Constructing real and text worlds in responding to literature

Constructing Contexts In constructing the meaning of these realworld contexts, people envision social situations as representative of certain types of activities (Gumperz, 1992; Tannen, 1993). They conceive of certain events-class discussions, business meetings, ceremonies, celebrations, or trips-as competitive, provincial, exotic, spiritual, or corrupt, and these conceptions then guide their behaviors and expectations in these worlds. A dinner with a lover in a fancy restaurant is romantic, a meeting of international scholars is cosmopolitan, a soccer game is competitive. Participants in these contexts associate certain types of social practices with being in a certain world. According to Schein (1985), these practices include: