STUDENT VOCABULARIES OF MOTIVE: ACCOUNTS FOR ABSENCE

An analysis of actual accounts produced by students who missed class illustrates how they were intended to explain inappropriate behavior. In justifications, which took the form of appeal to loyalties, students accepted responsibility for the absence but emphasized that such action was positive in some other context. Excuses, rather than justifications, predominated. Most students admitted to the negative aspect of the act but attempted to lessen their individual responsibility through the use of five major themes, which included reference to biological factors, control by another person, oversleeping, other coursework, and accidents. The reality of the act of nonattendance was aligned and negotiated within the framework of university culture. Examples, in the words of the students, provide some understanding of their perceptions of their own behavior and self-presentation.