on landing the hart account! It was the highlight of an otherwise mediocre year for us! → compliment So I have decided to award you a five-hundred-dollar bonus! Brutus: Gee, thanks, chief! This will really come in handy for my holiday
shopping! → acceptance
I’d like to mention that Dingle and Schunk provided valuable support in
getting this done...
Perhaps you could consider them for bonuses as well?
Mr. Veeblefester: Very well (taking the money back) –in that case, I’ll give each of you one hundred!
From the example above (164/11/xii) the second speaker who is Brutus
thanks for the compliment given by the first speaker who is Mr. Veeblefester.
e. Complaint - Apology/Denial
Mr. Veeblefester: This new product design was in the fax machine –I’ve told you to only send digital image files!→ complaint
Brutus: Sorry, chief, I forgot – I guess sending faxes is a force of habit with me!
→ apology
Mr. Veeblefester: Read my lips – no new faxes!
Mr. Veeblefester: You are making too many errors, Thornapple! → complain Think before you speak!
Brutus: I promise I will from now on, chief! → apology
There won’t be any more careless mistooks!
The two examples above (39/8/viii) and (145/22/xii) both have apology as
f. Offer - Accept/Reject
The waitress: May I help you, sir? → offer
Brutus: I’d like an ice cream cone. →accept The waitress: What flavor would you like? Brutus: What flavors do you have?
The waitress: All of them? Okay, here goes – vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, chocolate chip, cookie dough, peppermint stick, peach...
Coffee, mocha chip, chocolate almond, maple walnut, butter crunch, pistachio, banana, caramel, coconut, frozen pudding, peanut butter, black raspberry...
Lemon crisp, mint chip, cantaloupe, butter rum, penuche, fresh berry and
ginger! Whew! What’ll it be? Brutus: I’ll have vanilla!
Brutus: Is there something you want?→ offer
Hurricane Hattie: Sorry to bother you, but can you tell me what time it is? →
accept
Brutus: No bother. Let’s see... It’s four-fifteen. Hurricane Hattie: -
Brutus: Is there something else?
Hurricane Hattie: Yeah – sorry to bother you again, but what time is it now?
From the two examples above (45/14/viii) and (101/9/x), the offer is
accepted by the second speaker. In the first example and the second example
Brutus accept the offer given by the waitress and Hurricane.
g. Request – Grant/Refusal
Brutus: Gladys, would you please bring me a pitcher of ice water? → request Gladys: Good idea – in this heat, you should drink lots of water to stay hydrated!
→ grant
Brutus: Drink? I’m going to pour it over my head!
Wastrel P. Gravesite: Yo, ace! Can you loan me twenty bucks till payday? →
request
Brutus: I guess that will be okay. And just when is payday? → grant Wastrel P. Gravesite: Don’t ask me – I quit this morning!
From the two examples above (46/15/viii) and (91/29/ix) the request is
granted by the second speaker. In the first example the request is granted by
In this analysis of adjacency pairs the writer finds 89 comic strips that
contain dispreferred response. From the conversation most of the characters tend
to disagree or give a refusal as the response to the first part. From the 89 comic
strips, there are 42 comic strips that contain dispreferred responses, those are
produced by Brutus. From all the characters, Brutus is the one who gives more a
disagreement or a refusal as the response.
3. Sequences
They are pre-sequences that contain pre-request and pre-announcement, insertions
sequence, and opening sequence. Below are the examples of each part:
a. Pre-sequences
There are 2 pre-sequences, they are pre-request and pre-announcement. The
following are the examples:
i. Pre-request
Brutus: What would you recommend for me, tonight?→ pre-request Waiter: Without question, our house specialty – chateaubriand for two! Brutus: Would I have to share?
The conversation (11/11/vii) takes place in a restaurant where Brutus
wants to have his dinner with Gladys. Brutus then asks the waiter What would you
recommend for me, tonight? That question is a pre-request. Brutus asks the waiter
before he chooses the food for the dinner.
Brutus: What do you recommend?→ pre-request
The waiter: Today’s special – twin lobsters!
Brutus begins the conversation (99/7/x) by asking the waiter what do you
recommend? That question is a pre-request. Brutus asks him about menu that the
waiter recommended for him. By asking the waiter Brutus indicates that he does
not yet choose the menu.
ii. Pre-announcement
Brutus: My mother-in-law is driving me nuts! → pre- announcement
Brutus’ friend: What’s new?
Brutus: She is certifiable neat freak!
Brutus’ friend: How so?
Brutus: She insists I scrub out our garbage cans before I put trash in them!
The conversation above (29/29/vii) happens between Brutus and his
friend. Brutus then begins the conversation by saying that My mother-in-law is
driving me nuts! This statement then responds by his friend by asking What’s
new? This question leads the conversation to the next turn that Brutus answers the
question but this answer is not clear yet so Brutus’ friend asks him again How so?
Finally Brutus answers the question by explaining what happens.
Brutus: I think I just had a senior moment!→ pre-announcement
Wilberforce: What’s that?
Brutus: That’s when an older person has a temporary memory lapse.
Gladys: Of course, daddy has been having those moments since his twenties!
The conversation (182/29/12) begins when Brutus says I think I just had a
senior moment!.This statement is a pre-announcement. Wilberforce who does not
know about that asks him a question. Brutus answered the question. He explains
to Wilberforce what it means. Gladys then comments on Brutus’ answer as she
b. Insertion Sequence
Brutus: Switch your shoes, Wilberforce.→ order
Wilberforce: Why?→ question
Brutus: The shoe on your right side should be on your left side and vice versa! →
answer
Wilberforce: There! How’s that?→ accept
The conversation (9/9/vii) happens between Brutus and Wilberforce.
