phatic communion is a cultural concept which differs across cultures. according to hofstede (2001), the u.s. tends to have individualistic culture; however, asian countries tend to have collectivistic cultures. these cultures view phatic communion differently. in individualistic cultures like u.s., phatic communion reflects speakers’ socio-cultural relationships in conversations. to see whether...

august wilson is undoubtedly one of the rare black playwrights whose works have attracted streams of attention and worldwide audience. the present study aims at analyzing fences and piano lesson which are two of the most successful plays in his pittsburgh cycle from the perspective of michel foucault’s theories and ideas. studying these two plays from foucault’s perspective opens new windows in...

in this research the focus of the researcher is on the influence of american myths that have long been held and offered by the american culture and ideologies. sam shepard is conceived to be one of the greatest playwrights of the contemporary american theater. in his works he depicts broken characters who are struggling to keep up with the national expectations but are ceaselessly borne back to...

tennessee williams (1911-1983), the modern american dramatist, had his own unique school of dramaturgy. the dramas which he depicted are populated by characters who are lonely, desperate, in anxiety, alienated and in one word lost. they face challenges which they may overcome or not, through the choices they make. all these moods and conditions are clearly seen and explained in the theory of ex...

this study focuses on jane austens representation of her heroines in two of her novels: pride and prejudice, and mansfield park. i have concentrated only on a single idea: how jane austen takes her heroines through a course of psychogical reformation to which almost everything else in her novel is subsidiary. although i have discussed only pride and prejudice, we can trace austens carefully pla...

according to coates’s (2004, as cited in zhang, 2010) definition of "conversational dominance" (p.111), it refers to the phenomenon of a speaker dominating others in interaction. specifically, it means how a speaker makes use of certain strategies to get the floor and maintain the floor. thus, the amount of talk is the main measurement for the dominance of the conversation. whether a speaker do...

abstract the present study deals with a comparison between reactive and pre-emptive focus-on-form in terms of application and efficiency. it was conducted in an intermediate english class in shahroud. 15 male learners participated in this research and their age ranged from 18 to 25. a course book, new interchange 3, and a complementary book were used. every session the learners gave lectures o...

ii abstract the legend of human being’s refulgence was distorted completely in the age of modernity. this new age, had some drastic negative effects, besides its positive qualities. one significant negative effect of it was the emergence of neurosis in human beings. aldous huxley’s brave new world was one of the novels of the 02 th century that contained the prophecy of criticizing ...

this thesis is based upon the works of samuel beckett. one of the greatest writers of contemporary literature. here, i have tried to focus on one of the main themes in becketts works: the search for the real "me" or the real self, which is not only a problem to be solved for beckett man but also for each of us. i have tried to show becketts techniques in approaching this unattainable goal, base...

this study intends to investigate samuel beckett’s waiting for godot and endgame under the lacanian psychoanalysis. it begins by explaining the most important concepts of lacanian psychoanalysis. the beckettian characters are studied regarding their state of unconscious, and not the state of consciousness as is common in most beckett studies. according to lacan, language plays the sole role in ...