More on Locution vs. Constative

The constative is a conceptual form; it is a statement without implication.

Locutionary concerns include

• spelling and grammar 
• tonal qualities of the music (i.e. that note doesn't belong there because the song is in the key of F)
• technical issues

A distinction between Constative and Locutionary is clear in the performative breakdown of the text in scenes 7 and 8.

Scene 7
Locution	Some of the words with strong syllables waddle across the screen with characteristics that suggest the words meaning. The poetic meter is anapestic with the substitution of a trochee (one long or stressed syllable followed by a short or unstressed) for an iamb (short or stressed followed by a long or unstressed), causing a speeding up (Corn 41). The poetic meter breaks in the words behind, people, goose, and tuba. So he did (soft, soft, hard) Or he tried (s, s, h) And he left (s, s, h) Geese behind (h, h, s) To show people (h, s, h, s) A goose (s, h) With a tuba (s, s, h, s)
Illocution	This is a whimsical story about a goose who thinks he can be a human
Perlocution	A light-hearted tone is established. The stumbling verse is reminiscent of a goose’s waddle, with a stumble for subtle dramatic emphasis (the word goose does not follow or fit into the poetic meter of the rest of the segment).
Primitive	Stumbling verse with a whimsical subject and variation in meter; shaping a lines rhythm so that it will support the conceptual content (i.e. interpreting visual imagery to evoke an emotional response through linking aesthetics with conceptual conjugates).
Constative	The goose is entering the human world.
Explicit Performative Function	Establish character and story as whimsical, and foreshadow character’s problems (The general performative functions of foreshadowing: An audience forgives plot turns when events have a certain degree of predictability (not completely unforeseeable, but somewhat challenging). It adds sense of a master plan to everything.)
Implication	The poetic imagery does not involve a confusion. There is a moment of interpretation, but it is not like a dolly zoom (it does not rely on tension)

Locution - form

Constative - statement without implication

Performative function - how the scene furthers the audience's understanding of the story

Perlocution -  psychological change in the audience

Corn, Alfred. The Poem's Heartbeat: A Manual of Prosody. Port Townsend, Wash: Copper Canyon Press, 2008. Print.