Discourse Analysis
“Discourse analysis” is the method in which we critically read the “discourse” – all of the writing, notes, images, etc – about an object. We ask: who wrote this and why? What does it tell us about popular, mainstream understanding of this object?
Starting with Google, you’ll look into what the everyday knowledge of the monument is. What images are available? What writing pops up first? If you were not an academic researcher, but just a person looking for info, what would you learn – quickly & easily – about this monument?
Describe and analyze at least 3-5 different pieces of “discourse” that you find. Who wrote them? When? Where and how were they published? Importantly: how does this add to – or change – the dominant ways that the monument is represented in the mainstream?
Write up an analytic paragraph that explains how mainstream culture views, and what they know, about the monument. Compare this with that you have found in your library research. What is missing from each side of the story? How do these two perspectives add to, or change, or complicate each other?
