It is time for an assignment.
- Get in a group of three or four people.
- Select one person to be the note-taker.
- For the next ten minutes, come up with as many examples as you can of when a person says one thing but it is not EXACTLY what she was saying.
For example, if I say,
“Would you mind passing me the ketchup?”
I am not really asking if it bothers you to touch ketchup or if you would be upset if you had to share ketchup with me. What I am thinking is that I want some ketchup and I want you to hand the bottle to me so that I can have some.
If I say, “I am going to kill Willie Davis, ” I am thinking that he did something that made me angry. I am not thinking that I am going to lie in wait outside the college with a hatchet and decapitate him as he gets into his car.
When your ten minutes are up, take one or more of the examples from your group and post it on The Julia Group forum.