EHRD 656

Narrative Analysis
Texas A&M University
Spring 2006

Instructor:

M. Carolyn Clark
Educational Administration and Human Resource Development
560 Harrington Tower
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-4226
(979) 845-4086 [office]
FAX: (979) 862-4347
E-mail: cclark@tamu.edu

Location:

College Station: 603 Harrington

San Antonio, Center School

Schedule:

Mondays 5-8 pm

Establishing a Safe Classroom Environment

Learning takes place best when a safe environment is established in the
classroom. To this end, we will seek to support an environment that nurtures
individual and group differences and encourages engaged, honest discussions.
We hope that together we create a safe environment where everyone feels
comfortable to share and explore ideas. In the course of class discussions, it is
quite possible that disagreements will arise. We welcome disagreements in the
spirit of critical academic exchange, but please remember to be respectful of
other points of view, whether you agree with them or not. In this class,
derogatory comments based on race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation,
or nationality will not be tolerated.
ADA Statement
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute
that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities.
Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be
guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation
for their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an
accommodation, please contact the Office of Support Services for Students with
Disabilities in Room 126 of the Student Services Building. The phone number is
(979) 845-1637.

Faculty Senate Statement on Plagiarism

The handouts used in this course are copyrighted. By handouts I mean all
materials generated for this class, which include but are not limited to syllabi,
quizzes, exams, lab problems, in-class materials, review sheets, and additional
problem sets. Because these materials are copyrighted, you do not have the
right to copy the handouts, unless I expressly grant permission. As commonly
defined, plagiarism consists of passing off as ones own ideas, words, writings,
etc., which belong to another. In accordance with this definition, you are
committing plagiarism if you copy the work of another person and turn it in as
your own, even if you should have the permission of that person. Plagiarism is
one of the worst academic sins, for the plagiarist destroys the trust among
colleagues without which research cannot be safely communicated. If you have
any questions regarding plagiarism, please consult the latest issue of the Texas
A&M University Student Rules, under the section Scholastic Dishonesty.
I have, unfortunately, encountered acts of plagiarism in some of my courses. I
take plagiarism very seriously. Any student caught plagiarizing will receive an
automatic F in this class.
Required Texts
Lieblich, A, Tuval-Mashiach, R., and Zilber, T. (1998). Narrative research:
Reading, analysis, and interpretation. Applied Social Research Methods Series,
vol. 47, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Mattingly, C. (1998). Healing dramas and clinical plots: The narrative structure of
experience. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.
Linde, C. (1993). Life stories: The creation of coherence. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Riessman, C. K. (1993). Narrative analysis. Qualitative Research Methods
Series, vol. 30. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Vanderford, M. L., & Smith, D. H. (1996). The silicone breast implant story:
Communication and uncertainty. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
A packet of readings is also available at Copy Corner (their new location is at
2307 Texas Avenue). For those of you in The Woodlands, Copy Corner will mail
your copycall Vicki Ward at (979) 693-0640.

Course Description
This course examines in depth one particular mode of qualitative research
narrative analysis. It takes as its starting point the belief that as human beings
we understand ourselves and our experiences by telling stories. These can be
as specific as accounts of particular events, or as broad as an entire life story.
Meaning-making involves storying. The task of narrative analysis is to
understand those stories, examining not only their content but also their
structure. Analyzing content is fundamental to any mode of qualitative research;
what narrative analysis offers is a chance to expand our understanding of
informants by examining how they tell us what they want us to know. Narrative
structure is both holistic (the form the story takes) and particular (the language
used to tell it). Narrative analysis, then, addresses both the content and the form
of interview data.
To understand narrative inquiry, we will explore a wide variety of theoretical
approaches and applications, and above all, many exemplars of narrative
analysis. The class has been organized around a series of questions including:
What is narrative? How are narratives elicited? What is the relationship between
narrative and identity, both of self and other? What are the processes used to
collaborate in constructing stories through interaction? How do we make sense
of narratives, i.e., provide credible, insightful analysis? What are the criteria for a
good story and how do we choose among conflicting stories? Such queries are
reflexive and iterative, coming into play at several points, and in many ways,
throughout the class.
Course Assignments
Attendance and Participation

(15% of course grade)

I am expecting that members of this class will participate in seminar style, i.e.,
assigned readings will be completed before each class and you will come
prepared to discuss them. Since a seminar is only as good as the totality of
contributions that occur within it, I encourage everyones active participation in
terms of raising questions, making observations and sharing insights, and
providing feedback to your colleagues. A major aspect of participation, in the
form of homework or in-class exercises, will be opportunities to apply theory
and approaches featured in the readings in order to analyze a variety of narrative
texts.
Mid Term Collaborative Project

(35% of course grade)

The mid-term will be a project in which you will work with a partner (current
qualitative research is often conducted in a team format). You will be given a
segment of an interview and will be asked to conduct an in-depth analysis of it.
(Detailed instructions to follow.)

