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“ What is the use of vows? They are not what binds people. If you feel in a certain way
about a thing, that binds you to it; if you don’t feel that way, nothing else can bind you “
(Voynich, Gadfly: 29)

2. On the TV show “Hawaii 5-0” there is the following conversation:
- I made a promise to someone; I promised to marry him.
- Okay, a promise, but not a vow. You have the right to change your mind.

Explain this distinction between a promise and a vow in terms of their respective felicity
conditions.

3. It is often difficult to make a refusal. List as many refusal formulas (negative commissives) as
you can.

4. In breaking a promise in nonbusiness situations, we offer explanations and excuses. Would a
negative commissive in business transactions be accompanied by explanations and excuses.
Why? Why not?

5. An instructor says to a student, “If you don’t hand in your paper on time I promise you I will
give you a failing grade.” The utterance is obviously not a promise but a warning or a threat.
Why is it possible to use the locution “I promise”?

 REPRESENTATIVES

1. Examine the representatives that writers produce in making claims in different types of
texts.

2. When people do not want to be responsible for the truth of their claims, what range of
hedges can they use?

3. List as many “uncertainty markers” as you can.

4. List as many “certainty markers” as you can.

 DECLARATIONS

1. In what circumstances would the utterances “You’re fired”, “Out”, “You’re on” be
declaratives?

 EXPRESSIVES

1. List five examples of expressives that show
a) joy
b) sorrow
c) disapproval
and arrange them along your own strength continuum.

 SPEECH EVENTS

1. Make a list of situations that require a complaint speech event.