Transcript Deborah Tannen, “Cross Talk” (371-377)

Deborah Tannen, “Cross Talk” (371377)
Who is Tannen’s audience for this essay? What is her
rhetorical purpose? What evidence from the essay
supports your answers?
What reasons does Tannen give or imply for the source
of differences between the ways men and women use
language?
What kinds of evidence does Tannen use to support her
comparison and contrast?
How does the Dilbert cartoon affect your understanding
of Tannen’s essay?
Do you agree or disagree with parts of Tannen’s
argument? Why or why not?
Tannen’s Thesis Statement
“These differences in management styles are one of the
many manifestations of gender differences in how we
talk to one another. Women use language to create
connection and rapport; men use it to negotiate their
status in a hierarchical order. It isn’t that women are
unaware of status or that men don’t build rapport, but
that the genders tend to focus on different goals”
(372)
 What is Tannen’s basis of comparison?
 What are Tannen’s points of comparison?
 How might we revise Tannen’s thesis statement to
include these elements?