Final Project

(50% of course grade)

Apply one or more methods of narrative analysis that we have studied in class to
your own research. Those of you who are already collecting your dissertation
data should use this; those not yet at that stage will need to negotiate with me a
project that will be either a pilot study for your dissertation or another research
project in which you are involved. Select one or more segments of interview data
that you consider particularly important to your study and analyze the
narrative(s). Present your findings to the class, and develop a 15-20 page paper
on your analysis.
Reading Assignments
20 January

Introductions and Course Overview

27 January

Entering the World of Narrative

D&L 3.5 (Gergen)
Riessman, Introduction and Ch. 1
Linde, Chs. 1-2

3 February

Negotiating the World of Narrative

Ochberg
Chase and Bell
Mishler
D&L 1.4 (Mark Freeman)

10 February

Analytic Approaches, Part I

Borman
Burke
Birdsell

17 February

Analytic Approaches, Part II

Assigned: Group Analysis Projects
Riessman, Chs. 2-3
Gee
Linde, Ch. 3

24 February

Eliciting Life Stories

Due: Group Analysis Reports
Chase (1995)
Ellis et al.
Terry Gross Interview with Laura Hillenbrand
[go to npr.org, select Fresh Air, archives, and the
program for July 29, 2003]

3 March

Narrating the Self

Due: Description of Final Project
Linde, Ch. 4
Bloom
Clark
And choose two of the following:
D&L 2.4 (Stanley & Billig)
D&L 2.3 (Bamberg)
D&L 1.1 (Sarbin)
D&L 1.2 (Lightfoot)

10 March

Analytic Approaches, Part III

Due: Midterm Collaborative Project
Linde, Chs. 5-8
Poirier & Ayres
Rogers et al.

17 March

Spring Break

24 March

Cultural Narratives
D&L 1.3 (Mendenhall et al.)
D&L 3.2 (Carney)
D&L 3.3 (Stewart & Malley)
D&L 3.4 (Chandler et al.)

31 March

Narratives of Healing
Mattingly, Chs. 5 & 7
Langellier
Peck
Maxwell, Chs. 2 & 4
AA: There Is a Solution

7 April

Narratives of Self and Others

Chase (1996)
Josselson
Ellis

14 April

Public Narratives
V&S, Chs. 1-5

21 April

Public Narratives, Part II

V&S, Chs. 6-10

28 April

Presentations of Final Projects

Due: Final Projects

Bibliography

Alcoholics Anonymous (1976). There is a solution. New York: AA World

Services.
Birdsell, D. S. (1989). Ronald Reagan on Lebanon and Grenada. In Brock,
Scott, & Chesebro (Eds.) Methods of rhetorical criticism. Detroit: Wayne
State University Press.
Bloom, L. R. (1998). Under the sign of hope: Feminist methodology and
narrative interpretation. (pp. 61-96) Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Bormann, E. G. (1985). Symbolic convergence theory: A communication
formulation. Journal of Communication, 35, 128-138.
Burke, K. (1945). A Grammar of motives. (pp. xv-xxiii). New York: Prentiss-Hall.

Charon, R. (Oct. 28, 2003). Stories in medicine. Morning Edition (NPR archives
on-line). http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfld=1480863
Chase, S. E. (1995). Taking narrative seriously. In R. Josselson & A. Lieblich,
(Eds.), Interpreting experience. The Narrative Study of Lives, vol. 3.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Chase, S. E. (1996). Personal Vulnerability and interpretive authority in narrative
research. In R. Josselson & A. Lieblich, (Eds.) Ethics and process. The
Narrative Study of Lives, vol. 4. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Chase, S. E. & Bell, C. S. (1994). Interpreting the complexity of womens
subjectivity. In E. M. McMahan & K. L. Rogers (Eds.) Interactive oral
history interviewing. (pp. 63-81). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Clark, M. C. (2001). Incarcerated women and the construction of the self. In R.
M. Cervero, B. C. Courtenay, & C. H. Monaghan (Eds.) The Cyril O.
Houle Scholars in Adult and Continuing Education Program Global
Research Perspectives: Vol. 1. (pp. 14-27). Department of Adult
Education: University of Georgia.
Ellis, C. (1997). Evocative autoethnography: Writing emotionally about our
lives. In W. G. Tierney & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Representation and the
text. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Ellis, C., Kiesinger, C. E., & Tillmann-Healy, L. M. (1997). Interactive
interviewing: Talking about emotional experience. In R. Hertz (Ed.),
Reflexivity and voice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Gee, J. P. (1985). The narrativization of experience in the oral style. Journal of
Education, 167(1), 9-35.
Gross, T. (July 29, 2003). Interview with Laura Hillenbrand. Fresh Air (NPR
archives on-line). http://freshair.npr.org/guest_fa.jhtml
Josselson, R. (1996). On writing other peoples lives: Self-analytic reflections of
a narrative researcher. In R. Josselson & A. Lieblich, (Eds.) Ethics and
process. The Narrative Study of Lives, vol. 4. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Langellier, K. M. (2001). Youre marked: Breast cancer, tattoo, and the
narrative performance of identity. In J. Brockmeier & D. Carbaugh (Eds.),
Narrative and identity: Studies in autobiography, self, and culture.
Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Mattingly, C. (1998). Healing dramas and clinical plots. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press.

Maxwell, M. A. (1984). The AA experience. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Mishler, E. G. (1986). The analysis of interview-narratives. In T. R. Sarbin

(Ed.), Narrative Psychology: The storied nature of human conduct. (pp.
233-255). New York: Praeger.
Ochberg, R. L. (1994). Life stories and storied lives. In R. Josselson & A.
Lieblich, (Eds.) Exploring identity and gender. The Narrative Study of
Lives, vol. 2. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Peck, J. (1996). The mediated talking cure: Therapeutic framing of
autobiography in TV talk shows. In S. Smith & J. Watson (Eds.), Getting a
life: Everyday uses of autobiography. (pp. 134-155). Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.
Poirier, S., & Ayres, L. (1997). Endings, secrets, and silences: Overreading in
narrative inquiry. Research in Nursing and Health, 20, 551-557.
Rogers, A. G., Casey, M. E., Ekert, J., Holland, J., Nakkula, V., & Sheinberg, N.
(1999). An interpretive poetics of languages of the unsayable. In R.
Josselson & A. Lieblich, (Eds.) Making meaning of narratives. The
Narrative Study of Lives, vol. 6. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.