Brutus who sees Wilberforce use his shoes in the wrong way tells him to switch
his shoes. Wilberforce gives his respond by asking why. Brutus answers the
Wilberforce: What have you got there, pop?→ Q1 Brutus: I’m making s’mores on the charcoal grill! → A1
Wilberforce: Oh, I love s’mores! We made them in camp! Can I help you make them? → Q2
Brutus: Are you sure you know what to do? → Q3
Wilberforce: Absolutely – I’m an expert! I’m the best s’more maker in town! →
A3
Brutus: Well, I guess that makes you the good s’more-itan!→A2
The conversation (80/18/ix) happens between Wilberforce and Brutus.
Wilberforce begins the conversation by asking Brutus What have you got there,
pop?. Brutus answers the question by telling him that he makes s’mores.
Wilberforce then asks Brutus whether he can help him. Brutus makes sure
whether Wilberforce really wants to help him. Wilberforce tells him that he wants
to help, he even tries convincing Brutus that he is good at it. Brutus then allows
There are three question – answer sequences. The turn is Q1 – A1 – Q2
Q3 – A3 – A2. Between the second sequence Q2 – Q3 there is another sequence
Q3 – A3. Sequence Q3 – A3 is the insertion sequence because it inserts between
Q2 and A2.
c. Opening Sequence
Brutus: Hi, Wilberforce!
Wilberforce: Hi, pop! How was golf?
Brutus: I played eighteen holes, and shot one hundred twenty! Wilberforce: Is that good?
Brutus: It is when you play twenty seven holes!
The conversation (86/24/ix) happens between Brutus and Wilberforce.
Brutus begins the conversation by greeting Hi, Wilberforce!. Wilberforce returns
the greeting by saying Hi, pop! to Brutus. The word Hi indicates the beginning of
the conversation and also as the opening sequence.
From the three parts of the conversation analysis, the adjacency pairs with
dispreferred response is the first dominant part and follow by turn-taking A – B
pattern in the second place. There are 89 comic strips that contain dispreferred
response and 39 comic strips which contain turn-taking A – B pattern. The
complete result of the analysis can be seen in the table Analysis of Conversation
B. The Patterns of Dispreferred Response that Brutus Uses as the Response
to the First Part
The Born Loser is one of the comic strips published in The Jakarta Post
every day. The comic strips told about a man named Brutus Thornapple. In the
comic strips, there are conversations between Brutus and the other characters.
Sometimes there is no conversation just some pictures of Brutus doing something
or talks with no listener.
In this analysis, the writer studies the conversation between Brutus and
other characters. From the first analysis, the writer finds that the most dominant
part of conversation structure that occurs in the comic strips are turn-taking A- B
pattern and adjacency pairs: dispreferred response or the unexpected response.
From 121 comic strips there are 39 comic strips that contain turn-taking A – B
pattern and 89 comic strips that contain dispreferred response. From 89 comic
strips there are 42 comic strips that contain dispreferred response produced by
Brutus.
The comic strips that will be analyzed are the one which has at least two
speakers. Yule in his book Pragmatics (1996:81) writes about some elements of
second part that are considered as dispreferred response. This list of elements also
becomes guidance for the write to analyze the patterns of dispreferred response
that Brutus uses in the comic strips.
How to do a dispreferred Example
a. delay/hesitate pause; er; em; ah
b. preface well; oh
c. express doubt I’m not sure; I don’t know d. token Yes that’s great; I’d love to
f. mention obligation I must do X; I’m expected in Y g. appeal for understanding you see; you know
h. make it non-personal everybody else; out there i. give an account too much work; no time left j. use mitigators really; mostly; sort of; kinda k. hedge the negative I guess not; not possible
In this second analysis, the writer finds some elements that occur in the
comic strips. There are 6 patterns that consider dispreferred response in the comic
strips. These patterns are based on Yule’s lists above. The following are the list of
the possibility answers and some of the examples that produce by Brutus that the
writer finds in the comic strips.
1. Giving an Account
Most of the dispreferred patterns that are produced by Brutus are giving an
account. There are 28 comic strips that use this pattern. The following are some of
the examples:
Brutus: I need a book of stamps... On second thought, better make it a whole roll stamps!
The clerk: Oh, a lot of friends to write? Brutus: A lot of bills!
The conversation (19/19/vii) happens between Brutus and a clerk. Brutus
Gladys: I can’t take any more of this hot, humid weather. I’d prefer a winter
blizzard! Brutus: I disagree.
Gladys: You do? Then tell me one thing that’s better about this kind of weather!
Brutus: I don’t have to shovel it!
The conversation (50/19/viii) happens between Brutus and Gladys. Gladys
complains about the weather. She says that she prefers the winter blizzard to the
hot humid weather. Brutus disagrees with her. Gladys then asks him one thing that
he thinks is better about the weather. Brutus says it is because he does not need to
shovel anything. In this conversation Brutus gives straight comment of disagree
response to Gladys. He also gives an account when Gladys asks him about one
thing that he thinks is better about the weather.
Mr. Veeblefester: Thornapple, it’s three o’clock and you’re still working on that
report?
You promised you would finish it before lunch!
Brutus: I haven’t eaten, yet!
The conversation (68/6/ix) happens between Mr. Veeblefester and Brutus.
Mr. Veeblefester complains about the report Brutus is working on. He complains
because it’s already three o’clock and Brutus still does not finish working on it.
He also complains because Brutus promises to finish it before the lunch time.
Brutus tells him that he has not eaten yet that means it is not past the lunch time.