10. Notes on story structure and the organization of participation

This chapter investigates the interactive organization invoked and sustained through the telling of a single story in natural conversation. Among the phenomena examined are (1) how the participants organize themselves in relation to each other through the telling, with particular attention to how telling-specific identities, such as teller, addressed recipient, nonaddressed recipient, and principal character, are made relevant, displayed, and differentiated from each other; (2) ways in which the distinguishable subcomponents of the story are analyzed; (3) how participants display with their bodies as well as with their talk orientation to the alternative possibilities for action that the different subcomponents provide, and (4) how participants, through attention to both the internal structure of the talk and their place within it, manage shifting but concurrent involvement in other activities also taking place within the setting. The story to be examined occurred during a dinner at the home of John and Beth at which another couple, Ann and Don, were guests. The dinner was videotaped. Analysis focuses upon both the vocal and nonvocal behavior of the participants. The following provides a simplified transcript of the talk producing the story.