Does/Says Analysis

1. Does/Says Analysis • All writing both does something and says something. • What it does is its purpose or function. • What it says is its semantic content. EXAMPLE: “Dad, can I borrow the car tonight?” • What is this person saying? Obvious enough. • What is this person doing? She is “asking for permission.”

2. Does/Says at the Paragraph Level • Every paragraph • must serve a purpose/function in your paper (what it does). • That purpose… • must be linked directly to your thesis. • is usually to establish part or all of a single claim. • also expresses that purpose/function in its semantic content (what it says). • Topic sentence: the sentence that expresses the paragraph’s purpose.

3. Functional Outlines • An outline should reflect what each paragraph does and what it says. • The “functional outline” • contains the purpose of each paragraph (does), • the topic sentence of that paragraph (says) and • a summary of the content of the paragraph (says).

4. An example from a simpler paper... • Thesis: In the novel, The Poisonwood Bible, the Price family appears quite normal on the surface—a minister father, a hard-working mother, and four talented daughters. However, when they face the challenges of missionary work in Africa, this stress reveals the inability of the parents to provide the safe haven needed by their daughters in this unfamiliar world.

5. An example from a simpler paper... • Paragraph Two: • Does/Purpose: Describes the form of the Price family and compares it to the statistical norm for the time • Topic sentence: The Price family are, by outward appearances, the average American family of the early 1960s.

6. An example from a simpler paper... • Paragraph Two: • Says/Content: • Demography reflects statistical norm especially in period book is set (1960s): Working father, stay-at-home mom, four biological daughters (Coontz, 2005; Foster, 2003) • Family = middle-class (PW: 14-20) • Family = structurally intact (PW: 22-23)

7. Some writing purpose words • Describe • Provide • ??

8. An example from a research paper... • Working Thesis: Although each side of the controversy around sealed adoption records has good arguments, the evidence seems to suggest that it is time to open the records.

9. An example from a research paper... • Paragraph 3 • DOES Supports assertion that parties are in favor of opening records with findings from studies of adoptive parents • T.S. Research studies also show that some adoptive parents lean towards accepting open records and support their adoptive children in looking for their biological parents.

10. An example from a research paper... • SAYSMany adoptive parents understand that that this search for information is a personal need (Behne, 1996), and many adoptive parents support their children’s searches for information (Hilderbrand, 2000). In one study, 83% of adoptive mothers and 73% of adoptive fathers felt that adult adoptees should be able to obtain a copy of their original birth certificate. (Avery, 1997) Most adoptive parents know deep within themselves that they adopted because they wanted the chance to parents, not because they were promised a lifetime of secrecy.(Behne) Many adoptive parents find that their relationship with their adoptees improve after a reunion with the biological parents, after the adoptee has put aside their curiosity and fantasies about their biological parents, a greater sense of appreciation for adoptive parents is finally possible (Kuhns, 1997).